Anywho, my whos from whoville, I am finally ready to talk about my fabulous trip to the Isle of Skye and the Scottish Highlands! Now, this trip has been on my personal MUST SEE list from the beginning of the year and I always knew it would happen in the spring, when I imagined the weather to be beautiful (if only I'd known then what I do now. lol). What I didn't imagine was that this would be one of the most amazing trips I've ever taken and definitely the most adventurous! For those of you who know me well, you'll know that, while I appreciate and love nature, I don't regularly climb mountains or engage with it in an up-close and personal way. I'm more of a saw-it-from-the-car-and-that-was-close-enough-for-me-thanx kind of girl. Well if my time in Scotland has taught me anything (it has, btws - I'm getting a degree and everything, provided that I finish my dissertation), it's that maybe I was wrong. So, without further ado...
Day 1:
We rented two cars - one automatic and one stick - for the trip. There were 8 of us on the trip: Tatiana, Natalya and Alyssa - my roomates and Marianthi, Pierrick, Runa and Luisa - my classmates. We went to go pick up the cars at 9 that morning from the airport, where we immediately ran into our first hiccup of the trip. Alyssa was supposed to be driving the automatic car with me (she's from California), but she forgot to bring her license! We had Pierrick as a back-up driver, but because he isn't over 25 it would have cost us 45 pounds per day to add him as a 2nd driver...which left me, driving 700 miles on my own, on the opposite side of the road! Needless to say, I was pretty freaked out by this prospect, but for the sake of the trip, I volunteered as tribute and said I could handle the driving for our car. Once we actually got to the cars and had everything loaded up, we saw how extremely tiny our car was. Honestly, we looked like little sardines jammed in there! So I think I ended up with a pretty good deal in terms of space, since, as the driver, I probably had the most room of anyone! Finally, we were ready to go. We checked out itinerary (lovingly and painstakingly put together by Pierrick), checked our maps (thanks, Marianthi), set our GPS and were on our way to Dunnotar Castle which is about 2 hours drive from Edinburgh. It was the inspiration for the castle used in the movie Brave, so we were excited to see it, plus, it was set right on the coast! When we arrived, we saw the ruins sparkling in the sun, surrounded by hills topped with brilliant yellow flowers, rocky beaches and waterfalls!
We all walked around there for a little over an hour before we decided it was time to head to Inverness! Luckily, for this long leg of the trip (3 hours), we figured out how to make the road trip CDs that I'd made work in the car, so we were accompanied on our journey by 90's pop, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and a ton of indie things no one has ever heard of. It was glorious. Our first stop in Inverness was the Cathedral that sits on the banks of the river Ness (which flows from Loch Ness). We stopped in (oh how I've missed flying buttresses!) and then walked across the river to see Inverness Castle and check out their downtown area, which was beautiful. From there, we got to our final destination of the day - Loch Ness! Now, because it stays light out so late here (there have still be vestiges of light from the sunset in Edinburgh at 12:30 am this past week) we had lost track of time a bit. It was 6 or 7 pm before we arrived at Loch Ness, so we weren't able to go into Urqhart Castle, though the drive from Inverness to Loch Ness provided so many gorgeous views of the lake and surrounding hills/mountains that we didn't care at all. After leaving Loch Ness we settled into our first hostel and played a rousing game of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? before bed!
Day 2:
We woke up early the next morning and began the drive to Skye! Our first stop was Eilean Donan Castle which is an iconic first stop for any Skye trip. The first iterations of the castle were built in the 13th Century and has been revived and used for various purposes ever since - one of which was the site of a Jacobite uprising in the 1700's! The footbridge that leads to the castle and the restored interior is amazing - the bedrooms looked so comfortable I was more than tempted to stay forever! We ate lunch nearby (I had a venison stew that was to die for!) and then continued driving, crossing the Skye Bridge and officially setting foot on the island. Now, the driving on the island was very different to driving on the roads in mainland Scotland (which I got used to pretty quickly)...there is basically one main road that circles Skye and if you want to see anything else, you have to take one-track roads with passing lanes, which meant that there were cars, vans, sheep and cows coming at me head-on as I drove! But that's neither here nor there - our first stop on Skye was another iconic place - the Old Man of Storr, which is a rock formation overlooking a body of water and a beautiful valley. The climb up there (in the rain, of course) was a bit hellish, with a nice path that was basically completely vertical. lol Still, we tromped up there, with some of us still having energy left to jump about (not me, by any means!).
