Portree is just to the left of Hydro’s photo on the map of Scotland there. The very best part of Portree to me – not counting the location and surrounding scenery – was that the hostel was right across the square from the pub that had music every night. So I could have my pint , or a half or two, listen to music even use the wifi, and just walk across the square to my bed.
The town itself is very nice little tourist town with a few stores that would make it a year round place to live, It has the center bus place for the Island to get to the many places I did not get to, I did get a nice walk out of town to a beach and up a hill with a view but forgot my camera.
The Hostel: This was a very friendly and brightly colored place. The kitchen dining area was huge and allowed for lots of interactions with all the nice foreigners like me or the traveling Scottish people. I was on the ground floor in a four bed female bunk room. There were several women from several places all traveling on their own except for two young women traveling together. The main drawback to the hostel was the lack of wifi. However thanks to that I now have a Library card to the Portree Library. But that was the beginning of the end to my keeping up with the blog.
The Pub Across: A mix of international tourists and local folk. For two nights had a three piece – 2 accordions and a drummer, which were marvelous and the 3rd had a singing guitarist and I got to share a sing with a woman at the next table when he did “Take me Home Country Road.” The fourth night – the 21st -what I had thought would be a transcendental night for me, – was not great music but I had a great time having a laugh with a very handsome man who is the last with no cell phone let alone a computer. He said he liked being in Portree because he could be in a remote part of Scotland and still meet people from all over the world.