BLOG 11: Isle of Skye

After an early departure from Tarbert on Harris and a fairly short crossing we also arrive in Uig on the Isle of Skye early in the morning. We're about to start the north-east bypass. The narrow road, often one lane only with detours -offers great views of the sea and countryside.

Our first destination, the famous viewpoint "Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls", does not want to show itself to us, due to "improvement work" the access road and parking lot are closed. We are not doing much better at the next planned stop - the "Old Man of Storr", a rock needle. Kilometers or miles beforehand, every parking space, no matter how impossible, is occupied by cars, the main parking lot with not many places for mobile homes is a chaos of cars and we see caravans of people moving up the hiking trail. Nothing for us! A little later we can at least take a few photos of the "old man". And again it has been shown that May is already a kind of pre-high season in Scotland. No idea how it might be here in July and August...

So, slightly frustrated, we come to Portree, the main town on the island with the well-known line of colorful houses along the harbour. They are also nice to look at, but otherwise there is "Tote Hose" - nothing going on. But we can have lunch in a "church restaurant" - an old church was converted into a pub, the "Holy Fish & Chips" there also tasted good.

Our next destination is certainly the highlight for us on Skye: Dunvegan Castle. The castle is the oldest continuously inhabited building in Scotland, having been home to the MacLeod Clan Chiefs for almost 800 years. In the 13th century the first fortifications were built on the rock. Of course, many additions and conversions were made over the centuries, today's exterior is largely from the Victorian era of the 19th century.

We enter the castle from the land side - actually the back entrance, the magnificent side faces the sea. There are some beautiful rooms to visit and also the impressive Great Sword of Dunvegan, a massive 15th century two-handed sword believed to have been forged for William, 7th Chief of the MacLeods (murdered 1480).

Through the wonderful gardens now in full bloom (no comparison to the sad look at Balmoral Castle) we walk down to the sea for the postcard view of the Castle.

Unfortunately, the tide is low right now and so we can't see the entire postcard picture.

The next day we go to the well-known "Talisker Distillery" in Carbost. The guided tour and tasting is routinely unwound, drivers can take their whiskey sample drams with them in small bottles.

The explanations describe the entire whiskey production, since Talisker, like so many other Scottish distilleries today, belongs to the Diageo Group, various steps such as malting, storage and of course distribution are centralized. The whiskey figurehead of the group - especially in the USA - is "Johnny Walker", the friend of the true Scottish single malt shakes it at this brand...

Now it's a few more miles to Kyleakin, across the Skye Bridge to the Scottish mainland, to Kyle of Lochalsh.

After the early departure from Tarbert on Harris and a fairly short crossing we also arrive in Uig on the Isle of Skye early in the morning. We're about to start the north-east bypass. The narrow road, often one lane only with passing places-offers great views of the sea and countryside.

Our first destination, the famous viewpoint "Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls", does not want to show itself to us, due to "improvement work" the access road and parking lot are closed. We are not doing much better at the next planned stop - the "Old Man of Storr", a rock needle. Kilometers or miles beforehand, every parking space, no matter how impossible, is occupied by cars, the main parking lot with not many places for mobile homes is a chaos of cars and we see chains of people moving up the hiking trail. Nothing for us! A little later we can at least take a few photos of the "old man". And again, it has been shown that May is already a kind of pre-high season in Scotland. No idea how it might be here in July and August...

So, slightly frustrated, we come to Portree, the main town on the island with the well-known line of colorful houses along the harbor. They are also nice to look at, but otherwise there is "Tote Hose" - nothing going on. But we can have lunch in a "church restaurant" - an old church was converted into a pub, the "Holy Fish & Chips" there also tasted good.

Our next destination is certainly the highlight for us on Skye: Dunvegan Castle. The castle is the oldest continuously inhabited building in Scotland, having been home to the MacLeod Clan Chiefs for almost 800 years. In the 13th century the first fortifications were built on the rock. Of course, many additions and conversions were made over the centuries, today's exterior is largely from the Victorian era of the 19th century.

We enter the castle from the land side - actually the back entrance, the magnificent side faces the sea. There are some fine rooms to visit and also the impressive Great Sword of Dunvegan, a massive 15th century two-handed sword believed to have been forged for William, 7th Chief of the MacLeods (murdered 1480).

Through the wonderful gardens now in full bloom (no comparison to the sad look at Balmoral Castle) we walk down to the sea for the postcard view of the Castle.

Unfortunately, the tide is low right now and so we can't see the entire postcard picture.

The next day we go to the well-known "Talisker Distillery" in Carbost. The guided tour and tasting are routinely unwound, drivers can take their whiskey sample drams with them in small bottles.

The explanations describe the entire whiskey production, since Talisker, like so many other Scottish distilleries today, belongs to the Diageo Group, various steps such as malting, storage and of course distribution are centralized. The whiskey figurehead of the group - especially in the USA - is "Johnny Walker", the friend of the true Scottish single just can ignore this brand...

Now it's a few more miles to Kyleakin, across the Skye Bridge to the Scottish mainland, to Kyle of Lochalsh.