Scotland - Day 4 - Harry Potter Train, Eilean Donan Castle, Isle of Skye, The Fairy Pools and Jane's 6th Birthday

If you look closely, you’ll spot a rainbow, which was perfect, because it was March 25th and it was Jane’s 6th Birthday! Jon had mentioned it was my Dad saying, “Happy Birthday,” to Jane. It was definitely a treat to see as we left Glencoe and headed to the Glenfinnan Viaduct, AKA the Harry Potter train location!

The journey to the viaduct was full of narrow roads and lots of beauty.

Since we were traveling throughout Scotland during off season, we were able to easily able to find parking at the Glenfinnan Viaduct and start our short hike up to wait for a train to pass through. We had looked and knew when one would be going by, what we didn’t realize was what direction it’d be going and what kind of train to expect. Naturally, we expected a steam train. Hello, Harry Potter! But, ultimately, a non-steam train went by in the opposite direction we had expected. It was kind of funny and a couple of other tourists and I laughed over they fact that even up in this are with all it’s beauty, it wasn’t what we expected, but sometimes those moments make it even more memorable. So, thank you to the wrong train and funny anticlimactic experience! Bahahaha!

The viaduct was impressive and just as beautiful in person.

Jon took this photo and it’s just sooooo cool!

Here’s Jane showing that she had turned six. She did this all day long! 🙂

This was lovely to take in…

From reading the Harry Potter books to the kids in 2020 to this – definitely a cool experience! Now just to read it all over again to Jane! 😉

I carried this balloon to the top, because why not?! The pictures turned out so cute!

Bahahaha!

Love our hiking girl!

Ope! There goes the train!

The kids doing what they do best…………again. LOL!

Walking back down through the mud and puddles…the best.

It was a pretty walk and really comfortable outside.

We headed inside the visitor center and used the bathrooms and grabbed some coffees for another car ride.

The visitor center was pretty cool and Henry liked this model…

It was misting outside and I was just in love with the weather and decided to give myself a Scottish facial…so I closed my eyes for a second and let the mist hit my face. It was glorious!

We loaded up into the van and headed north to get up to the Isle of Skye. We saw Ben Nevis along the way, the highest mountain in Scotland, United Kingdom and the British Isles…

Then somewhere along the way, we grabbed more coffee… I think this was when Jon went inside of some roadside coffee shop, which were everywhere and everyplace had THE BEST lattes, and I had closed my eyes and I was full on dreaming within seconds. I think I “slept” while the kids talked to me for like 3 minutes, but I was out HARD. I don’t know how Jon was able to drive so much and not be so sleepy, because even with copious amounts of coffee, I was exhausted.

I was back to my navigator duties and we spotted the Eilean Donan Castle and made a quick stop to grab some pictures! The castle is one of the most photographed castles in Scotland!

We continued our journey to the Isle of Skye…

This was also our first experience driving up the narrow Scottish roads to hike and leaning about “Passing Places.” This is when you and an oncoming driver pull over on the left side (never right) and let one or the other pass. We got beeped at the first time we did it because we did it wrong, but we quickly learned what to do AND learned it’s customary to always wave as a, “thank you,” to the other driver. I’d say 99% of all people waved, so it was definitely a thing….and I was all about it! Haha!

Once we arrived in the Isle of Skye, we had to make a choice between checking into our hotel in Portree or doing a small hike at the Fairy Pools. We had reservations for dinner at our hotel that evening, so we had to stay on schedule, but we decided to head to the Fairy Pools anyway, because we were concerned that if we didn’t then we wouldn’t have to to see it in the coming days.

The Fairy Pools were perfectly mystical and moody and stunning. Parking was easy since we were there in March and there weren’t any midges, either. People tend to skip this area in the summer because it’s so crowded.

Other than a few other tourists and some sheep, we had the place to ourselves.

Lots of pictures to scroll through…

That’s one big rock!

So beautiful!

We had a sheep run right out in front of Jane and I! She said it was scary, but it wasn’t at all. LOL!

Eliza checking out a sheep!

Getting a lift…

We left the Fairy Pools and headed to Portree for our two night stay. We were all excited to be staying in the same place for two nights to spread out and get some laundry done. We were in desperate need of clean clothes since all we took were backpacks and carry-ons to make it more manageable to get around.

As for our hotel and Portree – WE LOVED IT!!!! The girls and I shared a room; the three windows on the second floor above the corner door was our room and it was so special! It was super cozy and really clean! We ate at Antlers both nights for dinner and both mornings for breakfast and watched travelers get on and off busses right near the hotel. Loved it all so much!

We settled in and then headed downstairs for dinner. I was able to pack a couple of very small gifts for Jane to open while at dinner.

She was super excited!

We had one happy Birthday girl!!!!

Dinner selfie with the boy…

Our dinner was incredibly good and this meal was my favorite on our entire trip… some kind of kale and Brussels sprout gnocchi and these carrots were DIVINE!

This isn’t a great picture, but somehow the restaurant people knew it was Jane’s birthday and knew her name and came out and sang, “Happy Birthday,” with a dessert and everything! I’m wondering if someone heard us talking in the bathrooms about her… It was so thoughtful and kind and memorable! We’ll never forget it!

We called it a night and went to our separate rooms – Bahahaha! Eliza and I opened our windows and took in the sounds of the clock outside, the people leaving dinner and the rain.