Portree, Scotland

 Portree is on the east side of the Isle of Skye in the Hebrides.  The town is only about 2,000 people and is lovely. We had another walking tour scheduled and the morning was raining and windy again.  Seems we always pick those days for the walking tour.  When we boarded the tender, it was quite wet, but it wasn't so bad at the dock.  Our guide, John Brodie, is actually from Inverness (about a 3-hour drive) but spends a lot of time here.  It seemed that he knew most of the local townspeople.  Our tour was only about an hour since there's not a lot to see, but he made it interesting.  And since we had just been to a lecture about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the battle at Culloden a few days ago, we knew what he meant when he pointed out the hotel where Lady MacDonald said goodbye to Prince Charlie before he made his escape back to France. 

Some dolphins hunting around the tenders

Church built in 1878 using various local stones

They can handle basic things here, otherwise you're taken to Inverness by ambulance or helicopter.

If there was a doctor in the area, they would keep a fire burning at the top of the tower for passing ships to see in case they needed medical help.  Now there is graffiti inside, but I was happy to see it was dated in the European style, so it wasn't American kids!

We had a "wee" walk around town before heading back to the ship.  Bought a few things in the local chemist shop.  We saw a rack of Covid tests at about $2 per test. (Didn't buy any.)  After the credit card was authorized, the clerk said "OK, that's it, you're all done, you can go."  I guess we looked like we were waiting for a receipt.  Silly Americans.  We also wandered through a grocery store and were surprised to see that their prices weren't far off from ours.  Found lots of American brands, of course, including Hellman's mayonnaise!   This afternoon seemed like a good day for a movie in the cabin so we watched "Belfast".  I highly recommend it.

Don't think I mentioned that a perk we get is a newspaper printed and delivered each morning.  We get the Wall Street Journal and lately, they have been apologizing that it isn't at our door first thing in the morning due to the time difference.  They have a good selection for delivery and then always have a few more in the library every day.

Tonight was another party for the "upper tier" folks in the loyalty program.  And on that night they have the miso-glazed sea bass in Compass Rose.  It was wonderful again.  Unfortunately, a couple (Larry and Carol from Florida) came to the table next to us and started talking to us and never stopped.  Didn't pick up on any of our clues that we didn't really want to engage with them.