Valentines Day - Kinloch Lodge 14th Feb

Today we had a slow 2 hour or so drive down to Sleat to our special Valentines Day gift to each other, as stay at historic Kinloch Lodge and with a 5 course dinner with paired wines by world famous Chef, Marcello Tully. Marcello came to Kinloch in 2007,a former protégé of the Roux brothers, is the head chef responsible for several industry accolades and awards for the restaurant at Kinloch, earning 3 AA Rosettes and a Michelin star (2010-2017).

Claire and Godfrey Macdonald had no formal hotel training when they opened Kinloch’s doors in the 1970s. Godfrey is the 34th hereditary chief of the Macdonald clan. Claire is a world-renowned cook and food writer, and you can even take cooking classes there.

As we left Willie McLeods, we saw "Huey, Dewey and Louie" (the names we have given to the three ginger Highland Cows down near Aird. They were very buys cleaning themselves. We did have some food we got from our Crofter friend, Alan, in the back but given it was miserable and raining we didn't stop.

We popped into Portree, Boots the Chemist to try to get some Telfast as my allergy has been playing up, but you can't buy them over the counter here so we had to go to the Portree Medical Centre to organise a script. They said they will get the Dr to sort it and send it down to Boots for collection after 4.00 pm. Since we will be down on Sleat then, we will have to collect it on the way home tomorrow!

Next was a trip to AROS centre where we had some lunch where I tried "Iron Bru" and looked at the Gallery Exhibition upstairs that is currently showcasing the work of our friends Ian and Gill Williams.

Then we headed south and stopped near Sligachan to take a photo of the amazing clouds over the Cuillin and the raging waters from the recent snow melt.

Then it was a stop in Broadford for petrol and Vince took me to the "Love From Skye" Jewellers to buy me a diamond! But I couldn't see anything I liked and talking to the Jeweller about having something bespoke made didn't give us any confidence so we left it. It has a real estate agent in the same building so we checked out a few properties (dreaming!) and found one we liked, The Antler's Rest (a B&B in Portree) for a mere 500,000 GBP - no problem! LOL!

Back in the car the weather was getting worse, we had rain, hail, wind and cold! We still were a bit early so we popped into a charity shop in Broadford and picked up a few more DVD's to watch.

We arrived at Kinloch Lodge about 2.45pm for our 3.00pm check in and the experience was just amazing! The lodge is beautiful and decorated with antiques and give the feel of being welcomed into the McDonald family home. We met Dean, from Australia, who welcomed us, gave us a tour of the Lodge and settled us into the Drawing Room with a complimentary glass of bubbles. I felt quite posh sitting there looking out the window, drinking bubbles by the roaring fire - my Hunter Wellies fitting right in at the lodge!

When we were ready we returned to the Bar and met Jamie, from NZ who showed us to our room (Room 7) overlooking sea-Loch na Dal.

Our room was just gorgeous, and the views from both our room and the bathroom were exceptional. It was so opulent and comfortable, even the bathroom floor was heated!

On arrival on the bed there was a box of chocolates with personal note from Isabella McDonald, the second daughter of Lady Claire and Godfrey Macdonald (the clan chief) - which was a very special touch.

We also had a copy of the special menu for tonight which looked fantastic. Our booking was for 7.00pm dinner, and arriving in the Drawing Room at 6.30pm for complimentary canapés and drinks.

I don't have much choice in clothing, so was limited to what I wore on the plane over here, but I dressed it up with some diamonds and pearls, and put on some make-up so I didn't look too out of place. I managed to surprise Vince with a card - LOVE EWE!

The food was out of this world - I even used the word ORGASMIC when I got to the desert. We ended up with 7 courses (counting the canapés and then a surprise “amuse bouche” from the chef to start with). We finished up with cheese and port in the drawing room and were so wonderfully contented.

The service was amazing - first class as you would expect from fine dining - but to our surprise the vast majority were Aussies or Kiwis - maybe that’s why we ended up in the room with the best view - who knows? Go TEAM AUSSIE!

We retired to our very comfortable room, with a king-size bed and fell asleep watching the rising full moon.

What a romantic and wonderful way to spend Valentine's Day together!