Scotland, Part Two: The Highlands and The Story of my Vanished Hat

We could have easily stayed in Edinburgh for another week or two; there is so much to see and do there. And, despite having to invariably dodge other pedestrians – everyone walks to the left here – we did not feel run over by tourists at all. It’s a buzzing city with an old soul; still with room to breathe, flowers abound, and beautiful courtyards offering moments to take it all in. Nevertheless, it was time to set off for the Highlands!

We followed a beautiful driving route through the countryside, headed northwest to the Isle of Skye. After swinging by to see Scotland’s tiniest whiskey distillery, Pitlochery, I promptly fell asleep for 2 hours while John dutifully drove our stick-shift car through the hills in the rain, on the opposite side of the road, sitting on the opposite side of the car and shifting with his left hand all the way. John made sure to capture this joyful moment for all to see (photo below):

Our next stop on the road trip to Skye was Eileen Donan castle, in Kintail. This castle dates back to the 13th century. For years, it was conquered and re-conquered by various Scottish clans including Mackenzie, MacCrae, and Maclennan. Eileen Donan castle was re-constructed many times to serve different purposes, as is evident in it’s architecture (ahem…and in the informational pamphlet I read…) During WWII, it was even used to hold prisoners of war in it’s dungeons! Despite it’s turbulent history, it is known today as the “most romantic” castle in Scotland, as it stands alone on a tiny island in a lake surrounded by mountains and must be accessed by a long, narrow stone bridge. Eilean Donan castle has now been owned by the MacCrae clan for over a century. To this day, they host an annual family gathering at the castle in which the clan gathers on the bridge and the (still-working!) portcullis is ceremoniously lowered and then raised for them to enter. Now that sounds like a party!

Our home for the next four days was the town of Portree, a bustling port and thriving cultural center for the Isle of Skye. We spent our first night exploring the quaint, hilly streets and enjoying a lovely meal (henceforth, all meals now automatically include a scotch whiskey) in a restaurant in town.

The next day was drizzly, so, naturally, we headed straight for the Talisker Distillery. We took a delightfully informative tour, tasted several local varieties, and added a few more droplets of information to our growing vat of knowledge (…all aforementioned puns intended). Here are the ones that I found the most useful: 1) Smell whiskey with your mouth open- it significantly enhances the aromas. 2) When drinking scotch whiskey, adding water by the droplet is beneficial in order to “balance” the taste. Adding fresh water separates the oils thus enhancing flavors and aromas. You can add as much water as you’d like until the whiskey tastes best to you; this amount will change with each variety of whiskey you drink. 3) In contrast, adding ice condenses the oils, leading to reduced aromas and a diminished taste. 4) Despite all the above recommendations, there is no wrong way to drink whiskey- to each his own. Sláinte!

Our second day in the Isle of Skye, we woke up to gorgeous blue skies. Carpe Diem!!! We started along the Trotternish Loop, which is a coastal route encircling the Trotternish peninsula. This region contains some of the most beautiful, bizarre, epic and popular landscapes you will see in the Scottish Highlands. Our first stop was the Old Man of Storr, one of the most famous landscapes in Scotland. Travel tip: a “walk” in Europe = a “hike” in America. All the same, this short but steep walk-hike was fantastic. We climbed all the way to the top for the most dramatic views of the rock formations. The initially well-maintained path turns into a bit of a scramble near the top, but it was well worth the unreal vistas once we finally turned around. We were also very happy that we followed my aunt’s savvy advice (thank you L.R.!) to bring rain jackets no matter what- turns out that Old Man of Storr decided to hail on us halfway up, then clear the skies once again as we reached the top. He can be grumpy, but since he is quite literally ancient, we will give the Old Man a break 🙂

Our next adventure on the Trotternish Loop truly blew my mind and nearly made my eyes pop out of my head with the beauty of it all. At first, we weren’t sure what we were getting into. In fact, I admit that I didn’t even know what the Quiraing actually was. As it turns out, the Quiraing is a part of the Trotternish ridge, formed by a landslip that created high cliffs, hidden plateaus and pinnacles of rock. Our plan to venture “just around the corner” quickly vanished as we were sucked in by the fairytale-like landscape.

