Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour Eileen Donan Castle Again

Driving back to the mainland, our first stop was to visit The Eileen Donan Castle. The view of this iconic castle was dark and gloomy on this day, as compared to when we visited just two days back. But even in it's gloom, it held a different beauty to it. 

You could just stand outside and take in the view, or you could pay like 12pounds to walk across the bridge and to visit the inside of the castle. Since we were already here, I decided that we should go inside.  

Some info of the castle.

And in we went inside the castle. This was the 2nd castle we visit on this trip. 

The first hall inside had some interesting items on displayed, like this nordic looking cane?

There was a corner that looked like a jail, but it was actually storage for gunpowder.....

And then there was this monk there with two stained glass.And well, basically that was it for the first hall.

I did like the monk and the stained glass, so of course I took dedicated photos of the stained glass. I think this art form is just so cool and beautiful. I once saw on Facebook someone did a stained glass of SouthPark, and even that looked so lovely and divine! Lol.

Why doesn't eastern people take up stained glass art? I bet the Chinese would have been very good at it! 

I found a cute window inside the castle, and I thought this would make a nice photo.

The view looking out of the window. It gives you the vibe of olden days, imagine you were seated here by the window reading a book and casually just looking out as you looked up from your pages. This would be the view you would have seen, if you had somehow stayed in this castle :P The view is so serene and relaxing. I think there's just something about the view of water and it's glitter that just relaxes the soul. Even the sound of water, is so relaxing,....I love staying in a hotel by the sea and just listening to the waves as you fall asleep. 

There really wasn't much to see inside the castle. Perhaps there was a banquet hall where photos were not allowed. I could barely remember it if there was. But outside, we were allowed to take photos. I though this stone stairs were pretty cool. 

It was a small castle, but it did have those viewing platform and surrounded by water. 

The view looking out. I am not sure, is this Loch Ness? I guess now, since Loch Ness is more towards the east of Scotland whereas Isle of Skye is more towards the west. Wow, my geography of Scotland has improved too!

My husband and his shot inside the grounds of the castle.

And him at one of the platform looking out towards the lochs. I guess it wouldn't be too bad to be kept prisoner here? At least you have a nice view? Unless the prison is in the dungeons, then..... hehe.

The loch here is so wide! Lovely view.

Outside the castle walls.

And at the back area of the castle, there was a memorial site.

There is even a castle ghost called Carlos the Ghost. A google search resulted in not only Carlos, but there are other ghost reported to be haunting the castle too! There is Lady Mary, as well as an Otter King...... I can't find a reliable reference site for the Lady Mary and Otter King, so not gonna link anything here.

We got around 1 hour to visit Eileen Donan Castle, and soon we had to leave. 

But not before we took some selfie with it!

Bye bye Eileen Donan Castle. The name sounds almost similar to my Chinese name :P

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour Checking-Out

 

Last day in Isle of Skye. We're checking out on this day, and we had our usual Scottish breakfast. After that we went to the bus terminal area to wait for our mini bus to bring us back to Edinburgh. There were still a few stops along the way, but somehow, it felt sad to be leaving the beautiful Isle of Skye. Poppy flowers at the memorial at the bus terminal at Portree. 

Here are some shots of the Tongadale Hotel we were staying at.. The MacKenzie family were also staying at the same hotel and we would see them every morning at breakfast and chatted with them a bit. The older Mr MacKenzie was a super tall old man that loves to talk! Anyway, above is the pub area of the hotel.

It looked pretty cool, but we were so dead tired both nights that once you've bath and on the bed, you don't really want to leave the room anymore! Especially when the air was so fresh and cooling to just be cosy inside the blanket. We slept with the windows opened every night so that it would be cool enough and to have some ventilation as there were no fans of aircon inside the room.

Soon we were on our tiny bus again driving out of Portree. I saw The Cuillin again. A final view.

But soon it got further and further away from view.....

We past by what looked like a caravan site, and it looked so cool with people still on their holiday adventure in this beautiful island. I've never traveled on a caravan before. I wonder if I would get a chance one day. 

All too soon, we were on the bridge leading us back to the mainland..... Bye Bye Isle of Skye. I will miss you! You are one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited and you'll stayed in my memories forever.

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour Dinner at Portree Lower Deck

We were so tired at the end of our 2nd day of tour, but we felt exhilarating! I wanted a reward for hiking so much! I needed the food source too since we had a light lunch and have been walking all day. When we reached Portree at around 5pm to 6pm, we decided to walk to the harbour to see if we can manage to get a table at the restaurant we went to the day before. It was called The Lower Deck Seafood Restaurant.  

The place looks old and authentic, and reminded me of those retro restaurant from my hometown of Penang. Kinda like The Ship in Sri Bahari Road. 

The line seems short, so I went and queued. I could see inside how many tables were empty, or who was finishing up their meals etc. So I think, we'll get a chance to dine here after all. This was going to be the first sit down proper meal we're going to have in a restaurant! And since it was coming to the end of our trip, I decided that we can treat ourselves after such a long day out.

While queuing, we could see the menu and the prices outside.

I more or less already knew what I wanted to eat. 

I still wonder why prices are always so high in a western world.....

All too soon, we were seated, ordered, and our food arrived! 

My husband got scallops, and it was served with salad and potatoes. I mean, it's a simple dish, but they still charge you a lot :P   The scallop was delicious though!

I had the cheaper dish of mussels, but I wasn't expecting them serving such a huge pile of it! It came with fries too, so I kew I would be full after my meal :P

But actually, the highlight of this meal for me was finally trying the cullen skink, a fish soup that is a traditional dish in Scotland. It was super delicious! It tasted kinda like clam chowder, but a lot lighter. I would eat this again in Scotland! The calamari which my husband ordered however, was just meh. 

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour Old Man of Storr (2/2)

Lalala! Me and my Old Man of Storr. This is one of my favourite photo from my trip to Scotland 2025, and I put this as my Facebook cover photo too. By the time you read this post, I think I would have came back from my Scotland 2026 trip! Hopefully I would have more fantastic photos to share here. 

Continuing from the last post, my husband has left me to wait for him as he ventured on his own to the submit of Old Man of Storr. Above is the location I stood to wait for him, overlooking the blue skies and blue water below. I was going to enjoy the scenery here instead of bursting my lungs out climbing up those vertical steps!

The view here looked simply unreal!

Almost like a land before time, a land untouched by humans. 

And this here above, is one of my favourite photos I took. So beautiful <3 I could almost cry! 

I must have waited around 20 minutes or so before I spotted my husband coming down from the steps. Even he has given up half way as the steep steps were giving him knee issue. He was 53 when we went on this trip. And given enough time, and maybe a walking stick would be nice, I think we would have slowly made our way to the top. But joining a tour means our time is limited. So today was not the day we reached all the way up. I wonder if I will come back and try again? I think it can't be with a tour. It would be too stressful!

Making our way down and back to the carpark, my husband contemplating why his knees won't allow him to reach all the way to the top :P

Me further ahead! Going down hill like a rabbit hopping it's way down :D

Bye Bye Old Man of Storr. You are amazing and I can fully feel your wonders! 

Souvenir shot of me and the lake below. Peace out! End of our 2nd day of tour!