Smoky and Shann's Excellent Adventures: Exploring a town and a light (Sunday, Sept. 13)

We awoke this windy morning to a grey sky with clouds eager to rain -- quite a change from our previous days in lovely Scotland. Our breakfast was very nice -- porridge for both of us; eggy bread with fruit compote for Smoky (we call this French toast), and smoked haddock with poached egg for me. I added Georgie's homemade granola and fresh fruit to my porridge. Yum, yum. So good.

Portree harbor, view from outside the Gathering Room.

By the time we were headed to the car, it had begun to rain lightly and the wind was hearty, so we decided to explore the town of Portree this morning. The crowds were tolerable, which meant we found a place to park near the center of town. Many shops were closed, but we explored the few that were open today. The rain and wind continued.

After we explored the Portree market (which was a local craft show) held in the town's Gathering Room, we stepped outside, looking down on the harbor, which is lined with colorful buildings, and realized that the rain had let up. Since the sky was brightening, we walked to the other side of the harbor to take some photos from that angle.

Portree harbor from the opposite side.

For lunch we stopped at Cafe Arriba, a small second-floor walkup in a building on a side street from Portree's main town area. I had heard they had good food, and we were getting hungry. We were delighted with the food! We waited a short while for a table since seating was rather limited. The daily specials sounded good (and were numerous). Smoky had the lamb chili with tortilla chips and sour cream. I snuck a bite, and it was delicious! I ordered the garbanzo bean salad with onions, apples and delicate lettuces. Mine was served with two slices of thick bread. Very delicious and I had enough left over for dinner tonight!

The sky was noticeably brighter, so we headed toward Dunvegan Castle. Neither of us was all that eager to pay another entry fee to go inside a castle, and at this one, you could not even photograph the outside without paying the admission fee. So, instead we decided to drive to Neist Point Lighthouse, about 30 miles from Portree on the westernmost tip of Skye. It took us a little over an hour to get there, but we stopped a lot because of the gorgeous views.

Old crofter's house, with sheep in background.

Old bridge near crofter's house;
only sheep use it now.

This road to the lighthouse, much of which was one narrow lane with turnouts, twisted and turned and wound its way up the mountain and back down again to the coast. At one point I said to Smoky that I was doing a bit of butt clinching on this trip, especially when we would crest a hill or round a blind turn (one lane, remember), and find someone coming from the opposite direction there just as you arrive. He laughed and said this trip was a sphincter squeezer! Thank goodness most everyone we encountered was polite and driving a reasonable speed.

Lovely view from narrow road on the way back from Neist Point.

We have some lovely photos of the spectacular scenes along the road both to and from Neist Point. By the time we got to the lighthouse, the sky was clear with a few white clouds, the wind had settled down, and the day just couldn't have been any nicer. Because Neist Point is on a rocky point of land, it is quite a hike out to the lighthouse itself. We were much more interested in getting photos that showed the lighthouse in its natural setting, so we hiked north along the top of the ridge closest to the Lighthouse until we got to a place with a great view.

Neist Point Lighthouse.

After taking several photos, I wandered off to explore the area. We found that some parts near the trail were wet, but neither of us thought much about it. As I explored, I noticed more carefully the plants growing there and how the ground felt under my feet. Then I noticed a strip of black earth a foot or two deep surrounding a depression. Suddenly a light went off -- there was a peat bog on top of this ridge! The grasses were lovely. I found several of the same plants we had seen at the Flanders Moss bog, but this time I got to walk around in it! What a great experience.