Bizarre Happenings in Bonnyrigg

So, here's the Real Story.....

We were supposed to be in Ireland this weekend...in Co. Donegal.  Marty scheduled two vacation days, and the plan was to leave early Thursday morning, drive to the west of Scotland, take a ferry over to Ireland, then finish the drive to Inver.  We were going to finally meet Annie Harvey Burke.  Her father, William, was the younger brother of Mary, who was Marty's great grandmother.

I've been corresponding with the woman, who is a delight, for about 5 years, and this was going to finally be the meeting that we had hoped for.   Genealogy at its best!

Unfortunately,  issues involving Marty's work here in Scotland resulted in our plans being cancelled, and I found myself scrambling around with some place to stay this weekend.

I have mentioned before how I seem to have bad planning when it comes to getting rooms, and this time was no different.  Apparently British students were off for the week, and don't return until Tuesday, and their families use the opportunity to travel to Scotland, thereby limiting the room availability.

Why bother with the true confessions?  Because I feel the need to explain just why we are sitting in an extremely bizarre hotel rather than enjoying ourselves in a comfy B&B.  This was the only place that could assure internet for Marty and give us 3 straight nights, and be within close proximity to the airport.  After making requests at dozens of places, the Castle Retreat was the only option that could satisfy my criteria and not cost a ridiculous amount of money.

The Retreat Castle Hotel....

It's certainly different, I'll attest to that.

The woman who greeted us, Jude,  went out of her way to welcome us and help us find a room that actually had wireless available. It was one of my stipulations and Marty needs to be able to access the internet for his job, and she wanted to be certain that it worked for him. 

Well, the first room did not, so she shifted us to this one, where the bathroom door does not close, and, quite obviously, never did close since the door is wider than the jam.  

And, although the bathroom is huge, the shower and the sink share the same space, with a drain in the middle.  No shower curtain or anything to keep the water from splashing up the bathroom, which is exactly what happened when Marty took a shower.

The bed is much smaller than the original room, and very soft.  I'm kind of worried that I'll be rolling out of it later.  If you don't see a blog tomorrow, you'll know why.

We decided to try the hotel pub since there is nowhere nearby for dinner  that we could find, and that in itself was an interesting experience.

I'll admit, I  found these guys to be a bit entertaining.

But I don't quite get the cards on the ceiling.

And, I couldn't resist taking this photo

I'm just not sure why someone feels the need to be watching me while I'm eating dinner.  

Creepy.......

Add to that lights that suddenly pop on while you walk down the hall, and one could get a sense that someone was really watching them.

On that note, I better bid farewell.......

Good-bye to Fife

The week is coming to a close and it will soon be time to say good-bye to our wonderful hosts here at "The Roods" in Inverkeithing.  Pat and Isobel have been the best of hosts, even going so far as to drive us to Mass last evening for the holy day of All Saints, and, afterwards, to the Ferrybridge Hotel for Dinner.  But something tells me that we are not unique and that they offer the same warm hospitality to every customer who walks through that door.

These people love what they do, and it is obvious by the way they enjoy just sitting and chatting with us when we have a few minutes.

Let me show  you a view of the lovely backyard from my bedroom window.

You'd never guess that we were right across the street from the train station, which by the way, we never heard from the confines of our bedroom.

What makes this place so special?  Is it the "extra" touches like a plate of fresh fruit placed in the room everyday?

Or the breakfast that we choose from a personal menu the night before which could feature fresh croissants and cheese?

Or, could it possibly be the hand cut fresh fruit salad that could include as many as 12 fresh fruits?

Or just how about the morning French Press Coffee?

Or the beautiful conservatory where we sit for breakfast admiring the beauty of the backyard and listening to the pinging of the rain falling on the ceiling?

Well, I'd say that it could be any of these.  But what I absolutely love about this place is the fluffy towels, hot water and WASH CLOTHES!

Ok, so I'm a spoiled American and I still haven't figured just how Europeans get clean without using a washcloth.  And, to be quite honest with you, I don't really want a lesson on how to do this either.

I generally pack my own washclothes when I travel out of the country, but it still was refreshing to find one among the many towels for our use in the bathroom.

And, of course, having a fellow member of the Steeler Nation was great entertainment for Marty, who doesn't put the same stock in Wash clothes that I do.

Put all of the above together, with a quiet room featuring a comfy bed, and I'd say that this place just can't be beat.  It was FABulous!

Last evening's dinner was a pleasant surprise.  We had booked a table at the Ferrybridge Restaurant in North Queensferry (named after St. Margaret for when she was Queen and she arranged the ferry for pilgrims to cross the Firth back in the 12th century.)

