Scotland Day 8: Portree to Uig; sky on fire

26th March: 0755, 8ºC, grey sky, negligible breeze, dry.

On this trip I have learned very clearly that I cannot sleep very well in a single bed. During the night I tried desperately not to turn onto one or other side, as turning means getting dangerously close to the edge and even falling off the bed. Not turning is very difficult for me, and the concentration required to stay still on my back is enormous and keeps me awake.

I feel tired this morning and my eyes, once again, feel heavy and dry. I was up early and managed to work out how to use the shower, which was not easy but it worked well after a bid of fiddling. I have also managed to load up the washing machine and make a cup of tea. Having plenty of clean clothes will be a major benefit.

I will be taking it easy this morning and I doubt that we will be venturing out much before 11am. I have far too much catching-up to do on this blog.

I am also resigned to the fact that I am not going to find a pub. One week into the trip and I have only found second and third-rate hotel bars and even worse pubs, saved only – in one or two cases at least – by the characters in the bar. I have not had a beer since I’ve been in Scotland, other than the bottled Orkney beer at the Castletown.

Driving north to Uig

After the long drive yesterday our first full day on Skye was a relaxing affair, with a short drive north to the port of Uig. It was cloudy, which was quite unusual on the trip so far, but that did not stop us from taking photos of the port and especially the boats and reflections in the calm water.

We had great difficulty finding a cafe open in Uig, and I for one was getting desperate for coffee. We ended up at a well-meaning but poor cafe for an okay coffee and some not-okay cake. This was also our first taste of just how expensive living on an island can be, with prices seemingly 10-20 per cent higher than on the mainland.

Below: two iPhone photos of Uig – it was a beautiful day and the sea was glassy-calm – one photo of mountains on fire (gorse fires), and one in the evening back at our lodgings of the effect the fires were having on the evening sky. .Click on images to view full-screen.

14:25

By mid-afternoon we were back in Portree, where I got on with writing this post and Tim and Wendy explored the town. It was not long before I got the telephone call: “…we have found an okay pub”. It did not take me long to shut down the computer and wander off to join them. As I set off I could not help but take the ‘orange sky’ snap above on my iPhone; it was twenty past five and quite dark, but the sun had taken on the amazing colour you see.

Like everything on the island the pub was expensive, but quite good. It was let down by the beer though – only two hand pumps and both Skye Brewery. The Red can be discounted as that is not my taste, being bland and smooth. The Gold was okay but nothing to write home about. I ended up drinking keg beer – Skye IPA – which was good so far as keg beer goes but not really that enjoyable. Still, I enjoyed myself and both the bar and the company were good.