Day 10 - Thursday 6/4/15 – Isle of Skye
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| Black face lambs |
We awoke at 7:15 to another rainy day. Life in Scotland, I
presume!! We went down to breakfast at 8. We met the other couple
staying here - newlyweds from Iowa. Jayne, our host, was quite
pleasant. Turns out she is 52 and looks 10 years younger.
I had scrambled eggs and salmon on toast this morning after I had some muesli with a banana. Many of the B&Bs serve eggs and salmon. It wasn't really my cup of tea. Bill had the full Scottish breakfast - fried egg, broiled half tomato, sauteed mushrooms, ham passing for bacon, and sausage. They serve coffee and toast with everything.
I did ask Jayne about the many bags of scallop shells along the shore in front of their house. Turns out the scallop divers shuck the scallops out and bag the shells for export to China for plaster and paving materials.
When we were ready to leave, we stopped at Ross's (Jayne’s host husband) workshop right next to the B&B to see how he makes small bagpipes for sale. He showed us around his shop and the beautiful wood and tweed that he uses to form and assemble his pipes. He also demonstrated on one of them. He seems to be a really nice man.
We finally took off at 9:30 headed for the Isle of Skye. We can see it from our B&B, but we needed to go down to Kyle of Lochalsh to cross the Skye Bridge. The rain seemed to come and go throughout the day.
The first stop was at Sligachan Bridge, an old bridge built in the 1820s. We drove on through the main town of Portree which seems to be a "cute" tourist town. We did stop to get more cash from an ATM.
Then we continued our drive up the east side of Skye. The Old Man of Storr, a large vertical outcropping that can be seen for miles down the road seemed to be a huge hiking attraction as many people were parked along the road and starting the hike even in the rain.
I got one of the best photos of the day when two black face lambs stopped in the middle of the road in front of us. I had wanted a photo of black face sheep, and to have two lambs show up was wonderful.
We did stop at another car park to see some neat waterfalls at An Leth Allt while the rain was stopped. Just a bit farther down the road was Mealt Falls and the Kilt Cliffs. The sun actually came out here which was an awesome sight!! A poor tourist car had broken down on the single track entrance road. We were able to get into the area but just barely. By the time we were ready to leave, a tow truck had arrived, but it took a while to load the car. It was interesting to watch, and we were so glad it wasn't us!!
Bill wanted a hot dog for lunch, but I prevailed and we went to a place that had a brochure at Kilt Cliffs. It was just down the road a bit and off on a side road. It was called Ellishadder Art Cafe and turned out to be an amazing lunch. It is a vegetarian (frou-frou) cafe, but the food was wonderful.
I got the potato scone with crowdie (sort of like a fine cottage cheese but drier - reminded me of my favorite Michigan Cottage Cheese), butter, and chutney. The scone was moist, freshly baked and wonderful. It came with 4 small salads - couscous, carrot, potato, and a green salad. Each one of the salads was fresh and amazingly good. On the table was a vinaigrette made from lime and seaweed. Even Bill liked the dressing!!! It was beautifully presented, and I finished every bite!
Bill got a leek, caramelized pear, and blue cheese slice on a puff pastry. It was served with the same salads. It sounded really strange, but it was really good. I got an elderflower presse (soft drink) to drink. Look it up!! I loved it. Bill got sparkling rhubarb to drink. I thought it was a bit powerful, but he really liked it. What an amazing little stop.
We continued driving around the north tip of Skye, sometimes on single track roads, sometimes with no rain, sometimes with a light rain. We did manage to see the ruins of Duntulm Castle from the road. This castle was built by the MacDonald clan in the 14th or 15 century. Thanks to zoom cameras as this is a very inaccessible ruin.
Our next stop was the Kilmuir cemetery where there is a monument to Flora MacDonald who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape after his defeat at Culloden. There were some interesting tombstones and a great view of the coast.
Our final stop was at the Fairy Glen just outside Uig. Bill was skeptical since there was no signage and nothing in his tour books. It is off the road about 4 miles on a single track road, but it is an interesting geological area with strange mounds, trees, etc. We parked, and looked around. Many people were hiking, and there was even a tour bus parked along the road in a small turn-out.
There is no parking, and people just sort of pull off the road. The big tour bus started to leave as a BMW came around the curve. Both were going slowly but not paying attention, and the bus ran into the front right side of the BMW. There was some damage done and a whole lot of raised voices on the part of both drivers. I saw it happen, but there wasn't anything I could do. Scary.
We got back on the main road and headed back to the B&B (about an hour's drive). It started to rain heavier, so we were thankful we had done most of it before the heavy rain. We got back across the bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh and decide to drive the 5 miles to Plockton. Rick Steves stayed here and it is supposed to be one of the prettiest little villages on the coast. We thought we might eat dinner here, but as Jayne had told us, there was some music thing going on tonight, so the town had little to no parking left.
We came on back to the B&B and then walked down to the Balmacara Hotel once again for a light dinner. It was essentially the same menu as last night. I got the Cullen Skink soup (just like our white chowder) which comes with wonderful bread. We shared the pate again, and Bill got a huge bowl of mussels.
