1) Stay in a small fishing village. Might I recommend Mousehole?

2) Visit St. Michael’s Mount. It’s like Mont Saint-Michel smaller, Cornish cousin. If you aren’t familiar with either, they are both tidal islands with lovely castles perched on top.

3)Fresh Newlyn crab. Newlyn is another fishing town right next to Mousehole. And, yes, their crab is delicious! Growing up in Maryland, crabs were a staple in late summer. The Newlyn crab reminds me of a gentler tasting Maryland blue crab — igniting happy memories of summer spent in Ocean City.

4) Visit Trebah Gardens. Beautiful sub-tropical flora that takes you right down on to a beach. My favourite was the hydrangea field as it was in bloom whilst we were there. Oh and you can’t miss the Gunnera forest — a green-canopied Jurassic-looking haven.

5) Eat a Cornish pasty. Pronounced “pah-sties” (so it doesn’t quite sound like a nipple tassel) these little pockets of savoury pastry pie are the bees’ knees. The classic pasty has beef and potato in, but I prefer the vegetarian options. Rowe’s Bakery do the best — we stopped by the one in Penzance (“I am the very model of a modern major general!”) but there are others scattered around Cornwall.

6) Minack Theatre. This theatre is the most magical I’ve ever been to. Built right into the side of the Cornish cliffs, the backdrop to every play is crashing waves, sunsets and/or moody, broody skies. I highly recommend this, but just bring copious blankets (yes, even in the height of British summer) and a fresh pasty or two to keep your hands warm.

7) Smooch (or just stand in awe) at the edge of the world — aka Land’s End. Side step the strange amalgam of tourist attractions here and just wonder the hills and cliffs of Land’s End. You really do feel you are on the edge of the world.

Matt and I have traveled around Scotland quite a bit, but apart from a few places in northern England and London, we hardly ever venture south of the border into England. So for our last hurrah in the UK (we move back to the States in early September), I thought it only right that we give southern England its due — or at least the West Country.

We stayed in a wee fishing village at the tippy tip of Cornwall called Mousehole (pronounced Mao-sul) because . it’s called Mousehole! Charmed already! Also I read somewhere that Dylan Thomas proclaimed it “the loveliest village in England.” Double charmed!

And Mousehole totally lived up to its storybook name: flower pots on window sills, cobbled streets too narrow for cars, and wee fishing boats bobbing in the harbour. My favourite bit was our lovely bedroom in the tiny cottage we rented via Airbnb. The window looked across the village into the sea. Everyone morning we would open the window and let the fresh sea air sweep over us as we had breakfast in bed — pretty much my idea of heaven.

While the rest of the Northern Hemisphere swelters under unbearably humid climes, those of us in Scotland dream of heat-soaked skin and a cloudless sky. To those of you sweating it out some place horrendously sticky, you just have to believe me when I say this road trip was magical because of how hot and sunny it was! The Highlands are beautiful every time of the year, even in the pouring rain or a dark, eery mist, but when the sun comes out, it’s full on Brigadoon and the land of Oz rolled into one.

And it wasn’t just gloriously sunny. It was hot! Like hotter than 69 degrees, hot! For those of you who aren’t totally tired of hearing me drone on about how cool Scottish summers are, let me just remind you that my first July here it rained nearly every day and didn’t get above a depressingly chilly 56 degrees. When you forget what heat feels like, you know your vitamin D levels are in trouble.

So to spend four days in the Highlands with not only the sun shining at full tilt, but to also get a sun burn! Why that’s down right unheard of in these parts! The sky was blue, blue, blue and the clouds fluffy. The sheep plentiful and the grass a brilliant green. And even during the height of tourist season, you can hike for miles and not run into another soul (save those sheep and a ‘coo’ or too).

We spent a few days traipsing around Loch Ness, hitting up Fort Augustus, Inverness and Aberfeldy on the way. Apart from some hiking (in the sun and heat! Have I mentioned that already?), we also gorged ourselves on fresh, sweet Scottish strawberries, sun bathed in a castle’s garden and had a neep of whisky to celebrate my birthday on The Hottest Day of the Year (in Scotland)!!! Oh it was heavenly. If  the Scottish Highlands aren’t on your bucket list already, erase your number one and put it there.

