This picture came out really nice. The weather looks nice, but it was very windy.
Day 11 - Sunday, May 23
We checked out of the B&B and drove north toward Aberdeen.
Our first stop was Glamis Castle. This part of Scotland is famous
for its many castles, and Glamis is among its most picturesque. It
looks like something from a movie, or Disney World - your stereotypical
image of what a castle should look like, covered with turrets and towers.
Castles were originally fortified homes of aristocrats. The other
castles we had seen up to this point were either ruins, or had been modified
for other uses. Glamis, however, has always been a private residence.
The interior was decorated to the same level of elegance as Scone Palace
but in the shell of a 14th century castle. Famous past residents
include the Queen Mother (this was her childhood home), and Lady Glamis,
wife of the 6th Lord, who was burned as a witch and supposedly still resides
in the chapel as a ghost (although she didn't make an appearance the day
we were there).
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This picture came out really nice. The weather looks nice, but it was very windy. |
Next we drove north to Drum Castle. Drum was used as a private
home until 1976, so it is similar to Glamis in many respects. However,
it is not quite as large, elegant, or modified as Glamis so it retains
even more or its original character. Here you can climb all the way
to the top of the battlements and imagine what it was like to defend (or
attack) one of these castles. We also enjoyed the Scottish fiddlers
who were wandering around the grounds. They also had a lot of information
about the history of the Irwin family, which was of interest to Susan.
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On our way to the third (and last) castle of the day, we stopped in the outskirts of Aberdeen to make lodging arrangements. This was the second (and last) day for which we did not have prior reservations. This time we stayed at a guest house, rather than a B&B. A guest house is more like a small hotel whereas a B&B is usually a private home that rents out a couple of rooms (although the distinction between the two is not always clear cut).
After making our reservations we drove to Dunottar Castle. Dunottar
is a ruin (like Threve and Tantallon) rather than a stately home (like
Glamis and Drum). However Dunottar is special because of its location.
It is situated on a rocky outcropping, almost completely surrounded by
the North Sea. Here we saw the most spectacular coastal scenery of
the trip. This is where the Scottish Royal Regalia was hidden during
the revolution. From the parking area you descend a hill nearly to
water level before ascending up the rock to the castle gates. We
actually never went into the castle. We were content to view this
one from the outside. There are numerous trails going around the
rocks and shore. We strolled on the beach and enjoyed the view for
a while. There were quite a few other people doing the same thing.
This seemed to be a popular place for locals to come out to enjoy the sea
shore.
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The trail at the bottom provides the only access to the castle, which is otherwise completely surrounded by the sea. |
We then drove to our Guest House, which was located in a residential suburb of Aberdeen near the Airport. The host was very nice and the room was adequate but not fancy (for once we didn't have to climb stairs). We were planning to do some more Library work in the city the next day, but since it was still fairly early, we decided to drive into the city that evening. Aberdeen is a fairly large city (third biggest in Scotland) and we thought it would be easier to get oriented a Sunday evening. We first stopped at the University to check out the Library. We found that most of the family history information we would need was in the Special Collections which didn't open until the next day. We then drove into the city center to look around and find a place to eat.
Aberdeen is sometimes called the Granite City because just about every
building in the city is made of local gray granite. It does give
a distinctive look to the city but the effect is a bit overwhelming.
We drove past the family history center and St. Nicholas Church (we were
planning to stop at these places in the morning). We parked on a
side street and found a pub for dinner. It was a huge, modern pub
that was mostly empty. The sign said that kitchen hours on Sunday
were "variable" so we asked if they were still serving food (it was around
7:00 PM). The man at the bar wasn't sure, but the manager assured
us that if we wanted to eat, the kitchen was open. I had bangers
and mash and a pint. It was about a 20 minute drive back to
the guest house and watched an interesting TV show about the differences
among Japanese, German, American, and English tourists.
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