We drove from Glasgow to Isle of Skye, Scotland. Oh my goodness!
No picture will do it justice. You can take one of three routes to the Skye Bridge on Isle of Skye when trying to get to the Dunvegan area. I really don't know which route we took, but the routes are described as: 1) Probably the quickest although it's longer than the others, but it's the least interesting, although the views aren't bad after Perth. 2) Can be okay as long as you don't mind the twisty road up Loch Lomond-side to Crianlarich--and the views there are stunning. 3) Has nice scenery through the Trossachs and Glen Coe, but bad weather and/or heavy traffic can make it a little wearisome, with very few opportunities to overtake. We were warned that if we used the SatNav, to be sure and check our settings. "Be wary of being taken to the Mallaig ferry terminal long after the last ferry has gone, it's a 75 mile wasted round trip from Fort William and back again if you do!" So, we didn't make that mistake! Whew! We were also informed that we could go via CalMac ferry from Mallaig to Armadale by navigating to Fort William and turning off on to the "Road of the Isles" just outside the town to the North. More adventurous souls can take the community ferry between Glenelg and Kylerhea across the narrow straits where drovers used to swim their sheep across on their long joinery to market in Falkirk and elsewhere. We were so anxious to get to our house, that we just drove--didn't want to risk missing the ferry times this trip. Just wanted to get there.
It was a bit of a stressful drive. Narrow, single track roads much of the way. Pouring down rain with low visibility. We finally had to take a break and find a bathroom. We lucked out with this place.
We stopped at a cafe on the side of a road near Spean Bridge Scotland.
It was called The Bridge Cafe.
I had delicious lasagna (different, but good), mashed potatoes, and a little salad.
Dax had steak pie with (real flakey pastry), mashed potatoes and peas.
Isaiah tried the burger and fries and ate about half it. He's not partial to sheep--he likes cows.
Not quite like he likes it.
The people were lovely. Allison was our waitress and the guy who made Dax's coffee was full of spit and vinegar. When we walked out of there, Isaiah said, "I loved that guy. He was so sweet and witty. David Sloat witty."
This man made Dax the best cup of coffee he has had in a long while.
He also sold us some Midge Repellant.
Don't even know what castle this is, but it was on our way to our house on Isle of Skye.
Getting closer, more single track roads. I am going to cut and paste the owner's instructions for your entertainment. Love these people! They were NOT exaggerating!
"Whichever route you take to Skye, you will be heading North-West(-ish!) on the
main A87 to Port Righ (English: Portree). At the Sligachan Hotel, which is 24 miles
from the Skye Bridge at Caol Acain (English: Kyleakin) and 16 miles from An t-Àth
Leathann (English: Broadford), turn left on to the A863 towards Dùn Bheagan
(English: Dunvegan) and travel for 21.5 miles, turning left on to the B884 signposted
to Gleann Dail (English: Glendale). It’s just past a white-painted single-storey
church. This road is single-track and is usually heavily populated by mad sheep, all
competing for commission from breakdown truck drivers and accident repair
companies for new business, and to whom your car is completely invisible – you
havebeenwarned! KeepfollowingsignsforGlendale(andthebrowntouristsignfor
"Skye Silver") – be careful, the main road turns hard right after about half a mile.
Keep on this road... you will come downhill into the township of Skinidin, and over a narrow stone bridge over the Brunigill Burn - you can see the cottage up on the hill, almost in front of you and slightly to the left. At exactly three miles along the B884 from the A863 turn-off, take the left-hand rough road where the main road turns sharply to the right (you will see a milk churn, a "FREE RANGE EGGS" sign, and the sign for Dragonfly Studios [Brunigill Farm] at the turning), and our track is the first on the right, through an agricultural metal gate - there's a large boulder on the right-hand verge, with the name of the cottage, marking the track. Please keep the gate closed at all times, unless you are looking forward to hours of fun doing sheepdog impressions, chasing hungry local sheep around our four-acre site!"
