Into the Middle of Nowhere...

Last night, we had a few incidences with the towel heater and this morning, the evil thing had claimed one more victim this morning. I grabbed onto the rail while tripping over my own pants. My hand wasn't cold though!

With breakfast, the Onich provided handmade sugar cubes and columns of butter. Everything was tasty! Outside, the hotel had phenomenal views of the loch and pretty trees. There was frost on the ground too!!!




A little information about Eilean Donan Castle:

"The name Eilean Donan, or island of Donan, is most probably called after the 6th century Irish Saint, Bishop Donan who came to Scotland around 580 AD. There are several churches dedicated to Donan in the area, and it is likely that he formed a small cell, or community on the island during the late 7th century.

The first fortified structure was not built on the island until the early 13th century as a defensive measure, protecting the lands of Kintail against the Vikings who raided, settled and controlled much of the North of Scotland and the Western Isles between 800 and 1266. From the mid 13th century, this area was the quite seperate "Sea Kingdom" of the Lord of the Isles where the sea was the main highway and the power of feuding clan chiefs was counted by the number of men and galleys or "birlinns" at their disposal. Eilean Donan offered the perfect defensive position."

The castle sits where three lochs (Alsh, Duich and Long) meet and their waters intermingle.

Because the castle is privately owned, it is open on the owner's discretion. Apparently, we missed the memo saying guided tours only. You're not allowed to wander aimlessly; however, the rooms on the tour are furnished. Well, we're too cool to wait around for guided tours and made our way to the castle grounds.


Why our self-guided tour is better:

-pits in the ground by which to reenact "300"
-dead baby sharks
-ability to run around like small children
-pretty birdies



A pretty little pit stop!



A desolate and scary jaunt to our night stay. The UK has more single lane roads than necessary. It's terrifying to be driving then suddenly, another car tries to zip by full speed! Cristina did an amazing job keeping her wits about her. We stopped at a look at point and boy was it windy! At one point, I nearly pushed over!!

When we arrived at our destination, it turned out to be a true bed and breakfast! A fairly new house in the middle of nowhere, the closest pub was 6 miles away and that too was all by itself. Great family and hilarious dog...big Rottie cross, Jorgo, that adored Kira. Because we had an easy day, it was nice to sit around and chill until food time!!


Cristina, using her amazing powers of navigation, got us safely to said pub. By far, the best pizza in Scotland!! Nice bartender but the locals kept giving us some very strange looks. The girls and I played a rousing game of pool. Rebecca soundly beat us all...I blame my lack of hand-eye coordination--I did spill my entire pint of Strongbow on the floor. I got to watch some proper UK tele and I found the most ridiculous game show!