This was the impetus of our entire 2013 backpacking adventure; after a bump in the road in Inverness (home of Nessie, and as we discovered- lots of bunnies)..we almost didn't make it to this magical place.
We were lucky to get a last minute bus ride to the Isle. The ride in and of itself was crazy, we went through amazingly tall ancient looking mountains with fog so dense you couldn't see their peaks! When we arrived to a town a little away from Glen Brittle we discovered there were no more buses that would take us to our destination. After freaking out for a hot second an awesome Scotsman helped by introducing us to a bus driver (as in for the children of this isolated location). The driver agreed to take us closer but not to the actual destination. Alana and I of course accepted and used our time on the bus to make our hitchhiking signs, as we would still have 7 miles to go after he dropped us off.
Our bus, not crowded, a.k.a. nice. Took a few hours from Inverness to the town outside of Glen Brittle.
On the bus
The road to the isle
Amazing
Love letter from mi amor
Misty Mountains
Rushing waterfall water. Nature is alive!
Hiking the fairy pools
Hiking the trail
Hiking the fairy pool trail
THE Glen Brittle road. One lane for both ways.
One of my favorites. The picture doesn't do it justice. The juxtaposition of the blue water with the rusty orange shrubbery amongst HUGE mountains was truly incredible. Walking along the trail you don't want to stop, there are so many pools of water that continue to appear. It was SO cold and also rained on the two days I hiked, which is apparently typical Scottish weather. Our first sunny day we were told was an anomaly (guess we brought some temporary sunshine ;)). I definitely want to return to the isle during better weather and for a longer amount time. There is still so much to hike!
Gorgeous day! The thing about Scotland which Pat the Glen Brittle Hostel manager, turned Scottish bffl (the only person to ever call us a dirty skuzzie) let us in on, Scotland has 4 seasons-a day. So, just because it's gorgeously blue out one minute doesn't meant it's going to stick to the next. And we learned that. Oh did we.
Foot shot! Ridiculous/badly planned layers of clothing, which were NOT waterproof and not heat conserving. #goodchoices ;P. My face and body had never been so BEAT redas it was after my hikes in the isle.It took my face/body hours to return to a normal color.
Red Skye-The Red Cuillin mountains, practically had the mountains to ourselves!
Played around with the saturation on my camera.
FAIRY POOL PARKING!
Our view
Hitchin' a ride to Glen Brittle
Panorama, Glen Brittle hostel views :)
BEAUTIFUL and CLEAR skies
Happy :)!! Such a perfect day of exploration!
Arrived.
Alana and I getting our hike on.
The isle of Skye has a variety of sized water falls all over, where the Earth just opens up and there's water. We kept hiking and hiking following the source of water which meant continuing to trek up the mountainside.
hammock happiness
My furry friends! They are everyyyy where :). Definitely more sheep than humans. That was another part that made the isle so beautiful-its utter isolation. Very few people in Glen Brittle, it's so peaceful.
A typical Skye waterfall
One of the many beauuutiful 'fairy pools'. I wanted to jump in very badly, but after having to walk and hop on my bad ankle (from a Dublin night out injury) and already having to walk on submerged slippery stone, I could not feel my face or extremities. The rain, wind, and the weather in general was just too cold for this fla girl. I shall return, next time with mi amor!
I will post a video of me wobbling and hiking about through the fairy pools soon! Which will better showcase this special place.
One of my fav. Sevilla buildings :) A beautiful daily view
Beautiful Sevilla. This was our home away from home. We were in this gem for a good month. So much was conquered, seen and learned. Starting-quite quickly, with the importance and vital necessity of a siesta!! These are not to be taken lightly- you better believe they are taken seriously, especially in the Summer. Places shut down for a few hours during the day around 1-4, when the sun and heat are at their highest. So it's for your general health to get out of the sun/heat and seek refugee in a place with AC!! Which thankfully we were lucky our hostel possessed!
We had such a blast in this sweet city-Vale Vale Vale!! Compared to Madrid, Sevilla is not that large. So, we were able to spread out the sights: La Giralda, Plaza Mayor, Triana, La Plaza Espana, Alameda, Plaza del Toro, our beloved Mercadona in Plaza de las Armas and Alfalfa and return to our favorites (plaza mayor, affectionately known as the mushroom/"la seta" and alfalfa, Alana's favorite night hangout).
We had originally planned on staying at our hostel, Oasis Sevilla Backpackers, for about a week to enjoy Alana's 24th (gasp!) bday ;). It was a great location, rooftop pool &&& WITH AC (major +++ because not every hostel has this seemingly summer necessity). We loved it so much and as fate would have it we made a friend who ended up being a work exchange at the hostel. His time to go home was approaching and he told us there were two openings. Alana and I had an open schedule so we decided what the heck! And it was probably one of the easiest and fastest job acquisitions we have ever gotten: our spanish destino! Our work exchange was great and easy, about 3 hours of work a day, with two days off a week and accommodation and meals included. #winning#ballingonabudget#workingprincesses! Basically for our budget it was hitting the jackpot and the people we worked with at the hostel were super sweet and we made a lot of friends. Most importantly with our roomie Martin/Martina.
Beautiful Cadiz, muy sur Espana
La Plaza Espana, can you spot me? ;P
Alana and I in the windy, beautiful, and sandy Cadiz!
Gorgeous first views of a beautiful Cadiz playa. The sun was out but the water was cold, but divinely relaxing. Such a perfect day <3
Sweet Sevilla Street Noche
Typical tapas
Me in the beautiful Jardin Alcazar
My favorite Irish! Emier was a fast friend and a very talented vocalist! Miss her!
Cruz Campo, you ain't spanish til you drink some :). Not really, it's just super cheap :)
Alex and I playing some volleyball in Cadiz, such a lovely day :)
A couple of spicy senoritas!
Rooftop views from our "home" hostel
Me in front of Plaza Espana, we went a handful of times while we were in Sevilla for a month.
Another perk of being a work exchange was that we got a whole hostel room to ourselves (99% of the time...the other 1% involves random checkins into our room in the wee AM) with our fellow work exchangers. Martin, Alana and I clicked instantly. We had the most amazing time as roommates. Firstly, we were able to spread all our things out in a 12 person dorm with basically just 3 of us for the most part. I had a sleeping bed, a siesta bed, and a bed for my clothes (spoiled!). Definitely felt like home :D. Alana and I had our almost daily routine, going to Plaza Mayor [(seeking shade and refuge from the sun), scavenging for some tapas (we eventually found our go-tos: tapeaje and Bodega Amarillo Albero (always got la fajita-amazing!) and when we were feeling super lazy and cheap we would just go to the "american" corner where Montaditos had 1 euro tapas sandwiches] then going to El Corte Ingles walking through for AC and getting a sense of Spanish Style, exploring the city site with our authentic Spanish fans "abanicos", then maybe going to the rooftop pool meeting other people and travelers and of course messing with Martina. It was such a simple, easy and fun life for a month and a time we will always look back fondly on, smile, definitely laugh because we laughed everyday during our movie worthy "whhaaatttt?!" time in Espana!
Sevilla
