Scotland Day 3 - Eilean Donan Castle and Isle of Skye

On the third day of our Scottish adventure we woke up on the coast of charming Loch Ness in a moody weather. We took off after the breakfast towards the Isle of Skye which lies on the West Coast of Scotland. Before we reached the island Skye we stopped at gorgeous Eilean Donan Castle. This castle is one of the most visited and important attractions in the Scottish Highlands. It’s situated on an island at the point where three great sea lochs meet: Loch Duich, Loch Long, and Loch Alsh. The first castle on this location was built in the 13th century. Until 1719 when it was destroyed in a Jacobite uprising, the castle have been built and rebuilt at least four times. After 1719 the castle stayed in ruins for two hundred years. Then approximately hundred years ago, in 1912 Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the island and proceeded to restore the castle. It took him twenty years of hard lifetime work to re-open it in 1932. Now you can explore nearly every part of the castle and enjoy in its exterior scenery and rich interior. My favorite part of the castle was the recreated 1930’s kitchen. No photos were allowed in the castle that’s why here are just the photos of the exterior. The castle is really nice and I would recommend a visit.

The castle filled us with rich Scotland Highland history and we went to investigate it even further. Crossing the high and narrow bridge, we arrived to the Isle of Skye. We were accompanied by the desolate landscape on our way to Portree, island’s main town. The scenery was lacking houses, people, animals, and it was treeless. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t interesting it’s just that it was something I’ve never seen before. We didn’t know what to expect but because of all the hype about the Skye, we thought that we will be blown away with its beauty. As the whole Isle of Skye, Portree also didn’t meet our expectations. In the books and websites about Scotland, Portree is “a must see location” and that is probably why the expectations were (too) high. It’s a fishing town with lovely houses on the coast but this is more or less all there is to it. While hunting the restaurant for dinner we stopped at delicious traditional fish and chips on the coast which was great and as expected, a truly British experience.

Filed with different impressions we headed back to our home. We already saw more beautiful landscape the day or two before. On our way home we were discussing how Scotland is beautiful and something special, but they also know how to make something out of not so much. There are things that are amazing and glorious, but also some things are not that interesting. As with many things in marketing, the presentation is the king.