We had the place to ourselves.  After having a drink next to the cozy fire in the distance, we were sitted at Table #5, in an alcove by the window.

 Marty enjoyed his beer:

 

I enjoyed my Cabernet Savignon:

And dessert was heavenly:  Banoffee Tart.   Wow!

But let me share the best part of the evening.  The rain had stopped and the moon finally appeared for viewing:

And, most spectacular:  The Firth Rail Bridge, built in the 1800's, peeking behind the houses of Queensferry.

And the best view of all, taken down the street, near the Firth of Forth.

Just spectacular, don't you think?

Just who would have thought that one could have so much fun staying in Inverkeithing?  Not many, take my word for it.

But now, we'll be off again,  this time with a last minute reservation in a town called Bonnyrigg. ( Plans changed so we had to adapt. )  

But not before I head off to morning Mass with Pat.  Catholics must be few and far between as patrons here, because he seems very excited to have me here to chat with!

Rest assured, I will be praying for all of those unfortunate victims of Hurricane Sandy.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed today's post.

Until tomorrow.......

Steeler Nation in Scotland

Could there be a better way to begin the day than by enjoying breakfast in this lovely conservatory at The Roods?

Well, actually, there could be:

Being greeted by a fellow member of the Steeler Nation.  Something tells me that we just may see Pat tomorrow wearing a different shirt, but we'll have to wait to see.

As I mentioned, the proprietors here are really quite entertaining which makes the time spent inside rather enjoyable.

I did venture out to try to see the town today, but it was pouring buckets and I got very wet.

But, here's a glimpse at what could be out there to see:

A house built in 1666 by John Henderson still stands on Church Street, one of the few original buildings in Inverkeithing.

Through the rain mist you can see a large vessel on the Firth of Forth.

Very near here is the construction for the new Forth Bridge.  There are two men staying here at the Roods who work at night working on the project.

As most towns here have, a mercat cross stands in the main part of town.  This is a common statue in what would have been "trade" towns.

The first good closeup of a Mercat cross that I have been able to get. Thanks to the clouds, I could zoom in and not have the background light wash out the white unicorn.

There is a war memorial behind the Scottish Church.  It pays tribute to the men of Inverkeithing who died in World War I as well as World War II.  The names are inscribed on metal plates.

 This cannon stands in front of the Civic Center in town.  Someone apparently found it in their background, buried, while they were doing some excavating, and they donated it to the town.

The Cannon dates from 1780 - 1810.

While walking about, I wandered into the Civic Center, hoping to find the local museum.  When I asked  about it, the woman said that one could only tour the museum by appointment, so I crossed that off of the list of things to do in Inverkeithing. Actually, that was the only thing on the list!

But, while inside the center, I spotted this huge picture of the town:

So, I  thought I'd try to recreate it, but it wasn't that easy to do in the pouring rain.  Plus there was no horse and carriage handy.  But, here goes:

The church is a practicing Church of Scotland.  It is the original building, built in the 14th century.  A plaque on the building states that it is on the site where St. Erat preached in the 400's.

By this time, I was really soaked, so I gave up the self-guided tour of the area and headed to the B&B where I then hung my coat to dry.  It was still wet as of last evening, so I wore my cape into Edinburgh for dinner.

Marty and I caught the train and walked to a French restaurant where he had been on one of his business dinners.  The staff annoyed me, as they pretended not to understand me and they spoke with very thick French accents so that you couldn't understand them.  They were young girls, so I found it very hard to believe that they didn't have better English speaking skills.

I had reserved a table online for 7:00 p.m., and Marty and I laughed when we walked in and we were the only two in the restaurant.  A few more people showed up, but we really did have the place to ourselves.

 Marty chose this HUGE French beer to have with his dinner.  Needless to say, we took advantage of the train travel.

As I mentioned yesterday, Isobel is quite into the Halloween decorating, although she was very quick to take everything down as if the event never happened.  But let me just entertain  you with video from two of her querky items.

Yep!  It certainly has been fun!

The Roods at Inverkeithing

We finally made it to our new B& B, the Roods at Inverkeithing, after an interesting course of events, one of which involved the minor emergency room at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

Rest assured that all is well, but Marty had some issues with a back problem and after two days of suffering I finally convinced him to get someone to look at him.  After 2 hours of waiting, he was examined by a highly competent doctor who gave him some meds for the pain and sent us on our way.

She did mention that Physical Therapy would be of great help, but was not an option, since the waiting lists are quite long and it would take more than two weeks for anyone to actually schedule an appointment with a PT here in Scotland.   Free healthcare might be great, but it seems to me that waiting more than 2 weeks for relief would be quite a drag.

