July 8, 2010

Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland

6:30-8:15 a .m.

What a poor quality hotel! The walls and ceilings are super thin so anytime someone walked outside in the corridor or in the room above. Then about sometime in the middle night the fire alarm went off for a short 20 seconds waking all of us up. The beds are so hard! The only redeeming quality of this place was its food. When I came down to the lobby, once again the Canadians were first ones down followed by me. A single monotone alarm was still sounding in the lobby. A worker was vacuuming and ignored our question about the alarm (One man thought it was his hearing aide and started to fiddle with his ear until we told him it was the alarm). While sitting and chatting, the owner stepped through the private door in her white robe looking like she just rolled out of bed. Not a word to us and after grabbing a cup of coffee, up the stairs she went. Needless to say, as more and more people arrived downstairs to the lobby, it was a good complaintfest! We went into breakfast at 7:30 to the traditional cold cereal followed by an already prepared plate of soft eggs, sausage, tomato, and mushrooms . I declined the plate and left to go find a local café. I found one, Café Ariba, just around the corner that had a lovely view of the water and hills. I was able to get scrambled eggs and hash browns with a cup of hot chocolate for just under £ 5.00. I ate the food and had a nice chat with the waiter/cashier. When he asked where I was staying, he was surprised that we were staying at the worst hotel in the town. He said that no one really stays there, but that they have a great pub area for tv and drinks. He said that there were plenty of large scale bed and breakfast places that were cheaper and loads better than the Tongadale Hotel. This is something that I will definitively mention in our evaluation at the end of the trip. I headed back to the hotel and found no one left in the lobby. I grabbed my overnight bag that was still on the couch where I had left it before breakfast and headed for the bus. I was the last one to get aboard. I wasn’t late for boarding, but I didn’t tell anyone that I had eaten elsewhere . Most of them like the traditional English breakfast and think I’m just complaining. But even after a few days of seeing the same food day in day out, it gets old, so I was glad for a different view and enjoyed the real eggs they used at the café. We headed off to Glasgow. On the way out of town, we passed a sign advertising about “Reptile World.“ Now why in the world is there a reptile place in the middle of bloody cold and wet Scotland and on an isle no doubt! Our first stop was a rest stop across the bridge from Eilean Donan Castle near the town, Dornie. Just as we were stepping out of the bus and getting cameras ready, a loud noise which I thought was a semi was heard. Suddenly, a very very very low flying fighter jet roared passed us over the bridge and around the castle! It was so loud that I covered my ears. Just as quickly as it came it was gone. We had just started to come out of our amazement when another fighter jet screamed by. Only 2 people were able to grab a photo shot! It was amazing!! It scared the crap out of me! They were low enough and turned so that one could see quite well the underside of each.