P.S. This post might be sponsored by my the feeble quantities of vitamin D that are left in my body after living in Scotland for four years. The Highlands are gobsmackingly beautiful, but my cells have definitely been dazzled by my recent forays into the sun (and heat!). Looking back on these photos, I’m noticing a lot of clouds when in my head every single day was cloudless and really sunny. I think most of the world would describe this kind of weather as ‘mostly cloudy’. Is there such thing as sun-coloured glasses? I definitely had those on.

London is one of my most favourite places in the world. It’s one of those places I always feel at home — even though I’ve never lived there! I love the hustle and bustle of an international city mingling with gobs of history. I love walking down Brick Lane sniffing food stalls full of bubbling curries and freshly baked bread as much as I like people watching in Soho whilst slurping lemon, basil sorbet (because that’s a thing!) and oggling Matisses at the Tate Modern. Shops are always open, the people are always varied (and somehow seem more comfortable being awesomely eccentric than in other international cities I’ve been to) and museums are packed.

This past weekend, I saw a different side of London. Not only was it hot and sunny (can it still be considered part of the UK when it does that?!), but it also seemed so calm and beautiful. I spent a lot of time traipsing around Hyde Park and looking at trees sniffing roses. And on my last morning in the city, I finally found Leila’s Shop in Shoreditch where I had the most simple, but beautiful breakfast in the world (fried eggs with butter and sage and a side of crusty bread and out-of-this-world butter). I think of Leila like the Alice Waters of East London. The pics above of the peaches and sweet william are from her shop. I bought a peach — it smelled so peachy and tasted like sweet, syrupy heaven.

Nature and slow, simple living isn’t what I usually expect from one of the largest (and most expensive) cities in the world, but I love it just as much as the louder, busier sides of the city too.

My dream is to one day live in London (and magically move all my family and friends there too). Do you guys have a place that feels like home to you that isn’t actually where you’ve ever lived?

Amsterdam totally surpassed all my expectations. I’m completely in love with the glimmering, shimmering canals and curlicued brick and stone, the deliciously gooey caramel waffles and an entire museum district! It’s a shame that I always associated it the red light district and pot (not that there’s anything wrong with the latter), but it just never seemed like it would be my thing.

I was utterly and completely wrong. I didn’t stumble on to a single naked lady or dubbie (I’m not even exactly sure where the red light district is). So if you’re as rock and roll as me, you should totally do the following:

I’ve used Airbnb for years, all over Europe and the States. I’ve loved each of my stays, but Johan has possibly the most beautiful flat I’ve ever been in. He has an eye for colour that would make Van Gogh jealous, the most comfortable, fluffy king-sized bed and a colour-coded book case that would make any reader feel right at home. The house is an historic canal house built in the 17th century, so the few days we were there I pretended I was Rembrandt (minus the talent) and Vermeer’s girl with the pearl earring (minus the pearls).

The soft winter light bouncing off of the canals was so soothing and breathtakingly beautiful when the sun set.

(Posing by canals and tiny cars totally optional).

The deliciously unhealthy:

Best stroopwafels: Verse stroopwafel at the Albert Cuyp Market

Best fries (curry or satay sauce optional): Vleminckx

Uber healthy and so amazingly tasty:

The Cold Pressed Juicery

Mumu chocolates (not just the best raw chocolate I’ve ever had — just the best chocolate hands down).

My dream dinner:

Indonesian at Tempo Doeloe

I went to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and the Rembrandt House Museum, but those are just the tip of the iceberg. I would have happily gone to 20 museums if I had the time.

I am head-over-heels in love with Amsterdam and hope I get to go back one day to ogle more canals and soak in more painted canvases. In the meantime, let me know what you’ve done if you’ve been. For those of you making plans or day dreaming about a trip to Amsterdam, I hope these wee tips gave you a bit of inspiration.

——-

Dear Cath

I know you think of Amsterdam as Schipol and that place of limbo where you are stuck between two flights, but I so wish I could have teleported you to a canal last weekend!

One day was even warm enough where Ali and I sat on the stoop outside of our canal house and ate fresh fruit while wiggling our toes in the sun. It was heavenly!

It’s the perfect city for us and reminds me of Edinburgh: compact, historic, beautiful and grand. One day we will go together.

Until then, close your eyes and dream of freshly made stroopwafels with gooey caramel centres and layers of Van Gogh ochre swimming in a sea of forest green and aquamarine.

Love you like the shimmerest of canals and gooeyest of stroopwafels,

Lar