Exploring the Western Isle of Skye

Aaahhhh….the weather certainly played games with us today.  But we did manage to get a photo from the front of our B&B while there was a brief reprieve from rain and fog.

Lovely, isn't it?

I do have to tell you that just a few minutes later, those mountains had disappeared from view. 

Dolina, our hostess, said that was quite common for this area, and that she had been hoping that we'd get to see at least a wee bit of those mountains while we were here.  I suppose that we should consider ourselves lucky!

With the wind howling and the changing weather, we bundled up and headed towards the northern part of the island to Dunvegan Castle.

Dunvegan is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland and has been the ancestral home of the Chiefs of Clan MacLeod for 800 years.

The castle stands on Loch Dunvegan, which, as you can see, is the most beautiful shade of blue.

The views from this castle were spectacular

The castle also has 5 acres of gardens which were begun in the 18th century.  There was a beautiful waterfall inside one of the gardens.

 And here you can see it in the background.

There were many flowers still in bloom

A lovely gazebo stands in the walled garden

surrounded by many blooming rose bushes.

Just outside the gardens there is a path to the loch where, on most days, one can take a boat out onto the loch to view the many seals that are in the area.  However, today the tours were cancelled due to the high winds.  We walked down to the dock anyway and we were afforded these fabulous views of the castle from the loch.

Of course, the sudden appearance of blue skies only enhanced the beauty.

Despite the gail winds, Marty was intent on spotting some seals with his binoculars.

but such was not to be.  We decided to head down to the little village of Dunvegan to check it out.

From the parking lot in the village, you can see the memorial to those who died in the Great War overlooking the village.

I don't think I've been to one town in Scotland that hasn't had a memorial to those who died in the First World War.  All of the names of those men from the village who died are inscribed on the memorial. 

After our brief respite, we headed back to the Talisker refinery for the tour that we had booked yesterday.  And, it's a good thing that we had reserved a spot, because the next two tours were booked up!  If you saw how remote this place was, you'd wonder, just as I do, how so many people make their way here.  Perhaps I'd understand it better if I were a Whiskey Connoisseur.  

While we were waiting for the tour to begin,  I heard a woman ask the employee if there was a senior discount.  She shook her head NO, and I heard her say, "If you're old enough to drink whiskey…..then we consider you to be quite lucky".  In other words…..no discount.   That made me laugh.

The tour began promptly, and we went through the process of making whiskey, which was pretty much identical to the tour that we had the other day.  

At the end of the tour, we were given a dram of whiskey and told to swirl it, look at it, sniff it, then take a sip of it.  

I did exactly what the man said, and you can take my word for it when I tell you that nothing made it taste any better. 

This particular whisky is flavored with peat, which is very strong, and definitely affects the smell and the taste.  It made me feel like I was sipping a campfire.  

Well, here's my take on the tasting….described perfectly in the visitor center: 

Smell the seaweed?  Yuck!  No wonder I don't like the stuff!

Marty, on the other hand, loved it.  Lucky him…he got to taste his and mine, which I pretty much figured out would be happening.  No worries there.

We still had a couple hours until dinner time, so we decided to drive to see if we could find the Fairy Pools.  Well, we did manage to find the sign.

And we began the walk down the trail in an attempt to find them.  Notice the term "down the trail"  We hadn't gone far when I realized that the people returning were all breathing heavy and panting.  I began to wonder just what I was getting myself into.  Just how far were these Fairy Pools?

We came to one spot where a returning couple had a bit of difficulty jumping the rocks in the stream to return to the car park. 

That's when I decided that I wasn't going to even try to cross that stream.  I had no difficulty convincing Marty of that, since he certainly didn't want to try to drag my injured body up that hill if I slipped in an attempt to maneuver the rocks!

He was happy enough to take a photo with the Black Cullins (pronounced cool ins) behind us.

Making our way back up to the car park, we spotted these mini waterfalls that had been behind us on the way down.

