Day 4 Castles and Isle of Skye

We had a two course breakfast at our fancy bed and breakfast place. The first course Ryan had prepared grapefruit with brown sugar and mint, and I had this fruit and yogurt parfait. For the second course Ryan had soft boiled eggs and toast soldiers, while mine was (very blonde) scrambled eggs and smoked salmon (it was less smoked and more smoke flavored, mostly raw) salmon. Upon request of what our breakfast beverage choice would be, we said water would be fine. Our hostess took our teacups away though. Water isn't good enough for them? It made me laugh.

We were on the road again to the Isle of Skye. On the way we passed by the famous Eilean Donan castle. We didn't really have time to explore, and we didn't want to pay to park, so we did a quick drive through the parking lot for a glimpse and a couple photos from the car. 

What we did want to see was the the ruined Castle Moil. We found the beginning of the path that lead to the ruins but we couldn't park there so we had to drive back the way we came along a very narrow road until there was a spot we could kinda sorta pull off to the side to park and walk back.

The beginning of the path.

Voila! A view of the dilapidated castle and the sunken boat.

View from the window.

View of the bridge onto the Isle of Skye.

                                                       

One last look before being on our way again. We were there at low tide.

They grow extra large fuchsia in Scotland.
 

Ryan has the very male ability to empty his bladder in any secluded outdoor space. I have not cultivated that skill. I found a public restroom that had "touchless payment" for 50 pence. I needed a credit card to pass the gate so I could use the toilet. At least the facilities were clean. The teeny hand washing station was kind of ingenious. It did have picture instructions so even someone like me with no previous experience can work it. The first time you put your hands in, soap dispenses. The second time you wave your hands under the sensor, you get water for washing. The third time the hot air blows to dry your hands. It was nifty.

Our hike of the day was the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye. We felt like we geared up for this hike. Ryan wore his quick dry pants from Trek. I wore my merino wool shirt, leggings, and socks along with my hiking shoes. We both had our rain jackets and hiking poles and we were off! After, of course, navigating some crazy narrow Scottish roads.

We had heard that midges can be a problem in Scotland. They are non-biting, swarming insects. The internet said that they aren't very active while it was raining and I foolishly believed that. We hadn't been pestered by the midges on the Lost Valley hike, and there was solid drizzle happening. Those bugs were everywhere. Annoying swarms while you are walking, and so much worse when you stop to admire the view. Also- that fog? It's mostly rain.

You can see the rain in the video.

About 20 minutes into the hike I realized that my rain jacket was merely kinda sorta rain resistant, maybe. I was getting very soggy. My merino wool leggings lasted longer, but eventually became saturated. My coat was so wet that it kept trying to do things on my Apple watch. My watch wasn't really responding to my fingers- but my coat? It got my phone to play music in my pocket. It was disconcerting to say the least.

Ryan wanted to check out the river temperature. We saw people jumping in the pools in the river, and he was curious if it was doable.

It was not Washington state mountain spring cold, and he was already wet.

Once his shoes, socks, and coat were back on, we began the hike back to the parking lot. There had been so much rain by this point that the trail looked almost like the river with all of the standing water.

Ryan took a rough spill, but was able to catch himself with his hiking poles. The one on the left (above) took the brunt and became bent. Ryan did not get hurt, which was a blessing!

Once back in the car, I took off my coat and changed my shirt. It was very wet. There was one small dry spot. And I had left my coat on the entire time! I didn't change the rest of my clothes. I figured my wool leggings would dry and all would be hunky dory. Wrong. While Ryan was happy to turn on the heat full blast for the first 10 minutes-ish, then while he was still damp- he complained that is felt like a sauna in the car. He opened the window. I shivered. He closed the window. I started to thaw and the window opened again. The whole way to our hotel. 

Here's the state of my shirt. I had one dry spot somehow. 

We checked into our hotel in Broadford. It had the air and smell of an older, damp hotel. I didn't care too much. I wanted to take a shower and warm up. I don't remember there being temperature controls in our tiny basement room, but there was a portable fan. We drip dried all of our wet clothes and shoes, and pointed the fan at them to aid the drying process. The high humidity in Scotland doesn't lend itself to quick drying clothes. Even when you buy clothing that is labeled as "quick drying." After dinner I went so far as to use my hairdryer on my shoes because they were not drying fast enough. Ryan didn't seem to care and had wet shoes the next day. Which ultimately didn't matter much because we soon got wet on our adventures. But my shoes were at least dry when I put them on the next morning. It matters. To me, anyway.

We went to dinner nearby at the Cafe Sia. They had incredibly fast service, and our vegetarian pizza was on our table before we knew it. They did have these tippy half plate, half bowl things that we balanced our pizza slices on.

                                        

One more thing about bathrooms. The showers in Scotland are almost invariably partially open, just like what we experienced in Ireland. Water shoots out all over the bathroom, so you have to be careful where you leave the clothes you want to change into after the shower. A shower curtain would not go amiss, but I've not seen one there. Also, this place had an all-in-one shampoo and body wash that left my hair feeling like I'd used dish soap on it. It was the other extreme from the night before that left my hair feeling gross and unclean after two washes. (And yes I can read labels- it definitely said shampoo.) We took more pictures of toilets than we ever do in the states. This one was very deep and rectangular. 

Picture taken by Ryan and sent to our family.