"Merry of soul she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye."

In one of our first interactions with a native Scot, we were told that the Western coast of Scotland was the most underrated and the most beautiful. With no prior frame of reference, we weren't quite convinced. After all, the Highlands were already breathtaking. Surely it couldn't get better, right?

Surprise, surprise, we were wrong.

The Western Scottish coast was unlike anything I'd seen before. The magnitude of the endless mountains, the desolate cliffs and the sprawling coastlines covered in seagrass meadows provided a jarring contrast to the Highlands. In just three hours, the scenery completely changed. 

The Isle of Skye is pretty famous for its fairy pools, scenic hikes, castles and various other outdoor activities. Since we weren't keen to exhaust ourselves further, we stuck to Dunvegan Castle and the Talisker Distillery.

We arrived at Dunvegan Castle and had a quick bite to eat before heading into the castle. The castle has two main parts: the actual structure and the sprawling gardens. 

We started in the building and wandered through grand halls, rooms with priceless artifacts and paintings, and various sectioned off historical replicas.

One main highlight of Dunvegan Castle, and something that draws in hundreds of thousands of tourists per year, is the Fairy Flag or "Am Bratach Sith." 

The Fairy Flag has a mystical history with several different possible origin stories. The crusader version involves a MacLeod traveling to the Holy Land and encountering a hermit who warns him of an evil spirit. MacLeod was able to slay the spirit, who happened to be the Daughter of Thunder ("Nein na Pheupera"), and she told him the future of her clan and urged him to take her girdle to create a banner.

The fairy tower version talks about the MacLeod Chief's son and how a nurse left him alone in his nursery in the Fairy Tower. When the baby became restless, the fairies came to comfort him and wrapped him in their own silken shawl. It is said that when the nurse collected the baby, the nursery was filled with the Fairy Lullaby.

In the last version, the fairy bridge version, a fairy married a MacLeod chief, but after several years together, the MacLeod chief had to return to his people. They parted at the fairy bridge a few miles away from Castle Dunvegan, and she gave him a banner that would award him victory in hard battles. However, the magic would only work three times.

The Fairy Flag is still believed to hold a deep magic granted by the fairies themselves. It has a rich history within Dunvegan Castles as a talisman of luck and hope. It's threadbare remains are displayed reverently upon the walls of Dunvegan Castle and will remain there (probably) forever.

Leaving the castle, we went to explore the gardens and the shore where they offered seal tours. They offered walled gardens with exotic plant species and different stone statues and sculptures. They had acres of meticulously cultivated flowers and trees, it was stunning.

Eventually, we made our way to the coastline, and that is where I decided to climb through the woods and over wet rocks to reach the very edge of the island. 

I'm not going to lie, I felt like Indiana Jones ducking under vines and hopping over crevices in the rocks.

Unfortunately, the novelty wore off after about ten minutes when the wind picked up. Frigid, coastal winds are not to be trifled with; I had to sit on a wet rock for about five minutes until it was safe to walk back.

On our way back to Inverness, we made one more stop in Skye—the Talisker Distillery.

Now, I have heard wonderful things about Talisker whiskey. It's known for being the classy, masculine nightcap of choice and people rave about it.

You're all dirty liars.

Whiskey tastes like campfire, sometimes with a drop of honey in it. My father tells me this is the "peaty" taste that people pay so much money for, but it's really just another way to describe eau de smoke.

I have never felt more wasteful than when I was unable to finish a finger of 30$ whiskey. If I do indeed have Scottish ancestors, I know they were rolling in their graves.

The trip to the Isle of Skye was a short one, but I am so grateful we were able to travel there. Seeing these landscapes, feeling like you're walking through postcards, these memories are priceless (and the amateur pictures aren't too bad either).

Scotland earned a special place in my heart, but the journey was still not done. The next destination: Askrigg, in the Yorkshire Dales.

Jusqu'à la prochaine fois,

Finn