AN INTRODUCTION TO DUNVEGAN

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

 

                THE VIEW FROM THE COTTAGE FACING LOCH ERGHALLAN

This week I would like to discuss our transition to the other side of the Isle of Skye, to the village of Dunvegan. Dunvegan is probably the fourth biggest concentration of people on the whole Isle of Skye, but it closely resembles a very small hamlet on the Oregon Coast. As we traveled west from our home for almost three weeks North of Portree, we realized that we were moving even further away from most of civilization. We made the right turn off our usual route to Portree, and the route quickly devolved into a single-track road that became a half hour trip that only went twelve miles West. Dunvegan resembled most of the villages on the Isle of Skye, with a string of houses along a single road; Dunvegan at least boasted a small grocery store, some galleries, and a few pubs. Fran and I found the Airbnb that we had reserved before our trip had been cancelled in 2020. I realized how naive I had been in imagining Dunvegan as a village like the ones we were familiar with in England. There was no village green or square, no central Pub, and certainly no chance to meet the Vicar or the local Constable and solve the latest grisly murder in the area. This was not the BBC.

                OUR MODERN COTTAGE. OUR BEDROOM WAS ON THE LEFT. VINNY AND STEVE HAD THE ENTIRE UPPER FLOOR. THE LIVING ROOM ON THE RIGHT OF THE FIRST FLOOR WAS TWO STORIES HIGH.

We traveled to Dunvegan to meet our friends Vinny and Steve, who we we were delighted to share another week on Skye in a cottage that they had picked out on the web that could accommodate two couples. Vinny is former innkeeper, and like most salesman who are very susceptible to the latest sales pitch, he cannot resist the high-end accommodation websites that make up a lot of the places to rent on Skye. Fran and I are frugal if not cheap, so we made our usual arrangements with Vinny that we would be open to what he desired as long as they made up the difference between a perfectly adequate house and the object of his desires. As it happened the house near Dunvegan was doable since we were splitting the price - even though one week cost a little more than what we had paid for two and a half weeks in a traditional cottage.

 

                THE IMMEDIATE REAR OF THE COTTAGE, WHICH WAS FREQUENTLY OCCUPIED BY SHEEP.

The modern croft cottage was fairly typical of the new places that dotted the island that screamed that “architect was here.” The site was spectacular once we found the house, which shared a driveway with another modern cottage off the single-track road just out of “town” on the side of Loch Erghallan. It helped that my trusty Ordinance Survey map was so detailed that we found the house right on the map. The house was very well designed and built, and this retired architect certainly found a lot of things to like, especially since we quickly realized that we could avoid the stairs by letting Vinny and Steve have the deluxe bedroom upstairs.

                THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COTTAGE, WITH ONE MODERN AND ONE TRADITIONAL NEIGHBOR TO THE SOUTH. THE MOUNTAIN KNOWN AS MACLOED'S TABLE FOR PRETTY OBVIOUS REASONS, IN IN THE NEAR DISTANCE. THERE IS NOT MUCH IN BETWEEN THESE HOUSES AND THE NEARBY WILDERNESS.

It took only a few minutes for us to really sour on the place even before Vinny and Steve arrived. None of our complaints were their fault, since there was no way that you could tell how absolutely crazy the place was from the website. Innkeepers on Skye seem to feel that visitors will be chilled to the bone, so the heat was full on, with no clear way to lower it except by opening all the windows and doors to get some air circulating. Skye’s name in Gaelic is not a comment on the overwhelming views, but relates to the constant wind. Within seconds the entire house shook with all of the doors slamming shut. There was not a doorstop to be found, and I soon had to forage around the house for quite large rocks to try to keep the doors open. Then I attempted to start a round of laundry and discovered that a cottage that rented for much more than one thousand pounds a week seemed to provide only two laundry pods. The instructions for the combined washer and dryer were indecipherable.

                THE LIGHT KEPT CHANGING BUT THE VIEW REMAINED SPECTACULAR. THE ISLAND OF EILEAN MOR IS ACROSS THE LOCH.

As we settled in for the week we were constantly reminded that the owners’ taste in furniture was the only challenge to their lack of any real efforts to make our stay easier. The house seemed to be an absolute indictment of my former profession. The lighting scheme and the outlet placement seemed to defy any logic. It took four college graduates hours to begin to understand how to work any of the appliances, from the washing machine to the stove to the dual ovens to the dishwasher. We never really figured out how to make the fancy TV work, and just gave up on the microwave. This was despite copious pages of instructions provided by the owners, which only seemed to make things worse. Most of the admonitions of “what not to do under any circumstances” were hidden in the bottom drawer of a random cabinet. After two weeks of my hard-earned experience making tea in a traditional electric teakettle, the super-fancy modern rendition nearly exploded and flooded most of the kitchen counter. We eventually got used to the fact that our dining room chairs were all rocking chairs, which made dinner very interesting. Yet a lot of the rest of the furniture was  reminiscent of the furniture In “Beetlejuice.”

                ANOTHER MORNING, ANOTHER VERSION OF THE VIEW FROM THE COTTAGE.  THERE WAS NO REAL PATH DOWN TO THE WATER.

Okay, I will quit my complaining. The site was certainly spectacular, and we got used to the 15-minute drive to downtown Dunvegan. In the next few weeks I will describe our visit to Dunvegan Castle and its wonderful gardens, and recount our adventures on several outstanding hikes in the area.