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Published: December 14th 2009
Erbusaig and Plockton
Slept in a bit today - yay! We had breakfast at the Tingle Creek Hotel as it was included in the rate. I had Scotch pancakes, they were yummy but a bit sweet and the ‘maple’ syrup was more like honey than traditional maple syrup. I met a cute and talkative black kitty in the hotel parking lot when we were leaving.
We headed north up the coast from Erbusaig to village of Plockton. The picturesque village is at the seaward end of Loch Carron. This small loch side hamlet is an idyllic place. A row of neatly painted cottages hugs the shoreline following the curve of the tiny harbor. Palm trees line the main street and the whole picture is framed by a craggy landscape of heather and pine. Plockton is also a haven for artists. We had decided to come here because one of the guidebooks said it was the prettiest village in Scotland, it was nice, but maybe more lively in the summer. We arrived around 10am, and it was really quiet. Mom stayed in the car while I walked around and took some photos. There was another adorable black kitty named Miss Molly
walking down the sidewalk. She totally ignored me as I tried to get a photo of her showing the white rings on her tail. Some people going into the house next door told me her name.
We thought to continue north to Stromeferry stopping at Craig Rare Breeds Farm on the way. The road was a teeny single track that was also really, really hilly. I had to back up several times to let someone pass. We found the farm, but the parking was at the top of a steep driveway and we couldn’t tell if they were even open, so we decided to skip it. I reprogrammed the GPS to go to Eilean Donan Castle in Dornie. It actually wasn’t far, maybe 15-20 minutes. The day was turning out to be gorgeous, warm and sunny about 16 Celsius.
Eilean Donan Castle
What a fabulous place and castle this is!! By far one of the best we’ve seen so far. The setting is just beautiful on a little island reached by a long bridge from the mainland. This is the first place we’ve ran into a big crowd at. The parking lot is loaded with coaches and there are
tons of people! When we got to Eilean Donan there was the cutest little dog running around with his owner. He looked like a Jack Russell Terrier cross - the dog not the owner! His name was Jack and he kept running down to the Loch and wading out and swimming around.
We spent quite a bit of time here exploring all the rooms open to the public and the grounds. The bottom floor was set up to show how the castle looked in medieval times and the upper floors are as the family left them after renovating the ruins back around 1912. The renovation was really well done. Eilean Donan is Scottish Gaelic for Island of Donan and is a small island in Loch Duich. It lies about half a mile from the village of Dornie. Eilean Donan is named after St. Donan, a celtic saint martyred in the Dark Ages.
On the way out we asked a family to take a photo of me and mom and they ended up being from Syracuse, NY - too funny - what are the chances of asking some random people in Scotland and they end up being from the next
state over from Massachusetts! They were really nice people and I ended up having quite a conversation with the mom as she had broken her elbow a couple years ago, so we swapped elbow injury stories. From here we decided to head to the next place we are staying the Glengarry Castle Hotel. There is a ruin on the grounds, so we figured we would just head there.
As one of the most iconic images of Scotland, Eilean Donan is recognised all around the world. Situated on an island at the point where three great sea lochs meet, and surrounded by some majestic scenery, it is little wonder that the castle is now one of the most visited and important attractions in the Scottish highlands. Although first inhabited around the 6th century, the first fortified castle was built in the mid 13th century and stood guard over the lands of Kintail. Since then, at least four different versions of the castle have been built and re-built as the feudal history of Scotland unfolded through the centuries.
Partially destroyed in a Jacobite uprising in 1719, Eilean Donan lay in ruins for the best part of 200 years until Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911 and proceeded to restore the castle to its former glory. After 20 years of toil and labour the castle was re-opened in 1932. Today, you can explore nearly every part of the castle, and enjoy a journey through the history of the area.
From: http://www.eileandonancastle.com/
Glengarry Castle Hotel
Along the way we crossed over a mountain pass. We saw a sign for a scenic overlook called the Glengarry Viewpoint and decided to stop. There was a man in full Scottish dress - kilt, bagpipes - the whole thing. We figure he was busking as he had a table set up and looked like he was posing with people for money at the pass. Mom isn’t very stealthy with the camera and couldn’t manage a photo. I gave it a try from my side of the car (we were parked), but I didn’t have the right angle. It was also really windy and cloudy at the pass, so we didn’t hang around too long. The viewpoint overlooks Loch Garry which from this angle is said to look like a map of Scotland. I’ll take their word for it.
