Aw, there we are in Raasay, in the Hebrides, we finally arrived and now we let ourselves live! No alarm, no noise, no work, no schedule, no stress, this is life in Raasay according to our desires, our needs. It is our first stop and the longest. 1 month on an island.
Where is Raasay?
It is located in the Hebrides, west of Scotland, right next to the east side of Skye in front of Portree but the ferry is in Sconser, in 25 minutes on the water.
The island mesures 24 square mile and has 161 inhabitants year round. There is the main village, Inverarish with its grocery and post office, church, hotel (very nice) and restaurant / pub / cafe, community center and clinic. As of this month, the distillery is opening! Then there is Arnish to the north and his famous Calum’s road, which I will mention in another post and some other hamlets – Oskaig, Glam, Brochel and his castle – which I will mention in another post. The geology, the fauna and the flora are remarkable, other post.
Arrival at the cottage rented on Airbnb
We arrived on a Sunday at the end of the day. There was still some day light to find our croft cottage – a croft is a small portion of arable land. The cottage is in the middle of nowhere, in Balmenach. There are two houses in this locality. If the cottage is old, it is well maintained and clean. The furniture is a mixture of antique and fittings. The owners have been coming here since 1988. We are in a family holiday house. It feels good, we are delighted. Here is the Airbnb link
The cottage
Some interior photos I took of Airbnb with permission from Toby, happy owner!
The place consists of a kitchen in the center of the home where you can find absolutely everything to cook; a lounge with a stove, a comfortable sofa, three armchairs, a desk and a library. In the south part, there is the sun room, like in many northern construction, a room with three walls of glass so that the sun heats the space naturally. Made to observe at 180°, to dream on these armchairs, to eat or work on the table. Here is the view
The ground floor has als a hallway, a corridor and a very small but well appointed bathroom since there is – to my delight – a bathtub. On the first floor, there are three bedrooms, two large and a very small one that really made me think of Harry Potter’s 🙂 In all the rooms, there are radiators and they heat up very well and hopefully, because here on the islands of the Hebrides, it is cold in October but just a little less than in the Outer Hebrides where I think we will go some day. The more weird and reclusive, the more we love.
Our adventure is finally starting! And it starts off smoothly as we want a good break to be by ourselves and away from everything. Here we take the time, we have time. Time to rest, to read, to cook, to wander, to love each other even more, to think and to philosophize, to create, to do nothing too, to just be.
Love ❤︎❣❤︎