Hairy Cooes, Armadale, and Wind

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OVER THE SEA TO SKYE (VARIANT)

Sing me a song of a lad that is gone
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul, he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye

Mull was astern, Rum was on port
Eigg on the starboard bow
Glory of youth glowed in his soul
Where is that glory now?

Give me again all that was there
Give me the sun that shone
Give me the eyes, give me the soul
Give me the lad that's gone

Billow and breeze, islands and seas
Mountains of rain and sun
All that was good, all that was fair
All that was me is gone

words by Robert Louis Stevenson

I sang this song in choir in my last year of high school. It always sounded mystical and wistful, and in my research of places to hike in Scotland, this one came up. The pictures and descriptions of Skye were of a breathtakingly beautiful island. We decided to make this our last trip in the UK. We hired a car for this occasion, as there would be limited options for visiting Skye; In 1995, a bridge was built to link Skye to the mainland--which is a good thing, because in the winter, ferries do not run as frequently as they do in the summer. Skye businesses make most of their money in the summer--tourism is a main source of income. Also, for those of you who saw it, the film "Stardust" was partially filmed on the Isle of Skye.


But before heading off to the misty isle, we spent the night in a posh castle on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I think we had been so busy with other travels and new jobs and packing that I was not sure what I was expecting. I was thinking that it would be some place dank, dark, cold, and grey.

The Dalhousie Castle was anything but that. The room was large and well lit. The room contained only a single window, but it wasn't the narrow slit that would allow archers to shoot at an approaching enemy, but rather one from whcih people could watch a hunting party. We had a great view of the Falconry down below. A large flat screen TV hung in the corner. We felt like the Prince and Princess of Scotland.

In the evening, we walked down to the Orangery for dinner. The Orangery is a relatively modern sunroom built onto the side of the castle. After a bottle of wine, a steak, a tasty haggis, fish, and a digestive, we retired to our royal chambers where a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice waited for us.

The next morning, at 7:59am, we received a call from the guest house in Skye asking us if we could come later, as they would be gone to Inverness till 6pm. after breakfast, where Jason ate more haggis, we took a walk around the grounds, and watched the owls fly down at the Falconry. We finally left the peace and quiet of the castle, for more peace and quiet on the road to the Isle of Skye, with the BBC Scotland playing some highland tunes as the soundtrack for this day.

We arrived in Skye in the main village on the island, Port Tree (Port righ) fairly late in the evening. We chose Portree because it was a good location to access hikes. We found a restaurant open that served fresh fish.

As is our custom on the first morning anywhere, we slept in a little bit before settling down to a traditional Scottish breakfast, complete with fish (for Jason) and porridge with Bailey's irish cream for me. We picked up some coffee and sandwiches at the local cafe before heading out for a walk. The day was grey and windy. Gusts they were. But we were determined to hike down to the site where the Scottish giant fought the Irish giant. We drove through the island, rolling hills covered in orange, green, and dark red heather. Sheep and Highland "Hairy cooes" dotted the landscape. There was hardly anyone on the road.

We arrived at our destination. Now, the thing about walks in the UK is that they are like walk/hikes. We may start off on a farm, walk up a cliff, through the village, turn left at the pub, down another country road, and up a craggy mountain overlooking the sea below. This walk started out on a farm. It had been raining the night before, and our hiking boots were almost ankle deep in mud and cow crap. In fact, in order to get to the trail, we would have to navigate around the cows (not the cute ones , either), who were enjoying. their lunch. As we slushed our way down towards the cliff, the wind blew relentlessly. We stopped and took a few more pictures before deciding to turn back and explore more of the island. We stoped in several villages along the way, each one windier than the next. Still, with the highland mist coming and going, white houses with black roofs dotting the hills, and the sheep leading the way, we could not help but be charmed by the Isle of Skye.

After another hearty meal at the local pub, we were decidedly tired and wanted to rest up for the next day's walk. We were hoping for a bit of traditional Scottish music, but were informed that tourist season does not officially start until Easter. Which explains why we were the only Americans tourists in town that week.

