Exploring Hampton Court Palace

After more than eight years living in Britain, we finally made our way to one of the most famous palaces, and also one of the most convenient to London, Hampton Court Palace. It is actually two palaces that have been melded together right along the banks of the River Thames, just west of Richmond and just east of Windsor.

The original Palace was built in the 1520s by Henry VIII. Of course Henry went on to be rather famous for beheading and divorcing wives, but at the time it was built, he was still a young, athletic and loving husband of his first wife. The Palace was a primary location for hunting parties and general hosting of court and foreign dignitaries. The second part of the Palace was built in the late 1600s by William III in an effort to rival Versailles, however the works were halted and the building has remained largely as it was since then.

It is quite an experience to wander through bedrooms that are larger than your house and walls covered in tapestries that could envelop several cars! The ornate and opulent interior is quite something, even though the exterior is not overly sumptuous.

  

The gardens however are lovely. We were there in December, meaning everything was well and truly dead, but it is easy to see how in full bloom the formal gardens and wider parkland would be sensational. Hampton Court does contain the world’s longest/largest vine, the Great Vine, which has been living/growing since 1769!

We really enjoyed having a wander around this magnificent palace, especially as there were re-enactors on site displaying how the kitchens were staffed and food prepared, as well as a jester show and other courtiers. They weren’t everywhere, but it really added a little faux historical touch. 

It is a great place to spend a few hours so we definitely recommend a visit for anyone in the vicinity!

 

Antigua - Friendly Faces

The people of Antigua are universally friendly and very proud of their small island. They are happy to assist the lost tourist and a little effort goes a long way. We made sure to interact with people wherever we could, both at our resort and out on the island.

One of the first things we noticed about our resort, besides the seclusion, and water, and rum punch, was the effort that many of the staff made to introduce themselves and to also learn our names. It was nice to be something other than merely a room number.

Vanda in our resort restaurant The Bay @ Nonsuch always made an effort and had great suggestions on food options, while Tim and David made some fabulous cocktails.  Terita, Zoe and Donika at the concierge were so great in helping us to sort out our rental car and tour options and were so patient with our questions, especially once we helped Terita get rid of a flying cockroach on her late shift!  

The guys and gal at watersports took great care of us, especially Akeem who gave us an extra long tour of the mangroves and Shakimba who took us to Little Bird Island for a truly deserted island feel. Really there were too many wonderful people there to list them all.

We came across plenty of other wonderful people outside the resort as well. Xabier owns the catamaran company Wadadli Cats. Half Spanish, half Trinidadian he has lived in Antigua for more than thirty years. Captain Sheldon skippered our catamaran and had a quick wit, expansive knowledge of local history and ready smile. The rest of the crew were always happy to point out something during snorkelling or pour a refreshing rum punch and made the whole day that much more special. 

Dennis worked for twenty five years to buy the magnificent point of land above Ffryes Beach where his restaurant Dennis Cocktail and Bar Restaurant sits.  He had loads of stories about how he built the place by hand, locals and the environment and how easy it is to bribe his dogs with some chicken!  Marianna at the All Things Local shop at Nelson's Dockyard made jewellery entirely from local shells and beans and showed us how to darken up our new Warri board made from Antiguan mahogany. 

On our way back from our catamaran tour we came across a woman who asked for a ride to St John's.  Two other women then also jumped in and we served as a local taxi for the day.  They were such fun to be crammed in the back seat with, and had stories aplenty about their jobs and home countries Jamaica and Dominica.

The people of Antigua were so warm and so friendly. We don't doubt that life is difficult there and certainly the over dependence on tourism probably stifles some people's opportunities, but it was wonderful interacting with people who smiled, laughed and engaged.  A little effort from our side always went a long way, and once we made a connection they were all truly beautiful and welcoming people.

For more images of Antigua visit our Antigua Gallery.

Antigua - Water and Sand

Being on an island with 365 beaches means you are rather spoilt for choice. The beaches really are spectacular with many having the light soft sand and turquoise waters that you expect from the Caribbean. Many of the beaches are completely secluded and some can only be reached by boat. One thing we appreciated was that many of the beaches are not built up at all - maybe a lunch shack or a small resort - but nothing that really detracted from the natural beauty. 

