A Trip Across the Pond : November 2013

Unfortunately it's quite a far journey to Edinburgh from the Isle of Skye, especially as trains dont run to the island. We had to bus and it was the standard three hours from Portree to Inverness and then another 3 hours and a bit to Edinburgh. We got off on the wrong start in Inverness because the bus driver was M.I.A. at our 1:15pm departure time. About 20 minutes later he suddenly emerged from the bathroom at the back of the bus so we could begin boarding. I did not want to sit near that bathroom that's for sure. Gabel, KGabes, and I had stood near the doors to the bus because it seemed like there had just been a giant mob in front. Well, when it came time to boarding, this super old lady came from inside the bus shelter and nearly had a heart attack informing us that we had "cutted the queue." OOhkay then. Anyways once we finally got going, the bus driver pulled over TWICE to go to the bathroom again. He definitely had some weird problem and the last time he went to the bathroom someone on the bus shouted, "GET HIM A NAPPY (diaper)!!"

Edinburgh is awesome. I would love to have more time in that city. There's so many old buildings and parks and The Royal Mile has tons going on. Unfortunately when we got there we only had time to get to our hotel and then it was dark. Our hotel was HILARIOUS. It was a wild west theme and there were terrifying lifesize cowboy and indian mannequins. After hanging out in the hotel for a bit, the three of us went out for chinese food and had the most fun having drinks and good food. All of a sudden we noticed it was 11:00pm!

The thing was that we forgot that we had intended to buy alcohol and go out to centre town Edinburgh to a Halloween party. I had sacrificed precious space in my one small piece of luggage for my Halloween costume and was determined to get it on. But after 11 we could not find a place open selling alcohol and we were also a bit worried about what time we would even be able to get to centre town by. There didn't seem much point. So instead we dressed up in our costumes and just ran around the hotel posing by the scary statues while KGabes took our picture haha. We were the cutest Minnie and Mickey ever.

The next morning we were in a bit of a pickle because we each only had until noon before we all had to part ways. We really wanted to go into Edinburgh Castle but we had to deal with our luggage. So instead we took a couple pictures on the royal mile and ate breakfast in a beautiful park. The thing that really sucked was that it was a beautiful day outside. It would have been perfect for sightseeing. But again, it's just giving me more reason to go back to Scotland next year!

It was obviously tough saying bye to KGabes too. She hopped on an airport bus and we had to say a quick goodbye. She's been with us for 3 weeks and been like a surrogate momma bear to me. I'll miss her!

Gabel and I then hopped on our train which was five hours long and got to London. From there we were taking a coach bus back to Southampton. We had purchased tickets for the 630 bus but we managed to get there in time for the 530 bus. We did our very best to sneak onto that bus but none of our scams or complaining were working so we had to sit and wait for the 630 bus. That turned out to be the bus ride from hell. I think we were the only two non smelly people on the bus. I almost suffocated from B.O. Then we got stuck in an hour long traffic jam in London. So it took us just over 3 hours to get home from London which is obscene. So we left Edinburgh at 12:20 and got home at 9:40. CRAZY!

It was the busiest half term ever. We needed a week off to recover from our week off! That definitely didn't happen because we both found ourselves working full time at Ryde this past week, getting up at 5:30 every day. But more on that later…

Isle of Skye

(Friday November 1st)

If you picture the very edge of the world at the base of the heavens, you'll get an image in your head of what the Isle of Skye is like.

We arrived when it was pitch black and couldn't really see much but when we woke up, we realized we were in a very special place. Gavin and Gillian's Bed and Breakfast (called Ballintoy) was so beautiful and they were incredibly nice and hospitable. The bus dropped us off in Portree and Gavin came to pick us up and bring us back to the B&B. Their home seems professionally decorated and the bedroom we stayed in had an ensuite bathroom attached as well. The view out the windows were of the Cuillin Mountain Range.

Friday morning we had a really good breakfast waiting for us and then a man named Mickey from M2 motors came and picked us up. He brought us back to his office where we signed papers and then they let us rent a car! It was a little green Skoda and I had the first shift driving it. I had been watching the roads carefully in the weeks leading up to this in order to prepare. Every time I'm in a taxi on the way to work, I pay such close attention to how they drive and visualize that I'm doing the driving. I guess it worked because I did good! I only drove on the wrong side once and it was only for 5 seconds because Gabel and Katherine quickly shouted at me to get back over haha.

