This company definitely believes in keeping their tour group busy. Which is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we're seeing as much as we can. A curse because our brains are full and we can't take in much more.
We drove around the Trotternish Peninsula today. Lot's of bus time again today. The scenery is so magnificent that it's hard to even capture in photos. I likened it to taking photos of the Grand Canyon. You know it's beautiful and big, but until you're standing on the rim, you really can't appreciate it's grandeur. The same is true for the scenery in Scotland.
Our first stop is the Museum of Island Life. This little museum is a series of thatched huts that are put together to show you what life was like on the island in the early days. The family who owns this has done a great job of setting these up.
Just off the beaten path a bit is a cemetery where the "legendary" Flora MacDonald is laid to rest. I put quotes around the word "legendary" because our tour guide really didn't provide us any history about her, but I saw her name everywhere....so I did a little research.
Turns out, Flora MacDonald (1722 –1790) was a Scottish Jacobite heroine made famous by her part in the Young Pretender's escape after his defeat at Culloden. She helped hide Bonnie Prince Charlie after the battle of Colloden. So there you go!
This wasn't my favorite spot today. It was interesting, but not interesting. The one GREAT thing about this place was their little shop. A couple of days ago I fell in love with this Harris Tweed bag that I wanted to buy for a new computer bag. The other stores all wanted between 95 GBP and 105GBP. I just couldn't do it. THIS little shop has the same bag, but for 60GBP. Now THAT I can do. And I'd much prefer giving this little family my $$ than some bit tourist shop.
Harris Tweed bags are 100% virgin wool taken from flocks only on the Scottish Islands. They can't put the name Harris Tweed on these bags without verification of the wool...or so I was told.
Right...what was next?
The scenery...I mentioned it was beautiful. We had such good weather too that it makes the green of the island so beautiful against the blue of the sky.
We pulled off to see these fantastic rock formations called Kilt Rock. There was supposed to be a great waterfall next to it, but there didn't seem to be any real water falling. It was, of course, windy on this cliff, but that didn't stop us from getting our photos and oooh'ing and ahhh'ing at this coast.
Our lunch stop today was in the small fishing village of Portree. We stopped in a cafe and had a pretty darn good lunch. We had time to wander around the little town before getting back on the coach.
The best part of today is our evening excursion to Eilean Donan castle. This castle is THE castle that shows up on almost all postcards, or traveling brochures for Scotland. It was one of the two that I've been waiting and dreaming about seeing since I did my initial research. And it did not disappoint.
Hopping off the bus you are immediately greeted by bagpipes playing out front of the castle and then you're transported back into time. I don't even know what to say about this castle, other than it was a beauty.
Eilean Donan is
a small tidal island where three sea lochs meet, Loch Duich, Loch
Long and Loch Alsh.. Eilean Donan is part of the Kintail National
Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. Eilean Donan, which means simply
"island of Donnán", is named after Donnán of Eigg, a Celtic saint
martyred in 617. Donnán is said to have established a church on the island,
though no trace of this remains.
The
castle was founded in the thirteenth century, and became a stronghold of
the Clan Mackenzie and their allies the Clan Macrae. In the
early eighteenth century, the Mackenzies' involvement in the Jacobite
rebellions led in 1719 to the castle's destruction by government ships.
Lieutenant-Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap's twentieth-century reconstruction of
the ruins produced the present buildings.
Finishing up at the castle, we were treated to a pint of beer at a local pub. And while at the pub we got serenaded by a young bagpiper that was not only good, but deliciously handsome. Of course he was a young buck, but fun to watch and listen to. There was some dancing too. The bagpiper gathered 6 of our team and "taught" them a jig...it turned out to be more of a disaster, but a fun disaster.
Tomorrow we leave Isle of Skye and head to Isle of Mull. Our bus driver Alistair says we'll love Isle of Mull more than Isle of Skye. I trust him, but Isle of Skye will be pretty hard to beat.
0 comments:
Post a Comment