Keep on this road... you will come downhill into the township of Skinidin, and over a narrow stone bridge over the Brunigill Burn - you can see the cottage up on the hill, almost in front of you and slightly to the left. At exactly three miles along the B884 from the A863 turn-off, take the left-hand rough road where the main road turns sharply to the right (you will see a milk churn, a "FREE RANGE EGGS" sign, and the sign for Dragonfly Studios [Brunigill Farm] at the turning), and our track is the first on the right, through an agricultural metal gate - there's a large boulder on the right-hand verge, with the name of the cottage, marking the track. Please keep the gate closed at all times, unless you are looking forward to hours of fun doing sheepdog impressions, chasing hungry local sheep around our four-acre site!"
Our home for the next week. Finally made it after 8 hours. This place had more technology than teenagers today. Smart lighting, regulated temperature control, heated floors, remote control skylights and blinds (since you can't reach them), TVs that came out of the bed with the push of a button on the remote, over 1000 movies available a click away, outside entry phone, cameras, a live webcam, and more.
The photo on the left is the garage and camper on our property.
The photo on the right is our nearest neighbor.
This is the front door from the inside. This is the window on the left as you enter. There is a hallway that is blocked off to help maintain the temperature and to take your shoes off and such.
Straight ahead as you enter the front door is another door and it's the laundry room. Lots of racks, storage, and even a sink.
If you enter the front door and turn right, this is the door into the house.
The kitchen is straight ahead. I loved that there were windows everywhere. As I was doing dishes, I could look out straight ahead and see the ocean. There was also a window on the right and the left.
If you look right (instead of straight), this is what you see. A mirror, and then in this picture on the left is a bedroom and the right is a bathroom.
Here is the bedroom.
Didn't bother taking a picture of the sink in this bathroom, but check out our shower. It was like a spaceship. Yes, TV and radio in the shower, you could have it rain from the top, or come out like a regular shower or spray you from the sides. The bath was like 6 feet by 4 feet and made for two people. There were also places to sit on the edge. If you sat, then the side sprayers would hit your back just right. It took about 1.5 hours to figure out how to use this thing! There were also towel warmers, windows everywhere and heated tiles. Selected heated tiles, so it didn't waste energy.
This is the view from the kitchen back to the front door, well the inner front door. Out that door and to the right is the laundry and to the left is the real front door.
This is passing through the kitchen area into the other half of the house where the living/dining areas are. Nice wood burning stove, too. Skylights everywhere as well. Windows on all sides.
The stairs up to Isaiah's suite.
Both of these photos are in the landing area upstairs before entering Isaiah's room. He had a bookshelves, a sitting area, and a desk and chair. Also 2 skylights in this area alone. If you got into a book while staying here and didn't have the chance to finish, you just take it with you and keep it. If you have a book with you that you happened to finish, you leave it here for the next person.
Walking into Isaiah's room the bed is on the right and the dresser and storage is on the left. Straight ahead on the other side of the room is another desk area and a bathroom.
The beds had a leather headboard and footboard. If you pushed a button, the TV came out of the footboard. Loved, loved, loved this.
This is inside of Isaiah's bathroom and to the left. The shower is straight ahead and has a clear glass wall to kind of separate the totally walk in shower. The toilet was on the right along with the sink. It was huge. Yep, and more windows.
He spent hours at his window. Ocean is out front. His favorite place to take pictures from--notice how the windows open. Also, they had blinds connected to them that pulled down and latched. Since it is light until midnight and light again by 4 a.m., those were quite handy!
If you ever have the opportunity to travel to Isle of Skye, Scotland, and want peace and quiet,
stay here.
The postal address is “An Tigh Maiseach”, 3 Skinidin, Dunvegan, Skye IV55 8ZS.
Please note that, if you use a satellite navigation device (“SatNav”), entering the
IV55 8ZS Postcode as your destination will take you approximately 250m too far
North along the B884. The cottage is shown accurately on Google Maps and is
actually located at:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/@57.430867,-6.62633,18z
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/@57.430867,-6.62633,18z
