Wow! TPAYT, that is amazing! We have the same hairstyle and color, the same shape face, and same build! Could be long lost relatives! My husband loves the Canadian Rockies. I haven't been yet but hopefully some day. Did you recently go to South Africa? I think I remember reading your TR.

Progol, sorry to hear you had so much rain when you last visited Scotland. I am a sucker for bagpipes and castles, too!

Now my husband is positive for Covid. Couldn't be helped I guess. So far my family in Texas is negative.

Sorry for triggering a Branston ballyhoo. For the record, it's not THAT bad, although I personally much prefer simpler types of chutney on my chutney and cheese sandwiches - mango or Major Grey's in my case.


EDITED TO ADD...

Wow, KarenWoo and TPAYT - looks like you two should do a 23-and-me showdown pronto.

Gardyloo, no need to apologize for the Branston ballyhoo. I enjoyed reading about Brantson pickles. I hope I don't sound ignorant but are the chutney and cheese sandwiches hot or cold?

Either hot (grilled) but I prefer cold. Try some sharp-ish cheddar cheese on a cracker (or some crusty bread) with a bit of chutney on top and hold on to your horses.

ditto Gardyloo -- cold or hot. Typically one's first experience is with a ploughman's - chunk(s) of cheese, crusty bread, whatever else they include on the plate and Branston Pickle (not plural - its pickle sans the 's')

But I also like to include some in my grilled cheese sandwiches. I prefer the small chunk in grilled sandwiches but it is harder to find around here.

Yes, Karen, went to South Africa September 2022 and loved every minute. This September it’s Croatia. We’ll see if it can come close to our Africa trip.
Scotland is definitely on the radar so I’ve made many notes from your report. Quite surprised at all the beautiful flowers.

JUNE 8, 2023: URQUHART CASTLE AND THE ROAD TO SKYE

After a last delicious breakfast and a farewell to our wonderful hosts at Sunny Brae, we headed on our way to Urquhart Castle, about a 40-minute drive from Nairn. We had pre-purchased tickets online for a 10AM � 10:10AM time slot. We were able to by-pass the ticket line, which was long, and go right into the castle grounds. No wait at all.

We started out using their audio guides but found them difficult to use at the beginning; then realized it went into too much detail and would take forever so we abandoned those. There are costumed guides throughout the ruins so we were able to ask questions when we didn�t understand something.

The Urquhart Castle ruins are situated on Loch Ness and the location and views are superb! Urquhart has a turbulent history and was repeatedly destroyed and re-built. In 1692 it was blown up by government forces to prevent the Jacobites from using it. I asked one of the guides why Urquhart was not re-built and was allowed to decay. He explained that the castle was no longer strategic and no one wanted to live there because it was never an elegant or comfortable home. Not fine living, I guess. Urquhart was then abandoned in the early 1700�s. Then townspeople started looting the castle; they stole lead from roofs and stones from the buildings and walls creating more ruins and further decay.

After finishing our visit to Urquhart, we started on our drive to the Isle of Skye. We stopped at Eilean Donan Castle along the way for the iconic photo. Because I have read that the inside of the castle is uninteresting, we opted not to go inside. We did purchase tickets @ 3pounds per person to go across the bridge and take photos of the exterior.

For a light lunch we stopped at the Dornie Inn in the village across the street from Eilean Donan. The lunch was ok; nothing to write home about.

Then we crossed the Bridge to Skye and were on our way to Portree, where we have reservations for 4 nights at the Viewfield House Hotel, a Victorian mansion built 200 years ago and owned by the same family. The grounds and views are beautiful and you feel like you are on an oasis away from bustling Portree. Our room was on the first floor and quite large. I wasn�t too fond of the giant pink roses wallpaper, though. I think Roger and Joanne�s room on the second floor, although smaller, was prettier with blue wallpaper more to my taste.

