Isle of Skye, Glenfinnan, Isle of Mull ........May 8/18

Happy Birthday to our dear niece Jillian!
Today we were expecting some Scottish mist, which we got! It actually required an umbrella  this morning for a short while. Still on Skye we were visiting the Armadale Castle, gardens and museum. The grounds are in a woodland setting, with beautiful old stone bridges with burns running underneath, Azaleas,  birch, ferns, ponds, gravel pathways and graceful mossy trees. All in a very quiet setting. The castle itself is in a state of ruins and is dangerous to visit,  it must have been grand in its day. The estate was formerly the seat of the MacDonalds of Sleat. It is now run by a charitable trust dedicated to promoting the traditions and history of the Clan and Highlands and Islands. The gardens date in part to the 1790’s, many remarkable species are represented. The museum takes one through 1500 yrs of history and culture, in  over 7000 books.  There are of course not one but two gift shops, with top quality highland crafts. At every stop I have been impressed with the quality of the goods, they are made in Scotland not China or elsewhere.
Leaving Skye We boarded our ferry to take us across the Sound of Sleat to the isle of Mallaig.  On Mallaig we visit Glendinning with its viaduct as seen in the Harry Potter films. We  do see the steam train, although not when it was actually on the bridge.
 There is also a tall monument with a soldier statue at the top. One is permitted to climb the narrow stone stairs to the viewing platform if they do not suffer from vertigo. The site is maintained by a Canadian group associated with Glenfinnan.  Soon we have driven to the end of Mallaig and are boarding another ferry in Lochaline for the 15 minute trip  to the Isle of Mull!  The announcem3nt about safety regulations is made in Gaelic.  We disembark at Fishnish.  Once back on land we are again driving on roads so narrow the bus takes up the whole width, fortunately everyone seems  to operate the frequent passing places very well. The scenery is nothing short of breathtaking!!! You’d never find greener pastures anywhere, or whiter sheep! Braes that slope down to the sea. There are fishing boats at work, mussel farms and ferry boats.
There is a Gaelic university on Mull that does an exchange with the Gaelic university in Cape Breton Nova Scotia. The Mull university has 600 full time students. The highland language is experiencing renewed interest with it being taught in many highland island schools. Many road signs in the aisles are also in Gaelic.
Mull is known as the “twitcher” capital of the British Isles.....this means birding is huge! They have a few varieties of very large eagles, oyster catchers, hawks, buzzards and others.
We stop for a walkabout in the capital town of Tobermoray, a picturesque place on the sea, each building on the Main Street of town painted a bright primary colour. On the seafront there stands an old red pillar post box, with the royal insignia, one of 6 left in all of the British isles.  Everyone wandered about the shops and sat in the sun admiring the view, or enjoying  ice cream.
We arrived at our hotel about 6 pm and met in the dining room for 7 pm dinner.  There were 3 selections each , 3 starters, 3 mains, 3 desserts. The food was excellent!  After dinner tea and coffee is served in the lounge. We were treated to a concert from the Isle of Mull & Iona Pipe Band. Young pipers and drummers, The youngest piper a lad of 11.  I spoke to the acting pipe major at the finish of the piping. I said I was from Canada and that we had a very good pipe band, the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band who I knew had taken first place at the world Highland games in Glasgow some  years ago.  A friend of ours had a son in the band. Well, the pipe major knew all  about the Canadian band and proceeded to sing the praises and tell of the many awards this Canadian band had won. He called them by far the best in the world!
It was another great day. Our guide Matthew is promising heiland coos and lambs tomorrow!