Our biggest interest in this holiday was snorkelling and that was a big reason for our choice of resort. At the mouth of Nonsuch Bay sits Green Island which is pretty much ringed by coral reefs. We went out to Green Island four times, though the two trips early in the week weren't great due to the sea being churned up by Sandy. We still saw amazing varieties of sea life including a stunning school of Blue Tangs, a barracuda, an octopus suctioning up food from the coral, jelly fish (Cora's favourite), a huge lobster, a gazillion conch shells and some very curious needle nose fish.The conch shells were truly in the thousands along one stretch of the island and people come from all over Antigua to collect them for food.

One of the best things about going to Green Island was the seclusion. There were several different beaches you could be be dropped off at, but the best one for snorkelling was Ten Pound Beach which was home to a couple of palm trees and not much else for that proper deserted island feel! The only problem with this beach is that the tour companies often stopped there for snorkelling and lunch whilst doing a circumnavigation of Antigua. So on one visit we had a couple of hours of about 30 people visiting our little beach and the peace and seclusion it offered but soon they were on their merry way. We went back to that beach two more times at the end of the week, including the last morning we were there, and the visibility had improved markedly and we had some amazing fish experiences.

There is another tiny island out in the bay - Little Bird Island - which doesn't have any beaches or visitors but Shakimba from watersports was kind enough to get us close enough to spend a few hours snorkelling around the reefs there. There we saw a couple of moray eels, the octopus and more spectacular fish, including a Porcupine fish. We also had the interest of a few resident pelicans every time we popped our heads up.  It was great being able to snorkel around the island in an hour just kind of drifting with the currents. 

We had heard really good things about Cades Reef off the southwest side of Antigua, so we were keen to explore it for a change of scenery from Green Island. The only way to get there is via boat, so we took an all day catamaran tour which sailed along the whole western, or Caribbean, side of the island. It was a really relaxed day and if you want to get away from it all, there are few better places to do that than from the netting at the front of a catamaran as it sails across the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. 

The snorkelling itself was good and the visibility was top rate. We saw a whole host of different fish than we had seen at Green Island and also a reef shark! That was a bit of a highlight, though Cora wasn't quite sure how to get CW's attention without taking her eyes off the shark! The current was fairly strong so after an hour of snorkelling we returned to the boat for a well deserved lunch before spending an hour moored on Turners Beach.  We had been there the day before and had a delicious curried goat, a local speciality, but it was nice to explore it again and experience it diving off the back of the boat.  It was a great way to see the island and to spend a day truly relaxing.

In the course of exploring the island we came across several other beaches, with the best two being Ffryes Beach and Half Moon Bay. Ffryes Beach is on the Caribbean coast and was recommended to us by one of the employees at the resort. It is off the beaten track, though still very accessible. We arrived to find a catamaran tour having a full on beach BBQ, complete with steel drum band, but they left within an hour of us arriving and the rest of the afternoon we had the quarter mile long stretch of beach to ourselves.

The sea was wonderful and the sand extremely soft, but what made the experience for us was the seclusion, wonderful sunset and Dennis' restaurant. Dennis is a local and for the last seven years he has been running a restaurant on a point at the far end of the beach. We didn't know it was there, but had seen some people wandering up the hill around lunchtime and thought it might be a bit of a beach bar. We went up mid-afternoon and found a spectacular view out over the next bay to the north, as well as some lovely rum punch! We came back later for dinner and had some lovely Caribbean food.

Half Moon Bay was only about ten minutes from our resort and gets its name from the rather distinctive shape of the cove. As it faces the Atlantic, there are some nice breakers rolling in, and if you walk all the way out to the rocks at the edge of the bay you can see exactly how powerful water is.  We went to this beach once at sunset and once in the morning and both times really enjoyed the experience. It was a bit of a shame we couldn't spend a full day there, but we had limited time with our little 4wd car so had to pick and choose.

