Isau's Vacation Destinations

[Eynhallow 412]

Isau’s Vacation Destinations

 

When thinking about this article I realized how long it has been since I was able to feel that warm sand on my bare feet, able to swim in warm salt water, able to walk for miles on sun drenched beaches and able to sip an adult beverage or two by the pool.  Here, in the North, it seems to be winter for more than 50% of the year.  It was -21 C this morning and the thoughts of a southern vacation had already entered my mind.

 

I have a number of places I like to visit and to which I would like to return.  In no particular prioritized order:

 

Mexico

 

We have always liked Mexico.  The food is great and the people are welcoming.  Spanish can be a bit challenging, but people appreciate it when you try to speak their own language even though your efforts are rudimentary at best.  Frequently you will get a good-natured on-the-spot Spanish lesson.  The beaches are great.

 

 

Of course there are always a number of other things to see and do.  We petted Gray Whales in Bahia Magdalena (West Coast of Baja Mexico)

 

 

Mexico is filled with history and cultural and geographic diversity.  If I could, I would be on a plane today.

 

St. Lucia

 

St. Lucia is a small Caribbean island in the Windward Island group.  It is situated between Martinique and Barbados.  St. Lucia is mountainous, so the beaches, although quite nice, are small by way of comparison to other Carribean islands. St. Lucia is an English island, yet has historical overtones of French and Spanish occupation.  The island has a very low crime rate and less than 1% unemployment (in 2017).  

 

 

The Pitons, located near the town of Soufiere are a world heritage site and provide excellent hiking/climbing opportunities.  St. Lucia also has a live volcano.  But, have no fear, there hasn’t been an eruption since 1766.

 

 

St. Lucians have a special affinity for Canadians because, back in 1974, Canada donated the island’s only secondary school to the people of St. Lucia.  Even now, the student uniform is the red and white of the Canadian flag.

 

Scotland

 

The last vacation that I will mention here is different than the sand-beween-the-toes type.  A trip to Scotland is about culture, history and mysticism.  The large cities of Scotland are just that….large cities.  So I decided to press further North to where the clans lived and built many of their castles.  Most of the castles were damaged by the British in the 1700’s. But have bee partially restored by the Scottish government.  One of my favourites has been seen in a few movies.  It is called Eilean Donan.  You will probably recognize it.

 

 

I visited Eilean Donan on my way to the Isle of Skye.  Skye is an island that lies just off the Scotland’s west coast and is said to be mystical.  To give you an example, I climbed into an area called the Quiraing to take this photo.

 

 

Scotland’s culture is front and center at every turn.  On my arrival in Portree, the capital of Skye, an iteration of the Highland Games broke out !!

 

I felt a particular connection to Scotland as my DNA is in the very soil of the country.

 

In conclusion I would like to point out that 6 of the 7 pictures shown here are original.  Thanks very much for reading this and I hope it didn’t come off too much like a travelogue.  It is very difficult to capture the emotion of such vacations in words and pictures, but I hope I gave you some sense of what I felt.  

 

Word Count: 609

Claiming week of Feb. 28 and Theme Week

Edited February 8, 2021 by Eynhallow

[thadthrasher 1,692]

I literally loved all of this. I was also very happy to read that 6 of the 7 pictures were your own. I thought it was easy to read, and while the pictures did make it seem like a travelogue, I thought it was perfect. It's well-written, easy to read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! 10/10, well done!

[Eynhallow 412]

Just now, thadthrasher said:

I literally loved all of this. I was also very happy to read that 6 of the 7 pictures were your own. I thought it was easy to read, and while the pictures did make it seem like a travelogue, I thought it was perfect. It's well-written, easy to read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! 10/10, well done!

Thanks.  Much appreciated.  I am always a little reluctant to let my RL persona escape.....