We accidentally proceeded to hike the entire 5 mile loop, gazing out over miles and miles of sweeping green valleys; tiptoeing along ridges; peering over steep drops; leaping over waterfall-fed streams; trekking uphill only to nearly blow off the edge of the peninsula due to the high winds; surveying sparkling blue seas from thousands of feet above; and wondering how the hell those sheep got onto that grassy plateau on stilts surrounded by rock cliffs!? Actually, we learned that the Vikings figured this out- they used to hide their cattle on this secret plateau, named “The Table”! Enemies would have had to hike to the very top of the ridge to even see them. Clever Vikings…I knew my red-haired kin were intelligent from the start…

Our pilgrimage through the Quiraing finished with a walk along the highest ridge, over the top and down a muddy, zigzagging path to eventually complete the loop where we started. Here, I’ll just breeze by the fact that at this point, the trail is not well marked, and with the sun going down, no snacks and only sheep for friends, trust in your partner is an important part of a healthy marriage. Good thing John knows North from South, because otherwise I would have spent the night with a fluffy sheep for a pillow 🙂

We celebrated our victorious survival/ epic adventurism of the Quiraing with bowls of delicious, spicy fish soup at Sea Breezes in Portree, a cozy seafood restaurant on the dock. We were also lucky enough to catch a marvelous sunset that night, and ran around taking as many photos as we could of the pretty fishing town, glowing pink and orange as the sherbet sun melted into the harbor.

We finished out our tour of Skye with the following expeditions: Dunvegan Castle, whose exquisite woodland castle gardens are a must-see; an ancient Viking Broch called Dun Beag whose foundations still stand strong 2,000 years later- one can truly sense the epic passage of time standing within these walls (again, thanks L.R.! this was one of John’s favorite spots); AND…The Fairy Pools. ANNOUNCEMENT: We have arrived at The Setting for the Story of My Vanished Hat.

The Fairy Pools are mystical: a succession of waterfalls and circular rock pools spilling from one stone ledge to the next, set on a backdrop of dark, misty mountains and flanked by a golden field on either side. It was here that we saw our third rainbow of that particular day- and this time, it was not only a double rainbow, but fully circular! This was the first time I have ever seen a rainbow in it’s complete circular form, and possibly the last; according to Google, it is extremely rare to see this, as the weather conditions and vantage point must be precisely right. I felt very lucky today. Now where those sneaky pots of gold are, I’m still not sure…

…well don’t be too jealous, because my good luck did not last long! It was at these Fairy Pools that the leprechaun responsible for the aforementioned double circular rainbow, stole my hat. Yes, the very same white, cozy, woolen hat you see in many of the above photos. It vanished into thin air at the location of this circular rainbow, right after we took the above photo in front of it. Double circular rainbows are therefore eerily similar to the Bermuda Triangle. Avoid them at all costs!!!

Whether a leprechaun stole it or I just dropped it (but obviously the former…) my hat was forever lost. No amount of searching the car or driving all the way back to the Fairy Pools was enough to find it. I was sad at first, because that hat and I had been through many adventures together in it’s short life: we climbed glaciers in Iceland, traversed seas and braved many a windy mountaintop, hat on head. But, luckily (perhaps I should stop using that word…) John, understanding soul that he is, solemnly uttered a poem in a perfect Morgan Freeman impression over a raised dram of whiskey, thus commemorating my vanished hat’s achievements and giving it a proper sendoff. Adieu, White Hat. You will be greatly missed.

