Things I Learned From Our Trip to Skye
1. Always bring a bucket. Reasons to follow.
2. Don't give Little Man blueberry bars and let him play his DS on windy mountain roads.
3. It's hard to clean sick off of a DS. See #1.
4. Eilean Donan Castle is as beautiful as it looks and we got to drive by it several times.
5. (Knew this going in) Most castles and tourist stuff in the Highlands of Scotland are closed between October and March. However, that's just the inside of stuff.
6. Skye Boathouse is just as lovely as they state on the website. It's semi-secluded. During the time we were there the Boat Centre next to it was closed which meant we were the only ones out there. The bed we slept in was rubbish, but the whole experience would be something I wouldn't mind repeating. Log fires cool, but wrapping paper doesn't always burn all the way.
7. Four channels really are enough. Since it was the holidays, they played a lot of movies. The kids didn't have all day cartoons, but they found other ways to occupy their time. We brought board games and the kids got two more board games and puzzles for Xmas. Phil and I were able to knock out a 1000 piece puzzle in an afternoon.
8. I would prefer a clothes dryer to a dishwasher in a heart beat. I think this is the first vacation that I loved doing laundry and tried to come back with as many clean clothes as possible. Doing dishes wasn't horrible though with the way this family goes through dishes, we could have done dishes all day long. We ended up doing dishes at least once a day. To have completely dry clothes that don't smell like Sheffield water, I'd be willing to do dishes everyday all day. Mmmm, dry clothes.
9. Bring a camera and lots of pocket money. If you go to Skye, you will find the most amazing scenery surrounding arts and crafts stores, which sell handmade stuff. We went to an art gallery in Broadford and bought some amazing photographs (all small size). Lady Jane picked up a make-your-own-necklace wooden bead set for Little Man for Christmas and Little Man picked out a photo with pink and purple in it for Lady Jane for Christmas.
10. Skye Bridge is as awesome as it is scary. There are signs posted to let you know what the wind is like and whether the bridge is closed. We had decent weather. It rained a lot but the temperature wasn't freezing. The way the bridge is constructed in an arched style made me fearful of ice on the road. We probably wouldn't end up in the water, but I could see not being able to make it to the middle of the bridge and sliding back down again.
11. Bring binoculars. There were several nights where the clouds parted and showed us amazing blankets of stars. Also about 12 miles down the road in Kylerhea, the park system has an Otter Haven. The drive to the Otter Haven is worth the trip alone according to Phil. Then you walk for another kilometer and you arrive at the Otter Hide. Unfortunately we chose our last day to go up there and we didn't get a chance to see any otters. To see any it would have helped to have binoculars, otherwise we couldn't tell the difference between rocks with the exception that the rocks didn't move.
12. We need more lens for our camera. For our old OM-10 camera, we'd bought a telephoto lens and a wide angle lens in addition to the standard 50mm. Our digital SLR that we bought since we were coming to England has been great, but to compose some shots it would be nice to have the different lens. There have been times where I would have liked to zoom in or a better lens for landscape photography. Regardless, such toys are expensive and will have to wait.
13. For Xmas, always get your kids what they keep saying they want regardless if you think it's stupid.
14. Thank my mother profusely for sending enough money to get the kids the Xmas presents they didn't get Xmas morning that they really, really wanted. Super Mario Bros. DS game for him and Cinderella AquaDraw for her. Personally I think he already has enough games he hasn't finished. The AquaDraw seems like something she'll grow out of quickly or has already grown out of. But when Lady Jane is sad on Christmas morning because Santa forgot her AquaDraw...
15. We need Argos in the states. We went to Inverness to shop and found a mall with Argos in it. They were out of stock of Lady Jane's present pick, but they had Little Man's present. We actually got their other presents through Argos. You can order on line and reserve it in the store. Then you show up at the store go to a kiosk and pay. A few moments later they call your number and give you your stuff. It's a catalogue order store and a warehouse with all their stuff in one.
16. Castle Urquhart is open year round and well worth the effort. I've been there once before in 1996 (makes me feel old). I could have sworn the Visitor Centre hadn't been there before. I'll need to go through my pictures when I get back to the states to see. I learned the MacDonalds were dicks. They kept taking the castle even though it wasn't theirs. It's ruins of a castle because the last owners (not MacDonalds) blew up their own front gate to keep the Jacobites from using the castle.
17. Don't forget rain gear. It is Scotland after all you'd think we'd have thought that one through, but nooooo. It rained a lot. I suppose I was hoping for snow and didn't consider rain.
18. Forget shopping at historic points after Xmas and before New Year. We went down to Armadale Castle. The Castle caught fire in 1855 and is a shell of it's former glory surrounding by the a beautiful garden and trails through the land. Even in December the land is beautiful and the views are stunning. The castle had a Gothic feel to it and looking in the empty windows, small trees have found their roots within the castle. It was a fun excursion but the shop.
19. Christmas with just our family wasn't that bad. We missed seeing our families on Christmas this year. It's the first year that we haven't been with one of our families. We opened presents, watched movies on the telly, built presents (Lady Jane got a doll play set and Little Man started on his Imperial Star Destroyer (Star Wars Lego)), had a fire going in the background, talked on the phone with Phil's parents and my parents, made a turkey dinner and Christmas pudding and Yule log for dessert, and watched the Christmas special of Doctor Who (something we definitely couldn't do in the US).
20. Spending time away from the hustle and bustle of real life in a great cottage near water and mountains makes for a great holiday season if you have to be away from your family at Xmas.
I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas!
