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| Bill at our picnic spot at Eilean Donan Castle |
We awoke to a beautiful day with sun and blue skies. Of course we had to get a few sprinkles throughout the day, but for the most part it was glorious!
Breakfast was once again at 8:30, but today I had porridge. It was good, and the fruit salad on the buffet table made for a nice breakfast. At 9:45 we checked out. Jim and Susan came out to say goodbye. Susan must have liked me because she gave me a parting gift of 12 notecards and a kiss on both cheeks. It was hard to tell with these two since they were rather quiet and reserved.
We parked downtown and walked to the Bank of Scotland for Bill to change money. Of course banks here don't change money, and he was sent to the Post Office just down the street where he got a horrible exchange rate. He is finding much better rates using an ATM.
While he was doing all of that, I went into a Tesco grocery store to pick up some things for the road like a roll of paper towels, some nuts, and some water. Bill came in and added diet Pepsi to the cart. I love going through grocery stores in foreign countries. My favorite here was a large display up by the checkout counters of SmidgeMidge. I already had mine, but I took a photo.
We had one more stop for gas, and then we really were on our way out of town at 11am. The sun was still shining, and we had an amazing drive all the way to Dornie and Eilean Donan castle. I had my GoPro ready to film, but I didn't want to start until we had reached Cluanie Inn where I knew the really amazing scenery would begin. However, we also had some rain roll through, so I asked Bill to stop for a latte while the rain passed. He was lured in at the promise of a scone.
It took a while for the coffee and scone (which was warm and quite tasty), but when we left the sun was out, and the 11 miles between Cluanie Inn and Shiel Bridge was just breath-taking! Even Bill was impressed. We stopped at a few viewpoints and I got some awesome photos.
We arrived at Eilean Donan at 2. Bill had saved our tea box snacks from the train, so we sat in the sun on some rocks starring at the castle. Best picnic spot ever! Both of us took lots of photos and then bought our tickets to go into the castle. It was a decent tour, and quite a bit of the castle was open and had furniture in it replicating the owners in the 1700s.
I especially liked the kitchen. They had done an excellent job with a ton of fake food, lifelike mannequins, binders with old recipes and tidbits of info. They even had a nook where "freshly caught" game was hanging. A scullery maid had a grill tip over on her in one section, and the sink was full of "dirty dishes".
We got to Ceol Na Mara (music of the sea) just 4 miles down the road. It will be a beautiful spot to spend 2 nights. They only have 2 guest rooms, but Jayne and Ross are delightful and very laid back. We have a small double room looking over Loch Duich and can see the bridge to Skye in the distance. The tide was out when we checked in, but now it is almost up to the road in front of the B&B. Other than being very windy, it couldn't be more perfect.
After moving in and crossing the road to sit amongst some rocks (windbreaks) to watch the tide come in and the sea gulls trying to find fish, we went a half block down the road to Balmacara Hotel to their pub to have a light dinner. I was thrilled that they had Scotch broth which I had read about. Jayne said it was really Scottish comfort food and one didn't often find it in pubs and restaurants. It is a beef and barley soup with other veggies. This version tasted and looked like it had a light split pea base. It came with great bread, so I was a happy camper.
Bill got some "chef's chicken liver pate" with a small salad, crackers, and cranberry jam. I ate part of that because it was good. For his entree he got spicy beef curry with rice and naan. We were almost the only people in the bar, so the bartender chatted with us for quite a while. I have decided I love local pubs!!
Now we are in our room looking out over the loch. It is still at least an hour before sunset which is lovely. Tomorrow we drive the Isle of Skye and spend another night here.
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