Do you believe in fairies?
When I was a little kid, I used to love to play make believe, and play in the creek behind my house. I’m sure that I wasn’t the only kid in the world who liked to play make-believe or play in creeks, but being as how I was an only child who lived out in the country far away from other kids, playing make-believe was a great source of entertainment for me. I loved to pretend that I was either invisible sea monster or a witch or better yet, an invisible sea monster-witch. Skye would have been a great place to grow up.
Swimming with fairies
Just imagine being an invisible fairy with eternal life and the power to enthrall people.. it’d make sense to live here, bewitching visitors to take off all their clothes [because now I’m a bawdy wench]. The spell of the Fairy Pools is that they look as if they must be warm…
I mean with that kind of vivid blue water it must be like the Caribbean Sea, but having come straight down from the Black Cuillins, they are anything but warm. The saying goes: temperatures in Scotland are either cold, bastard cold, or damn freezing cold. And checking in at a balmy 43F, I say these swimming holes are bastard cold.
Perhaps it is the fairy mischief that makes me want to jump into this amzing clear blue water. Water that is face-smackingly, lung-contractingly cold… wet-suit be damned… I jump in… ohmygod thisissofuckingcold… I clamber back out to catch my breath. Fairy magic… I haul my carcass out of the swimming hole, warm up, and dive in again and again. This is river swimming at its most magical.
Isle of Skye
The Isle of Skye is the largest of the Hebridean islands. It is easy to navigate, easily reached from the mainlaind village of Kyleakin, and has a huge variety of landscapes packed into a relatively small space. Scottish Gaelic is the predominate language of this part of the country , and in this area of around 10,000 people spread out over the islands, is raw wilderness. Each sight is slightly more awe inspiring than the previous.
Leaving Skye, I passed probably the most famous castle in Scotland. In my less than humble opinion, Eilean Donan Castle is the most beautiful castle in Scotland. It’s even movie famous. Chances are you recognize it from a film or two. Eilean Donan starred in Highlander, served as Sean Connery’s home in Entrapment, and was the Scottish Headquarters of MI6 in The World Is Not Enough. Anything related to the world’s most famous spy has my stamp of approval.
Shout out to Rick Wakeman’s 1980s era song called Do you believe in fairies for this post’s title
Scotland, Castles and Fairies, some of my favorite topics. I’ve never been to Scotland but it’s definitely on my bucket list. Our kids have always wanted to stay in a castle. Hopefully, one day we will get the chance to do so. Thanks for sharing and linking up to the #WeekendWanderlust this week.
One of my biggest regrets is never making it here when I was in Scotland. Unfortunately, time was limited and family commitments were calling. I loved your post. It fuels my fire to get back to bonny Scotland and see Skye!
Scotland is awesome. I hope you get back there soon.
Wow! GORGEOUS photos that make me want to pack my suitcase and head for the airport to catch the next flight to Scotland! Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh my god these photos are stunning! I want to go to the isle of Skye now!!
Skye is amazing. If you go, summer is awesome as it’s daylight well past 10pm. It’s not too much warmer though and those fairy pools are something from the arctic.