Another beautiful day dawns and we are off to the Isle of Skye. At Armadale we visited the Clan Donald Centre. The Museum of the Isles has a fantastic exhibition on the history of this area. All the information from the last week on subjects like the Lord of the Isles, the Jacobites and the Clearances to name just a few, slotted into place.
The museum is surrounded by gardens where Konia Tack took us on a garden tour pointing out plants from all over the world.
During lunch we sailed up to Kyle of Lochalsh for the final berth of the trip.
It was decision time in the afternoon–go for a hike in the Cuillin Mountains on Skye or head to Eilean Donan Castle and the village of Plockton.
The hike was beautiful–sunny with stunning views of the Black and Red Cuillin mountains. David Barnes and Stewart Aitchison enhanced the excursion with plenty of history and geology.
The other option was also lovely. Eilean Donan Castle was a stronghold in this area, but was finally destroyed in 1719. It was restored in the early 20th century and is your classic kind of castle–with plenty of artifacts on display, stories, battles, and even a ghost. We’ve all seen it on the big screen, as this is the castle from the film Highlander.
Plockton is a very attractive little town, founded in the early 1800s. The combination of little gardens and little houses as well as nice weather made this small town picture perfect.
On our return to the ship we even had some Highland Cattle pose for us.
Many of us felt quite emotional during the farewell party, but with a humorous ‘Address to the Haggis’ by Brian Copland the hotel manager and some lively Scottish music after dinner we all went to our cabins with a skip in our step.
