On the road again! Had a lovely chat with Joyce at the B & B and I am taking her suggestion of Portree on the Isle of Skye. It’s a wee bit of a drive, but the sights are amazing, she said.

Stopping along the way for photo ops, they are everywhere.

Interesting story for the day:

On one of my photo stops I noticed a woman standing at a bus stop, but she had her thumb up. It was a ‘single track’ road, which means barely two cars can pass at the same time. Watching her, being literally sprayed with dust and dirt by the lorries (trucks here).  It was a very dangerous place to be standing. As my parents’ voices were swirling around in my head, and even my inner voice, I pulled up to her when the traffic lightened. 

I asked what her name was, ‘Elizabeth’. I asked where she was headed ‘just two miles down the road, to the Castle Urquhart, have you heard of it?’ I told her ‘no’. I asked if she was a nice person (me being ever so careful), she said ‘yes’. So I told her I would take her.

Adding to the danger for her was the fact she is vision impaired. She was waiting for a bus, but it had been awhile so she thought she would put her thumb up.  She got in (after I quickly moved all the crap from the passenger seat, those of you that know me, know this is always!).

We chatted (of course). She is from Bavaria, Germany. She takes the bus places and always comes to this castle. She asked if I was going to go to it, so, next stop–the Castle Urquhart. She has a pass, so she didn’t need a ticket. I bought my ticket after she was greeted by the man behind the counter. ‘Hello, Elizabeth!’ They know her! We parted ways here, newbies like me watch a movie about the history of the castle. When the movie is over, the curtains open to this:

Sadly (as is the usual) the castle was overtaken, won back, overtaken, looted, then destroyed. It’s an amazing ruin.  As I was walking to tour the remains I saw Elizabeth and caught up to her.

That’s her talking to another worker. I thanked her for telling me about this place. She thanked me, and told the man about how she got there. I left them to tour the tower, she followed slowly. I turned around as she was entering the gate house, she curtsied. WHAT??? Who is she? That’s the only picture I have of her.

Amazing day.

The stairs up:And down:

It was lovely meeting you!

Next up, the Eileen Donan Castle. It’s claim to fame, James Bond movie and Highlander.Beautiful.

The place where memories are kept. My grandson, Ayden, taught me about this. We were passing in front of a cemetery and he says ‘Nan, that’s where the memories go’. Clearly he is a genius. What a wonderful way to relate the sadness of the cemetery to a positive thought. From a 5 year old. Now when I pass cemeteries I think of this, and wonder what memories are held there. I came across one of theses memory keepers today.

This was at the foot of the hills, a rugged area. Thinking about what it must have been like, living and surviving there in the 1800’s. Looking through the door, of the ruined church, over the tombstones to the hills. Lives that were lived and loved.

Now, I leave you with this:

Did I or didn’t I????