Escócia Brasileira

Scotland is as exotic to Brasilians, as Brasil is to Scots. To the popular Brasilian imagination, largely fuelled by television and film, think Outlander, Highlander, Harry Potter, Skyfall, Batman, and that scene in Coração Valente (Braveheart), when blue faced Highlanders show their bare arse to English invaders, Scotland is a wild land of castles, ferocious kilt wearing tribes, pounding bagpipes, misty glens, leaping salmon, brooding damp skies and burns gushing with whisky. My two-month return stay in Scotland is coming to an end. Folk are saying that it has been the warmest summer since 1976, and certainly the weather has defied conventional stereotypes. So, it seems appropriate as I pack my bags for Brasil, that I share a few images of the exotic Island of Arran that with an elastic stretch of the imagination could double as one of the grand serras of Minas Gerais, or perhaps due to its natural and geological diversity, Ilhabela off the coast of São Paulo. Often referred to as little Scotland, Arran is majestic. Packed with prehistoric remains, towering peaks, sublime glens, fragments of ancient Caledonian forest, romantic beaches nestled under dramatic cliffs and even palm trees, it is a popular holiday destination, and when the sun shines and the west coast sky clears, it is like nowhere else. It was 26 degrees. Balmy, intermittently hot, and perhaps against better judgement, my younger daughter and I decided to ascend Goatfell, a famous mountain walk with a lung bursting thigh straining hard scramble at the end, a test of endurance that is rewarded by stunning views from the top. It is a fitting memory to take back with me. The first image is of arriving into Brodick Bay, the others are from the summit. Cião Escócia, até logo.