UK Day 4 Walk Into The Painting - Eilean Donan Castle

2011-7-2 Saturday
It was only 8:30 in the morning. The sun was hanging on the 10 o' clock position of sky. It felt like summer time of Taiwan.

After eating a leisurely breakfast in hotel, we went to front desk to check the weather conditions of Eilean Donan castle. Because the hotel's internet speed was slow, we waited a while before we got the answer. The lady politely told us that it was a sunny day and it seemed to be a beautiful place. We asked her if she ever visited this place. She said no. Originally, I thought if it is a well-known and beautiful attraction, most of local people may already stopped by sometimes.

After packing, we moved forward to today's destination - Eilean Donan Castle. GPS led us to take A82, turn right on A887 and meet A87 road. We quickly passed Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle located on the A82 road, and moved forward to Eilean Donan Castle located on A87.

After driving for about one hour, we found a lake, Loch Cluanie I guessed, with good view. When we pulled over and prepared to go to lakeside.  Another car also pulled over behind our car.  Loud bass music came from the car as its windows was rolled down. Five rambunctious Indian young people jumped out the car and ran to lakeside to play water and take picture. We also helped each other taking photos around the lakeside.

When we walked back the parking space from the lakeside, we found a car with left-hand drive. We asked the elderly couple the reason they can get the car. They said they came from the Netherlands. They directly drove the car from home to here. They planned to move to Isle of Skye and staying there for two weeks. We also shared the experience of left-hand traffic. Our conclusion was slowly driving and no overtaking.

After further driving about one hour, we reached Eilean Donan castle. When we got off the car, we were attracted by the beauty of the scene. I felt as if we are walking into the painting. The beautiful scenes showed up in front of my view without any special camera or video shooting techniques. I didn’t need to select a specific angle to get the wonderful view. I could easily and directly enjoy the picturesque scenery. No wonder that Eilean Donan castle was declared as the most beautiful castle in Scotland.

The temperature here is 9-20 C. We putted on or take off coats depending on if sun or wind stay along with us. We ate bread and tuna fish sandwiches inside the car and enjoyed the view outside. After we walked off and take pictures around the castle. We also liked free toilet here. Clear skies, cool breeze touching my face, picturesque scenery, we already felt worthwhile for the trip.

We found it is still earlier after strolling around the castle. We decide to go forward to the Isle of Skye. Just after passing the bridge, we enjoy views of the azure sky and coast. Although the scenery was somewhat similar to Taiwan's east coast, it has a unique flavor. Sky and sea, interspersed with some islands, let us feel like reaching the end of earth. Originally, we planned to take pictures when we returned. However, the scenery we like was no longer existed. I did not know it is because of the first impression or interactions between the sunlight and sea different after noon time.

I decided to capture the beautiful moments right away in the coming journey if any beautiful scenery impress us again.


First edition 2011-12-11
Next notice: Hogwarts Express-The Steam Train in Harry Potter