Blogs from Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 9

“Have you ever had a goatee?” “No, but I had a goat once.” Sitting in Inverness a month on from the start of my trip, I still loved the lively buzz of mixed-up conversations and the crazy characters to be encountered in hostel lounges. The night of the above quotation, I gave up on my guide books and bus timetables, unable to resist the semi-surreal exchange of carefully pronounced English, fuelled by an equal parts mixture of goodwill, vodka and Irn-Bru. As it turned out, my input was unnecessary and my onward travel pre-ordained. Having landed on my feet in randomly picking one of Scotland’s Top Hostels (the name of the chain, but coincidentally true) what should be more natural than that it turn out to be a part of the MacBackpackers group, with their url=http:/ ... read more

Well! Day 2 commenced at 9:00. I'd slept well the night before at the hostel (no one snoring in the room this time!) so I was ready to go. It was a little chilly, but then it's usually a little chilly up here, so I didn't think anything of it. The bus stopped to gas up, and then we were off. Our first stop was at the river Sligachan. The story goes that if you dunk your face under the water, you'll become eternally beautiful and youthful...until you have a drink of whisky. We all dipped our faces under, even me. Surprisingly, it wasn't that cold! Of course, our bus full of beautiful people was undermined that afternoon by the bottle of punch passed around, but still. It was nice while it lasted. ;) We stopped ... read more

Rare sightings! Hello, Audrey here, These past two mornings I have heard and had a brief glimpse of pre - dawn activity, never known to me before on a cruise. It starts with a ringing bell, I believe a phone alarm, and almost instantly after I spy a creature rushing from the cabin with video camera. This level of activity is repeated some time later, when the creature Lynne returns clutching a cup of tea for me. Under normal circumstances successfully persuading Lynne to get up is as about as easy as asking a limpet to leave a rock, and mornings can start with horrible threats. It can only be Lynne's infectious love of the Scottish Islands that does it. She has been a brilliant guide for Jonathan and I. Now I know the best ... read more

Monday, August 6th - Isle of Skye: I don’t really remember what we did on this day during the morning, so I’ll just go off of the brochure notes: “A full day on Skye to absorb the breathtaking scenery of this spectacular and history-steeped isle. Explore Portree, the tiny island capital, then visit remote Dunvegan Castle, seat of the chiefs of Clan MacLeod since 1200, and learn of connections with Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora MacDonald. Take in the views of the Cullin Hills on the way back to Broadford.” So, yeah, there you go. We looked at scenery and the fact that it was “history steeped” probably explains my lack of memory. I do remember Dunvegan castle (because it had the word “vegan” in it and that made me smirk and think of ... read more

Relatively speaking, I was on home soil for this trip, and acting as a tour companion for a couple who had flown in from the Far East to take in the sights and sounds of this Scottish gem which many a seasoned traveller sings the praises of. Driving to Skye from home in Yorkshire was, in terms of journey time, something akin to a long-haul flight, and it therefore came as no surprise that the first port of call on the island was to be Kyleakin, a stone's throw from Skye bridge. My newly-purchased satnav took us to the guest house's doorstep, which was as convenient as you could have asked for, and first impressions of the island were as pleasant as any member of our mini tour party could have hoped for. The B and ... read more