This morning after breakfast we headed off again back over Loch Linnhe on the ferry to make our journey to Skye. Technically there are two ways to get to Skye from Strontian, but we chose to retrace our steps back over the ferry, towards Fort William and then over land and "over the bridge to Skye". We went this way partly because I wanted to see the Eileen Donan castle along the route to the Skye bridge, and partly, on my part, because I didn't want to drive those single lane roads again going in the opposite direction. My nerves just couldn't take it this morning. In the ferry que we noticed so many people smoking. Maybe I just don't notice it in America, but I'm appauled by how many Scots smoke. It's a filthy habit and we notice that most people who smoke look older than they are, mainly because their hair is brittle, teeth yellow, and face ashen and dull in color. But enough ranting. Dismissing the smokers we were again taken with the raw beauty of the place--and how beautiful all the white washed houses are against their muted background. They glow, and I think it's one of my favorite things about Scotland--the white houses and towering mountains around them.
They always look clean and new. Another thing we were remined of after just a couple of days here: That Scots are much more friendly than English people. Of course, there are always exceptions, but both of us have lived in England and have found the English wanting in kindness and hospitality. The Scots, on the other hand, have always proves enjoyable and gracious. And this was just confirmed again to us during our stay at Kilcamb where there were alot of English visitors, as well as in the ferry que, where the Brits were just tacky to us. But alas, I digress. We stopped in Fort William--the biggest town in the Highlands--for Dave to get some hard-to-find whiskeys. From there we headed up north and then west towards the Skye bridge, stopping only for a peek at Eileen Donan castle near Dornie.
It's been made famous as the most photographed castle in Scotland, as well as the castle used in the film The Highlander and most recently in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. On an island in Loch Duich, the castle is accessible by a bridge. Originally built in the 13th century, it was fully destroyed in the mid-1700s and lay in ruin until a member of Clan MacRae bought it and restored it to be a family home where they lived until the 1980s. Anyway, the really interesting part about the castle is that it was originally built during a time of intense feuding between clans. Most castles in the west of Scotland were built near the ocean or lochs in strategic positions which would aid the ruling party in a given area against invading hords. They were usually placed on promitories which allowed full view of all those ships coming and going through the lochs and sea. Even foreign ships trafficked these waters, as evidenced in a Spanish ship being sunk in a storm off the coast of the Ardamurchan peninsular near the mouth of a loch (sunk with Spanish gold on board and never recovered). And of course, before that, there were the Vikings. But again I digress. So, after departing Eileen Donan we decided to head over the bridge and to Skye. We had meant to make it to Plockton to takes some pics and tour around, given that Plockton is the back drop of the BBC show Hamish MacBeth, but alas we were starving and not willing to make the extra trip without food first. Starving, and 3:00pm, we stopped off the main A87 road into Skye and ate at a lovely restaurant named Alba, after the dark haired highland cattle from Skye.
They had the freshest, most delicious food I think we've had, to date. In fact, it's my favorite kind of good: inexpensive home cooking that knocks the socks off overpriced uneventful gourmet food. Not to mention it's just plain comforting comfort food. i started with a Gaelic coffee, which is--for all of you who've never had one--a delicious concoction of full cream, whiskey and coffee (and sugar, of course). It was the best Gaelic coffee I've had since Lough Inach Lodge in Connemara, Ireland. Dave had Talisker whiskey neat. Talisker is the only whiskey distillery on Skye, and also one of Dave and I's favorite (very convenient). We hope to make it to their distillery on Monday or Tuesday. So back to Alba. For our appetizer we had the Scottish Broth--not like the canned Campbell's soup version--but a real, thick delicious soup of barley (a Scottish staple), lamb, veggies, and broth. It reminded me of the soup a dear Scot friend made for me when I was in high school, home sick with mononeucleosis. It was comfort food then, and it's comfort food now. After devouring the soup between us, Dave had the freshest fish and chips I've ever tasted, and I had a special scallop and haddock pie with a divine cheesy cream sauce. Need I say more? The owner, Caroline Knox, was so kind, and after a "wee" chat about our kids we shuffled off towards Toravaig House on the Sleat peninsular of Skye. But not before Dave visited the Alba farm shop to buy some fresh local cheese for our hiking snacks. If you ever make it to Skye, you really have to try Alba in Breakish village--it's worth the stop. So on to Torvaig. Dave and I could have stayed at Kinloch Lodge, just a few miles north of Torvaig House, but the prices were astronomical. Claire MacDonald, the owner of Kinloch, is one of Scotland's most reputed chefs. She kind of redefined Scottish fare, and has opened a great lodge and restaurant to share her hospitality with others. However, tempting as it was, it was either 2 days there, or 6 days elsewhere. We chose elsewhere. So just down south of Kinloch is Torvaig House. A lovely little 4 star guest house with 7 rooms. Here, too, they are known for their food, so we got a dinner, bed and breakfast rate to make sure we enjoyed it every night. The house is near Knoch Bay and Armadale at the bottom of the Sleat peninsular.
After we settled in and unpacked we decided to walk off our late lunch to the ruins of Knock Castle. Knock Castle dates back to the late Medieval era and was built by Clan MacLeod. It is also known as Castle Camus, a former stronghold of the MacDonalds. By 1689 it was left to decay. Supposedly the castle is haunted by a "green lady"--but we never saw her. The trail to the castle was accessed through walking on other people's properties. I am continually impressed with the openness of Scots and Irish to let others use their land to reach somewhere else. When we were last in Ireland we hiked through other's properties and no one questioned it or gave us funny looks or made comments. But when I was in England I wouldn't have even thought about such a thing! I'd have been yelled out and probably chased with a bat! And here no one looked twice with us opening their gates and letting ourselves on their land to walk. But now back to Knock Castle.
There is hardly anything left of the castle. But it was well worth the walk to stand high on the rocks and look over the sea and feel the rain fall and again think about the people who lived here before. We went back for dinner at Torvaig, and had a four course meal. I noticed that almost every menu we've seen has some sort of jelly on it. Very strange, indeed. A texture I've not found to my liking. In fact, I find it awful. Just can't stomach it. But all in all, the food was good and we enjoyed it. We'll see what tomorrow holds.
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