Isle of Lewis & Harris & Skye and Back to Mainland 19-23 Sept

The Isle of Lewis & Harris was incredible.  We had the lodge all to ourselves for the entire time.  It was sad to say goodbye.  If anyone ever gets there they must stay at our vacation retreat - Uig Lodge!!  Eric treated us each morning to a breakfast for royalty and gorgeous candlelight dinners that had too much food but delish!!!

One thing worth mentioning is while on the "mainland" in the highlands the streets and such had the word(s) in English then Gaelic but on the Isle it was in Gaelic (Big Letters) and smaller underneath were English letters. We saw the Callanish Standing Stones, got to touch them and takes tons of pictures of them.  We drove over to see the Carloway Broch which is partly still standing.  Then it was off to the Blackhouses; while they were not original they were recreated for museum purposes so they are authentic with a modern twist.  Angus, who we met in Ullapool, his mother was born in one and they were still living in them until the 70's.

Next it was off to Isle of Skye.  We saw fairy pools, they were beautiful!  You would walk a little and see one gorgeous color of the water, I don't see how any camera could possibly get it right.  Then after that you walk a few more steps and "bam" another gorgeous pool. We finally turned around after we had been there nearly 3 hours.  You don't notice how fast time is going by nor how far up the "hill" you are getting.  Then drove to Talisker Whisky Distillery, we didn't stay long.

Then we crossed the bridge back onto the mainland and down to Dornie.  It is a quaint village that is host to Eilean Donan Castle!  The most famous Scottish castle, it was in Highlander and Entrapment and even used in Elizabeth, The Golden Age, just to name a few movies it was used in.  The castle was nice but no photography inside so that spoiled a lot for us.

 We headed to Fort William on a stopover to Dumfries.  We saw Ben Nevis but he had a bit of a mist covering him.  We found a hotel room and there was enough daylight left that Richard headed to the Fort William Golf Club where he got to play a round of golf in the foothills of Ben Nevis.  While playing golf he heard a whistle blowing and looked over and saw The Jacobite going by which is the steam train used as Hogwart Express. He didn't realize the significance and didn't get any photos.  :(

We are now relaxing after driving the highway over the Erskine Bridge and by Glasgow, in a most adorable B&B in Dumfries.  Our hosts, Derek & Susan, are a very sweet couple.  Richard mentioned that we were visiting here because of my genealogy and told them I am a Harkness and they quickly replied they know a couple Harknesses. 

We have been very lucky with the weather and the people we are meeting along the way.  Last night I wanted to call home but the internet service at the hotel was so poor I couldn't get it to stay connected for more than 5 minutes.  Tonight I was going to call but we left the phone in the car and we are too tired to go get it. 

Tomorrow we will try to get to Sweetheart Abbey and Caerverlock Castle then down to England.

Driving to Loch Ness and on to Ullapool & Isle of Lewis 16-18 September

We left Pitlochry on to Loch Ness.  Before leaving we stopped at Eradour Distillery which is the smallest distillery in Scotland.  We didn't sample any this time because we were given a wee dram at Atholl Palace and liked it so much we just had to stop by and get a bottle.  We drove up to Inverness and on to Loch Ness.  We actually touched Loch Ness water - stuck our hands in the water.  Didn't spot Nessie anywhere  :(   We visited Urquhart Castle on the loch.  It must have been a great place and the view it had must have been incredible.  We spent the night in a quaint little B&B owned by Shirley & Stuart.  We met a couple from Kentucky - Judy & Frank - who were staying the night at the B&B as well.  They were a sweet couple.  We bumped into them again at the castle. 

We left Loch Ness and drove through the Cairngorms.  I know I keep using "gorgeous" to describe what we are seeing but I can't find better words to describe the beauty of this country!  Pictures will not do it justice and you have to see it for yourself to know what I am talking about.

We made it to Ullapool and spent the night in a B&B - Fyffe House - owned by Angus and his wife Pam.  Pam is a Michigander and Angus was born on the Isle of Lewis.  Ullapool is a cute little town that is doing an excellent job keeping it quaint and everyone was so pleasant, as a tourist I would stay there anytime.  Angus was an excellent host and great chef, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for breakfast, yum!

We took the ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway - 3.5 hours.  It was better than I thought it would be.  Once we arrived at Stornoway we looked around a bit and headed off to Uig Lodge.  The roads would go from two lanes to one lane with passing spots for a car to pull in to allow another car to pass safely.  We were stopped by sheep on the road, highland cows in the fields.  We saw signs alerting us of deer crossings but we haven't seen any yet. 

When we arrived at Uig Lodge it was like a dream.  It is incredible!  We tried to work it out and we think it would hold at least 20 guests, I believe there are 12 guest rooms, 6 bathrooms and a decent-size kitchen.  We have it all to ourselves.  Yep, just me and Richard are Laird & Lady of the manor.  It sits facing The Uig Sands.  Richard got to golf on the "very" challenging golf course, winds a blowing but it doesn't stop him.  Eric is an excellent chef!

Very tired now and think we will head up to our "bedchamber",