Our first three nights in Scotland were spent in the tiny, picture-perfect fishing village of Plockton, with easy access to the Isle of Skye. Our house, our views, our temporary fantasy world, were all just perfect. I only wish we could have stayed longer and done a little kayaking, hiking, and maybe some relaxing. As it turned out, we spent our mornings and evenings in the house and surrounding village, but during our two full days, we drove down (and up) to the Isle of Skye.
There were some great, unplanned experiences along our way - like the Skye Serpentarium, and its neighboring cafe, which served-up a version of my Scottish grandmother's Empire Biscuits. All five family members were deeply satisfied on some level.
Back in the car, we peeled off the plastic of our newly purchased Matilda CD, rolled down the windows, and tried to sing along at the top of our lungs. If you read my post from last week, you'll know that the London production of Matilda blew our minds. The music is brilliant and inspires me to sing and dance the way the Annie soundtrack did over 30 years ago!
Our first stop was at the magical Fairy Pools. You can see them from afar in the picture above. Sadly there was no magic to be had for us. The river was running too high when we got there and we couldn't safely cross the creek on boulders to get to the pools. It was pretty crushing, actually. For all of us. So we piled back into the car and went looking for the top-rated, Oyster Shed.
It's been interesting trying to navigate our way around these remote parts, with faulty wi-fi, and three know-it-alls in the backseat. We find ourselves asking old men walking their sheep herding dogs on the side of the road for directions. They usually say something like - "Oh ya - the Oyster Shed. Yer going to go up a bit, then down a dirt road past the distillery and behind the church. It's a wee thing on wheels with a blue broom propped up on its right side. Ya can't miss it!"
But such places are worth the effort you put in to find them! Seafood and just-add-hot-water beverages - we've had our share lately!
At this point we were feeling a bit deflated as we'd failed to see the Fairy Pools, and it was getting too late to make it up the isle any further to try and do a hike. We decided to pick up the fixings for an Indian dinner instead, and head back to our rental for a dinner in and some *telly*.