Lou and I are on our way to Skye! Last night we ate dinner at the Phuket Pavilion--delicious--and walked around a bit. I didn't want to venture too far from the hostel in case we got lost. Wandering through a city--one of my favorite activities--is a little more fraught with a small child. Getting lost is no longer fun and carefree; it's a pain in the ass at best and dangerous at worst.
We had a quiet night at the Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel. Let me take a moment to plug this place: it's awesome! The room isn't huge, but it's big enough. The shower is great: roomy, great water pressure, and little shelves up high for your stuff. (After not having that in London, I realize how nice it is.) The staff is very friendly and helpful, and the continental breakfast is exactly what you need: fruit, yogurt, cereal, coffee, etc. Very Lou-friendly, too. I highly recommend it. [Additional note: the laundry and self-catering facilities are excellent, though I didn't discover this until Sunday. More on that later.]
- Saw the castle where they filmed Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
- Stopped for tea and sweets at Mohr Bread in the town of Callender. Ate in a park by a beautiful river.
- Stopped to visit a hairy coo called Hamish, who apparently is famous.
- Stopped at Glencoe, site of the notorious massacre of the MacDonald clan by the Campbells (on the orders of the king). Charlotte got inspired and wanted to write about the "stone brook."
- Lunch at Glencoe Visitors' Center, then on to Ben Nevis.
- Photo stop at Ben Nevis, now sitting on a grassy slope while Lou eats ice cream beside a canal. We're in a town called Ft. Augustus, which is on Loch Ness. Beautiful! Charlotte says to add that Edinburgh is on a big volcano that's not active anymore.
Later that night
Sidhean Dubha B&B, Portree
We're now in our lovely, nicely appointed room, where we'll stay tonight and tomorrow night. Thoughtful touches include a heated towel rack (!) and a very dark blue windowshade--crucial for a good night's sleep, since the sun sets at 10:30 and rises at 4:30 (!!!) this time of year on the Isle of Skye. Eek! There's also a nice bathtub--important when you're traveling with a kid. (In London, we had a tiny shower stall and no washcloth; I had to wipe Lou down with antibacterial wipes and hope for the best.)
We explored Portree just a bit, looking for a restaurant. We ended up at the Caledonian Cafe, where we both got just what we wanted: pasta for Lou, delicious fish and chips for me.
Now we're in our room, and since it's nice and cool in Portree, we are quite comfortable. I kind of smirked about the Great British Heat Wave of '13 at first, but the high 80s are no joke when you're in a second-story room with no AC and no ceiling fans. I look forward to sleeping under the covers tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment