Once in Inverness we rented a car and drove the 2.5 hours to Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye. Along the way we drove over Skye Bridge which connects Skye to the mainland, and visited Eilean Donan castle. The castle is beautifully situated on the Atlantic with a view of the Cuillin Hills (the mountain range that covers the island).
Kinloch Lodge is owned by the MacDonald's family, a clan from the Isle of Skye that can trace their lineage back to 1140! Clare MacDonald is a chef in her own right and has several cookbooks available for sale. A few years ago she hired Marcello Tully from London to be the head chef of the B&B restaurant. A daily 5 course dinner is included in the room price and the restaurant got a Michelin star a few years ago. The food was AMAZING and after 3 days we really had to leave or we may not have fit into our small house in London!
Kinloch Lodge
View from our window!
After all the eating we had to get out for some exercise! We first drove up to Portree, a small town on the northern part of Skye with an adorable little town square and village. From Portree you can drive around the Trotternish peninsula for amazing views. Along the way we stopped at the Old Man of Storr - a hike up to a group of rock formations, the most prominent being named the Old Man of Storr. It was a beautiful hike, even though the second 2/3rds of the path was covered in snow!
After our hike we continued up the Trotternish Peninsula to Flodgiarry Country House Hotel (for lunch - of course!). It is the ancestral home of Flora MacDonald, the famous rescuer of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1746. We had a small lunch at this beautiful country home and Shane had the best fish chowder in the world!
Our last day in Skye was full of whiskey tasting. We did a small walk near our hotel after breakfast and then headed to Talisker, the only distillery left on the Isle of Skye. Their whiskey's are known for being very smokey because of the peat that is used to dry the barley in the early parts of the process. After a thorough tour and tasting session we managed to buy a few bottles before leaving. Next we headed to the south of the Island and stopped at Eilean Iarmain, another beautiful country home, that has a small whiskey shop. They sell Gaellic whiskey, a new company that began about 40 years ago. They buy scotch made by distillers on the western coast of mainland Scotland and bottle and sell them. We had a very nice tasting session here as well, tasting the 8 year, 12 year and 21 year old single malts. Next door to the whiskey shop was a wool store that sold men's Harris tweeds. It was a good stop for Shane!
After a wonderful 3 days of driving, walking, relaxing and eating, we headed back to Inverness. We spent the night in Inverness, visited Loch Ness and searched for Nessie, before heading back to London. Our little guy did very well in our absence and my parents thoroughly enjoyed their week with him. It was a great trip but after 5 days it was good to have our family back together!
Inverness Castle
Love, Sarah and Shane
(see Facebook for more pictures!)
