Onward to Skye

Tuesday Sept 20

We woke early once again and scurried to get our things together. We were checking out of the apartment and headed on a three day tour to the Isle of Skye which included two nights of accommodations. We'd been unable to confirm our reservation which was a bit concerning. Our previous day's tour was cancelled and they never even notified us. Their office was closed and no one was answering the phone. If this tour was cancelled we would have no place to stay for the next two nights since we were already checked out of our apartment.

I cried a little as we left. But not because I was missing the town. It was just too much to bear passing that closed waffle shop never having tried one.

We arrived in plenty of time and fortunately the tour people were there. This trip was on!! By 9:AM we were on a tour bus with 15 other tourists from all over the world headed on our new adventure.

Our first stop was Glasgow where we picked up 4 more tourists then off to the highlands. We didn't spend any time in Glasgow so we didn't have the chance to experience it, but what we saw it was very modern. It had a bit of a Boston feel. A modern city surrounding some pretty cool old buildings throughout the city.

Our bus driver's name was Paul. An extremely knowledgeable fellow, who filled our tour with endless stories of kings and rulers and battles and Scottish history. The abbreviated version is that these lands have been under constant needless fighting for centuries while thousands were slaughtered at the hands of men exhibiting their over abundance of testosterone.

Unfortunately it doesn’t sound all that much different from those in power today.

Our first stop was at the bonnie shores of Loch Lomand. Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands. Loch Lomond is a famous location in Scotland for many reasons but one of them is definitely to do with a song - a poignant anthem of loss and sadness that is known throughout the world. The chorus is no doubt familiar to us all:

O ye'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road,

An' I'll be in Scotland afore ye;

But me and my true love will never meet again

On the bonnie, bonnie banks O' Loch Lomond.

The Scottish countryside was a varied landscape of thick forests, open prairies, massive mountains and many rivers, lakes and lochs. The area we drove through was featured in the James Bond Film Skyfall. Paul even talked about the movie a bit and even played the movie theme as we drove the same highway as did 007.

For lunch we stopped at Glencoe. Glencoe is located in a deep-sided valley of volcanic origin known for its waterfalls and trails. It is surrounded by mountains including a trio of ominous mountains dubbed the three sisters. It was at these mountains that we started to understand the scope of the immense landscape. From where we were parked the mountains seemed rather close, just a short walk to the base. Until we spotted some hikers that is. The scale of the mountains was massive and misleading, the hikers looked literally like dots. There was no recognizable shape even as a person, just little flakes of pepper moving about on the trail. I've seen people that looked bigger from an airplane.

Perhaps the most notable thing about Glencoe was a tragedy of history known as the Massacre of Glencoe when an estimated 30 members and associates of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were killed by Scottish government forces, allegedly for failing to pledge allegiance to the new monarchs. It was a sad story among a beautiful backdrop.

Back on the road we were mesmerized once again by the diverse and ever changing landscape and weather. Thick clouds would roll in and out, sometimes dropping rain and at other times the sun would break through illuminating the hillsides. We crossed small streams and large rivers billowing through a channel of boulders and forests. At times it looked like mountain passes in Colorado, at others the barren landscapes of Wyoming.

Paul told us about the sport of "Monro bagging". The tallest mountains, over 3000 feet, are called Monros. There are in total 282 Munros across Scotland. The highest Munro is Ben Nevis at 4,411 ft making it the highest point in the United Kingdom. We drove past this mountain and never could see the top as it is enveloped in a constant shroud of clouds. Sports and climbing enthusiasts have a challenge to climb them all, thus the sport of Monroe bagging.

Forestry is an industry in the area and whole forests are planted and harvested here. Also wind farms are situated through the country, the massive blades of wind turbines can be seen dotted across the hill tops, ever turning by the constant winds.

We arrived at Portree on the Isle of Skye about dinner time. The village of Portree, situated on the east side of Skye overlooking a sheltered bay, is the capital of, and the largest town on the island. Portree is only about 200 years old and was created as a fishing village at the beginning of the 19th century by the then Lord MacDonald. The name Portree or Port Righ, King’s Port in Gaelic. The village hosts numerous annual events, such as the Portree Show, the Isle of Skye half marathon and the Islands largest event the Skye Highland Games drawing visitors and locals alike.

After a very brief tour of the downtown area Paul dropped us of at our accommodations, a bed and breakfast. The owner was an elderly woman named Kirstie who met us as the door. She was a stern and a bit scary looking woman with a thin frame, gray hair cropped short and unkempt and a strict attitude that immediately commanded our attention. As we exited the bus she called out in her thick Scottish accent, "Party of 4, where are yas?" She sounded like an old spinster school marm scolding us on the second day of class for forgetting our assignment. We quickly grabbed our bags and followed her to our rooms. "You'll find yer towels on the bed, breakfast is 8:00 sharp and if you leave the house make sure and put your room keys on the rack by the door. There'll be no parties and no noise after 10. Good night."

As soon as she departed so did we. We headed out and to the town in search of dinner. Futile search might I add. We though it was bad in Edinburgh but this place was worse. We stopped at every restaurant in the downtown area and were met with "Restaurant full" signs, "Reservations only" and "For hotel guests only". We found one restaurant and stepped inside at the "Wait to be seated" sign and stood there for almost 20 minutes before being told that there the restaurant is for hotel guests only.

We finally found one place open and serving without reservations, Chippies Fish and Chips. Hey that's all I wanted anyways. It was a little outdoor restaurant that had no indoor seating. You ordered at the window and was handed the food through the same when it was ready. Half the tourists in town were there since it was apparently the only place in town we could find something to eat. There were three picnic tables where we ate outdoors and then headed off to the grocery store for a few things before returning to Aunt Helgas Boading House for Wayward Travelers.