We had originally wanted to do a bus tour of the island but in the end it was nice to drive ourselves around because we got to set the itinerary and stay as long as we wanted at places and it just feels so authentic to drive around on the wrong side of the road. Our first stop was to The Old Man of Storr which is pretty close to the B&B. It's one of the most famous sights on the island and the location where some of Promeus was filmed. We were advised by Gavin to climb to the very top which actually took quite awhile! It was chilly and windy although very clear and mostly sunny. I fell along the way haha and got quite muddy but it was worth it. We made it to the very top where there's a rock jutting out that has the face of an old man in it. The total hike up takes so long because you need to stop every few feet for a break and to take pictures because the view keeps getting better and better. You can see mountains, valleys, rivers, ponds, the ocean, forests. The colours are amazing and the best part is that it the sun was bursting through the clouds giving it a foggy glow. It was my favourite spot of the day and luckily much easier to get down than up.

After Storr we stopped at Lealt Falls and got some pictures of the falls and ocean but it suddenly was so stormy and windy that we just ran back to the car to take refuge.

Next we journeyed to the Quaraing which had the funnest roads to drive on. It's incredibly windy and up a mountain and I just kept stopping to take pictures while driving. The Quaraing is a landslip in this crazy mountain summit. Gabel and I had lots of fun climbing all the jutting out hills around there and KGabes was our photographer extraordinaire.

After Quaraing we drove to a really cute hotel on the water in Flodigarry and had a really amazing lunch. We had tea and soup to warm up and toasted sandwiches that I'm still thinking about because they were great. Gabel took over the driving from here and we toured the whole north side of the island, stopping wherever we wanted to take pictures. The island is littered with tiny little white houses/cottages in small groupings and we kept thinking how crazy it would be to live there. I could totally be happy retiring there though and just writing.

Our next stop was on the far south of the island to the Fairy Pools. They were so hard to find! One second you're driving through what seems like a desert with canyons and mountains and the next second you stumble upon the greenest forest ever. It's called Glen Brittle Forest and I'd love to go camping there. At the very edge of Glen brittle forest you can park the car and hop off the main road and go exploring through the fields and you will find the Fairy Pools. It took us awhile to figure it out but after we asked somebody driving by, we managed to get to the spot. Picture two medium sized orangey brown mountains with a crazy valley in the middle that has a winding river all through it and uneven fields. We listened to the roaring sound of water and followed it until we found this hidden waterfall. We played around in the falls and streams for a bit but unfortunately it got dark and we had to go back to the car. Time had only permitted us to discover the very first part and beginning of the Fairy Pools but the rest of them were further in the valley and they were supposed to be more spectacular than what we had seen. It was a little disappointing but we just kept saying that it gave us more reason to go back. Which we definitely plan on doing.

One thing I should mention about the driving is that most of the roads on the island aren't actually like real roads. They're all one way roads and every few metres a section of the road on one side will get wider and when you're driving and someone comes the other way, whoever is closest to the nearest widening has to pull over into it and let the other person pass. I can't believe everyone has just accepted that as a way of life. But they're all so cute everyone gives each other the wave as a thanks. When it gets dark, no one can see the thank you wave so instead they quickly flick on their right turn single. It was definitely an adjustment but I was proud of surviving the driving haha.

Oh, another comical thing about the driving is all the SHEEP. They are rampant everywhere and they all have bright coloured paint on them and sometimes they even are sleeping on the road. So you have to be careful not to hit any of the sheepies while driving. We also encountered what we call "Scottish Roadblocks" which was a pack of Yak's walking unattended on the road so we had to stop and let them pass.

Anyways we made it back into Portree around 7pm and went to a local pub for dinner. We had a great meal and then headed back to good old Ballintoy for the night. We absolutely loved the day but definitely missed out on a couple of spots that we wanted to see. I think that realistically to get the best of everything, you would need 3 days on the island. I'm planning on going back next spring/summer to do it all again because I think it's my favourite place ever. Check out the pics:

I'm the best driver