Dunnottar Castle

SUNDAY - August 26
After checking the weather forecasts from various sources, we decided that today would be better than tomorrow for an outdoor activity (as I write this on Monday, I can say that we were right).  Our destination: Dunnottar Castle - less than an hour away.  It lies on a cliff overlooking the North Sea just south of the town of Stonehaven, which  is south of Aberdeen.  Our exchangers recommended this as a "spectacular location" and when we arrived, we totally agreed.

Looking towards the castle from the path

Getting there was not too bad - we only missed 2 or 3 turns.  Oh well - we're getting used to that.  In our defense, there is usually no warning that you are coming up on an intersection so it is very easy to go past if you are a foreigner.  The first one we missed even as we went by it and ended up going into Aberdeen and catching a different highway down to Stonvehaven.  Oh how I wish we had brought our Garmin with us!  

At the castle, we found a parking space on the side of the road and entered the property.  The castle looked pretty far away - actually - it was 2600 ft of trails and stairs (182 of them) to the top.  It didn't seem too bad though because it was a gradual slope most of the way.  As we started up the trail, I could hear the faint sounds of bagpipes.  Eventually, we arrived at the source of the sound - very fitting!

We finally arrived at the "Keep" - the entrance tower - slightly weak kneed from the climb but it was well worth it to see this stunning site.  The castle ruins are mostly from the 1600's but the site, it is believed, has been used as a fortress since the Dark Ages.  And, what a view!  We walked around the several acres of ruins along with other tourists - but it was far from crowded.  The history of Dunottar is quite interesting so you can read about it HERE if you are interested.  We wandered for an hour or more and after exploring every corner, we headed back down - which really was quite a lot of up along with the down.  

After all that climbing and walking it was time for Sunday afternoon dinner so we headed down along the coast toward the town of Cutterline and the Creel Inn, recommended by our exchangers (however, they did say it was tricky to find).  We managed to find it with only a bit of uncertainty turn even though quite a bit of the way was on single lane roads (I will have to call these "C" roads).  The village was right on the sea but the restaurant did not have a view - it was a block or two off the coastline.  We each ordered one of the daily specials - I had the Sunday Roast - leg of lamb in a red wine sauce, roasted potatoes and veggies.  We also divided an order of crab soup.  John, who needs to remain kind to his implants, ordered the whole plaice, a mild white fish similar to sole.  Both of our dinners were excellent.  

After a very pleasant dinner with friendly staff (and of course, they wanted to know where we were from), we took a quick look at the harbor which was beautiful and rugged.  Then we headed home - missed a couple of turns again, but arrived safely and without encountering any rain.  Actually the sun came out for a while. 

As an aside, John is doing quite well driving on the left side of the road as they do in all of Great Britain.  The last time we had to do this was in 2008 when we home exchanged in Ireland.  And then when we were in Australia and New Zealand.  The first two days were a little "nervous" but now he's more relaxed and in the groove.  Fortunately, we have not had a lot of traffic to deal with.  

Well, that's all for today and if you would like to see more of my pictures from yesterday, you can CLICK HERE.

The weather is kind of ugly today so we are hanging out in the house, doing laundry and just being lazy.