I had the days of our trip pretty buttoned-up before we even took flight. Three weeks were fairly well mapped-out, London, a bit better than Scotland. All that went out the window the minute we touched down. Go figure! ;-) We still got to do much of what we wanted, we just had to do it all in a different order, and it also meant dropping about 25% of the items on our to do list. Today was one such example. We were meant to explore Skye yesterday, and to take the 11yo fishing today - something he'd been looking forward to for months. But we realized late last night that we were about to miss all the dramatic landscapes of the Highlands for a day of fishing that might not be too different from any other one the boy could have back home. We broke the news to him, and thankfully he got it. He was disappointed to miss a big day on the water but understood the importance of taking full advantage of our surroundings. We were so proud of his maturity. Besides, it's not like the kid doesn't like to hike big green mountains as much as he likes to fish.
"Wha-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-t?"
Faerie Glen was our first stop of the morning. Unmarked from the road, you have to know where you are going. It was magical for all of us! After a picnic in the grass with a flock of sheep, we continued north through beautiful scenery before stopping off for a little history at The Skye Museum of Island Life, a re-creation of life up until the turn of the last century.
It was fascinating, although more for me than for the kids. ;-)
Heading back to Plockton, we had to pass Quiraing (too much for the little ones), and stopped for a hike to The Old Man of Storr. It was more strenuous than thought, so only the big kid and I attempted it. We didn't make it all the way up, just enough to get some incredible views. When we sat up top together he said to me, "I'm so glad we did this. I can fish any day, but today might be the only day in my life when I'll have the chance to experience this."