10-6-2022: travel day to Isle of Skye

For the girls, the main attraction of today was 'the Hogwarts Express'. We would travel from Fort William to Mallaig by train. There is a special train, but that wasn't part of our global pass and you could only book a round-trip (at an inconvenient time). So we had chosen to take the normal train that would go the same route. After that, we'd take the ferry to Armadale (Isle of Skye) and then a taxi to Portree (the bus connection is lousy). The taxi ride I'd pre-arranged, so the taxi should be waiting when we dock. 

We started our day with the best breakfast of our whole vacation. First you got coffee/tea. Then you could choose your favorite juice or smoothie. In the meantime they'd already given us a small basket with croissants and jams. After that you could order something warm (smashed avocado with poached eggs, pancakes, french toast, full Scottish Breakfast….). We were absolutely stuffed afterwards! After breakfast we still had some time to do some shopping (a.k.a. visiting bookstores hahaha) and then we left for the train station. 

We got to admire the 'Hogwarts Express' since it was waiting at the platform. In the normal train a lot of the seats were reserved, so the girls and I couldn't sit together. We found out that a lot of people make reservations without actually showing up, so we ended up sitting together anyway. The train ride was breathtaking, even in the rain. 

The taxi was indeed waiting. The drive to Portree was about an hour and in that time we learned a lot about living on an island like Isle of Skye. That was a lovely bonus because it made the ride even more enjoyable. The taxi driver dropped us off close to the hotel, so it was great that we didn't have to do a lot of walking with suitcases. 

After some pizza we went to bed. We had a private room in a youth hostel. The prices of hotels or a B&B were so steep that we'd chosen this. The room was basic, but had everything we needed. The next day we would have a guided tour of the island, so we wouldn't be there much anyway. All in all, the youth hostel was a great solution.