We went to about ten beaches overall and had the chance to snorkel on five of our days there, so we had plenty of opportunities to truly experience the beautiful water and sand of this lovely little island of Antigua.

For more images of Antigua visit our Antigua Gallery.

Antigua - Land of Sea and Sun

You could call it a very delayed honeymoon or a much needed break or a mixture of both, but the reality was that we desperately needed to get away for a while. A long and wide ranging search across the globe for sun, warmth and snorkelling brought us to the wonderful little island Antigua in the Caribbean. We had not been looking at the Caribbean as an option because of the fear of hurricanes, but booking the holiday five days before we flew out meant we had a pretty good idea of what the weather would be like and the forecast was good.

Antigua is a fantastic place - very friendly people, wonderful food, excellent rum and 365 beaches - one beach for every day of the year they say.  The island of Antigua is only 108 square miles with a population of 88,000 people.  Antigua was once a British colony until their independence in 1981 and Queen Elizabeth II remains their Head of State.  English is the spoken language, but there is definitely a strong Antiguan accent and dialect which is often incomprehensible to the foreign visitor. Together with its sister island Barbuda and the numerous uninhabited islands, this small country might not be as well known as some of its neighbours, but it is a great place to visit - we just wish we had more time there.

It takes no more than an hour to drive anywhere on Antigua, though many natives don't seem to venture far from their villages. Our resort was on the far eastern side of the island and many Antiguans would exclaim how far that was from St John's, the capital on the western side.  Nestled in a sheltered bay facing the Atlantic, Nonsuch Bay Resort was the perfect home away from home for a week.  Craving peace, quiet and seclusion, this little resort was exactly what we were looking for.

Arriving at VC Bird airport, we were greeted by some island music, rum punch and oppressive heat and humidity. We had left the UK that morning wearing winter hats in the freezing cold and walked off the plane to temperatures almost thirty degrees Celsius warmer! You are greeted by what we imagine to be classic Caribbean attitudes towards bureaucratic formalities and driving - but that just helped us to get into the island mentality needed for the week.

Once we got settled, we spent the week relaxing and exploring this beautiful place, venturing from one side of the island to the other through lush rolling mountains, banana tree lined roads, a beautiful little rain forest and breathtaking coastal beaches. 

We spent our first couple of days between the resort and Green Island, a little uninhabited island just ten minutes on a zodiac across the bay. The resort takes you out there and will even deliver lunch from the restaurant and you usually have a beach and cove for snorkelling all to yourself. We met a really nice couple from Boston in the beautiful infinity pool at the bar on Saturday afternoon and agreed to go together to the weekly party at Shirley Heights on Sunday evening. 

Shirley Heights is named for the governor of Antigua who fortified the military defences in 1781 and commands a fantastic viewpoint overlooking the south coast of the island, including English Harbour, Nelson's Dockyard and the island of Montserrat. The sunsets are wonderful, famous for exhibiting the 'green flash', though we didn't see it. There was a very good local steel band playing music, some wonderful BBQ food and then a live band doing a mixture of reggae, pop and rock covers. It was quite touristy, but there were enough locals there to give it a very slight veneer of respectability. We had a really good time with Matt and Susie and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the island from that elevated viewpoint.

After a couple of days lying low, we rented a little 4wd and took to the roads. The driving in Antigua isn't too bad if like us you have experience driving on the left side of the road and on narrow country lanes. The road quality is a little rough, hence the 4wd, though the worst road was actually the unpaved one that leads to the resort. 

We drove to St John's and had a small poke around.  St John's is not a big place and blissfully it was free of cruise ships the day we went, because otherwise it would have been mobbed. After a nice lunch of Caribbean specialties, we crossed to the south side of the island and explored English Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard. The Antiguans wanted a name to entice tourists, so they named the old English fort and dockyards after the saviour of England, Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nelson was posted in Antigua early in his career, but ironically he hated it!

There were very few things we were determined to do this holiday, snorkelling being the main thing, but when we read about the Canopy Tour in the rainforest that quickly became a must do activity. This involved getting into complicated harnesses before flinging ourselves out into the open expanses between the trees on zip lines. We did a total of eleven lines, with the longest being 328 feet long over the gorge. It was great living out Tarzan-esque fantasies in this very natural setting.  

