We did a quick walk up the highest hill/mountain on Iona, before we finally reached the sandy beaches, which were next to some rocky beaches. We climbed on rocks and walked along the shore for a bit. We found some snails.
We went back to the bed and breakfast and took it easy the rest of the night. For dinner, we ate at the bed and breakfast. One of the owners used to own his own restaurant, and so a few nights out of the week, they offer to cook dinner. We had some absolutely incredible food and enjoyed very interesting conversation. The german fellow, also staying there, told us about his political science background and his thesis on the conflict in Ireland in the 70s, and how he was in Belfast at the time.
We took our time the next morning, and then left to take the scenic route towards the north of the island, where we stayed in Tobermory, the biggest town on the island. We spotted a small eagle, or what we thought was an eagle(since eagle spottings are supposed to be fairly common on Mull).
We arrived in Tobermory, ate lunch, and then walked around town, browsing the shops.
We went to bed early, and left the next morning on the 9:30 ferry to Kilchoan. We drove about an hour, to reach the ruins of Tioram Castle. We had to cross a small area that is supposed to be covered with water at times. Luckily for us, it was dry. There were warnings about how the castle is not being maintained and is in danger of collapsing, so we couldn't explore the ruins, but I really wanted to!
From Tioram, we drove another hour, to reach the port of Mallaig, where we took another ferry, to Armadale, Skye. We drove to another castle ruins nearby, of Dunscaith Castle. The bridge had a big hole in it, so I avoided crossing it, but it was still a pretty area, and we had it all to ourselves.
Next, we went to a big castle, that I knew was heavily touristed. The four or five tourist buses int he parking lot confirmed it. We really would have been better off just taking pictures from a distance and moving on, because the insides were nothing special, and they didn't even let you up to the top of the tower!
We tried to visit the remains of Caisteal Maol, but the path was blocked and there were warnings of an unstable structure.
We stopped at a local coop, and headed to our next bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we found out that I had made a mistake with the booking, my first mistake of the last two years. Instead of being in Broadford, Skye, like I had planned, we were twenty minutes east(and the opposite direction of sights I had planned to see), back where Eileann Donan Castle was, just off the island of Skye. We will have to drive twenty minutes further to our boat tour tomorrow, and the plans for the subsequent day would be more inconvenient. I might have us check out things closer to this area on that day instead, and then explore the other areas when we move to the north of skye, the day after.
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