We had dinner reservations tonight at The Rosedale down by the Portree harbor. We all have mixed feelings about the restaurant but I would still recommend it. The appetizers are delicious! We all had seafood chowder and we shared beef cheeks. However, we were all disappointed in our main dishes. Joanne and I had the fish and chips but the fish had a heavy batter; they don�t compare to the Anstruther Fish Bar. The men had venison but it was tough. We really enjoyed talking with the friendly bartender from Poland, though. So I think The Rosedale is worth trying.

The Story of Urquhart's past

Urquhart Castle ruins on Loch Ness

The Grant Tower - most impressive remaining building

3rd most popular castle in Scotland

Panoramic View

Scenery along the way

Iconic Eilean Donan photo

After we paid our 3 pounds

Eilean Donan Castle

Viewfield House Hotel - our home for the next 4 nights

Viewfield Hotel lobby

View from the Viewfield House Hotel

Portree Harbor - iconic photo

Restaurant at the Rosedale - nice view of the boats

Beef cheek appetizer

Venison main meal

Very tasty and hearty seafood chowder

Fish and chips with mushy mint peas

Our friendly bartender at The Rosedale

I love all of this….I want to be there!

I'm so sorry about the Covid! I hope symptoms have been fairly light. Yes, it was in Edinburgh that I had to quarantine. I missed out on a bunch of museums, restaurants, Holyrood Palace, the botanical gardens...but at least I got one full day there at the beginning of my trip to explore the most iconic streets and sights.

Looking at your pictures I just keep thinking about how magical Scotland is. That's really the best way to describe it. It's such a unique place, and I still can't get over how beautiful all of the flowers are - so unexpected in a place so far north!

Looking forward to reading more about your time on the Isle of Skye!

Beautiful photos, KarenWoo! I’m still amazed at the weather! Glorious! Just so you don’t feel too bad for us, we did have some beautiful weather on Skye, and even a rainbow after a brief rain. All pre-digital and the prints don’t do the memory justice.

What’s also amazing is that you took the bridge to Skye! And now I realize it’s been open since…1995. Which is when my husband and I visited, just before the bridge actually opened. I’d been there several times before in the 70s, always by ferry, so the bridge is still new to me!

I am loving this report (and the pictures) - it brings back such good memories! Thank you!

Still following and thoroughly enjoying! Looking forward to the Skye portion. In our week there in 2006 it felt like we were living in a landscape painting. From an earlier post I believe you will take a tour and taste Talisker? If so, then you are a better [wo]man than I am, Gunga Din. But I did love the Glen Moray tour.

Barbara_in_FL and Nelson, thank you both for your compliments! I am happy to know that my report brings back good memories for people.

Nelson, you are right. We had a Talisker tour and tasting on June 11 (our last full day on Skye).

Always love an illustrated trip report!

JUNE 9, 2023: THE TROTTERNISH PENINSULA – SIMPLY AMAZING

The Viewfield Hotel provides a hot breakfast along with a small buffet. Guests select what they want to eat the day before and give their requests to staff. You can choose eggs cooked any way (poached, scrambled, fried), different kinds of meat, salmon, kippers, and bagels with cream cheese (with or without salmon). The buffet consists of different cereals, yogurts, and juices.

The owners are a young married couple, descendants of the people who built Viewfield, and they come into the dining room every morning to say hello to their guests.

After a delicious breakfast, we set off to explore the Trotternish Peninsula. Firstly, I want to say that we absolutely love Skye. The scenery is majestic, stunning and unique, and I am so happy I included Skye in our itinerary. It was one of the highlights of our trip. There is much discussion about the crowds on Skye, and I can honestly say that in June we didn’t think the crowds were that bad. They certainly did not impact our trip in a negative way. That’s not to say that Skye isn’t busy. Driving or walking around Portree, all the accommodations posted “No Vacancy” signs. All the restaurants were busy but we had dinner reservations for all 4 nights. The carparks were busy but we always found a parking space. Also, there were some areas of Skye that were very quiet and we saw only a few cars. So I would recommend coming in June, but I am sure July and August are a different story when the UK schoolchildren are on vacation and when all the festivals are going on in August.

