First, we drive to Eilean Donan Castle, originally a thirteenth-century castle that was restored and opened in the 20th century. This famous castle turns out to be a huge tourist trap. We are not the only ones who refrain from visiting, and from the other side of the river, we take some pictures of this castle and the stream of people entering it. There are two rooms in the castle to visit, sic!

To Achnasheen, The Midge Bite where we were before and once again drink a fine cappuccino. Tent lives up to its name. And it’s low season, in terms of midges, and thus bites, too. In the car, we terminate a few more midgets before they can make their move.

Next, we pass Loch Maree, a three-star lake according to Michelin, and the old Caledonian forest—exclusivity largely hidden from us behind roadside bushes.

Gairloch is a nice coastal town where we stretch our legs and eat our sandwiches.

At the waterfall Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, we get out again to stretch our legs and conquer vertigo in a deep gorge with a suspension bridge.

Then we went to Ullapool. We walked into town, which is small but nice. It’s much smaller than we thought, even smaller than Thurso, but also nicer.

Breakfast is barely inferior to dinner.

First, we go to Portree, the main town of the Isle of Skye. It is a nice, small, partly very colorful port town (where not colorful also equals concrete gray). We look around in the drizzling rain.

On to Dunvegan castle of the MacLeods. Painted portraits on the wall of the Chiefs van de MacLeod clan show stout men with thick sideburns. However, the last scion of the MacLeods family to be portrayed here is a sweet old lady, Chief Dame Flora, who has managed to bring the feuding chiefs back together.

The castle has an extensive library, where I discover Shakespeare and our own Grotius (Hugo de Groot).

We check out the bay by the castle and the garden.

We drive back home through the rain, and we still have to get out of the car to take pictures, among other things, of stubborn sheep complainingly bleating as they cross the road.

Yesterday, from Thurso to Sconser on the Isle of Skye. A long drive right through the highlands.

We decide to take the north coast up to Tongue, then down through Lairg, Dingwall, and then across to the Isle of Skye.

The drive along the coast west of Thurso is beautiful and rugged. Almost everything from Thurso is single-lane, so you frequently have to give way to oncoming traffic at passing places.

At Tongue, we turn off onto the plateau into the rugged hills. There are magnificent views of lakes between the mountains.

Only fifteen minutes before Sconser, it begins to rain.

The hotel is by the sea and overlooks the island of Raasay. The owner welcomes us and leads us through the authentic dining, bar, and sitting rooms. They look great.

The hotel also provides dinner. It is super – halibut and hake. Cranachan for dessert. The king of Scottish deserts…

Cranachan (Scottish Gaelic: Crannachan pronounced [ˈkʰɾan̪ˠəxan]) is a traditional Scottish dessert. It was originally a celebration of harvest,[1] made following the raspberry harvest in August. The dessert of cream and fresh seasonal raspberries is bolstered by Scottish oats and whisky.

– wikipedia