Glasgow-Barra: Day Fifteen

I think out of every place we were going on this trip, I was the most excited about visiting Barra. Five years ago I visited the Isles of Harris and Lewis and just loved the stark beauty of the Outer Hebrides. Barra is part of the chain of islands that makes up the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. Describing it to Phil, he said it sounded like a good stop...though he somehow forgot that I said the plane landed on the beach until we had booked it all. Oops.

At Glasgow Airport we kept questioning if we were heading in the right direction, because there was no one else going to this gate, and it seemed in the middle of nowhere, down random hallways and at times it didn't look like we were supposed to be in that section of the airport - it was that deserted! In the end, it was right, and of course there weren't many people because the plane only seats about 20. They were weighing larger carryons, like Phil's backpack, and Phil realized it was so they knew how much fuel to put in the plane! We step outside onto the tarmac to see our plane:

It is so small and adorable! The copilot was also the one who gave the safety instructions, before climbing into the front seat. Unlike other planes, they kept the door open and we could watch them the entire flight. 

Ready for take off

The flight was only 50 minutes long, and the sky was mostly clear so there were beautiful views as we flew over the Highlands and Islands. I will admit that it was a little scary when we first took off - the propellers were making this "wub wub wub" noise that you could feel inside you, and you feel more movement than in a larger plane. The noise went away once we reached altitude, and I got used to the feeling of movement and then just got to enjoy the view. Soon enough, it was time to land:

Barra Airport is the only airport in the world with regularly scheduled flights that only land on a beach. We didn't realize the sand would still be wet as we landed, and water splashed up! It's not really true sand, it's a cockle-shell beach, so it is sturdier than regular sand. Just a few more plane pictures:

The runway:

And I have to post the baggage reclaim area:

This is the second one; we learned the first one blew away in a storm, so this one is anchored in concrete. 

So I assumed (wrongly) that the bus service on Barra would be similar to that on Harris - basically a loop of the island about once an hour. Well...it does one half of the island at a time, so not conducive to actually using it. We took the bus into Castlebay, the main town on the island, and then the bus driver flagged down a taxi for us who drove us to the B&B in Brevig, two and half miles away and waited for us to drop our things before driving us back to Castlebay. 

It is obvious why it is called Castlebay, because Kisimul Castle in right in the bay!

There's a little boat that will take you out to the castle and back, so of course we had to do that!

It has been restored, but was first built in the 1400s and belonged to the MacNeil clan, who have now leased it to Historic Scotland for 1000 years. 

After visiting the castle and getting lunch, we wandered around Castlebay for a little bit, visiting the community shop and the grocery store, before decided to walk back to the B&B. We've been averaging 6 miles walking a day, so we figured 2.5 miles would be nothing. Well. The first mile is uphill the entire way. But the views...

That last house at the end of the bay is our bed & breakfast. 

Mairi, the owner of the B&B, was nice enough to book us a table for dinner at the Castlebay Hotel, and also a taxi to bring us there and back. We learned her niece works there, so it must be good to have connections because got the best table in the place:

It was a great first day on the island!