I have no idea what the Fairy Pools look like, but it seemed to us that we were able to enjoy quite a bit of natural beauty without doing anything crazy.  As it should be!

We headed back to the carpark

and when I peered down, I could see sheep happily munching away on the grass on the side of the road.  They were quite dwarfed by the size of that mountain.

Driving back, we encountered the fluffy creatures along the side of the road

And, some even in the middle of the road.

But they were more than willing to share the road with us.

We opted to try a different hotel for dinner, the only other one within a 12 mile distance from our B&B.  It ended up being quite a disappointment for me, since nearly every food contained some sort of pepper.

When we returned to the B&B, and Dolina heard my plight, she made us a lovely tea tray, complete with home made shortbread.

You just can't beat that, can you?

St. Columba and the Loch Ness Monster

As I write this I am sitting in my B&B on the Isle of Skye gazing out the picture window, watching mountains slowly appear through the white haze, and then disappear at a moment’s notice.

Yep!  Typical Scotland weather.  But, you know what the say…..you can’t change the weather!  So, we’ll just have to go with the flow.

Our morning adventures began with us driving to Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness.

We no sooner arrived when Marty was sure that he had spotted the infamous creature:

 And, you can see that I was so frightened by what I saw that my hair stood on end.

Actually, in all honesty, my hairdo will certainly attest to the fact that it was far more than a wee bit windy today!

But, the truth be told,  we did NOT spot any monsters…at least none in the Loch, for sure.

In fact, Isobel had clued me in on the 3 secrets of Loch Ness:  Waves without Wind (you can forget about that possibility today); Fish without Fins…..can't say that we spotted any, and an island that floats, which I did see on the drive, but did not make any notice as to whether it looked as if it were floating.

So, it appeared that we missed quite a lot!  But we still managed to take a very nice tour of this castle.

By now, you are probably curious about the title of this blog.  Well, legend has it that St. Columba came to this part of Scotland in 565.  When he arrived, a man was being buried, and when he question how the man had died, St. Columba was told that this man had been seized and savagely bitten by a water beast.

At this point, St. Columba ordered one of his companions to swim across the loch to bring back a boat. While this man was swimming across the loch, the water beast began to attack him.   St. Columba raised his hand and commanded the savage beast to release the man and leave, and the creature did as the holy man had commanded.

Pretty good story, if you ask me, and certainly the first time I had heard about this accounting of the Loch Ness Monster.

Despite the overcast skies and intermittent weather, I was to capture a few photos

 Urquhart Castle is famous for being the largest castle in Scotland, although it has been ruins for many centuries.   It was the MacDonald clan that can be attributed to the destruction of this famous castle.  Now, that certainly is unfortunate!  They were notorious for rioting and destroying lands that did not belong to them, Urquhart included. 

Marty managed to get a photo of the two of us prior to us leaving.

After leaving the castle, we headed to our next destination, the Isle of Skye.

One thing that I forgot to mention about this area of Scotland is that the Gaelic language is still spoken here, and all of the signs are written in both English and Gaelic.  Many of the local mountains and villages have names stemming from Gaelic.  It certainly has been interesting seeing this second language in print here in this area of Scotland. 

We found ourselves traveling in the company of clouds and rain, but occasionally managed to stop to get a photo here and there of the landscape.

Once over the bridge, onto the Isle of Skye, we stopped in Broadhead to take in the beauty of this rainbow over the loch. 

The photo just doesn’t not do justice to the original.  It was shining brilliantly on both ends. 

We popped into the Talisker distillery since it was on the road to our destination.  

The place was crowded with people.  It appears that it fills daily with German tour groups.  It’s the only distillery on the island, and when it rains, it apparently becomes a main attraction.

Unfortunately, rain is predicted again for tomorrow.

But, we went ahead and reserved a 3:00 tour so that we could be sure to take the tour, to see what the different technique is in using peat to make this brand of whiskey.   When we toured the Dalwhinnie distillery, our tour guide had mentioned that while their whiskey was complimented with chocolate, this particular whiskey pairs well with smoked fish.