We are now back in the room resting. It is weird that it stays light until 10pm which makes going to bed early a little strange. It is supposed to rain all day on our beautiful long drive to Ullapool. Hopefully there will be periods of sun or at least, not rain. It should be 156 miles as we have planned it, but I think we might skip the pass we had thought about taking since it really wouldn't be worth it in the rain.
I had scrambled eggs and salmon on toast this morning after I had some muesli with a banana. Many of the B&Bs serve eggs and salmon. It wasn't really my cup of tea. Bill had the full Scottish breakfast - fried egg, broiled half tomato, sauteed mushrooms, ham passing for bacon, and sausage. They serve coffee and toast with everything.
I did ask Jayne about the many bags of scallop shells along the shore in front of their house. Turns out the scallop divers shuck the scallops out and bag the shells for export to China for plaster and paving materials.
When we were ready to leave, we stopped at Ross's (Jayne’s host husband) workshop right next to the B&B to see how he makes small bagpipes for sale. He showed us around his shop and the beautiful wood and tweed that he uses to form and assemble his pipes. He also demonstrated on one of them. He seems to be a really nice man.
We finally took off at 9:30 headed for the Isle of Skye. We can see it from our B&B, but we needed to go down to Kyle of Lochalsh to cross the Skye Bridge. The rain seemed to come and go throughout the day.
The first stop was at Sligachan Bridge, an old bridge built in the 1820s. We drove on through the main town of Portree which seems to be a "cute" tourist town. We did stop to get more cash from an ATM.
Then we continued our drive up the east side of Skye. The Old Man of Storr, a large vertical outcropping that can be seen for miles down the road seemed to be a huge hiking attraction as many people were parked along the road and starting the hike even in the rain.
I got one of the best photos of the day when two black face lambs stopped in the middle of the road in front of us. I had wanted a photo of black face sheep, and to have two lambs show up was wonderful.
We did stop at another car park to see some neat waterfalls at An Leth Allt while the rain was stopped. Just a bit farther down the road was Mealt Falls and the Kilt Cliffs. The sun actually came out here which was an awesome sight!! A poor tourist car had broken down on the single track entrance road. We were able to get into the area but just barely. By the time we were ready to leave, a tow truck had arrived, but it took a while to load the car. It was interesting to watch, and we were so glad it wasn't us!!
Bill wanted a hot dog for lunch, but I prevailed and we went to a place that had a brochure at Kilt Cliffs. It was just down the road a bit and off on a side road. It was called Ellishadder Art Cafe and turned out to be an amazing lunch. It is a vegetarian (frou-frou) cafe, but the food was wonderful.
I got the potato scone with crowdie (sort of like a fine cottage cheese but drier - reminded me of my favorite Michigan Cottage Cheese), butter, and chutney. The scone was moist, freshly baked and wonderful. It came with 4 small salads - couscous, carrot, potato, and a green salad. Each one of the salads was fresh and amazingly good. On the table was a vinaigrette made from lime and seaweed. Even Bill liked the dressing!!! It was beautifully presented, and I finished every bite!
Bill got a leek, caramelized pear, and blue cheese slice on a puff pastry. It was served with the same salads. It sounded really strange, but it was really good. I got an elderflower presse (soft drink) to drink. Look it up!! I loved it. Bill got sparkling rhubarb to drink. I thought it was a bit powerful, but he really liked it. What an amazing little stop.
We continued driving around the north tip of Skye, sometimes on single track roads, sometimes with no rain, sometimes with a light rain. We did manage to see the ruins of Duntulm Castle from the road. This castle was built by the MacDonald clan in the 14th or 15 century. Thanks to zoom cameras as this is a very inaccessible ruin.
Our next stop was the Kilmuir cemetery where there is a monument to Flora MacDonald who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape after his defeat at Culloden. There were some interesting tombstones and a great view of the coast.
Our final stop was at the Fairy Glen just outside Uig. Bill was skeptical since there was no signage and nothing in his tour books. It is off the road about 4 miles on a single track road, but it is an interesting geological area with strange mounds, trees, etc. We parked, and looked around. Many people were hiking, and there was even a tour bus parked along the road in a small turn-out.
There is no parking, and people just sort of pull off the road. The big tour bus started to leave as a BMW came around the curve. Both were going slowly but not paying attention, and the bus ran into the front right side of the BMW. There was some damage done and a whole lot of raised voices on the part of both drivers. I saw it happen, but there wasn't anything I could do. Scary.
We got back on the main road and headed back to the B&B (about an hour's drive). It started to rain heavier, so we were thankful we had done most of it before the heavy rain. We got back across the bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh and decide to drive the 5 miles to Plockton. Rick Steves stayed here and it is supposed to be one of the prettiest little villages on the coast. We thought we might eat dinner here, but as Jayne had told us, there was some music thing going on tonight, so the town had little to no parking left.
We came on back to the B&B and then walked down to the Balmacara Hotel once again for a light dinner. It was essentially the same menu as last night. I got the Cullen Skink soup (just like our white chowder) which comes with wonderful bread. We shared the pate again, and Bill got a huge bowl of mussels.
We are now back in the room resting. It is weird that it stays light until 10pm which makes going to bed early a little strange. It is supposed to rain all day on our beautiful long drive to Ullapool. Hopefully there will be periods of sun or at least, not rain. It should be 156 miles as we have planned it, but I think we might skip the pass we had thought about taking since it really wouldn't be worth it in the rain.
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