From there, we got a tip from a local about a 'short-cut' we could take through the Quirang which was another beautiful peak, shrouded in mist, curvy roads and magic! It was a beautiful drive and we stopped multiple time for sheep in the road - spring did end up being a good time to go (despite the rain), as we got to see a lot of lambs frolicking alongside the road, as well. We also found time to stop at the Kilt Falls waterfall before heading out to Neist Point Lighthouse. Now, Neist Point was like traveling to the edge of the earth. It was so remote and so wild-feeling that you felt as if you were alone in the world walking down to the cliff and the lighthouse itself. There was no tourism infrastructure in place there, you literally just park the car, walk down a rusted-out old stairway on the side of a cliff surrounded by sheep and crest another small cliff to see the lighthouse at the end of the journey. I don't know what that lighthouse would be signalling to besides ghosts, though, to be honest - it felt that remote and eerily silent out there (besides the wind whistling in your ears, of course). That was a long and stressful day of driving, but all of the stops were totally worth the heart attacks I had around every turn. Plus, we were rewarded with a great hostel in Portree and a scrumptious dinner at a local Indian restaurant.
Day 3:
Everyone's constitutions were weakened considerably that morning. We had been rained on a number of times the day before and the numerous hill climbs had most of our leg muscles slowly turning to dust (with the possible exception of Pierrick who goes to the gym every second - we hate him for this - but who was sickish that morning anyway). So we left a bit late and went to our first stop of the day: The Fairy Pools! Now, this was my favorite part of the whole trip, even though it involved more walking on the hills. This time, we were jumping over creeks, climbing rocks like mountain goats, and seeing some of the most breathtaking waterfalls I've ever seen. It didn't hurt that a mountain loomed over us the whole time, covered in mist, either! Now, the fairy pools are supposed to be magic - obviously - and the brave swim. Well, Runa and Pierrick both swam that morning - completely disregarding the cold outside, the freezing temperatures of the water itself, and the wind and rain that followed after they got out! Still, we admired their insanity/bravery and took many, many embarrassing photos of them with the delight only earned by true friends in these situations. :) On our hike back to the cars, the clouds that had been threatening us all morning finally opened up and drenched us all completely. Even drenched, climbing a hill, and freezing...it was one of the best experiences of my whole life.
We drove from the fairy pools (near Glenbrittle) down to the edge of Skye and closer to the mainland where we visited Clan Donald castle and visitor center. They had a really great museum and the gardens surrounding the castle ruins were gorgeous. In that case, the rain made the colors even more vibrant and beautiful and upped the castle's goth factor, as well. We drove the cars onto a ferry for the return journey to the mainland and then motored on, heading for Glenfinnan. Now, I can't express how happy I was to see the bridge made famous in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets during the flying car scene! It was SO cool and, as the world knows, I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan, so you can all imagine me geeking out there! We also walked across the street, where the Glenfinnan Monument is!
Day 4:
On our last day, we were ready to return to the lowlands and our drive back took us through Glencoe. Again, (I know I sound like a broken record here, but REALLY), there were amazing mountain views and lochs galore. The weather was completely schizophrenic that day, going from blazing sun to rain and cold within the span of a few minutes, but we were lucky enough to get some really beautiful pictures and see some already unique landscapes in unique lights!
We stopped at Loch Lubnaig on the return journey, as well, which I'd been past on my day trip to Oban earlier this year. It was winter then and we didn't get to stop, so I was happy to see that it was just as gorgeous in spring as I had imagined it would be. Our final stop was Linlithgow Palace, a mere half hour outside of Edinburgh and former home to Stewart kings from the 15th and 16th century. It was situation on a loch (of course) and accompanied by a beautiful chapel.
Overall, the trip was truly spectacular and my feeble brain wasn't nearly big enough to remember all the details or all of the incredibly beautiful things I saw over the course of these four days! What I do know is that I had a fabulous time, with fabulous friends, and I'm so glad I got to make this dream a reality! Thanks again to everyone on the trip for coming and making it so memorable!
