I’m going to take a detour away from blogging about my favorite children’s books – and I apologize for my absence!

I was invited to speak at the Edinburgh BookFest, which is part of the famed Edinburgh Festival. Who could pass that up? So my husband and I spent 2 1/2 weeks in Scotland. The BookFest was AMAZING and I’m grateful to my enthusiastic Scottish fans who showed up for my events.  Among the authors who were there the two days I was there were: Antonia Fraser, Frederick Forsythe, Joyce Carol Oates and a very charming Alexander McCall Smith. Oh, and Humphrey, too.

Then Frank and I went on a 10 day trip through the Scottish Highlands by rail (okay taxis and a ferry,too). It was beyond perfection, especially since the weather and the famed midges (little biting insects like gnats) behaved perfectly. Sunshine every day except the first and last (an unprecedented run of sun) and no midges. What can I say? The scenery was unparalleled. The hospitality at each stop was the warmest. The beauty – indescribable.

Briefly, we traveled from Edinburgh to Glasgow. Glasgow to Spean Bridge, where we stayed at Old Pines, a lovely spot with a great view of Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in UK – not that high but beautiful). We took a very long ramble followed by one of the best meals of my life in their all-organic restaurant. The next morning, after a “ham and haddie” breakfast, we went to Fort William where we boarded the famed Jacobite Steam Train, still in operation.

This is the train used in the Harry Potter films. It was quite an event, as crowds gathered to see the train and take photos. Before the trip, the crew was so friendly – inviting us to come in and watch them shovel coal into the fire. They very showily – and loudly – blew off steam. We were in first class, which meant we had a table with brocade upholstered chairs and a little lamp, and were served tea in china cups and scones. All along the route, people were lined up to take photos of the train and wave. Lovely memory: a young mother and her toddler in arms, standing in the doorway of their house, waving. It’s another world.

An amazing landscape – green grass, tons of sheep and the Rannoch moors – forbidding, desolate, beautiful. We ended up at Mallaich, a charming little port city, where we had lunch and boarded the ferry for the Isle of Skye. A little more about Scotland and then I’ll be back with children’s books.

Just saying Isle of Skye makes me relax!