1. Always bring a bucket. Reasons to follow.
2. Don't give Little Man blueberry bars and let him play his DS on windy mountain roads.
3. It's hard to clean sick off of a DS. See #1.
4. Eilean Donan Castle is as beautiful as it looks and we got to drive by it several times.
5. (Knew this going in) Most castles and tourist stuff in the Highlands of Scotland are closed between October and March. However, that's just the inside of stuff.
6. Skye Boathouse is just as lovely as they state on the website. It's semi-secluded. During the time we were there the Boat Centre next to it was closed which meant we were the only ones out there. The bed we slept in was rubbish, but the whole experience would be something I wouldn't mind repeating. Log fires cool, but wrapping paper doesn't always burn all the way.
7. Four channels really are enough. Since it was the holidays, they played a lot of movies. The kids didn't have all day cartoons, but they found other ways to occupy their time. We brought board games and the kids got two more board games and puzzles for Xmas. Phil and I were able to knock out a 1000 piece puzzle in an afternoon.
8. I would prefer a clothes dryer to a dishwasher in a heart beat. I think this is the first vacation that I loved doing laundry and tried to come back with as many clean clothes as possible. Doing dishes wasn't horrible though with the way this family goes through dishes, we could have done dishes all day long. We ended up doing dishes at least once a day. To have completely dry clothes that don't smell like Sheffield water, I'd be willing to do dishes everyday all day. Mmmm, dry clothes.
9. Bring a camera and lots of pocket money. If you go to Skye, you will find the most amazing scenery surrounding arts and crafts stores, which sell handmade stuff. We went to an art gallery in Broadford and bought some amazing photographs (all small size). Lady Jane picked up a make-your-own-necklace wooden bead set for Little Man for Christmas and Little Man picked out a photo with pink and purple in it for Lady Jane for Christmas.
10. Skye Bridge is as awesome as it is scary. There are signs posted to let you know what the wind is like and whether the bridge is closed. We had decent weather. It rained a lot but the temperature wasn't freezing. The way the bridge is constructed in an arched style made me fearful of ice on the road. We probably wouldn't end up in the water, but I could see not being able to make it to the middle of the bridge and sliding back down again.
11. Bring binoculars. There were several nights where the clouds parted and showed us amazing blankets of stars. Also about 12 miles down the road in Kylerhea, the park system has an Otter Haven. The drive to the Otter Haven is worth the trip alone according to Phil. Then you walk for another kilometer and you arrive at the Otter Hide. Unfortunately we chose our last day to go up there and we didn't get a chance to see any otters. To see any it would have helped to have binoculars, otherwise we couldn't tell the difference between rocks with the exception that the rocks didn't move.
12. We need more lens for our camera. For our old OM-10 camera, we'd bought a telephoto lens and a wide angle lens in addition to the standard 50mm. Our digital SLR that we bought since we were coming to England has been great, but to compose some shots it would be nice to have the different lens. There have been times where I would have liked to zoom in or a better lens for landscape photography. Regardless, such toys are expensive and will have to wait.
13. For Xmas, always get your kids what they keep saying they want regardless if you think it's stupid.
14. Thank my mother profusely for sending enough money to get the kids the Xmas presents they didn't get Xmas morning that they really, really wanted. Super Mario Bros. DS game for him and Cinderella AquaDraw for her. Personally I think he already has enough games he hasn't finished. The AquaDraw seems like something she'll grow out of quickly or has already grown out of. But when Lady Jane is sad on Christmas morning because Santa forgot her AquaDraw...
15. We need Argos in the states. We went to Inverness to shop and found a mall with Argos in it. They were out of stock of Lady Jane's present pick, but they had Little Man's present. We actually got their other presents through Argos. You can order on line and reserve it in the store. Then you show up at the store go to a kiosk and pay. A few moments later they call your number and give you your stuff. It's a catalogue order store and a warehouse with all their stuff in one.
16. Castle Urquhart is open year round and well worth the effort. I've been there once before in 1996 (makes me feel old). I could have sworn the Visitor Centre hadn't been there before. I'll need to go through my pictures when I get back to the states to see. I learned the MacDonalds were dicks. They kept taking the castle even though it wasn't theirs. It's ruins of a castle because the last owners (not MacDonalds) blew up their own front gate to keep the Jacobites from using the castle.
17. Don't forget rain gear. It is Scotland after all you'd think we'd have thought that one through, but nooooo. It rained a lot. I suppose I was hoping for snow and didn't consider rain.
18. Forget shopping at historic points after Xmas and before New Year. We went down to Armadale Castle. The Castle caught fire in 1855 and is a shell of it's former glory surrounding by the a beautiful garden and trails through the land. Even in December the land is beautiful and the views are stunning. The castle had a Gothic feel to it and looking in the empty windows, small trees have found their roots within the castle. It was a fun excursion but the shop.
19. Christmas with just our family wasn't that bad. We missed seeing our families on Christmas this year. It's the first year that we haven't been with one of our families. We opened presents, watched movies on the telly, built presents (Lady Jane got a doll play set and Little Man started on his Imperial Star Destroyer (Star Wars Lego)), had a fire going in the background, talked on the phone with Phil's parents and my parents, made a turkey dinner and Christmas pudding and Yule log for dessert, and watched the Christmas special of Doctor Who (something we definitely couldn't do in the US).
20. Spending time away from the hustle and bustle of real life in a great cottage near water and mountains makes for a great holiday season if you have to be away from your family at Xmas.
I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas!
posted by Amanda @ 2:18 AM
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