Most of our other land based activities surrounded beaches, so read our next post Antigua - Water and Sand for those adventures.

Antigua really was a phenomenal place and the perfect opportunity to slow down, relax and yet still have some good adventures. The only real regret was that we didn't have longer to enjoy it all!

For more images of Antigua visit our Antigua Gallery.

The London 2012 Paralympics - Meet the Superhumans

Following our wonderful experience at the London 2012 Olympics Beach Volleyball and hearing about people's trips to the Olympic Park, we were lucky enough to secure tickets to the Paralympics. The tagline for television coverage here in the UK was 'Meet the Superhumans' and boy were they right! It was truly amazing to watch these people compete with the various disabilities they have, and to do it as well or better than many able-bodied athletes.

We had two tickets to an evening session of Athletics at the Olympic Stadium, but with those we were able to access the Olympic Park as early in the day as we wanted. Taking advantage of a lovely sunny day, we left work early in the afternoon and spent several hours exploring the Park.

They built the Park along the banks of the River Lea and several old disused canals, so water is a central feature of the Park. There were grassy banks, flower gardens and lots of art installations along the riverside walkways. One of the installations was set under a bridge and features words formed of water cascading down. It was slightly difficult to see the actual letters in the droplets of water, but it was a cool bit of technology. Other places included a butterfly garden and the main spectator area called Park Live.

Park Live featured two enormous screens set-up in the river and facing out towards seating areas and grassy slopes, thereby allowing people to sit outside and watch some of the events. It was a great atmosphere and we heard from others that when the Brits were winning lots of medals the atmosphere was electric. When we were there it was Men's Quad Doubles Tennis featuring a British pair, but they ultimately lost to the two-time defending champions, so unfortunately the atmosphere was more muted. Still it was amazing to watch these incredible athletes - including one guy who served the ball by kicking it up into the air!

After experiencing the world's largest McDonald's, official Olympic sponsors (yes that is irony for you), we entered the 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium. The stadium is surprisingly small feeling and it was easy to watch the various events regardless of which side of the field/track it was happening.

The Paralympics features athletes with a variety of disabilities, and therefore there is a rather extensive classification system for each sport. In Track and Field there are five general classifications and then within each of those 3 - 8 further distinctions. The general classifications are for visual impairment, mental disability, cerebral palsy, amputees and wheel chair based athletes.

We were lucky enough to see quite a few track finals as well as several field competitions, including the Men's Long Jump for those with cerebral palsy and the Women's Sitting Javelin. On the track we saw the heats of the Men's Amputee 100m, which included Oscar Pistorius from South Africa - who is the Usain Bolt of the Paralympics, as well as a young British guy who ultimately would win gold the next night. Pistorius is amazing, and his best event is the 400m which he went on to win in London by more than 3.5 seconds! In fact, he is so fast, he competed in the Olympics three weeks earlier, making the semi-finals.

It was uplifting to watch the joie de vivre of the three visually impaired Brazilian women 100m sprinters, and their male guides, who took a 1-2-3 finish and quite literally danced up to the medals podium!

Anyone who thinks the competition isn't real should spend an evening watching these true athletes battle it out and see the emotions - both good and bad - that come after the results.

These were the most successful Paralympics yet, with close to 3 million tickets sold and UK viewing figures peaking at 8million viewers or roughly 1 in 7 Brits. The British Paralympians rightfully stood shoulder to shoulder with the British Olympic heroes during the athletes' victory parade in London and hopefully their exploits went some way in showing people what is possible in the face of adversity. Meeting the Superhumans indeed!

The Home of Guinness

In an effort to get away for a few days we planned a last minute weekend to Ireland to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Cora had never been and we both really wanted to go to the 'Home of Guinness' so it was a perfect option. We flew into Dublin and then rented a car to drive down to the southwest of the country before flying back from Cork.