I’m fairly certain that this taste testing won’t be appealing to my taste buds.  But, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see.

Our B&B here on the isle is an original Croft house.  The owner is very welcoming and even made us tea with some baked treats when we arrived.   This area is a bit more remote than any other area where we have ventured in Scotland.  The roads are only one lane wide with pull offs every few hundred feet so that one can pull over and let the car driving in the opposite direction drive through.

Most people are pretty eager to pull over and flash their lights, indicating that it is OK for you to continue on the road.  But, as with most things, there is the occasional obnoxious driver, or the huge delivery truck, driving way too fast and obviously not giving way for anyone.  So, one must be able to stop quickly and pull over.  It's a little nerve wracking when Marty has to veer to the left and I'm staring down a steep cliff!  So…my knuckles are just a bit white.  

Also, there is only one restaurant in the nearby town.   It is located in the Old Inn.

There were only about 5 entrees on the menu, none of which appealed to me, so I opted to order 2 starters:  the soup of the day, broccoli and leek; and prawns broiled in garlic butter with a small side salad.  Since the fish is fresh caught from the loch, I thought it would be worth at least trying.

Apparently my definition of prawns differs from the Scottish definition.  I became a bit suspicious when the waitress brought me a bowl of hot water with a lemon floating in it, and an extra empty bowl, as well a shell cracker and little fork.

Well, my curiosity was tempered when the plate arrived and there were 3 miniature lobsters staring at me from the bowl.

I generally do not eat anything that is staring at me, but I somehow managed to pull the meat out of the main shell, and I can tell you that it was really good!

I’ll let you see the leftovers:

Weren't they cute?

Although that was certainly an interesting experience, I’m not really interested in repeating that for tomorrow’s dinner.

The wind is howling and the rain is pelting.  Here's hoping that tomorrow will be filled with some pleasant surprises!

I'll keep you posted.

The Jacobite Trail

After a great night's sleep (finally), our morning began with this fabulous breakfast

Marty's egg, baked beans, bacon and tomatoes

I thought it kind of looked like a face with tomatoes for eyes and the yolk for the mouth.

My pancakes.

Which, I thought looked just FABulous!!

Don't know about you, but I'd pick mine over Marty's any day!

After bidding a fond farewell to our gracious hosts, we decided to visit the Ruthven barracks which were only a mile away from our B&B

This horse in the red coat seemed to be quite curious as we parked the car and began walking towards the barracks.

A castle stood on this ground as early as the 1200's, but this structure was built by the British in an attempt to deter any uprisings from the Scots.  It was built in 1715 and designed to hold 120 infantry soldiers as well as their horses.  (Perhaps that creature in the red coat is an ancestor….who knows?)

Here you can see Marty standing in the door of the barracks.

Marty wanted a photo taken nest to the Bakery and Brewhouse, since he loves both.

and we took one last shot as we headed back to our car.

Touring the barracks caught our interest about the Jacobites, so we decided to modify our plans today and head towards Culloden where the final Jacobite battle took place.  The Jacobites who managed to survive, retreated to Ruthven for safe haven after the battle, although it was a set of ruins at that point, having been destroyed by Prince Charles' orders.  Only two months previously, the Jacobites had taken this defensive structure in battle from the Brits, and that was when Charles had it burned and why you see the ruins that are here today.

We arrived at Culloden, parked in the lot, which was next to the grazing field of some Highland Cows, so Marty shot this photo.

They were not the least bit interested in being photographed.  Quite disappointing for Marty.

Inside the visitor center, we were able to tour through the history of the Jacobite Rebellion from start to finish.  The Jacobites had succeeded in beating the English in every battle prior to this one at Culloden.

But having analyzed their mistakes, the Brits adjusted their battle plans and increased their ammunition for this battle.  The night before the battle, they were well rested.

On the other hand, the Jacobites had traveled through the night, through dense fog.  Many of them were still asleep when the battle began.  They were worn and tired and not prepared, and Charles was overly confident from his  100% battle record.

