isle of skye

on day 3 of our scotland visit we toured around the isle of skye.
there's this loop, you see, and it exists just so one can take in all that's skye. (ok not really but it felt like it)
we woke up and had our first authentic full scottish breakfast.
white pudding
black pudding
"bacon"
tomato
potato scone
sausage
egg
it looks like this

i'm rather glad i didn't google white and black pudding prior to indulging.
i didn't particularly like it anyways.... but after googling it i had more of a bias against it.
white= pork meat, fat, suet, bread, and oatmeal
black= pork blood and oatmeal
the bacon was more like a combo between ham and bacon- way more meat than we american's ever get on a slice.
transport that bacon on over here please.
besides the "puddings" it was delicious- and my co-travelers didn't even mind the puddings.
after a fine introduction to scottish cuisine we proceeded to our daily events.

the plan=
isle of skye scenic route
loche ness (which i will devote an entire post)
small inverness tour if time allows

1. isle of skye scenic route

these little beauties deserved a portrait. 

scotland's cattle guards.

 then there was this view.

we all knew we were in for something. 

 come on isle- stop this. 

 the only problem with this isle is that a lot of their roads were one laners. 

that meant you had to keep a keen eye out for these little signs, pull outs, and oncoming traffic.

it got interesting from time to time. 

the scenery made up for this one minor setback. 

 another isle view with the crew.... (not pictured dad, aka photo cred.)

 that little beauty in the distance is kilt rock.

you know you're in for a treat when they have a designated parking area for a view. 

we just kept our eyes open for such areas and for places a lot of people were stopped- 

it's a good tourist rule of thumb. 

 we really liked kilt rock.

 this was really the icing on the cake. 

that scotland moment you dream of happened at this moment. 

sea cliffs shaped like kilts

sea breeze whipping around that scottish scent

bagpipe player

with her dog

it was the whole package

i just waited by the car (when no one could see)

and just relished every second of that moment. 

i took in every inch, sight, sound, feel, smell, everything; and for a few moments life didn't seem real. 

 i started getting excited about red phone booths. 

a little classic london teaser. 

 we saw more killer coastline like this.

 then these signs starting popping up. 

we stopped precisely for a picture of one. 

it would be a crime for a farm girl (especially a sheep mans daughter) to not take a pic. 

those sheep have it easy in scotland-

the isle of skye is really a magical place (if i may use such cheese phrase- it's going to come up a lot). 

green upon green in shades of green you never knew could be so beautiful. 

cascading hills leading to jagged sea cliff edges. 

with distant views of isles and other lands that seem impossibly magnificent. 

then the land is spotted with fat sheep, shetland ponies, and cattle (some of the highlander variety)- i was dying with animal cuteness overload. 

if the scenery didn't offer enough they had to throw in farm animals that make a grown woman squeal on account of adorableness. 

take a farm and cuteify it and put it by the beach with luscious green surroundings=isle of skye.

pretty much heaven if the weather would keep. 

do visit- it's quaint, magical, heavenly, beautiful, lovely, splendid; the whole package of goodness. 

i am seeing a potential light at this strep throat tunnel just in time for the weekend.  

here's hoping you have a fabulous one.