Scotland/Ireland 2017 – #07

[Categories: Travel, Photography, Photography 101 Forever]
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Wed. 26 April.

Last night was a one-nighter in the aging, 3 to 4-star (?!), Columba Hotel Inverness.  We are doing 2-1-1-2-1-2-1-2-2 in terms of overnights during the tour and many are VERY nice. Perhaps I’ll do a hotel retrospective later.  Every hotel has been fully functional (though thermostats seem to be a common irregularity), nearly every breakfast and dinner provided by the hotel in sumptuous buffets morning and evening, and we have been well fed.  The Columba is aging and less refurbished than any other but it provides us shelter and sustenance.  (Bring washcloths if you come.  Several of the hotels have not provided them, most others have.)  I like the staircase at the Columba and it’s on a pretty river, the Ness.  I don’t think there are any ugly rivers in Scotland or Ireland, or they are well hidden.

The Columba Hotel staircase.

River in front of The Columba Hotel.

Inver means ‘mouth of’ thus ‘mouth of the river Ness’, from the Scottish Gaelic ‘Inbhir Nis’.  ‘bh’ is pronounced like ‘v’ in Gaelic, generally.  Exactness warrants a thorough study of the language and I’m not going there.

The River Ness of course flows from Loch (lake) Ness, home of the monster(s).  I’m not going there either.  We didn’t see he, she, or it. We proceed along Loch Ness to view points of the Uruquat Castle.

Loch Ness. Uruquat Castle on the point at right.

Uruquat Castle zoomed.

An hour and ten minutes after Uruquat we pass snowy mountains again. It is still chilly. Fortunately we don’t actually drive through any snow. We just see it and feel it.

From Uruquat Castle we make our way down the loch and head west to Kyle of Localsh and the bridge to Skye, not extant when I last visited in 1990 (the bridge, not the Kyle).  On the way we stop at Eilean Donan Castle:

An hour and ten minutes after snowy mountains we make a pit stop at Eilean Donan Castle.

Eilean Donan Castle.

Isle of Skye photo op:

The bridge to the Isle of Skye. If memory serves me (it usually doesn’t) there are 787 islands that are a part of Scotland.

Idyllic scenery on the Skye side of the bridge.

The photo-op. Photos are us!

On Skye The Clan Donald center at Armadale is a beautiful stop for lunch, gardens, and a thorough museum of Clan history.

Staircase in the restored stables/old house.

The 1815 section, after fire in 1855 and abandonment to the elements in 1925.

To continue our journey we take a ferry from Skye to Mallaig.

The Sea.

The Ferry.

The Bus.

The Wake.

Next stop is the Glenfinnan Monument at the head of Loch Shiel, the landing site of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 to rally clansmen for the Jacobite Risings and restoration of the throne to the James Stuart family.  The history of Scotland is incredibly fascinating. Wikipedia enlightens.

The Unknown Highlander

We finish the day at the Isle of Glencoe hotel in Ballachulish (no pronunciation lesson here other than the c is silent as in Balla-hoo-lish).  There are nice views from all rooms.

Near the hotel is a slate quarry, 26 million pieces produced in 1845.  Slate is great!  …for roofs etc.  It weathers and lasts.  It’s everywhere in this area.

Tomorrow is another day, so I’ve heard.  Profound…