As it was so last minute we didn't check to see what might be happening that weekend in our chosen locations so we had a few surprises.  We arrived in Dublin early on Friday morning and were treated to an entire city geared up for the Notre Dame v. Navy 'Emerald Isle Classic'.  We had literally walked into a college football tailgating weekend. The Irish had gone all out to welcome fans from both sides and there were flags flying everywhere from various pubs, bars and hotels and there was even a shop selling game merchandise to all the fans. We dropped our bags and waded into the masses. Dublin is a wonderfully compact city and we spent the morning wandering around Trinity College and the Temple Bar area before making our way to St James Gate Brewery.

This was really a bit of a pilgrimage for us. Although our Guinness was not from Ireland, nor did he ever set foot on the island, his name was Guinness St James for a reason. We spent a long time wandering the various exhibits and had a nice little lunch before going to the 7th floor Gravity Bar for our 'free' pint of Guinness. The view was great, the Guinness was better and the crowds of Americans made it feel like a sports bar. It wasn't the exact experience we were expecting to have, but we both really enjoyed spending the time at the Home of Guinness.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the various Dublin neighbourhoods and then having a lovely Italian dinner before ending a very long day by standing in the street listening to a live band and enjoying the warm summer evening with a drink.

Driving out of Dublin we figured the rest of our time would be spent in small, sparsely populated towns and villages hugging the rugged Irish coastline. We were mostly right, except we drove to Dingle Town on the evening after its annual marathon! So we went from 35,000 Americans asking us who we were supporting to a 3,000+ marathon runners asking what our time that day was! The atmosphere was very festive and we again had a lovely meal out and then went to a couple of different pubs for some good Irish music. It was lovely to stand in a cramped Irish pub listening to traditional music while the rain hammered away outside.

The coastline of the Dingle and Kerry peninsulas is breathtaking and we took advantage of having a car to drive along some very small and windy roads - shared occasionally by patriotic sheep!

We preferred Dingle, because it was more wild, rugged and with fewer people/cars. We drove the Conor Pass on Saturday evening literally in the clouds, not being able to see more than twenty meters in front of us! Going back the next day we were treated to lovely views of both coasts of the peninsula - perfect for a picnic lunch.

We explored quite a few out of the way tracks, once even finding ourselves on a rutted, unpaved farm track that wound its way back up a hillside - the local farm dog looked quite intrigued to see us coming from that direction.

We ultimately found a wonderful spit of land that afforded a beautiful sunset with the Skellig Islands in the distance. We huddled up against the harsh Atlantic winds and watched the waves thunder and swirl around the jagged rocks below us.

We wanted to leave a bit of Guinness in Ireland and this seemed the perfect place - facing West towards home, surrounded by water and deep in the natural settings he loved to explore alongside us. It was hard to scatter his ashes - to let go really - but we know his spirit is free in that wonderful place.

The London 2012 Olympics

After seven years and numerous scare mongering newspaper articles about the lack of security, the assurance of transport chaos and the expectation of a sub-standard opening ceremony, the London Olympics have exploded into life. The opening ceremony was quintessentially British and though a lot of it may have been lost to the international audience, there were some truly inspired elements – namely Mr Bean and the Queen’s ‘parachute’ entrance. We spent most of the next two days glued to the telly, waiting for a British gold medal that was sluggish in coming.

The real highlight for us was the opportunity to go to a live Olympic event, Beach Volleyball. On a partially sunny afternoon,  it is Britain after all, we went along with our friends Oliver and Pascale to Horse Guards Parade. The organisers were truly inspired when they decided to build a 15,000 seat stadium in the middle of this historic location in central London. The atmosphere was amazing and the chance to sit in the sunshine and look over the roofs of Whitehall towards the London Eye while enjoying Olympic sport was a once in the lifetime experience.

Beach Volleyball is a sport that definitely does not take itself too seriously. There is none of this dead silence required during serves or while play is ongoing. In fact, the music blares between each point, there is synchronised clapping and all sorts of random shouts from around the stands. There is also the dancing troupe and loud cheers for the volunteers as they rake out the sand. Truly it is the Olympics mixed with a beach music festival.

