We took the Skye Bridge at back to the mainland, detouring slightly to see Eilean Donan, supposedly Scotland's most iconic castle. Which view do you like best?
We headed north through the Highlands to Inverewe Garden, the next stop on our longest drive of the trip.
Google identifies this shrub as broom. I guess the bright yellow blossoms hadn't had time yet to bloom.
Osgood Mackenzie established Inverewe, a coastal garden, in 1862 primarily as a wind break to protect his lodge but he soon became obsessed with growing as many exotic plants as he could in the relatively mild climate. Like Central Park, it is completely a work of man's landscaping imagination.
Earlier this year, Storm Corrie blew in from the North Atlantic. Ninety-miles-per-hour winds knocked down more than 60 mature trees.
Google images identified these blooms.
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| Irish Rose |
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| Siberian Iris |
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| Peony |
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| Peony |
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| Papaver |
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| Phormium tenax |
Mackenzie's only child, Mairi, built this lovely home in 1934, after her father's lodge burned down. Twice widowed and without children, she bequeathed the property to the National Trust for Scotland shortly before her death in 1953.
I wouldn't mind calling this a room of my own.
Queen Elizabeth II's father, George VI who became king after Edward VII abdicated.
Mairi (or more likely her second husband, a captain) pinned postcards of places they'd been on a map of the world. North America doesn't appear to be among them.
Dogs are welcome in areas marked like this.
Chris is pointing to Loch Ewe. "Inver" means "mouth of."
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