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In Scotland, there is no such thing as bad weatherโฆonly the wrong clothes.
Billy Connolly, Scottish actor and comedian.
I must be the luckiest gal alive to be in Europe during the freak “Beast from the East” winter storm. Snow in Edinburgh crippling the whole city, but I’m not in Edinburgh. I’m on the Isle of Skye, where temperatures have fallen below freezing for the first time since 2010! But I am lucky because… I have all of my winter gear from Iceland. So THANK YOU giant North Face coat and Sorel snow boots!
Table of Contents
1. The Spoons on Skye
My original plan for Skye was to go hiking and work on my essays. The first day on Skye, windchill was 13ยฐF | -10.5ยฐC. So hiking? No thank you. But I did manage to get some work done, in the coziest, most amazing place I stayed at! The Spoons on Skye is a “luxury self catering” guesthouse, which to Americans, really just means it is a vacation rental, not a bed and breakfast.
My stay at the Spoons on Skye was absolutely amazing, and big bonus, they do leave some food for you in the refrigerator for when you arrive (i.e. eggs, delicious bacon, juice, milk, yogurt, granola, and some tomatoes). It’s actually a huge plus having those provisions, because everything in Skye is close, but takes a long time to get to.
Portree, the main town on the island, is only a few miles away, but takes about 20 minutes driving to get there… mostly because of potholes and windy roads. It’s not a single track road, like other roads on the island. In order to buy anything, you have to go into town. And when it is cold as it’s been in years on Skye, one is thankful to have some food at home before having to go out and buy more provisions.
And, through much trial and error, I finally figured out how to layer logs in the wood burning stove, and start a fire! Which is SO COZY when it’s freezing outside.
Isn’t Spoons on Skye the most gorgeous place ever?
Anyone looking for an amazing, cozy, homey and super lovely place to stay, look no further than the Spoons on Skye! It’s extremely highly recommended by yours truly!
Eventually, I did end up venturing outward on the second day. Hiking in the cold is fine, but hiking when there’s monstrous wind and the cold, can be tough. Also, since I just got over my Jerusalem illness, I didn’t want to overdo it physically.
2. Hiking the Old Man of Storr
Hiking the Old Man of Storr was something that I knew I had to do on Skye. The Old Man of Storr is a rock formation, located a few miles north of Portree.
There is a small parking space, but most people just park up the road from there, since the parking space really only accommodates less than 8 cars (my educated guess). There is one sign at the beginning and then a gate and the path up.
It’s fairly steep on the way up, and that’s not to be underestimated. It was supposed to be 40 minutes (one way) up to visit the Old Man. I don’t know what pace that equates to, but going at a steep incline, I was taking several breaks “for the view” but also to catch my breath. haha. I passed through 3 more gates, and I still didn’t arrive at the Old Man. Apparently during this time, I had gone up 52 floors, according to my phone. And not wanting to overdo it, I gave up and started the much funner descent.
3. Visit to Portree
After my exhausting hike, I decided to stop by Portree and take a look around town. It’s the biggest town on the island, and to be honest, the rest of the places on Skye that you can see on Google Maps are not towns. They’re maybe a small grouping of houses (probably less than 10), maybe one post office that might double as a store, and likely no restaurants to speak of. But Portree was a big town, with hotels, a grocery store, shops, restaurants*, and a harbor.
*There is a little caveat with the restaurants, because most are not open in the off season. And even then, the ones that are open close during afternoon hours between lunch and dinner, so there is very limited hours of service.
A visit to town isn’t complete without a stop at the co-op, or small grocery store, to stock up on goods. Bought enough stuff to cook an amazing soup that kept me warm the rest of the day.
Stay tuned, for my next entry on my trip to the Fairy Glens and my road trip around the Trotternish Peninsula! But for now, I need to pack, as I’m leaving Belfast for Dublin!
Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.ย She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!ย She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.
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