Even with all the fun and frivolity happening, the players themselves are amazingly talented and truly athletic. Though many people say volleyball is all about the skimpy bikinis and ripped guys, the players are elite athletes and the quality of play was clearly evident – especially with the Brazilian teams.

It was certainly a massive difference from our efforts on North Avenue beach back in Chicago all those years ago! We saw two men’s and two women’s matches and all were very exciting as we saw the world champion women’s Brazilian team, the epically named ‘the Wall’ from the Brazilian men’s team and a fairly overmatched, but extremely well-supported, British men’s team.

It was a fabulous afternoon and we are so happy to have gotten the one set of tickets that we most wanted for this ‘home’ Olympics. It is certainly something that we will never forget.

A few photos from our amazing day out... please forgive the cheesy music

Battle Proms at Hatfield House

Every year there are a series of outdoor picnic music events around the country known as Battle Proms.   The events are an opportunity for people to get out and enjoy the summer weather, good company, great music and beautiful fireworks and other displays.

As the name suggests it has a military feel with air displays, cavalry shows and patriotic music. This year was a celebration of 200 years since Napoleon retreated from Russia in 1812, so Tchaikovsky's famous 1812 Overture was featured proudly.

Our friends Amy and Elliott discovered the event taking place at nearby Hatfield House where they were married and invited us to come along.  Hatfield House is a beautiful historic estate, known best as the location where Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1588.

Last night heralded the first of true summer weather, so it was a perfect evening spent with good friends.

Here are a few photos and videos of the event.  Conrad in particular may enjoy the videos of the Blades Aerobatic Display Team and Spitfire flyover.

Thanks again Amy and Elliott for a great evening together!

Our Attempt to Enjoy "Sunny Intervals"

The weather forecast was one of those with a white cloud and a sun peaking out from behind.  We optimistically thought we could get a July day out in the sunny countryside.  Sunny it was, for about 20 minutes.  And then the clouds moved in, but thankfully no rain.

So we made the most of it and cycled to one of our favourite spots in the middle of a field and had a picnic.  To get there and back you have to cycle down a tiny track - in recent years it has been rapeseed and this year it was a variety of wheat.

As the clouds got darker we took our leave and headed to the local berry patch.

One positive that has come from the last few months of rain are the fabulous strawberries and raspberries of all varieties growing in mass at this local pick your own.

We went a bit overboard with our picking and will now be eating berries for the rest of the week, but I think you will agree from the photos below that they were just too good to pass up!

A Week on the Isle of Skye

Skye, an island just off the west coast of Scotland, is home to several large peninsulas, striking mountains and gravity defying sea cliffs. It also has many tiny little fishing ports, hairy cows, curious sheep and its own award winning distillery. It is sparse and mystical and has quickly become our favourite place in Britain.

A week on the Isle of Skye is best encapsulated by the popular interpretation of its very name, the Misty Isle.  Though Skye attracts every type of weather imaginable in short periods of time, often low hanging clouds or fog, it is also a place of indescribable majestic beauty and solitude.

Driving from London to Scotland is an experience of ever greater natural wonders as you leave the fairly flat and drab M1/M6 corridor to Birmingham and on past Manchester and Liverpool. Only once you clear Preston and enter Cumbria does the landscape begin to inspire, with far-reaching views and the Yorkshire Dales vying for visual space. The landscape changes yet again after Glasgow when you reach the Loch Lomond area. Driving through the forested shores of this large loch is magical, especially when a Roe Deer hops across the road mere metres in front of you!

The further north and west you push, the rougher the terrain becomes until you start the ‘Road to the Isles’, the only road to Skye and the main ferries to the Outer Hebrides which lay off the west coast of Skye. This road skirts below and around some of the highest Munro peaks in Scotland (Munros are peaks that measure more than 800 metres and there are approximately 280 in Scotland, with 12 of those on Skye itself).

Once onto the Isle of Skye the terrain remains dramatic and becomes even more awe-inspiring.  As the road curves around lochs, crosses tiny river bridges and zigs and zags around The Cuillin, the light casts different colours on the far-reaching landscapes and the beauty of the island starts to take hold and make an everlasting impression.

