Driving Miss Karen

A blog about our travel

Over the Sea to Skye

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We were really looking forward to the Isle of Skye since we really liked our past day trips to the island. We spent a week here but between the weather (rubbish as they say here) and the large crowds, we didn’t love it as much as other parts of Scotland. Not that it was bad by any means but you had to book dinner way ahead to get any place nice (which we did) and most of the car parks for the hikes were full. Also we stayed at a normal B&B and really missed having a kitchen and living area of our own. Still it was nice to see some new things and enjoy the beauty of Scotland which shines through in any weather.

We stopped for lunch on Loch Carron on the way to Skye. The middle mountain is famous for looking like a face looking up. I think it looks like George Washington
The port town of Port Tree. One of the few blue skies we saw on Skye
We drove from Ullapool in the Northwest highlands to the village of Port Tree, the main tourism hub on Isle of Skye
Dunvegan castle. My least favorite castle anywhere so far
Why do I hate it. Because they completely re-modeled it in 1840-1850 in a mock medieval style! They had a real castle and replaced it with a fake castle. C’mon man!
Sporran (Scottish Crotch Purse) made from a cute little otter. How mean and humiliating for the little fella. The eyes follow you
Stupid motto “Hold Fast” supposedly when the Clan MacLeod chief wrestled a “wild bull”
I’m not making up the motto thing. Read the official ridiculous story https://www.dunvegancastle.com/castle/the-motto/
The “Old Man of Storr” on a foggy day
Another cool rock formation with equal fog
I had an atmospheric (code for crappy weather) hike to the Old Man of Storr formation. I had boots for the muddy trail but I saw tennis shoes and plenty of sandals
The Quiraing is one of the coolest places in Scotland.
It was caused by a landslip, which created such weirdly beautiful shapes
Karen and I both did a hike in the Quiraing. It was our favorite even though we got pretty wet coming back in the windy rain
Karen was happy and was a trooper, even in the wind and rain
We even spotted wildlife. The elusive Scottish bunny
This was our favorite Skye hike and it’s weird how the weather really didn’t phase us. Surviving an encounter with the rare and dangerous Scottish bunny was the icing on a great day

Jose

AKA Alfred

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2 Responses

  1. Nani says:
    August 21, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    Scotland looks amazing and the isle of Skye a dream! The beautiful scenery more than makes up for the rubbish weather.

    • Jose says:
      August 21, 2022 at 2:55 pm

      Both Karen and I share a weird love for Scotland, even for the weather. When we return we will try late May or late September to avoid the busy season on Skye. You and Lon are invited anytime we come.