Amongst the foreigners we meet on our trips, Italians always stand out. Because they speak Italian, because they’re usually in large groups and (mostly) because they’re noisy. They shout to each other across large distances, or even small ones. On our seven-kilometre walk from Stoer Lighthouse, we can’t get away from a large group of Italians. If we go ahead, they catch up; if we drop behind, it doesn’t take long before we discover them again. I know they’re not the only people who tend to be like that. Perhaps it’s the Mediterranean air….
Surprisingly, cream and plaster have solved my fourth toe problem. Other parts of my feet still hurt though. We pass the Old Man of Stoer, a popular place for climbing. Rather them than me!
Later, we sit in view of the lighthouse, which D paints. It looks small and lonely perched on the high, protruding cliff. Below it, a large rock looks like an enormous beast lying on the sea, its front legs splayed out in front of it. It seems ready to pounce on the small snake approaching it. All around the rocks (beasts?), I see white fire in the form of the sun shimmering on the sea (not shown in photo).
Today, I agree to another walk, and another. It is a lovely day and my feet are relatively OK. The first walk, six kilometres, leads us to a beach and back.
The second, which is shorter, goes through a camping site and up to a strange little construction called Hermit’s Castle.
I wonder what happened to David Scott, who spent months building it in the 1950s, and then stayed in it for only one weekend.
EDIT: Just noticed I blogged about day 10 on 10/10/10.
Miriam Drori, Author 
5 replies on “Home From Home – Day 10”
One weekend?? That does seem a bit of a shame! Lovely photos though and sounds like an interesting trip.
It was!
Hi Miriam, just found your blog and am exploring. This strange structure reminds me of a place on the North Antrim coast in Northern Ireland. I was built from concrete boxes like lego. It stood empty for many years then was bought by someone who put in modern windows and painted and rendered it. It’s lived in now and is perched on a cliff overlooking Ballintoy Harbor. I used to live nearby and often speculated about how and why it was built. Seeing this cause a great surge of memory.
I’m enjoying the visit.
davidrory
Hi David, glad you’re enjoying it. I looked around the web for your structure and found Bendhu. Is that it? It appears to be much bigger than “our” castle but fairly similar.
Hello Miriam, just googled Bendhu. Yes that’s the place I spoke of. It’s grown since I saw it last but it’s smaller than you’d imagine. The room blocks are very tiny. Thanks for the visit.