The Road Trip Continues: Scotland Part 2

The day after my birthday we continued our road trip across Scotland and headed to the Kyle of Lochalsh--a narrow straight that connects mainland Scotland with the Isle of Skye. Before arriving at the kyle though, we first stopped at Eilean Donan castle. The castle dates back to the thirteenth century, but was reconstructed last century. It is set at the mouth of three lochs, and makes for a stunning picture. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the inside of the castle because someone--not naming any names here--was a little cranky.

Eilean Donan Castle

We made it to the kyle just in time to catch a two-hour glass-bottom boat tour. I loved every minute of it! Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and was able to give a lot of history and interesting facts about the region and its wildlife. We saw thousands of moon jelly fish; a salmon fishery where the salmon were flip-flopping in and out of the water; huge kelp that gets exported to Japan; a shipwreck teeming with sea coral; and tons of seals and their newborn pups!

Seal swimming in the kyle

Seal pup and mum

Me being the only nerd listening intently to the guide

Zoey's not so sure about this whole boat thing

After our tour we headed over the Skye bridge and found our B&B. This place was in the middle of nowhere! The views from our room were incredible though--horses, sheep, cows, and mountains as far as the eye could see.

The whole island is pretty small. Portree, the main town, is quaint and bookings for dinner are essential! We watched tons of people get turned away. Fortunately, we were able to grab a seat at Harbour View. The food was delicious. I am now a huge fan of cullen skink, a traditional Scottish soup made with smoked haddock and potatoes. And of course over the week I ate my weight in local salmon. Yum!

Read about our other stops in Scotland: 
Loch Lomand
Isle of Skye
Inverness and Glasgow