Preparing to leave the hostel
The wedding music kept us awake last night, a typical hits band followed by a piper who seemed to know only three tunes as he kept rotating through Auld Lang Syne, Scotland the Brave and the dreaded Amazing Grace! We looked round the blackhouse village and interpretive display as workmen dismantled the marquee. Blackhouses originally had no windows or chimney and were constructed from stone, turf and thatch. A peat fire burned centrally so it must have been very smoky inside. This is the best surviving group in Scotland, inhabited until the 1960s.
On Sundays nothing moves on Harris and Lewis, islands still in the grip of Calvinism. This is why weddings generally take place on Fridays rather than Saturdays. We decided to return to Tarbert for the Skye ferry to avoid having to stay until Monday. Of course, we couldn't pass the Calanais Visitor Centre without refuelling with cake, after which we cycled faster. We rushed round the shop at Tarbert before it closed which just gave us time to make the coffee shop for more of their wonderful carrot cake. Then we dropped down to the harbour for the 18:00 ferry, except it was oddly quiet. We checked the timetable again - we'd misread it, the 18:00 departure being from Uig to Tarbert and the return wasn't until 20:00!
We'd arrive too late to cook so we wandered over to the Isle of Harris Inn for a surprisingly good pizza which we ate outside in the warm evening sunshine. A hen party continued the marriage theme, the bride in fancy dress and wearing "L" plates in western Scotland style. When I worked on Clydeside, the custom was to tie the bride to a lamppost during her lunch break, with a collecting vessel to help pay for the wedding!
The ferry left half an hour behind schedule, making for a late arrival at Uig hostel after the 1 hour 35 minute crossing. There we renewed our acquiantance with fellow cyclists Andrea and Paul, and David the American who'd been at Leverburgh hostel.