Posted on

Scottish Highlands – Day 3 (the road to Isle of Skye)

Today was an awesome and busy day! After a quick breakfast I hit the breathtakingly beautiful road to Isle of Skye. First stop was Eilean Donan Castle, which was pretty cool. It was low tide so you could walk out onto the moss and seaweed and get some great photos. Then I crossed Skye Bridge and made my way down the white knuckle one lane road (still accommodating 2 way traffic) to Elgol Beach, which is a super cool rock beach. I had to skip the boat tour to go back on that intensely stressful one lane for two road, and made a stop at the old Sligachan Bridge. Then, I headed out to the Fairy Pools of Glenbrittle. Spoiler alert: They are WAY smaller than they look on post cards and promotional material 😂 Still, the walk up the mountain and back is glorious, I really didn’t want to leave! I had to though, so after shooing the sheep away from the parking area so we could get back to our cars, I headed out to Portree. It was dark by that point, so I had to keep braking for sheep and deer, but I managed to get to my really old school B&B and settle in for the night. More beautiful Skye scenery tomorrow!

Posted on

Scottish Highlands – Day 2 (Loch Ness)

I found Nessie!! Well, okay, maybe not THE Nessie but a Nessie. Plus there were some at “Nessieland” to pose with too and they had very friendly faces. Today I had a delicious Scottish pancake breakfast then went on a boat tour around Loch Ness. It was one more geared towards science and research and less about the mythical monster…except for when it came to disproving its existence, that is. After the boat tour I went to the Loch Ness Centre and walked through their movie shows (also partly aimed at yelling in tourist’s faces “IT’S NOT REAL!”) Then I drove to Urquhart Castle and spent a long time there just appreciating the view. Afterwards, I followed a lead to some Scottish cattle and calfs and ahhhhhh they are so shaggy and dirty and smelly I love them! Bet they’d taste good, too.🍴 Afterwards I went back to the B&B for dinner and a couple drinks.

The next 3 days are going to be an Isle of Skye nonstop marathon, like 12 hour days debating if I even want to waste time showering, lol. Wish me luck!

Posted on

Edinburgh Day 3/Scottish Highlands Day 1

Oof, what a stressful day.  It started out fine, I slept in and leisurely packed my bags to check out at 11am.  Then I went to the café and filled out postcards and mailed them then walked to the train station where Enterprise is located for my pickup.  I was there early, so I went ahead and did the paperwork then hung around for a bit until the car was ready.  They misquoted me on the car price and wanted to add almost another $100 to my bill so I argued with them for a while before giving up and deciding I’d figure it out later when I get back and have more time. On top of that, I had reserved a small economy car and they gave me a big ass, brand new 2019 SUV type car, and maneuvering it around the narrow streets is a nightmare.  I hit a bollard just trying to get out of the parking lot and bumped a couple curbs trying to get out of Edinburgh because it barely fits through anything in the narrow streets!  Fortunately none of that seems to have done any damage.  FYI it’s not a good idea to pick up your rental car from a major metropolitan area with super crazy traffic. In hindsight I should have taken a train to the airport and picked it up there. Lessons learned! I did successfully get out of town with only three people honking at me for driving slow and/or not knowing roundabouts, but no accidents.  It was funny though because when I got to the Highlands another car pulled out into my lane, obviously used to driving on the right, and came at me head on. I saw him and slowed down and sympathized with him after seeing the look on his face once he realized.  Once I got out of town driving got a lot easier, it was a long but uneventful drive up to and through Inverness, and I made it down Loch Ness to Benleva Hotel Bed and Breakfast in Kilmore.  Once I checked in I went to the lounge and ate some delicious mac and cheese and the best garlic bread I ever had.  I crashed out pretty quickly after that. I’ll be hunting sea monsters tomorrow!