The dream of the Highlands

University exams, military service, lack of money: too many problems had forced us to stay home for a couple of years, but in July 1995 we decided it was time to leave. By train, because we hadn't yet discovered how much we love flying, we set off for London, even though our final destination is Edinburgh. Thirty hours on three different trains take us to the English capital. We're exhausted, it's eight in the evening, but there's immediately a train to Scotland, and we don't let it slip away.

We arrive in Edinburgh around midnight, and there our odyssey begins. No one has a room for us, tired and chilled as we are. The girls complain, they're sleepy and hungry. We ask the Police and taxi drivers for help, but no one can help us. An Italian pizzaiolo living locally manages it, who first makes us a pizza (not for free) and then finds us lodging (not for free either...). The next day we wake up fresher and more rested, with a great desire to visit the city. And we do so until evening. But the real adventure kicks off the day after.

The next day we get on another train and travel to Inverness, where the Highlands begin. Rain, an icy wind and the clear feeling of having discovered a mythical country await us: Scotland. Our b&b is beautiful, all wood, it has the heating on and electric blankets. We're very comfortable, also because the city is nice, and welcoming despite the weather. And then from there you quickly get to Loch Ness, where we don't see the monster, but we drink its water: black, it tastes of iron. After two days in Inverness we rent a car and set off for the north.

From Inverness we head up toward the Hebrides islands. On the road, lakes and castles, especially Eilean Donan Castle, the one where they filmed Highlander. In a couple of days we arrive at Kyle of Lochalsh, where by ferry we reach the Isle of Skye. One of the most beautiful places in the world, where nature is rugged beyond words, where waterfalls, sheer drops, the very black earth, the lakes, the sheep and the seals reign supreme. We're very comfortable on Skye, eating with the fishermen in the pubs of Portree, and no one cares if it rains a lot. It stops raining when we leave, heading south, toward Mull. Another island, another story.

Mull is not as beautiful as Skye, but nothing is as beautiful as Skye. Mull is flat, and strange, and the vegetation is unusual. But from Mull you get to Iona, and Iona instead is very beautiful. You reach Iona by a small ferry, there are no cars, there are very few people. But there's a beautiful abbey, with a Celtic cemetery immersed in greenery, in moss, among the trees. Iona is magical, and it's surrounded by a blue sea like not even Sardinia. And the sand is white. But it's freezing cold, and there are gigantic jellyfish, truly enormous. After Mull more ferries and then the mainland up to Inveraray, where there's a beautiful lake, a spectacular castle and in general it's a place where one should go, now and then, to see what it means to live in a quiet place. From Inveraray we go to Fort William, then Inverness, where we leave the car.

In Inverness we leave the car, and by train we return south. Perth is an all in all pointless city, but Stirling is stunning. The castle is enormous and imposing, and in the past, seat of Scottish royalty, it has seen it all. Even our b&b is legendary for how big and well-kept it is. And it costs very little. In Stirling it's warm, and it's warm in Glasgow too, where we especially like the university. Our vacation in Scotland is about to end, we set off again for England.

Doing the whole trip back to Italy all in one go seemed too much to us, so on the way home we treat ourselves to a few days in Cambridge, where there are many colleges but above all lots of students. We feel good in Cambridge, and we could stay there a long time. But we're not all university students, and those who work have to go back, sooner or later. And so we set off, leaving behind an unforgettable trip.