Isle of Skye/Isle of Lewis

Hey everyone!
Haven't blogged in a while. I've been all over the place and don't have much time now, but I know if I don't do an entry now, I'll get way behind, as there has been much going on recently! So there you have it-- me writing to you instead of writing my paper which I've procrastinated.

Two weekends ago, I went with 3 lovely ladies (Liz, Dana and Sara who are all from the States studying in Edinburgh this semester) for the weekend to the Isle of Lewis and the Isle of Skye. We had surprisingly good weather and we all got along really well. We met up in Inverness, the capital of the highlands, and then took a bus together to Ullapool. Ullapool is a really cute harbor town which has the ferry that goes over to the Isle of Lewis. Here are a few pics of Ullapool:

The ferry to Isle of Lewis

Our first night, we stayed in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. The next morning, though ridiculously windy and rainy on-and-off, we decided to go see the Callanish Standing Stones. (google it-- fascinating!)

Below is the view from our bed and breakfast we stayed at in Uig on the Isle of Skye. We took another ferry from Isle of Lewis to the Isle of Skye. We arrived just in time for the sunset.

Below is a picture of Uig. We took a 5-6 mile walk and much of it looked just like this.

Below is a picture of faerie glen, near Uig. It's known for being an area of odd appearance in the midst of northern Isle of Skye. The movie "Stardust" with Clare Danes was filmed here. It's really quite beautiful and mystical.

Below is Portree, another town in the Isle of Skye. These are the 'rainbow houses', which have also been used many times in movies.

Portree at dusk

Meeting up with some German friends who are also studying at Strathclyde and who were traveling to Isle of Skye the same weekend we were.

The Macleod clan castle-- Dunvegan.

Highland cow.

Definitely not in Iowa anymore...

(Below) just a couple sheep taking their afternoon stroll and blocking the road. Ya know, the usual...

Neist Point lighthouse, Isle of Skye

Us four gals and our new German friend Boris who let us share his rental car with him. (And he drove since none of us drive manual!)

Though hard to see in the picture below, do you see a white diagonal line going from bottom left to top right? Those are all sheep that decided to move pastures and go up the stairs at the same time we did. Was definitely one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen.

Kyle of Lochalsh-- the meeting point of the mainland of Scotland and Isle of Skye.

We took a train from Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness. It's about a 3-hour trip and it has won countless awards for its scenic views throughout the train ride. It was breathtaking the entire way. Below is just a taste of what we saw out the windows.

It was a wonderful, beautiful trip! I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go up into a few of the Isles of Scotland while I'm here-- definitely worth it! Got used to driving on single-lane roads, having to go get groceries before 5 pm when everything closes down and enjoy the beautiful remoteness of the towns there. I'll try and blog in a few days about this past weekend and my birthday adventures! :)