• Where we stayed in Portree: a lovely Airbnb cottage
• Where we ate: Dulse and Brose, which is connected to The Merchant Bar. Sea Breezes, incredible seafood on the dock. The Old Inn, an adorable restaurant that is also an inn, located walking distance from the Talisker Distillery: http://www.theoldinnskye.co.uk/
• Talisker Distillery: https://www.malts.com/en-row/distilleries/talisker/
• Old Man of Storr: https://www.isleofskye.com/skye-guide/top-ten-skye-walks/old-man-of-storr
• The Quiraing: https://www.isleofskye.com/skye-guide/top-ten-skye-walks/the-quiraing
• The Fairy Pools: https://www.isleofskye.com/skye-guide/top-ten-skye-walks/fairy-pools

Hat-less (alright, John somehow still held onto his…), we left sunny Skye and arrived in the dripping rain to the most peculiar B&B in Inverinate, Kintail. We were greeted by a man in his late 60’s who apparently didn’t need a rain jacket in the pouring rain, only a hand-knit woolen sweater. He ushered us inside to a beautiful window-paneled room with spectacular views of Loch Duich and the mountains encircling it. Here, we posted up for two nights, watching the storm rage and immensely enjoying our host’s progressively more extravagant stories of his youth in a famous band, his royal neighbors, the secret Scottish Navy base across the Loch, his ventriloquist puppets, and his rare Peruvian parrot who not only speaks English and answers the telephone, but dive-bombs anyone who isn’t him (needless to say, we distanced ourselves from said parrot and only waved hello through a solid glass window). I have to admit, our host was an excellent chef who grows and cooks everything himself; and the most fantastic thing is that I’m fairly certain every story he told us was true.

Our planned hike, The Kintail Saddle, was rained out the following day. Not to be defeated, we replaced it with a day trip to Urquhart Castle and a stop for lunch in Inverness. Urquhart castle is mostly in ruins, but it sits on a gorgeous piece of land overlooking Loch Ness. With a good imagination, you can fill in the walls and envision how life was many centuries ago. Like all castles, it saw times of both peace and war. After centuries of raids by the Loch Ness Monster– ahem– excuse me, I meant the MacDonald Clan!– and re-acquisitions by the Crown, the castle was gifted to Clan Grant in the early 1500’s. The Grants held the castle for some time until a raid by the Jacobite’s in the late 1600’s threatened them enough to burn their own castle to the ground and run for their lives, thus preventing Urquhart from becoming an enemy stronghold. Sounds pretty courageous to me. Anyway, that is partially why the castle is in ruins today. *eyes emoji directed at the Grant’s*

We bid farewell to our whimsical B&B to the sound of Dylan the parrot squawking, “Morning!” and giggling uncannily like a human female. The rain followed us to Fort William in the Glencoe Valley, which was a bit of a shame, as this region is chock full of spectacular landscapes. We therefore didn’t get outside much here, but instead dug into plates of delicious seafood and traipsed around the adorable cobblestone streets of Fort William in our rain jackets. I definitely plan to return to the Glencoe Valley, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park again in better weather, but overall we are extremely grateful that our outdoor plans were only affected by a total of two rainy days on our 12-day stint in Scotland!

We closed out our adventure (and our bar tab) in Scotland feeling as though we had accomplished a Lord of the Rings quest. Full of wonderful stories and with visions of Viking Brochs dancing in our heads, we headed to the Glasgow airport already discussing our itinerary for a return trip. But right now, our sights are set on the Swiss Alps: home of Swiss cows, Swiss cheese, Swiss chocolate, and Swiss wine. Time to exchange Scotch for Chasselas! And perhaps find a New Swiss Hat. And hey while we’re at it, maybe a Swiss watch….

• Where we stayed in Inverinate: Grianan House B&B. The food was excellent and our stay was full of entertaining conversation and beautiful views: http://www.griananhouse.co.uk/
• Urquhart Castle: http://www.urquhart-castle.co.uk/
• Where we stayed in Fort William: A hostel that gets an honorable mention for central location and the lowest prices in town. Private rooms available: https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/bankstreetlodge.xu.html?aid=1661650&no_rooms=1&group_adults=1
• Where we ate in Fort William: Crannog, a local seafood restaurant on the pier; Wildcat, a vegan cafe with great coffee and delicious bites.