Eilean Donan Castle: Inmortal

I will tell you a secret: there is a kind of freaky side to me concerning movies, comics and literature (yes, most of it the Epic Fantasy and SciFi kind, but I also read classics and nobel prizes, thanks very much for your insightful remark). There is a chance that the impression this place provoked in me may owe a little to this personal circumstance, but I frankly believe that if this spot does not move, inspire, or caress you soul in any way it probably has more to do with the fact that you don’t have a soul. Those of you who share with me a liking for some modern classics of cinema might remember a movie from the eighties called “Highlander” about a race of inmortals whose destiny pushed them to behead each other to the last man standing (thoughtful script, I agree) and which was starred by a Scotch Highlander played by a guy from Belgium-Christophe Lambert- and a Spaniard played by a scotchman-Sean Connery (Isn’t that just terrific?). An important part of the movie took place in this very same place: Eilean Donan Castle.
Located in the western side of Scotland, less than 10 miles from the Island of Skye (most famous of the Inner Hebrydes archipielago, a place of breathtaking serene beauty-these last three words are going to be repeated pretty often when I speak of Scotland) and also very close to the village of Dornie (one of these days I will post the legend of the Seven Sisters of Dornie), Eilean Donan claims to be the most beautiful castle in Scotland and, although I have not seen that many of them, my heart tells me that is nothing but the truth. It stands on a tiny island hardly worth that name a few meters from the shore of Loch Long, at its confluence with Loch Halsh and a third lagoon of which I do not know the name. The original construction dates from early medieval times but it was reduced to ruins during the political and religious conflict with the Jacobites in 1719. The present reconstruction took place between 1911 and 1932 (in most cases, for me, knowing this would have taken some magic off the place, but with Eilean Donan I just don’t seem to care). A local story says that the architect only had old drafts of part of the building, not of all of it, to work with, and that he finished the missing bits from an image of the castle he saw in a dream. It goes on to say that years after it was finished a couple of old paintings representing the whole building turned up opening an old chest in another castle or museum somewhere else in the country, and proved the architect’s work absolutely true to the original construction (Yes! How cool is that? there is magic in the air…).
If you are lucky and your timing is good you will arrive there early in a clear morning before the sun is visible behind the hills. You will cross the parking area to the east side of the entrance and position yourself in that point where you can see two castles: the real one and the reflection in the serene waters of the Loch. You got that right? Good. Now make some time waiting for the sun, have a smoke, share a quality moment with your girl, wander about your inner world. And here it comes…

The first rays of light from the south east bring colours, lazily, to the forested hills across the lagoon and life sparks roam eerily the surface of the waters and the hilly dopplegangers in them until they reach the grassy little island, climb and dive into the walls, and, suddenly both castles are
ablaze!

Caution: If you are there to watch when this happens there is an all too serious possibility of you having an argument with your family/wife/friends/etc about what the f*** do you think you are doing calling at those hours and what in earth is that nonsense about quitting your job and buying a cottage in Scotland to do whatever cottagers do there for the rest of your life.

More info at http://www.eileandonancastle.com/