Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland... Part 1 of 2

I was out early for sail-in photos, and it was very cool. It was great sail-in, better than I ever anticipated…I was able to get shots of the hills and the town. We got the first tender to town and waited for our guide Callum to pick us up. Portree is the largest town and is the capital of the Isle of Skye. The main town of Portree lies above and behind the harbor. The center of life in Portree is its harbor that is a superb natural setting, being surrounded by high ground and cliffs. Built around the harbor at water level are a run of brightly painted buildings and very striking. After about a fifteen-minute drive north of Portree, with beautiful views we came upon the Old Man of Storr.  This is found on the Trotternish Peninsula and boasts outstanding mountain scenery. The Old Man of Storr is iconic Scotland with its spike like pinnacles of rock on a rolling green hill background and the coastline of the Isle of Skye.  On our way to the Quirang, we stopped at Upper Tote with its view of the Islands of Rona and Raasay. We made a quick stop at the Rigg Lookout. This area is known as a riff, a strip of arable land. Passing through the quaint village of Staffin we arrived at the Quirang. Quirang is a part of the Trotternish ridge that has been formed by a massive landslip which has created high cliffs, hidden plateaus and pinnacles of rock. The Quiraing is a fantastic spot for photography, with excellent views stretching off in both directions. We walked a couple of hundred meters from the parking lot to see north and south along the ridge for some lovely photography opportunities. I was adventurous and left the group for an intense hike to get some different vantage points…The view was breathtakingly beautiful. Our next stop was the ruins of Duntulm Castle. We parked and walked in to the castle ruins still owned by the Macleod Clan. We made a stop at the Skye Island Village Museum, a gathering of original thatched roof and stone cottages depicting life on the island on the 1800’s. This open-air museum has preserved some of the black houses or thatched cottages typical of a 19th century farming community. A nice surprise was to see a pair of highland cows. Heading back toward Portree we stopped at the Fairy Glenn. The Fairy Glen is located on the Trotternish Peninsula of the Isle of Skye. The closest town is Uig, a tiny coastal town on the western coast of the peninsula. Driving south of Portree we went to the Old Sligachan Bridge. This bridge was estimated to have built between 1810-1818. The stone bridge consists of three arches. Callum dropped us in the center of town, we walked around took a few photos, got a souvenir and headed back to the ship. We enjoyed the day and our first trip to Isle of Skye… Scotland is always a joy to visit. Tomorrow we are in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands for a return visit.