Skye

Our original destination had been to Dunvegan Castle, but we decided to go around the western peninsula first to see the sights, so that we could get gas in Portree. The day was a bit rainy and misty, but the drive was nice. It was quite like a moonscape, with few trees, but at least it was green. Portree was a great little town, with nice small houses of varying colors, and a lot of trees for a change. We didn't stop,but instead found ourselves once more on our favorite - the one lane road.

The rain just got worse as we went up the peninsula - we couldn't see a well-known rock formation, Old Man of Storr, because of the mist. We stopped at another rock formation, Kilt Rock, a cliff of basalt columns. Skye is known for its impressive geographical formation, left over from a rather violent volcanic origin, as well as its trove of dinosaur fossils, so, having missed the first formation, it was nice to be able to see the second, even if it was a bit difficult to see. The wind was so bad we had to repark in order to open the doors, and the rain was horizontal at this point, but it was a nice view as far as the weather allowed.

We stopped a little further on at the Staffin Museum to see dinosaur fossils, but it was closed, so we went instead to the local market for some tea and hot chocolate. Even the locals were commenting on the weather as they came in, so we went out, warmed up for a moment, and pressed on further, rather damp at this point. The sheep we passed didn't look to pleased either.

The weather was more and more intense as we came around the peninsula, but there were plenty of sheep, and very nice surroundings - high, dramatic mountains and lush green fields. Clearly it was mostly farming communities up here. There was a castle on the map, so we stopped there at the edge of the peninsula—getting out was an adventure again, and we didn't stay too long because of the wind and horizontal rain; we couldn't get all the way out to the castle anyways, as it was unstable, but it was neatly perched on the edge of a cliff, and looked dramatic against the sea behind amid all the rain.

We didn't stop again on the peninsula. At the very tip we passed a rather mournful palm tree, and further on a group of thatched huts, but who knows what they were - at that point I was just ready to be dry. We finally made it to the other side of the peninsula to the town of Uig, from which the ferry to the Western Isles leaves. The main road (two lanes at last) picked up again, and we made it back down to the central part of the island. Turning right, we headed for Dunvegan Castle, owned by the MacLeod clan.

Due to our adventures at the ruined castle, we were pretty much soaked, so it was nice to stop and have a bite to eat and some tea before entering the castle grounds itself. The castle, still in use, does not appear very medieval on the outside, except its general shape; it has been restored to suit modern standards, and there was work going on while we were there as well. The inside, however, was quite a nice little museum tracing the clan's history. Some of the guides seemed fairly new and unfamiliar, and we learned later that there had recently been a large downscaling of the staff, resulting in the loss of a number of older and more experienced employees, which is too bad. There were, however, informative sheets on each of the rooms; despite a number of grammatical errors throughout, they were quite interesting. Eventually we made our way to some rooms with glass cases filled with various artifacts from the clan's history, which was probably my favorite room. They had a ceremonial drinking horn, a large ornate cup from Ireland, a delicately decorated box from India brought back by a clan member and even a piece of carved masonry from the ruined castle we had just seen on the peninsula. Maybe the most interesting part of the exhibit, though, was a case laid out with photographs, articles and a signed guestbook documenting the queen's visit to the castle for the coming of age ceremony of the current clan chief.

After some more touring of the castle, we debated going back to Portree to visit some shops before they closed at 5, but despite the bad weather, we decided to quickly see the castle grounds first. The gardens were very beautiful, even in the rain and wind; there were many trees impressively covered with lichen, and the walled garden was quite nice as well. I imagine the grounds would be fantastic in good weather.

We made it back to Portree after this, and had some tea and a scone before heading back to our B&B, slightly drier after some time with the car radiator. A change of clothes and some time to dry out fully, and we were back out in the weather, which was clearing up by now, to find some dinner. We ate at a local hotel in Broadford, and shared fish and chips, which was very tasty - a true British meal.