Blogs from Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 3

In the morning of our full day on the Isle of Skye, it was cloudy and drizzling and foggy. But, we were told the weather would steadily improve over the course of the day, and it did. We started by driving up the eastern coast of the island, listening to (probably exaggerated) folktales about the history of the Highlands and Islands and their relationship with that funny little island just a stone's throw west over the water. I am referring, of course, to Ireland. But more on that next week. We stopped by a river that had supposedly been enchanted by fairies to keep humans young. The myth was that if you stick your face in the water for seven seconds, you will regain some of your youthful energy. (It was at this point that our ... read more

This morning the sky was pale eggshell blue and not dark with rain clouds. From our window we could see the shining waters of the loch reflecting little boats and hills: truly a morning to be glad about. The plan today was to drive around the southern part of Skye, stopping wherever we wished and taking as long as we wanted. This being Scotland, we found beautiful views around every corner so our cameras were kept busy. The two lane highway we took quickly became a narrow one lane road with frequent passing places, all well signposted. The most successful approach was to pause at each passing place just in case, then drive to the next, keeping an eye out for oncoming traffic. In most cases we were able to meet at a suitable passing place, ... read more

Our first visit to Kylerhea had been a short one, and we decided to go back before we left Scotland. This time, we drove to Glenelg and took the turntable ferry. There were two other cars, a handful of passengers, and two elderly collies who romped and barked on the slipway. A crewman collected our fare and told us the story of the ferry. It used to be privately owned, but has been run as a community project for six years. When the Skye bridge from Kyle was first opened, he said, that bridge was owned by an American company, which charged a toll of £5.40 each way. A lot of people used the ferries instead. But the bridge is now free and the Kylerhea ferry ceased to be commercially viable. On the short crossing, we ... read more

There's a ferry from Sconser on Skye to the isle of Raasay. We arrived at the jetty to find that we'd just missed the 1130 sailing, and the timetable showed a wait of 90 minutes for the next. That would leave us too little time before the last return boat, so we decided to save Raasay for another day. Instead, we toured the north of Skye by car. From a clifftop viewing point, we looked down on the remnants of buildings in which diatomite was stored and dried? This white mineral was used in the 19th Century for insulating ships' boilers, filtration of beer and in the manufacture of gunpowder. We stopped for coffee in a small cafe next to a community-run shop near Staffin Bay. In the passageway between the two, on the door to ... read more

On Saturday morning, there's a bright light shimmering on Loch Long, but a mist descends and we set off in rain. The sky beyond Kyle looks brighter, so we decide to cross to Skye in search of better weather. As it's still overcast, we make first for Dunvegan Castle, home to the 30th Chief of Clan Macleod and one of the oldest inhabited castles in Scotland. Among the exhibits is the framed remnant of the Fairy Flag, said to date back to the 4th to 7th Centuries and to be made from Middle Eastern silk. According to legend, a nursemaid briefly left her charge in a room on an upper floor of the castle and when she returned, the babe was swaddled in the flag and being watched over by a fairy. The visitors' book contains ... read more