Scotland - Day 9 - The Adventure Continues

Woke up this AM to a glorious sunrise.  I couldn't stop watching since I had the perfect view from my window.

Early

A little later

Latest

Our hotel on Isle of Skye

We left our hotel around 8:15 AM and within about 15 minutes we picked up our guide for the day, Andy.  Andy knows EVERYTHING regarding the Isle of Skye.  I cannot begin to recollect everything he told us, but he was very, very good and at the end of his time with us he almost got a standing ovation.  If we'd had room on the coach he probably would have.

The Isle of Skye takes its name from the old Norse meaning 'cloud island'; a Viking reference to the often mist enshrouded Cuillin Hills.  It's the second largest of Scotland's islands, a 50-mile long patchwork of velvet moors, jagged mountains, sparkling lochs and towering sea cliffs.  I wish I could say we saw it all, but we did not...but we saw alot.

We saw the bizarre pinnacles of the Old Man of Storr which Andy told us has been a filming site for many famous movies.  I can't tell you which ones now, but I remember that one was a James Bond movie.  

For lunch we stopped in Portee which was a lovely village.  I found a TakeAway (take out in US language) restuarant and carried out a Brie and Cranberry sandwich which was very yummy. 

 I almost had to share it with this guy as he was very focused on my food.  I enjoyed his company as I have never seen what I think was a some kind of a crow with blue eyes!!

At some point after lunch we got to pass the train that was used in the Harry Potter films.  No stop so we had to catch the photo on the fly.

We did stop at Glencoe which is Scotland's most famous glen.  There we had a quick look at the site of another battlefield that was much smaller in scale than Cullodan.  In 1692 the MacDonalds were still a thorn in the side of the English king, refusing to meet his demands.  The king sent the Campbells to collect taxes from the MacDonalds.  Under the guise of friendship the Campbells were guests for the MacDonalds until the 12th day when they received orders from the king to put the MacDonalds to death.  The ruthless brutality of the incident caused a public uproar that has yet to subside.  (Think the Hatfields vs the McCoys here in the states.)  Despite its history the glen is gorgeous and was hard to leave.

From there we spent another two hours on our coach until we arrived at our hotel for the next two nights, The Loch Rannoch Hotel in Perthshire.