Over The Sea To Skye

Breakfast at Culloden House was exactly how you would imagine it being served hundreds of years ago. We were escorted into the dining parlor and seated with napkins placed in our laps. Fresh tea and coffee were poured to our liking and our orders were taken while a fireplace blazed in the pit and morning newspapers were handed over. We truly felt like Scottish royalty — with fresh butter, breads and croissants available on the ready and jams from the highlands mashed to perfection. We clinked our teacups and toasted to the day ahead.

Settled once more into the cobalt blue, Jake the Juke, we headed for Urqhart and Eilean Donan castles on the road to Skye. Urqhart has a majestic presence as it overlooks the waters of Lochness and hangs just off the side of a cliff. A tall flag of Scotland — ice blue with the white ‘X’ dividing the flag in halves — flies high in the castle entryway and welcomes you into the grounds. Urqhart is mainly remains of what once stood many years ago, but the views and photography opportunities are lovely. We spent about an hour roaming the grounds, reading the history and admiring the views before heading to the next stop.

En route to Eilean Donan, we happened to pass by a farm with several Highlander cows. I immediately pumped the breaks and hopped out of the car for some quality cow time! The lovely couple that owned the farm and a small side cafe allowed us to feed their cows and spend some time taking photographs. It was so much fun! Their largest cow had big, black, shaggy hairs and stole most of the food from the first bag of feed. She slobbered all over my entire arm while I was feeding her; I’m pretty sure my watch needs a run through the dishwasher now, but it was well worth it! The smaller, baby Highlander cows were a beautiful shade of honey and cinnamon mixed in one. Gorgeous animals! We petted them farewell, and thanked the couple for their hospitality.

Eilean Donan was next on our list of to-dos before snagging the bridge to Isle of Skye. Eilean Donan is one of Scotland’s most famous and photographed castles. It is absolutely stunning! Surrounded by water and moss, with a large drawbridge and walkway, the views from afar are breathtaking. We fell in love immediately and waited in the whipping cold winds to snag the perfect shots of the castle entryway before roaming the stone tunnels and towers. Eilean Donan was particularly important to Scotland during the Jacobite rebellion, and was a stronghold for the Clan Mackenzie. Before their downfall at Culloden, Eilean Donan played a central role during the 1719 “Little Rising”, acting as a supply base for the army and a garrison for Spanish marines stationed in the Highlands. They still have remnants of this effort scattered in the castle today.

Jake the Juke awaited our return from the castle just as massive raindrops started to scour the road to Skye. We dodged the winds and waterfall that are typical of Scotland, just as we crossed the thin bridge that links the mainland to the largest and arguably, most beautiful Isle. Skye is inhabited by around 10-12,000 people today whom all live in very small towns throughout the island. The land is filled with valleys, mountains, snowcaps, and crystal blue waters. We will have plenty of photos to share with you in the coming weeks! Until then, we’ll just have to try to paint the picture in your minds.

Given the rain, we decided to head to Talisker distillery for a tasting before heading to our B&B. The distillery is beautiful and sits just on the water of the Isle. It’s massive white walls are covered with block letters that boldly read, “TALISKER”. Basically, you can’t miss it. We were offered the opportunity to taste four of the six bottles on display. So, we chose the 57 Degrees North, the Friends only Bottleline, the Port Ruighe and Skye. We both agreed, hands down, that the Port Ruighe was the best. It is also extremely tough to find in the United States, so we snagged a bottle for our bar cart at home… and also did some souvenir shopping for friends and family (some of you might be lucky enough to have something delicious heading your way soon)!

Talisker was a ton of fun and we enjoyed our tastings, but it was time to pack up the Juke and head to our resting place for the next few days. Dinner reservations were at 8:30 and we wanted time to meet our hosts, shower, blog and relax. An hour later, we arrived at our front door in the tiny town of Stein, with the rain having subsided and a stunning sunset beginning to form over the water. John and Fiona were there to greet us at Cottage Stein. What a lovely couple and a beautiful home they’ve built! We were so lucky to have found them and highly, HIGHLY recommend them if you’re ever in the area.

We drank tea, ate freshly baked shortbread cookies and cake that Fiona had made from scratch and told them all about our time in Scotland. Funny enough, they had just gotten back from holiday in New York City, so we all had a ton to talk about. John and Fiona are the type of people that you fall in love with immediately. They were so helpful to us as we tried to map out our time in Skye. They gave us maps, books of the Isle and recommendations on where and when to stop along our journeys. They also offered to drive us to our special birthday dinner at The Three Chimneys the following night, so I could drink, which I hadn’t been able to do much of in the evenings when driving was required. Scotland has a very strict drinking and driving law, and for some women, one full drink of liquor puts you over the legal limit. Needless to say, I was entirely grateful to them for setting up the drop off and taxi the next night. That was just one of the many ways they went above and beyond as our hosts. Anyhow…

Patrick and I relaxed in our plush bedroom that had ceiling to floor windows with an open view of the water. Whoever booked the place sure knew what they were doing (heehee… that was me, obviously :))! After nice hot showers, and a change of clothes, we were ready for our reservation at Loch Bay Seafood. Mmm … Patrick is going to share more about our foodie experiences on Skye, but I can tell you that the small, but beautifully decorated Loch Bay did not disappoint, which is no surprise as it was just taken over by Michelin Star award winning chef, Michael Smith, and his wife.

Not quite ready for home, we decided to stop in at the only pub on Stein for a night cap, which is when we met our dear friend Donald. Donald was a character! He is the bartender at Stein Inn and has lived on Skye his entire life. His brothers and sisters are now scattered across Scotland, Britain and Australia, but he stayed close to home. He told us that before attending primary school, he couldn’t even speak English, because the native language on Skye is Gaelic (which is actually pronounced differently than the Irish version – more like “GAH-LIC”). He had the thickest accent, was a hoot to talk to and filled with knowledge of both Skye and Scotland. We drank with him and soaked up as much of his time as possible… good ol’ Donald.

Day two on the Isle consisted of a full tour of the North with several stops along the way. More to come on that…
-Two for Takeoff