Sun greeted us the next day, but it also meant the temperatures went from the comfortable 10-11 degrees we were enjoying to about 1 degree. All the same, we stopped by Cafe Arriba for more hot delicious coffee and take away sandwiches. Today's walk would take us along more cliffs and dip back down into the town we started from. The walk started off comfortably enough, and soon gloves and jackets were shed, as we made our way up the heathery cliffs. Our guidebook instructed us to follow the sheep paths, and we wouldn't get lost. It is a different way to walk, but we had fun interpreting the instructions anyway. As we paused for a moment on the cliff, we glimpsed emerald green water below. A light misty rain began to fall as we made our way back through the swampy heather. We could not get enough of the scenery--the wind swept cliffs, the vast ocean below. We were the only two people out there.

We made it back to the car, where we savoured hummous sandwiches, crisps, and fruit before planning our route back to Edinburgh. On our way, I wished and wished that I could have one more glimpse of the Highland cows--I just thought they were so cute with their floppy bangs, long hair, and unusual horns. As we drove, I was beginning to think that I would not see another one, as we passed dozens of sheep and regular cows. And then, as we got into a driving rythm, there they were: the Scottish cows. Jason quickly pulled over on the side of the road. I practically ran over to the cows, smiling as I saw them--a black one, a brown one, a baby one. They regarded us from underneath their bangs (or fringe as they call it in the UK), and then slowly made there way over to us. I wondered if we should have brought them a carrot or apple, but then we realised that we didn't know if cows ate those things. There was one particularly friendly brown bull--he was a character! The black one was more shy, and the sheep were all trying to get the attention away from the cows. Jason reached carefully over the fence to the character bull, who sniffed him curiously. He looked after us with his big brown eyes as we got back into the car--I think he wanted us to stay a bit longer! But we had to get back onto the road so that we would be in Edinburgh by 9.

We were only a day away from Jason getting on the flight back to the U.S.

We did stop at a few more villages along the way. Most of the village shops, cafes, and restaurants were closed until Easter, but we did find one town--Armadale- with a petrol station and a few craft and pottery shops open.The particular pottery shop, Bay Pottery, we visited was on the end of the pier. The pottery is inspired by the island, in a way--blue, grey, earthy....the potter there had lived and worked on the Isle of Skye for eight years. She explained to us that all winter long she created pottery that she would sell out of during the summer. The winter was her time, she told us, to do what she was most passionate about, and to be re-inspired. I only wished I had one passion to focus so intently on like that. We bought a few functional pieces before moving on to our destination.

We arrived in Edinburgh rather late and exhausted. Our room was in a row of elegant guest houses, with equally elegant rooms to match--

And then the early morning ride to the airport that would take us back to Heathrow airport. Even though the flight from Edinburgh was only 55 minutes, we received full breakfast on the flight! Check-in went smoothly (as it always does in Europe), and we had a leisurely lunch after Jason checked his bags. Finally, it was time for him to go through security and for me to board the RailAir bus to Reading to collect the rest of my belongings.

Only 26 more days to go.

*There will be a couple of more blogs published where the trips actually took place a couple of months back--all were memorable, though, and we wanted to share them with you!

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Photos

Dalhousie Castle
Our royal residence

Would somebody tell...
...these sheep that this road is for cars

It was windy...
on the Isle of Skye

A rest on the way to
Maol na h-Airde

Cute Highland cow
This one had a character

Another Highland Cow
and a sheep

Dalhousie Castle
This really is a just a few miles from Edinburgh

Archer's Tower?
We found this defensive tower near our castle

Haggis
Haggis is generally some combination of sheep heart, liver, or lungs minced with vegetables and cooked in a sheep's stomach. Although, there is a vegetarian version.

Falcon
There was a falconry at Dalhousie Castle

Flying lesson
At the falconery, people could experience how to handle an owl or a hawk

Comments

[everett]

(none)
How can they make a vegetarian version of Hagis? That intrigues me.

[Seeking Nirvana]

Haggis
I can't imagine that it would taste any better....well maybe it would. The casing is manmade (not made out of man), and it is made with lentils, oats, kidney beans, seasonings, etc.....they say it has a better flavour and texture than haggis itself! Go figure!