Scotland and Emerald Isle: The Scottish Highlands

We have indeed been blessed with the most fabulous weather in Scotland. My sister said I sounded like the Chamber of Commerce for Scotland. This is Wednesday and the 4th day of our tour. We leave Inverness and head west toward the Isle of Skye. Thought I would share this Scottish thought:

" High in the misty Highlands, Out by the purple Islands, Brave are the hearts that beat beneath the Scottish skies." Cliff Hanley from Scotland the Brave. 1951.

Scotland has always been home to epic adventure. Through the ages, an intricate blend of cultures, including those of the Picts, Celts, Vikings and Normans, have intermingled like the weave of a tartan to fashion cobblestoned villages and fairy-tale castles. (Extracted from a Purdue travel brochure.)

We have seen it all....the villages, the castles and the tartans. Today, we enjoyed such a pleasant ride down through through the Highlands and past the beautiful lochs and on toward the Isle of Skye. The weather has been cool and dry this spring and the heather is still a brown mass on the hillsides and the grass is a pale yellowish and not the intense green that everyone associates with Scotland. We still revel in the fabulous sun. We actually eat lunch outside.

We visited the Clan Donald Centre at Armandale Castle to discover the history of powerful Lords of the Isles. The castle is in ruins, but the grounds and gorgeous flowers remind us of Biltmore in Asheville. The lengthy history is way more than we can absorb.

We stopped at the Glenfinnan Monument and a shot at a trestle bridge which was featured in Harry Potter. The monument honors Bonnie Prince Charlie who led the rebellion of 1745, trying to release Scotland from the rule of England. On our way to our hotel, we are treated with a grand view of the highest mountain in Scotland, Ben Nevis at 4,406 feet. There is still snow on top. Our guide says this is a rare treat to see this mountain from top to bottom as 300 days of the year it is shrouded in fog and mist.

We finally arrive at the Ballychulish Hotel and a chance to relax. The hotel is amazing and a great example of one of the grand European Boutique hotels....slightly shabby in places, but truly elegant in a rare way.