We got to Glengarry
Castle Hotel in Invergarry which turned out to be easy to find. Invergarry Castle ruins are right at the top of the driveway leading to the hotel, but they are currently under renovation by Historic Scotland and is fenced off and covered by scaffolding. I guess renovations of these properties are ongoing, but it seems to be happening at a lot of the properties on our itinerary. Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed at Invergarry Castle after the battle of Culloden. I’m beginning to think he and Mary Queen of Scots spent all their time running around visiting people and sleeping in their beds as it seems almost every place we go one or both of them stayed at! We are absolutely starving so we grabbed some sandwiches and sat in the beautiful hotel lounge. This is a fabulous hotel!!
It is not certain when the first structure was erected on Creagan an Fhithich but there are sites of at least two prior to the present Castle. The present structure was designed on the "L" plan, with a round tower at the north-east angle. The main building rose to five and the angle tower to six storeys in height. The hall, 
baby sheep
at Glengarry Castle Hotelon the first floor, measured 44 by 20 feet.
Prince Charles Edward Stuart- "Bonnie Prince Charlie" - visited the Castle in 1745, shortly after the raising of the Royal Standard at Glenfinnan and is said to have rested there after his defeat at Culloden, in 1746. The redcoats of "Butcher" Cumberland burned it in 1746 after the Battle of Culloden but the stout walls refused to yield and have survived the centuries to serve as a reminder to their glorious past.
The Chief during the late 18th and early 19th centuries was Alasdair Ranaldson MacDonell, the subject of a famous portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn, which now hangs in the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh. This chief is said to have been Sir Walter Scott's prototype for Fergus MacIvor, a principal character in his novel "Waverley".
Glengarry Castle Hotel is a comfortable country house hotel with a jewel of a setting on the shores of Loch Oich, which lies between Loch Ness and Loch Lochy at the heart of the Great Glen in the Highlands of Scotland. Invergarry Castle was the seat of the Chiefs of the MacDonells of Glengarry, a powerful branch of the Clan MacDonald. It was burned down
baby sheep
at Glengarry Castle Hotel in 1654 by General Monk, then re-built c.1660-1665. After the 1745 uprising Invergarry Castle was sacked and partially destroyed by troops under "Butcher"
Cumberland as part of the systematic suppression of the Highlands.
Edward "Bear" Ellice (1781-1863) was a Director of the Hudson Bay Company, which traded throughout the Americas. His son Edward Ellice (1810-1880) later became deputy governor of the company. He added the Glengarry portion of the estate, including Invergarry and lands, to his Glenquoich holding in 1860.
Invergarry House, later re-named Glengarry Castle Hotel, was built in 1866-1869 by celebrated architect David Bryce for Edward Ellice Jnr. Each David Bryce house or project was unique, but used elements drawn from a familiar repertoire including canted bay windows and turelles - small round towers. An unusual feature in Invergarry House is the Canadian pitch-pine panelling which dominates the entrance hall.
From its completion in 1869, Invergarry House was occupied by the Ellice family until 1923, subsequently by Sir Fredrick Wills, Sir Mortimer Singer and W. V Goodbody. It then passed into the possession of the Hydro-Electric Board until purchased by the three Cameron sisters of whom one remains joint owner.
From: http://www.glengarry.net/index.php
Mom decided to
Sheep mama
at Glengarry Castle Hotel stay in our room and I went out to explore the hotel grounds - it has 60 acres! First I walked around the back of the hotel to the pasture where they keep the sheep. I was finally able to get a couple decent shots of them instead of the backsides as they run away. I guess these sheep are more used to people and are less skittish. Then I walked down the path to the loch and took a left and followed it the length of the loch. There was a lone sailboat on the loch and it was really just peaceful and lovely. Until a fighter jet went screaming overhead at low altitude! It was past me so quickly I got one blurry photo and that was it. At one point about halfway I passed through a gate into the same sheep pasture. I walked back through the sheep pasture to the house and got a few more shots of the sheep included one of a mama and her teeny adorable baby lamb. I didn’t notice the baby at first and was wondering why the ewe was giving me the hairy eyeball! I quickly backed off to a
sheep again
at Glengarry Castle Hotel non threatening distance and just used a longer lens.
When I came back in, I used the hotels computer to check e-mails and such. The computer is set up in a small turret room which I thought was kind of strange besides being absolutely freezing. I also checked the weather and found a Vodafone store in Inverness so we can buy more minutes for the mobile phone.
We checked out the dinner menu earlier and its all stuff we really didn’t like, lots of game again. They were really accommodating and offered to make us steak instead. I’m just not very adventurous food wise. We had prepaid for dinner, so this was really nice of them to do. Dinner was 4 courses so I passed on dessert as I was too full. They don’t serve tea (just coffee) in the dining room so we had to move to the library so mom could have her tea. I thought that was really weird. Mom found a Trivial Pursuit game in the library and insisted we were going to play. Ha - the joke was on her however because the game was the UK version and she didn’t know any
sheep
at Glengarry Castle Hotel of the answers! I wish they had Scrabble - that would have been fun.
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