Joe and Françoise's excellent adventures!: Typical Scottish weather catches up with us….

We have not seen a drop of rain or a patch of fog since we arrived in Scotland, which is very unusual. But today, the typical weather caught up with us, and we woke up to a beautiful, but foggy and drizzly morning- although, for a change, not windy. We did not let that interfere with our plans!

Joe started with a walking tour of the town of Portree (don’t blink), where we are docked. The setting is stunning, and the port is pretty, with its rows of painted houses, but that’s about it…. The main road has touristy shops, a church and not much else….

But then he went on a boat ride and had more luck then me, seeing a lot of seals and sea eagles (he did not get pictures of the sea eagles because, just like me yesterday, he failed to push the right button…..).

He also got very nice views of the mountains along the coast, looking mysterious in the fog.

I went on a tour of Dunvegan castle, driving across the island along moraines and glacier carved landscapes.

Along the way, the guide told us about the long history of the MacCleod and MacDonald clans and their feud. I retained very little of it, other than it’s a miracle either of their blood lines survived considering how long and hard they’ve been trying to kill each other!

Also, between them and the Vikings, they had pretty much deforested the island (the Vikings for houses and boats), the clans mostly to remove places for the other ones to hide. So all the trees are new, and there has been a huge effort at reforestation.

The castle (the most photographed castle in Scotland) belongs to the MacCleod clan and is now run by its 33rd chief (John- I believe all 33 of them are named John). It dates from the 13th century (and has a scary dungeon from that time, where they would just throw people in and forget about them). But its medieval exterior hides a luxurious interior with very posh furnishings and great views.

I spent most of my time in the gardens, which are magnificent!

My favorite part was the water garden, with its bridges, waterfalls,

and these giant things - which I think are Brazilian giant rhubarb, considered invasive, but very cool!

And my favorite flower was this blue poppy! I NEED to grow some of those!!!

More pictures from the garden at the end of the blog.

In the afternoon, Joe thought “ why break a good streak” and did his 3rd whiskey tasting in 3 days. This was offered on the ship and came with the “whiskey bard” who talked and sang about whiskey. I only caught the last song ( and managed to get this rare picture of Joe- in the right corner), and it was very good. I may try to see the encore tomorrow.

I went for a very nice hike along the shore, with great views, and wild flowers. (The circles in the water are salmon farms, which line every loch in Scotland).

My favorite was this orchid! More pictures of flowers at the end of the blog.

It has been misty ( not really raining) but pleasant all day. This climate is apparently really good for moss: anyone who hikes with me know how much I like moss. Well, they have really spectacular moss around here!