Dear Prudence, Won't You Come Out To Play

Phew. We're done. I'm sitting in the kitchen of our hostel right now, drinking wine and eating homemade pasta, trying to remember everything we've done this week. In fact, a more appropriate question would be what we haven't done. When I left you, I had spent my first night on the Isle of Skye. On Thursday morning, we took our first tour of the Island, starting with the MacDonald castle at Amerdale. It was fascinating to visit the place where I know my ancestors lived and fought; walking along the expansive grounds, reading about the clan in a museum, I felt nothing but pride. Interesting fact: a MacDonald married a Rankin before they immigrated to North Carolina. What a coincidence!

After visiting the castle, we went to a creek that is supposed to give you eternal beauty if you dip your face in for 7 seconds. As the story goes, the "wee folk" who live there once blessed the daughter of a great warrior woman there by removing the cuts and bruises on her body. We all did it, and just look at us...gorgeous! :)

Next, on what may be my favorite aspect of the entire week, we went to a Faerie Glen. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen, filled with rugged hills, purple flowers, towering rocks, and curvy trees. You could feel the magic. Our tour guide told us about something called "acupuncture of the land" - they feel that there are energy points all over Scotland, and this was one of the strongest. It soon started to rain, so our next stop - Cuith Rang - had to be cut short. We did get some amazing pictures, and they'll be on my facebook within the next few days. Maybe not the ones from our times at Saucy Mary's Lodge that night...but most of them. :) I'll finish posting about Thursday and Friday (today) after I get to Oxford and can figure out my power converter. Love you all!