Spending a week on Skye afforded us the chance to see and experience much of what the island has to offer.  From wintery walks through magnificent landscapes to time spent relaxing by the fire looking out across the bay, we have taken advantage of as much as the island has to offer at this time of year.  We’ll be back some day to experience the popular boat tours, get sight of some water wildlife and enjoy some true Scottish music and whiskey in a local bothy, but for now we’re really happy with these beautiful memories:

The Search for Mountain Fairies: Our favourite hike was without a doubt the Fairy Pools walk in the shadow of the Cuillins. This walk had everything we were looking for: proximity to mountains, amazing waterfalls and blue water pools, crazy weather and physicality of fording streams. Walking right up to the base of these mountains to the sound of rushing water was truly stunning. Added to the scene were two hailstorms and one extensive whiteout snowstorm which changed the landscape almost instantly and made the whole walk even more memorable.

Rocky Ridge Walk: Another favourite walk was through the Quirang, an area towards the northern end of the Trotternish Ridge which slopes up from west to east and then drops off quite sharply near the eastern coast. The Quirang contains all sorts of rocky outcroppings with the two most famous being the Prison and the Needle. The area was a well used haven for cattle and sheep herders trying to protect their flocks from raiders and after walking in along the treacherous path, it was not hard to understand the level of protection the craggy slopes offered.  As we walked the vibrant green landscape changed to a magical golden glow as the sun descended behind the peaks offering a completely different scene.

A Taste of the ‘King of Drinks’: Skye’s most well known export is undoubtedly Talisker – the only Scotch produced on Skye. There are undoubtedly other scotches made on the island, but Talisker is the only one sold to the public. The distillery stands on land in Carbost that was once part of the Talisker Estate, historically owned by the second son of the ruling chiefs of the MacLeod clan who controlled Skye for centuries. We hoped to have a tour of the place, but unfortunately we were there during their annual three week shutdown when they undertake necessary maintenance work. Nevertheless, we went through a nice little exhibit and chatted with a lovely man who told us all about the scotch production and gave us some nice little tips.  One tip we amateur drinkers took away: put a ‘wee drop of water’ into your glass to help release the flavour – doesn’t always make a positive difference but it may with something like Talisker.  It was a lovely place to visit and the free dram helped warm us up on a very cold, wet and windy day!

Taking Home a Piece of Skye: Nestled in the tiny little village of Edinbane is the eponymous pottery workshop and store, Edinbane Pottery. This is the epitome of a working pottery shop, with hodge podge shelves displaying colourful plates, teapots and salt pigs (a traditional Scottish urn for storing salt). One of the owners was working the wheel while we were there and we saw him bash out a quick bowl and a wine chiller – very impressive how quickly a lump of clay can be formed into something!  Each set had a different design, all influenced by the dramatic colours and landscapes of Skye.  Our favourite was Ebb and Flow, inspired by the island’s "deep pools, river flows, rolling landscapes and night skies".

Other Sweet Memories: There were dozens of other little experiences that we will cherish.  Walking to the ‘tropical’ Coral beaches in a gorgeous afternoon sun before being bombarded by a passing hailstorm and ducking into a makeshift cave five minutes later for cover... Passing a viewpoint on the way to Skye with no cars or people, except for an ever hopeful lonely busking kilted bagpiper... Seeing Guinness nonchalantly jump a stream that we took us five minutes to cross without getting too wet... Meeting some hairy cows and friendly sheep... the list goes on.

Home Sweet Home: One of our favourite moments was driving around the corner and seeing the view from our lovely ‘Seascape’ home away from home. We knew it had a view over the western coast of Skye, but the pictures online hadn’t really shown how extensive it was so the vista took us by surprise. We immediately jumped out and grabbed the cameras to take in the sunset and spectacular scenery. We sat in the two armchairs looking out across Fiscavaig Bay for every breakfast, quite a few cups of tea and most of the two afternoons where the rain and gale force winds kept us inside. The view changed constantly, but always managed to keep our attention.

Thank you Skye for a magical week. It has been a balm for our souls after some hard months and all three of us have truly loved our time on this enchanting island.

More photos soon... stay tuned