Today was the day of our trip to Isle of Skye. We had gone on Gumtree (Uk Kijiji) and requested a rideshare to get to Skye and sure enough- someone had responded and offered to take us there for a small fuel money contribution. We met Mick at 6am at the bus station. He yelled and waved out his car windsor "Matt!!! Tracey!!!" and that was the beginning of our journey.
The first couple hours were alright, chatting with Mick, enjoying the scenery, laughing at the wind and rain blowing everything all over the place. At one point, we got out of the car in order to "listen to the silence" which really meant listen to the wind and get drenched in rain :) It was hilarious. Back in the car we went and travelled on.
The next stop was a grocery store and cafe. Matt and I stopped to eat pie while Mick did a bit of shopping. Then it was back to the road again. Mick offered to show us a nicer route so we could jump out and take a look at a couple of castles. We accepted and got to the extremely old ruins of one of the castles. It was so windy that the heavy rain felt like freezing cold hail against the face but we loved it. It was such an adventure trekking through the trails of the mountains and seeing what once was a magnificent castle. We went on for a bit and then Mick brought us to another castle, this one being the one where "Highlander" was filmed. It was closed due to renovation of the roof so we didn't get past the gateway, but it was still impressive!
Once we got to Kyle of Lochalsh, Mick's destination, he offered to drive us across the bridge right to Isle of Skye- and to make sure we arrived at a hotel alright before he left. He brought us to Kyleakin, Isle of Skye, showed us around to the different restaurants (an Indian restaurant and a pub), the bus stop and afterwards to some inexpensive bed and breakfasts. He didn't accept us buying him lunch of giving him any extra money for his trouble and told us that if we got stuck and needed anything, to give him a call and he'd come back across the bridge.
We didn't need anything really because the people in the local area were so wonderful. Our bed and breakfast is someones home as well as a guesthouse with a very cute sheepdog and one other person staying tonight. He made us lunch at no extra charge and we sat with him at the fireplace listening to him tell us some things about life in Scotland and fishing. When it came to be time for dinner, we wandered over to the pub and everyone in the area must have been in the pub- it was packed!! We understood why as we looked online for another place to eat. The only other place was an Indian restaurant a longer distance away.
We wandered to the Indian place, still with the high winds and rain slowing us down. On the way there we saw signs that the bridge was closed due to heavy winds. The ferries were never open today for that exact same reason. Still the food was delicious, the staff were very friendly and we enjoyed ourselves.
We are just preparing for tomorrow now, deciding where we will go and how (Buses only run 3 times a day and we need to catch the 3rd one back to Glasgow). We will probably catch a bus to the capital city- Portree- and from there choose one other place to see on the 2nd bus of the day. Then catch the 3rd one back provided high winds don't keep us longer than planned.
I really admire the life of the people around here, going out to explore the highlands despite the weather conditions (we saw a couple mountain climbers on the way), giving incredible hospitality for very little and really making the best of life and enjoying every moment. Matt and I love Scotland and have decided that we may decide to return again to see the things we won't have a chance to this time and to just enjoy the atmosphere.
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