Skye, Day 6: Staying Put

Today was a good day. Not quite as magical as Day 3, but thoroughly pleasant. When I woke up this morning, the rain has stopped. It was still cloudy and overcast, but it was no longer raining. I rolled out of my sleeping back ("rolled" being a colloquial term--the actual action would be better described as "twisted") by 9:30, and wondered down to Skye's Oldest Bakery for a nice pot of tea before starting my day.

I intended to walk to Neist Point, which is apparently one of the better sights on Skye. Dunvegan Castle didn't open for another month, so I decided to give it a shot. So I started walking and reached my destination in an hour and a half. Gotta say, it was really nice to be free of my backpack. I had a ham and cheese cold roll and some Bombay mix, appreciated the view (I couldn't find the lighthouse so I just sat on a bluff), and relaxed for a bit. It started sprinkling a bit towards the end of my walk back, but nothing like the day before. Just a light sprinkle.

When I returned to the Oldest Bakery, the owner (Janice) was incredibly confused. How could I get to Neist Point and back in 3 hours? How could I miss the lighthouse? Turns out I had not gotten to Neist Point (which was significantly farther away, another 10 miles or so), where the lighthouse is very clearly marked, but had instead gone to Uiginish Point, which was not as far or impressive. But I'd had a good walk and a good lunch, so I was happy.

I decided to catch up on some homework. I ran back to camp to grab my autobiography materials for Acting, and returned to work for the 40-ish minutes until they closed. Janice and her husband were having a row, which is unfortunate. They both seem like lovely people. I finished another page before 3:00 (closing time), and ordered a couple snowballs to go. She didn't charge me for them or the doughnut I'd eaten earlier. Like I said, sweet lady. If/when I come back to Skye, I'm going to that place again and again. I'm getting on the 9:45 bus to Portree tomorrow (a change of plan, but I haven't seen Portree yet), so I won't be able to visit before I leave. It was good while it lasted, and those snowballs will be delicious.

From there I went to Jann's Cakes (stopping on the way to dry the pages of my autobiography, which were wet from yesterday, ad the hand drier in a public restroom--worked quite well), where I had a pot of Earl Grey with milk and two sugars and continued to work. Seven Brazilians came in and got food, then left. then Bush came in and asked "How much is a Brazilian?" (This didn't actually happen) I had a toasted ham and cheese for dinner, topping off with a big piece of Belgian chocolate tart with caramel and pecans, warmed and served with whipped cream. A bit pricey, but divine. And I reached the minimum page count for my autobiography, which feels great. It's been a lazy day, full of eating and tea, but an undeniably good one.

                                           THINGS I LEARNED

• It's really nice to not have to find somewhere new to sleep every night.
• Local bakeries are awesome.
• If you don't end up where you intended, you can still appreciate where you are.
• It's okay to indulge yourself now and again.