Day Two - Isle of Skye

Day two: September 25, 2014

Today was a beautiful, wet, misty day on the Isle of Skye.
Oh, and windy. Very windy. We stayed on the island and tried to see as much as we could through the clouds. The weather was not helpful sometimes – We tried to see the “Old Man of Storr” but unfortunately, the clouds were enveloping the formation entirely. :( We did see it from a distance yesterday though. Then, there was a beautiful waterfall by “Kilt Rock” – I forget the original Scandinavian name…  We did see it from a distance yesterday though. Weloy "- which  sometimes - I windy. We stayed on the island and tried to see aI did see a bird of prey (forgot the kind), fly around the water and then dive in for a fish – which was really fun to watch it over the sea between the isle and the mainland of Scotland. Then we climbed up into the hills, saw such beautiful things – rock formations, waterfalls, glens, though the rain and wind definitely picked up by this point.

So, we came back down and went to the Fairy Glen (“a different dimension – a world in miniature”), which had very specific rules so that the fairies would leave us in peace – for example, don’t walk with your hands in your pockets because fairies see this as an invitation to trip you… and definitely don’t whistle. If you dance on top of the fairy king’s castle (uh… naked from what I was told), you will have eternal love, and if you wash your face in the fairy loch you will have eternal beauty. I thought about washing my face – but it was already really wet and cold… so I didn’t. We didn’t however, go see the fairy pools, which I was a little saddened by. Though, the fairy houses in the glen were so cute. I could definitely see fairies living in them. Or hobbits. Which reminds me, how cool it was to learn about the Picts, the ancient race in Scotland. Anyway, after the Fairy Glenn, it was too cold/wet to see anything else so we headed back to Portree for a lunch stop while we waited, hoping the storm would end. Which was nice because as I was exploring the glen, the fairies tripped me – even though my hands were not in my pockets – and I fell into a bit of a mud patch… so I wanted to clean up.

However, when I got back to the hostel, it was closed for cleaning… so I had to wait around for a while… then I had to hurry and get lunch, cleaned up, and run an errand. Then, I was really late catching my bus – and felt badly for making everyone wait. After lunch, we tried to see Neist Point – the most western point on the isle. But, like a lot of other things, it was still overcome by clouds – so I took a picture of a picture on our tour guide’s phone of what it would look like… and then a picture of what I could see. Haha. By the way, the Isle of Skye gets its name from the Scandinavian sailors / Vikings, who called it the isle of mist or clouds… so I figure, I got an authentic visit even though I couldn’t see everything. Then we drove around for a bit around the isle. Then over to see the McCleod’s castle – pronounced McCloud – where their family has lived for around 800 years. I think it’s called Dunvegan – but I’m not entirely sure. OH and we saw some seals! That was so fun to see them swimming about the water – popping their heads up to see what we were up to. Also I slipped again today… but not into mud, so that is an improvement even though my pride was a bit hurt… haha. Let’s see. I found pretty sea shells, which always makes me so happy [they are now proudly on display in my flat]. It’s been a fun day. I really love the Isle of Skye, even with its funny and unpredictable weather. I will miss it.

**we always say Gaelic kind of like gay-lick – but my tour guide who is Scottish always called it gal-ick – which I thought was interesting.

Pictures:

Ok- you can't really see it, but the waterfall goes straight down. It was incredible. :) Just Google "Kilt Rock" and the waterfall should also come up. I don't know its name though...

This is a 'cairn' I made for my friend Sami - who is Scottish - up on a very high mountain pass. I don't know if she reads my blog - but, anyway. It was very windy so I don't know how long it will stay standing... haha

The Fairy Glen! It's it so cute! The triangle shape there is said to be a fairy's house - the formations like this were all over, it did look like a little city. :)

This clearly is the Fairy King's Castle.

Oh! I forgot about these birds - they had gray heads, and blue (but kind of black) wings - they were very regal. I took this one right as the bird leapt from the rock into the air. It was fun to watch.

This was taken right before I slipped into the mud you can see... haha... I was so happy about that. :)

Ok. Get ready for my favorite pictures of the day:

Here is what was out there, though you can't see the lighthouse - (Neist Point): 

This is what I could see - though, my camera picked up more than what I could see... because the rocks at my feet weren't really visible to me at the time.

A short drive and you see clearly what we were in the middle of -

 

Oh - you can't see it at all from here - but out there in the water with its little head poking up is a seal!! it looks like a black dot. They were so fun to watch swim around, but I never got a good picture. I enjoyed it in person though... :)

Look! Blue sky!

Sea shells! Probably brought up on shore by my new seal friends based on where I was standing when I took the picture. Oh - and my feet! See, I was there.

In the distance: Dunvegan Castle -

I love Skye.

Oh - look at what I picked up: Seashells! #couldntresist