This final battle in 1746 resulted in 1500 Jacobites being brutally slaughtered by the Brits.  Inside the visitor center, there was a surround sound and video highlight of the battle which really brought to light just how horrid this event was.  Actually, it was quite graphic and I actually had to shut my eyes for some of it.  

We were able to walk outside to get an idea of what the battlefield was like.

The audio guides worked by GPS, so when we walked to a particular spot, the device automatically began giving the information pertaining to that spot.  How cool was that?

Along the Jacobite line, there stand markers that list the particular clansmen who died in that area.

There are also stone markers that are engraved with the names of clansmen who died as well.

No one really knows where the British soldiers who perished that day are buried in this field. 

On the grounds stand this house from the 1700''s. 

I knew somewhat of the history of Bonnie Prince Charlie, but this visitor center certainly explained a lot more than I had realized.  

A lot of time and effort went into planning this visitor center and it had a unique way of presenting the information.  As one walked through somewhat of a maze, info pertaining to the government's view on the uprising was along one wall while the Jacobite viewpoint was along the opposite wall.  It required a lot of weaving back and forth between the two sides in order to keep up on the story as it unfolded, but I found this to be a very clever way of presenting the story from both sides. 

One thing of note of which I had not been aware, was that after the battle of Culloden, it was ordered that there could be no surrender.  Every man who was considered to be a Jacobite was to be killed.  Many clansmen who were not even sympathizers were murdered.  The British went through the towns intent on killing every man who had been even remotely involved with the Jacobite cause.  There was to be no mercy.  

Just a few miles from Culloden is the city of Inverness.  We managed to get into the town without an issue, but once in it, we found that the road to our hotel was closed at the spot where we needed to turn.

After circling the same street twice, we decided to park and grab lunch at a delightful restaurant in town.  Then, we ventured off again, ready for the challenge. 

Marty ended up driving over one bridge, traveling a few blocks on the other side, then driving back over on another bridge, making a few sharp turns, and finally, we were at our hotel!

We are staying at the Glen Mohr which stands right along the river Ness.  The location is beautiful.

The hotel appears to be a long row of very old town houses, with a very modern interior.  It is really quite quaint.  The room is very large and even holds two chairs and a small sofa.

Funny, but I had paid extra for a river view room, and we had to laugh when we saw that we could, indeed, see the river if we stood up and looked out the window!  But the rest of the room certainly makes up for the price difference.   I hadn't paid much for the room as it was, because I had a free room booking through the hotels.com service that I use frequently. 

The skies began to clear so we took a walk into Inverness.

Along the way, we spotted Faith, Hope and Charity.

The visitor center had an interesting bench.

We climbed up to take a look at Inverness Castle where we could see this lovely view of St. Andrew's Cathedral across the river. 

The opposite direction featured the city of Inverness and the mountains in the distance.

Just lovely, don't you think?

We walked to the Victoria Market, built in the late 1800's.

And by the old hospital on Church Street.

We crossed the footbridge to the other side, then headed back along the River Ness.  Just about that time, the sun decided to shine on the castle.

You can see one of the footbridges here in the distance.

Marty took a photo of us on the bridge, with the castle in the distance.  Funny, but it looked much closer by the eye.

Back on the hotel side of the river there stands a celtic cross which is a memorial to the WWI soldiers who died in battle.

Back in our hotel….let me share some photos from the room.  This is looking out the back window, which isn't bad. Had we been one level lower, we would have looked onto another building.

This is the view from the front window.

And, here is Marty, relaxing on the sofa, where you can see our window view from the room!

When darkness fell, we were pleasantly surprised to walk outside and see that the trees lining the street were strung with tiny white lights that were sparkling, but our biggest surprise was the foot bridge which was lit up with neon colors. 

It was tough to get a good photo at night, but I think that will do.

Off to Loch Ness today…….I'll let you know if we see any monsters lurking about!