The Highlands and the Isle of Skye

On Friday, the 10th of March, eight interns, two Scots, and two Brazilians piled into this fabulous Mini Bus and headed toward the highlands and the Isle of Skye. The journey wasn't too bad and the bus wasn't too uncomfortable, but the scenery was amazing. The rumors are true...Scotland is absolutely breath-taking. It has so many different landscapes. It reminds me of driving through Utah, except for that whole desert thing. We saw green rolling hills, usually surrounded by large, blue lochs, rocky mountains, green mountains, white mountains. You name it. They got it. I hope the following pictures do a little justice to the magnificence of Scotland.

Plockton

The first town we stopped in was called Plockton. Great name, eh? We actually didn't get here until late the night before, so we went straight to the bunkhouse. There were three sets of bunkbeds in one room and a few others in the other room.

Before breakfast we took a wee walk around the town. I didn't get far because I was too busy looking at a few sights. There was an Open-Air Church, a Memorial from the men who died in the Great War, but my favorite part was the view we got of Loch Alsh (below).

I know it doesn't look like much. It kind of looks like a picture of mud taken on a gloomy day, but don't judge. You have to remember that we are in Scotland and the days usually don't look much different than this. Also remember that it is hard to capture the big picture on a camera. When you are surrounded by the scenery you are able to feel the beauty, rather than just see it. I am continually awed by the greens and blues because, as beautiful as Utah is, it could use a little help in the color department. Being a desert and all.

Portree

The harbor at the charming little village of Portree. I like the colorful houses!

We spotted a tower sitting atop a hillside and we wanted to explore it. There was this pesky sign, but being ignorant tourists we pretended we didn't know 'Strictly No Admittace' meant the same things in Scotland. I think they just meant 'you can't come in unless you are Trisha.' They already knew that I can do whatever I want. And I wanted to go up there. It was kind of spooky because it was really quiet, except there were tons of crows flying around 'caw'ing up a storm.

Once we got up there we realized it was just a lonely tower, but we climbed the metal spiral stairs inside and got a better view of Portree.

There were 12 beds in the bunkhouse we stayed at on the second night. The room was too big to get it all in the picture. It was kind of out in the middle of nowhere. Still beautiful Scotland country, but also frigid Scotland weather. Since the bunkhouse was so open and lacked any real means of heat, we froze the whole night. From the second picture you can get an idea of how windy it was that night. The door was actually attached to the telephone booth the night before.

Eilean Donan Castle: Probably the most well-known of all castles in Scotland. We didn't get to go inside. I don't remember why; it was too cold to even stand outside long enough to get a few pictures! I think we were just too cheap and cold to pay to go inside and look around.

The Skye trip ended with a bang. When I say 'bang', I mean blizzard! We got stranded in Fort William (the Outdoor Capital of the UK, if you must know) for a while because it was snowing so bad in some parts of Scotland. They closed all the roads down. I still don't know why, but, hey, we do as we're told. This picture was taken out of a window of our speeding minibus. It looks like a drawing, but it's definitely not. I would know. I nearly froze to death trying to take the picture!