A Room with a View

Staffin Bay view from The Flodigarry Hotel, Isle of Skye

Reaching Isle of Skye we pass through the narrow streets of Portree (pronounced "Por-try") it's lanes lined with B&B's and hostels.  By now we are delirious and so ready to get to our destination.  Some 20 miles down the road lies our lodging, Flodigary Country House Hotel, located outside Staffin. We encounter sheep in the road and they don't get in big hurry to move out of our way.  They stand in the middle of the road eyeing us and vigorously chewing their cud before deciding to move on. They did not flinch when Sam lightly tapped on the car horn.

Google maps couldn't seem to make up it's mind where this place was located at one point listing it as a P.O. Box in Portree and a Gaelic road name near Staffin which turned out to clearly not be our hotel.  There is one road in and out of Staffin and I decide as chief navigator that if we simply keep driving and surely there will be a road sign.  The car climbs higher and higher into the jagged green terrain.  Both boys are bounding off the windows in the back seat and Sam is having serious questions about the accommodations I have booked.  There are cliffs and buttes (I'm sure the locals don't call them that.) to the left and amazing coastline to the right and soon I recognize the cliffs from the pictures of the hotel on the website and then there is a sign.  We turn down a steep switchbacked lane with some of the greenest vegetation I have ever seen and voila  -- The Flodigary Hotel.  (Please note that the hotel has changed hands since our visit but appears to have maintained it's excellent rating.)

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g551889-d246389-Reviews-The_Flodigarry_Hotel-Staffin_Isle_of_Skye_The_Hebrides_Scotland.html

The Flodigarry Hotel, Staffin, Isle of Skye

Emerging from the car park of the Hotel we are met with the most astonishing view of water and a small island and the freshest air in Scotland.  Now I know what I am paying for and it is THAT view.  Selecting our accomodations back in the states I booked all levels - clean spartan and very basic, midpriced, and a splurge.  Flodigarry is the splurge.  The decompression from the long drive was almost instantaneous.  We stumble into the lobby to inquire about our rooms gratefully accepting the complimentary wine and scotch on a nearby sideboard.  Our 18 year old decides to sample the scotch and ends up spluttering and coughing to the great amusement of his younger brother.

Sam and I have a room up front with a view and the boys have a room more towards the back of the property.  We finish our wine sitting in the chairs positioned in front of our window and ogle the view.  There is a pub/restaurant attached to the hotel and I am eager to sample the local fare and order a large bowl of seafood chowder which I devour.

A light rain is falling after dinner but Sam and I turn the boys loose, put on our raincoats and walk down the road to inspect the terrain and fill our lungs with the fresh air.  It sounds so horrifically cliche but you do half expect to run into the characters from Lord of the Rings, the terrain has that "je ne sais quois" that kindles the imagination.  No wonder Scotland is so rich in folklore and notions of mythological characters.

Near Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye

The sheep that would not run from us when we were behind the wheel of a car (and could presumably run over them) now flee from us and look back warily even though we are much more harmless on foot.  We walk back to the hotel pub and linger on the terrace with a glass of wine and looking out over the bay until we can hardly hold our eyes open.  We crawl into our very comfortable bed.  Tomorrow we will hike to the Old Man of Storr.

Sheep near Staffin, Isle of Skye