A Portlander in Scotland

As my fellow Portland urban sketchers are aware, I have just arrived back home after a wonderful 3 week visit to Europe. It had been many years since my last serious vacation and what might once have been a travel bug had swelled into a travel mammoth! It felt so good to be back in that traveler's mindset, thinking only about the day. What shall I sketch? What would I like for dinner? Perhaps I shall have a beer? I'm pretty sure I went at least five days in a row without once remembering that I work for a living - the traveling lifestyle swept me up that entirely.

The first two weeks were spent in Scotland, and have been reported extensively at my blog. Here are some sketching highlights from that time.

I flew out of Portland on September 1...

Made my "base of operations" in Glasgow (which I love), and managed to meet up with awesome Glasgow Urban Sketcher Stuart Kerr...

Did a couple of day trips to Edinburgh, which is possibly the most beautiful city I have laid eyes on (though my heart belongs to Glasgow)...

Then took train and bus to the Highland fishing village of Ullapool, where I did some hiking but also had wonderful views from cafes and pubs when the weather turned wet...

Traveled to the Isle of Skye, which was mostly a lost opportunity because weather was bad and most of the dramatic vistas were obscured...

Continued by bus, ferry, and train to gorgeous Glenfinnan, also in the Highlands and currently gaining some notoriety as a Harry Potter filming location...

After that, I visited with friends in London and then continued on to Belgium... but more on that soon!