Lambs and laundry

This is our second night in Portree, on the Isle of Skye, which happens to be very close to the ends of the earth.  Our room at the lovely Rosedale Hotel overlooks the harbor.  The bathroom window provides us with a view of several boats moored quite near.  It is unusual for us Fresno girls to have such an incredible view from the toilet. 

In addition to the view and proximity to the harbor, we delight in the shower with its easy on and off water valve.  Have we mentioned yet that our previous rooms either did not have a shower, or had a crazy silver button on the side of the valve to push to get hot water.  Now, this little button was not a guarantee that we would receive hot water, no-no.... it was just a request.  We might start the shower with hot water, but it was subject to change at any moment.  And, this particular shower had a dam (the little lip that ensures the water doesn't run out onto the floor) about 2" deep....and a poor drainage system.  Thank goodness for extra towels. 

We have a much longer story to tell about our electric outlet challenges, but that will have to wait for an evening when I have much more time.  Needless to say, we have brought and bought several converter plugs and appliances.  Stay tuned for that little tale.

Today, we set off from the village of Portree and headed north up the coast of the Isle of Skye.  Did I mention that it is at the ends of the earth?  Oh yes.  This is the place where Flora MacDonald hid Bonnie Prince Charlie from the Brits way back in the 1700s, until he sailed off to France.  Not a bad place to hide because back then, the only way to the Isle of Skye was by boat.  The bridge from Scotland to the Isle of Skye wasn't built until much later.  For years and years, the only way over here was via ferry.  When they decided to build the bridge many people were actually unhappy because it put many people out of work.   Electricity didn't get here until 1958.  Flora is a huge hero for saving the life of their Bonnie Prince.  She is buried in the Village of Uig.

If you look beyond her grave, you can see that yes, the Isle of Skye is at the ends of the earth.

One of the highlights of today was this sweet little lamb.  He was baa-baa-baaing for his mother, who since it is fairly close to weaning time, didn't pay much attention to him.  The lambs are wooly and clean.  The ewes are tattered looking as they shed their winter coats.  You can see him hiding behind the his mother.

So off we went to the top of a hill to get a good look of the valley that leads down to the ocean.  Next to the car park (parking lot) was a little shack offering the most amazing fair.  How many times in your life do you get a chance to order up a zebra burger?  Or a kangeroo burger?  All served with a fresh crispy salad for only 3.95 pounds.  Unfortunately, no one in our tour group took the challenge so we cannot report back on the food rating.

Although the second half of today's tour headed over to the west coast of the Isle of Skye, we opted out and choose to catch up on our laundry instead.  We paid 3 pounds and 40 pence (about $5) to wash a load and 20 pence for 4 minutes to dry, which worked out to take about 200 pence (about $3).  But, hey our clothes are clean and it is like a fresh start.

Tomorrow we head back to Edinburgh by way of Glen Coe, the Great Glen.  This will be the last day of our 5-day tour with Rabbie's tours and our driver, Liam, who just happens to look pretty damn good in his kilt.