Final Day in Edinburgh

Today is our last full day in Edinburgh. Tomorrow morning (Monday) we head off to the airport for our trip back to Rochester. It has been a fantastic adventure for us. We have seen some incredible places and met many fascinating people. But first ... our last day here.

It started with us sleeping in a little late this morning. All this travel has worn us out. Once we did get up we set off for a breakfast-brunch. We found a really nice restaurant and had a delicious Scottish-style breakfast with "Cullen Skink Benny" (a deconstructed smoked haddock eggs benedict). Yum!

After breakfast we decided to go for a walk down to and around the "Royal Mile" for the last time and to pick up a few souvenirs.  While there, Chris had an opportunity to visit "The Elephant House Cafe," the place where J.K. Rowlings wrote the Harry Potter series. By the smile on her face you can tell it was one of the highlights of our trip. 

You can see Hogwarts out the window, up on the hill. Talk about inspiration!

After wandering the streets for a couple of hours, it was back to our flat to start organizing and packing for our trip home. Along the way we did find the statue of Greyfriars Bobby (a famous Skye terrier),

and the Union Canal -- something we heard about but did not find until our last day here.

This evening we took a break to have dinner with our new friends (Ian and Connie) who hail from Edmonton Alberta. We spent the last week traveling with them on our trip to the Outer Hebrides.

It was then back to our flat to finish packing. With everything done, we are just sitting back watching the finals of the Euro 2016 soccer championship. Next stop is to bed in prep for our long trip home tomorrow. 😴😴

Final day in the Hebrides

We packed up the van ... 

and headed north to the Callanish Standing Stones. Oh what a spot! 

And we imbibed in a wee celebratory sip:

Then on to the ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool (a 2 1/2 hour trip on a calm sea), 

returning to Inverness. We had a great dinner with new friends from Edmonton

Saturday we take the train back to Edinburgh...what a week!! 

Thursday, Lewis...more

It was raining this morning--not a misty rain--raining. We headed south again to the Isle of Lewis and stopped first at a museum on the Harris Tweed industry and then to a sweet little museum on local history. 

(The deer is made entirely out of Harris tweed.)

Along the way we saw many seals lying about and swimming around the small off-shore islands. The rain abated and we went to the church at Rodel, the very southern tip of the island.

Finally it cleared and we walked to the beach! Rick pulled out his trusty kite and made everyone smile.

Check out the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN5MDXCMwMM

And speaking about beaches ... the Outer Hebrides have miles and miles of stretches of beautiful sandy beaches and crystal clear waters. Unfortunately for us it was cloudy and rainy.

It was then back to the Inn for our final night together. After a great dinner we all settled into the lounge for some wonderful Scottish whisky.

Wednesday on Lewis Island

Today we took a ride to and a walk on Lewis. It is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It is way up there!

The day started out nicely with looming clouds but no rain. We even stopped for a sighting of a golden eagle. It was clearly visible with just your naked eyes as it flew almost directly overhead but everyone wanted to be able to count the feathers. So out came the binoculars, monoculars, and telephotos lens for everyone. 

The view was also outstanding. Here is a panoramic photo of the area.

Next stop was for a walk on a long trail where we would get a chance to visit a 4-8th century iron age house that was discovered buried in the sand. It was discovered in the 1990s, excavated, and then restructured. We got to view the inside and received a wonderful explanation from the women who works there all summer. You can see it in the back ground.

From there (and after a lunch on the beach) we set off on our hike. It started out windy and then the rains came, and came again. 🌧 Everyone ended up in their rain gear: raincoats, rainpants, rain hats, ponchos, etc...

We were able to snap a few photos of us when the rain let up ocassionally.

We also came across a couple of the local highland cow. Both the males and females have long horns and shaggy coats. We were told that they are very docile but no one tried to pet one. (This is a mother and her calf. The males are even bigger.)

And one last photo as we wrapped up our walk today. We have never seen so many buttercup flowers before.

Everyone was pretty wet by the end of today's walk but very happy. After getting back to our hotel, we set out all of our wet clothes in our room to dry. We all met together for a delicious dinner at the hotel.

All-in-all, it was another fine day! 😴

A day in Scalpay

Out the door early to see the first lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides. We are on the Isle of Harris (home of the tweed). 

We crossed over to a little island called Scalpay. 

The hike out and back to the lighthouse was about 4 km. 

The weather changed from clouds and cool wind to rain to warm sun in an instant. Layers--on, off, on....

We had the BEST dinner on Scalpay, in a little gourmat restaurant. You walk through the little grocery store to enter. The cracked crab...wow.

We ended the day back at the west harbor here on Harris, where the whaling ships came in, many years ago. 

See our shadows on the right in this panorama.

Eighteen hours of daylight...

4th of July--at the beach!

In the morning we went for a walk around the harbor at Portree, cute little town:

Then on the the ferry to the Isle of Harris--welcome to the Outer Hebrides.

We stopped to check out a peat bog...

And then to the beach in the west side of Harris:

The water was chilly but everyone got their feet wet starting with Rick.

We had an excellent dinner at a local bistro then to bed at the Harris Hotel, a great old place.

Sunday, Isle of Skye

It is difficult to describe this place. Every direction--the view is stunning. We began the day at nearby ruins--ruins everywhere, really. 

Then we went to the eastern peninsula and hiked up to the Man of Storr. You can see the needle-like rock way in the distance, 

 It was quite a steep climb and honestly I was so glad I worked so hard all winter (thank you Keith and Lisa). I felt great! And...the weather changes in a blink of an eye around here. Rick and I certainly brought the right clothes--thermalball jackets, great raincoats, boots, etc.  Look at these vistas:

And on the way down, Chris managed to make some new friends; they even posed with her.

We stopped for coffee later--here are our new friends (from France, Canada, The Netherlands) and our fab guide Malcomb (in orange on the right).

We ended the day at the castle ruins. Wow, the MacDonald clan and the MacLeod clan were ruthless!! We learned some wild history.

After a long day of walking & touring, it was back to our Inn (built in 1790) for drinks with the other members of our tour group and another delicious dinner.

On to the Harris tomorrow😄. Happy Independence Day to all 🇺🇸