New Year on Skye

My brother (Mark) and I spent a couple of nights in Portree over New Year and booked ourselves into the Royal Hotel. We were both looking forward to our time in Skye but were realistic as to what we would find.Sure enough, with a couple of exceptions, the craic was difficult to find. We therefore had to improvise and create our own fun.....

We managed to visit our granny who was in reasonable form and seemed pleased to see us. The rest of our time was spent in the pub or hotel, away from the snow and ice. On the evening of the 30th December, Mark and I had a few pints in the Tongadale Hotel and then met up with a few of the Skye lads in the Merchant Bar. Although it was a brief meeting, the guys seemed in fine spirits. After a few more pints in some of the less salubrious Portree establishments, it was off to bed in preparation for Hogmanay (New Year's Eve).

Hogmanay saw a late start for the Davidson boys, and the majority of the day was spent fortifying ourselves for the evening festivities. Late afternoon saw a brief visit to the Pier Hotel for some pints and tabloid newspapers. The Pier Hotel was then followed by the Royal Hotel public bar for some more beer, newspapers, and the delights of the bar menu. I had a reasonable steak pie and chips while Mark once again opted for fish & chips.

We then went to a few other pubs before we went to the Skye Gathering Hall for the New Year's dance. Both Mark and I were hoping for a good crowd of locals to attend the dance, but we were sorely disappointed to see that the vast majority of people were tourists. They seemed to enjoy themselves, but Mark and I were hoping for something a bit more. We headed to the bar for some triple spiced rums and coke, saw in the bells in the hall, and then returned to the Royal Hotel which was also holding a dance. This dance seemed to be a bit better than the one up the Gathering Hall and was even attended by a few of the Portree locals.

Certainly the highlight of the evening was nominating Mark to take part in some Scottish country dancing. I will let the video speak for itself....He obviously remembers nothing from the mandatory dancing classes each Portree High School student had to endure every winter in the chilly school gym.

The night in Portree concluded with Mark being hosed down with the hotel fire hose. The following morning (not too early), we returned to Inverness with a few stories to tell about our latest visit to Skye.