Aberdeen City & Shire
We rented a car to travel around in Scotland. We enjoyed the drive, just like in New Zealand. We can stop whenever we wanted, to take in all the beautiful scenery and fresh air.
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| The wonderful car that took good care of us for a long way! |
We bid our farewell to James & Angela in Edinburgh and really missed the wonderful stay with them. We headed towards Aberdeen City & Shire. Along the way, we are suppose to see a few castles. As the sun sets really early during winter, we had to drive a bit faster so as to accomplish our itinerary.
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| The Dunnottar Castle |
The first stop of our adventure was the Dunnottar Castle. In the website visitscoland.com, the castle look so beautiful. I don't mean that the real thing was not nice, but the website looked better. Probably it's the weather on that day, it was gloomy but the castle still remained mysterious and "cold" to me. Somehow, I can feel the sadness for the people who had passed on inside the castle. Funny...
The path to the castle was a long and winding sandy rocky path. One has to be really careful if not you will slip and fall. It was drizzling a bit and the wind almost blew me away. The castle was built next to the sea and it took us about 20 minutes to reach the castle ticket entrance. If you see carefully, I am in the above picture. So small.. haha!!
We were getting closer!! We read that Scotland decided to preserve this beautiful castle ruins and protect the history. The color of the picture is not ideal because it's winter. I bet that when it's spring or winter when the grass are greener, this scene would be fantastic.
I was almost breathless when I reached the castle's front. I have not seen a real castle before and I really didn't expect it to be a ruin. The path are built with stones and you need a good pair of walking shoes. No heels please.
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| The Castle's ground |
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| "Prince SJ" standing by the Castle's window.. |
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| The Queen's main chamber aka "bedroom" |
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| The Dining Hall |
The sea breeze was nice when we walked along the route back to our car. So we stopped to take a picture hoping to make the Dunnottar a good backdrop for me! Haha!!
To read more about the history of the castle, do follow the link that I've included! :)
The Dunnottar Castle
www.dunnottarcastle.co.uk
Admission prices:
Adult: $5GBP
Children (under 16 years of age) : $2GBP
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| The Craigievar Castle |
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| Front door of Kildonan Guest house |
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| Bedroom |
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| Bathroom |
The Kildonan is really a good guesthouse. The owner Jim, was friendly and the breakfast was good. As you can see, the bedroom was big and consist of a queen size and single bed. There's even 2 small armchairs and we had a good night sleep. I would strongly recommend people who are visiting Aberdeen to stay with Kildonan.
To read more about Kildonan, you may read my reviews on TA.
The Kildonan Guesthouse
www.kildonan-guesthouse.com
We had a good breakfast prepared by the Jim and his wife. We then bid farewell and drove on to discover more castles. The next one we were heading to that is still in the Aberdeen area is the Fyvie Castle. It is said that this 800 years old fortress is haunted by the ghost of Dame Lilias Drummond, who has been seen walking the halls of her former home.
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| View from outside the Castle |
As usual, we had the tripod to help us capture such a nice picture. We even did funny poses. This was because we had nothing to do because the castle is close because of winter period! So sad right? We can't see the inside of the castle, so we have to read on the internet. We had to hurry on the road to see other castles if not the sky will turn dark quickly.
The Fyvie Castle
http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Fyvie-Castle
The next castle we were heading to is called The Tolquhon Castle in Grampian. It is known as the most picturesque of the castles in Grampian. However, the sun was not so cooperative that day. It was gloomy and rather dark. And the castle was also closed during the period. However, we were so lucky to have met some very nice Scottish people who were helping to conserve the castle. They let us in free of charge and asked us to take our time to take pictures, but they warned us of the green lady in the castle!! OMG!!!
I think that the castle is really haunted since it had a long history. I felt cold and weird inside and couldn't wait to finish up the photo taking and get out of there. Perhaps it was the warning of the workers that spooked me.. I knew they were kidding but it really felt cold in there.. it's like someone was watching our every move.
The Tulquhon Castle
North Aberdeen
Next up is one of my favourite property, The Huntly Castle. It has a beautiful surrounding and there is a Huntly Hotel nearby which we did not have a chance to stay in.
The Huntly Castle and its surroundings are beautiful in the autumn/winter season. As you can see from the pictures, the orange and green stands out beautifully and it was really peaceful standing right in the centre absorbing the fresh air.
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| The Huntly Castle |
The Huntly Castle is a well-preserved five-story tower with an adjoining great hall and supporting buildings. Areas of the original ornate facade and interior stonework remain. A mound in the grounds of the castle is all that remains of an earlier 12th centurymotte. Originally named Strathbogie, the castle was granted to Sir Adam Gordon of Huntly in the 14th century. King Robert the Bruce was a guest of the castle in 1307 prior to his defeat of the Earl of Buchan. (courtesy from Wikipedia).
The backdrop of the Huntly is perfect for pictures. With the help of our tripod, we managed to take a lot of very good pictures here. But I can't put them all up or you will be bored by it.
We did not go into the castle, but we visited the gift shop and bought a few things about Huntly. There are just too many ruined castles in Scotland and in the ruins, I believe they are more or less the same. :)
Doesn't this picture looks a bit eerie? If I have to photoshop it into a black and white photo, it will be eerie. And I believe that the story behind the castle is kinda spooky too.
The Huntly Castle
www.huntly.net
After the Huntly, we drove on and made our way to Mr Potter's favourite destination of the entire trip. The distilleries in Dufftown. On the way, we drove past many wonderful Scotland's landscapes and so we took some pictures again. :)
Dufftown
Now Dufftown is a very very small town. I think that everybody knows everyone around town. That's how small. Mr Potter was very excited as the car drove past the Glenfiddich Distillery. He was like repeating to me, "There there!! The Glenfiddich!!" I was like, "ok.. it looks like a factory to me that's all.."
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| Mr Potter's excited and happy face |
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| The Glenfiddich Shop |
The Glenfiddich is one of the world's most famous whisky that is consumed by many. I agree that it is one of my favourite. However, I am not a big fan of whisky and I like to drink it real slow. Just like wine. I always believe that good whisky like these should be shared with friends over gatherings and it will taste much better!
The Glenfiddich distillery is a very clean and classy place. Even the restroom is huge and impressive. I regretted not taking a picture of the restroom. It actually looks like a living room rather than a restroom.
We joined the Glenfiddich Classic tour as we did not make any bookings. But I think it's good enough as the guide was very informative and nice. She was really friendly and she has been working with the distillery for many many years!
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| Mr Potter in front of the Mash Tun |
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| The place that is making all the whiskies that you guys are drinking now.. |
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| To the whisky tasting place!! |
(To be continued..)
The Glenfiddich Distillery
Dufftown, Banffshire AB55 4DH
www.glenfiddich.com
Open 7 days a week
9.30am-4.30pm
Please note the closing dates over
Christmas and New Year.
