Isle of Skye

Aaah, another long day of driving, hopping out of the caravan bus, dashing about to see the sights, hopping back on the caravan bus and more driving.  We left Inverness this morning and arrived in Portree on the Isle of Skye this afternoon at 6:30PM.  We saw rain and we saw sunshine.  We saw a castle, sheep, Highland cows (they say Hay-land Coo), a glen, too many Lochs (lakes) to count and a few Firths (Estuaries). 

This is one of the glens.  It almost looks like Grace has been Photo-shopped into the photo.  Gorgeous sweeping view with surreal clouds.

Can you believe this is real?  It looks like a painted mural.

"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."

We spent about an hour going through the public areas of the castle.  A portion of it is still a seasonal residence for the MacRae-Gilstrap family.  We were able to see the Great Room (sorry no photos allowed), a faux-kitchen from the 1920's (we snuck in a photo of a dead goose, see photo to the right), and a bed chamber with sitting areas and dressing areas.  The bed chamber has a little cupboard in the sitting alcove.  The docent said it was used to store the chamberpot until the maid came and checked to see if it was full.  He said having it enclosed cut down on the smell.  Considering that the castle was rebuilt in the late 1920's, it seems odd that they would keep the poop cupboard in tack.

As we walked out of the castle, there was a little cockatiel parrot kind of bird sitting on the stone wall.  He was chirping his little heart out and everyone stopped to take his photo.  All he needed was a little tin cup to collect some coins.

Grace and I think he must be someone's pet.  He was so tame and we were able to get very close. 

The town of Portree was once a herring fishing village that was subsidized by the government, but the herring industry died out from over fishing.  The locals continue to fish, but the majority of the fish here are farmed salmon.  There are huge, unmanned floating fisheries in the middle of the bay.  Evidently, the fish food is dispensed automatically and the fishermen just show up to harvest the salmon.

We are still getting used to the 11:00PM sunset.  It is 10:27PM and there is still some day left.  The long, long days would be a child's dream come true.  Mom says, "Come on home when it starts getting dark."   However, for us it feels like we just managed to get dinner and now must go to bed.  Tomorrow is another full day of sightseeing.  The Isle of Skye beckons....