So, to plan our sightseeing strategy, I followed the On The Luce blog that I discovered while researching. Lucy writes a wonderful 3-day driving itinerary of Skye, and I thought this would be the most logical and organized way to tour around the island without driving willy nilly everywhere. Because we had the Talisker Distillery tour reserved for the 3rd day, we switched around her Day 2 and Day 3. Here is the link to her blog in case anyone is interested.

https://www.ontheluce.com/isle-of-skye-itinerary/

The first order of the day was to get gas before we left Portree. There was a long line at the gas station 😊 People had the same idea as us! There were lots of cars headed to our first stop, The Old Man of Storr, but I noticed that the cars thinned out as we headed further north. The Old Man of Storr is a huge rock pinnacle that stands out for miles. Very impressive! We walked a short distance up the path to take photos. If you wish, you can walk to the base of the Old Man, but that takes around 2 hours R/T, I think.

Our next stop is Lealt Falls and Gorge that has a few viewpoints and some short trails. The falls weren’t much because it hadn’t rained in several weeks, but we were very impressed with the gorge, oohing and aahing over the lush greenery. Surprising it was so lush yet the falls were a trickle. What was lovely is that on the hillside across from the gorge we could see lots of sheep and hear them baaing.

And from there, we drove to Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls, but sadly it is closed to the public because they are building a new car park.

While driving to the Quiraing, we noticed The Hungry Gull in Staffin and decided to stop here for a light lunch. The food was actually quite good. I don’t expect a lot from roadside places, but this was very good. I had homemade mushroom soup, and everyone else had sandwiches. There is a convenience store next door if you want to pick up drinks and snacks. There aren’t a lot of facilities along this route.

Our next stop, the Quiraing, is a stunning mountain range with dramatic landscapes. One of the highlights for us. You drive up a one-track road for quite awhile before you get to the top where there are hiking/walking trails. The views are gorgeous. We walked a short distance and took tons of photos, as we did everywhere. If you have the time and are fit enough, you can hike the 4.3 mile circular Quiraing Trail which takes around 3 hours.

Then we followed the longer coast road to the Duntulm Castle ruins. We only took a short walk here to enjoy the scenery. Didn’t go all the way to the ruins. We were also getting pressed for time.

Our last stop on the Trotternish peninsula was The Fairy Glen which was also our least favorite. The Fairy Glen is made up of lush green rolling hills with pools and wildflowers. But because of the lack of rain, most of it was not very lush, and we only saw one pool.

Our dinner tonight was at the Edinbane Inn in Edinbane, about a 15 minute drive from Portree. This is one of our favorite restaurants. The meals are delicious. I didn’t write down what everyone had. I know we shared steamed Hebridean mussels. My steak and ale pie was so tasty, and my husband loved his beef. We shared a delicious dessert, too!

The Old Man of Storr stands out for miles

View of the Old Man of Storr

Old Man of Storr

Hiking path to the base of the Old Man

Old Man of Storr

Old Man of Storr carpark

Panoramic View of Lealt Gorge

Lealt Gorge

So lush and so green - if you look closely, you can see white dots on the hillside to the right - those are sheep

The Hungry Gull where we had lunch

The scenery along the way to the top of the Quiraing

Quiraing - stunning scenery

This majestic place is one of our favorites

The hiking/walking trail is to the left

View from the top of the Quiraint

View from the top of the Quiraing

The sheep are so cute! And they are everywhere!

This is the beginning of the path to Duntulm Castle. These people got it right. What a great place to have a picnic!

The vista around Duntulm Castle.

The Fairy Glen

Fairy Glen pool. My husband and friends are relaxing on the bench while I take a short walk uphill. The trails look fairly easy.

Our room at the Viewfield Hotel with the pink roses wallpaper

Cute placemat at the Edinbane Inn

Steamed Hebridean Mussels - Edinbane Inn

My steak and ale pie

Our scrumptious dessert!

Ed's beef dinner

Viewfield Hotel dining room where we ate breakfast every morning

And Viewfield Hotel drawing room where we had drinks every evening!