Our original intention was to get a prescription for muscle relaxants since they had proven affective in the past.  We were surprised when the doctor told us that they do not prescribe muscle relaxants in Scotland because there is no way to monitor who is receiving the medication in order to prevent abuse of the drug.  So the thinking is that strong enough pain relief will essentially stop the back from spasming.

We were certainly relieved  that Marty's problem stems from simple back strain and not something more serious.  And, thanks to my jaunt to ASDA yesterday morning, we now own a hot water bottle with a nice fuzzy white cover.   Can you beat that for a souvenir?  I figured that white was the best choice since the other options were a super hot-pink fur and cookie monster blue fur.  Actually, put a couple of eyeballs on it, and it would look like you were squishing cookie monster.  Yep, white was the best option and it has already gotten great use.

But I digress.  As I was saying we finally made it here, and I stress the word finally because, as it turns out, we were ringing the bell of the next door neighbor quite by mistake.  Marty called the B& B number, and the man who answered was explaining that the doorbell no longer worked, but I heard it ring no less than 4 times.  (Ok, so I rang it twice....I knew someone had to be inside!)  Quite luckily, the neighbor was not at home, but when I told the story to Isobel, she laughed and said that I should have simply yelled "Trick or Treat" had they answered  the door.

I have the feeling that the poor neighbor must put up with this quite a lot as The Roods is definitely not standing out in view.  I'm just relieved that they weren't home, or if they were, that they chose to ignore us.  Really, quite embarrassing, but after the morning that we had, I was just anxious to check in to the place.

Now that we are here, I can tell you that we are once again in for a real treat.  Pat, Isobel's husband, was home to greet us, and he immediately told us that he owned a Steeler's shirt with Santonio Holmes name on it.  I can't recall how the subject came up, except he seemed to think that everyone from the United States was a Steeler's fan.   He went onto brag about how Holmes scored the winning touchdown in the last Steeler's superbowl.  Now, would you have guessed that there would be Steeler's fans in Scotland?

He also went on to tell us of a previous guest, who when Pat mentioned his ties to the Steeler's, began to frown and say that he did not like the Steelers.  Pat was shocked by this comment.  He said that he told this guest that he thought everyone liked the Steelers in America.  The guest  commented that there were plenty of people who hated the Steelers because they played "dirty".

Before Pat could go any further, I stopped him and said,  "Let me guess, they were Baltimore Raven fans.!"

Guess what?  They were from Baltimore!

Can I call it or what?  Pat was really surprised that I was right on the money in identifying where this man came from.  I personally think that any Steeler's fan would have been able to come to the same conclusion as I with no further prompting.

But now, Pat is eager to wear his Steeler's shirt tomorrow so that he can share his enthusiasm with us.  Opportunities like this don't come along too often.

The ties to Pittsburgh here never cease to amaze me!

Isobel was out when we first arrived, but when I snuck down to meet her upon her return, she was quite excited to share some of her Halloween fun that she has ready for tomorrow evening. She showed me a bowl filled with candy which has a skeleton head attached.  When  you reach for a piece of chocolate, the head lunges forward and the skeleton yells "You can't have that!  It's all mine".  Quite entertaining.

What's even more entertaining is hearing that it scared the bejeepers out of Pat last night who was obviously attempting to sneak a piece of chocolate only to be caught by surprise.

In any event, Marty had a very long meeting via teleconference today, and when he was finally finished, Pat drove us to the next town to a lovely restaurant called the Clubhouse.  We were going to take the train, whose station lies just across the street, hidden behind a stone wall, but he insisted on giving us a lift, and we took him up on the offer.

Dinner was fabulous,

 and when we were finished, we easily walked across the street from the restaurant, hopped the train, and were back in Inverkeithing within 3 minutes.  You just can't beat that for convenience!

Let me leave you with a photo of my scrumptious dessert:  Chocolate iced terrine with raspberries and Vanilla Ice cream.  Served on a slate.  I have no idea why.  But, I can tell you that it was quite decadent.

Yep!  I have the feeling that it's going to be a great couple of days.

Laying low at the Dunnikier House Hotel

Today was an off day for me, as we are staying in a B&B off the beaten track, north of Kirkcaldy and any adventures would involve me hiking about 2 1/2 miles to the train, and after all of the walking this past week, I decided just to stay and enjoy my surroundings.

Our room is on the top floor in the front of Dunnikier House Hotel.  It is on the far left of the photo as you look at it.  We have a lovely view of the Firth of Forth from the room.

If you look closely you can see two little white dogs romping along the path with their owners strolling along behind.  I had a great time watching those two dogs running back and forth in circles on the property, always returning to their owners when called.  Great afternoon entertainment.

I ventured out this morning for a walk since the weather was perfect.  Sunny with just a bit of a chill.

As I walked along, I turned around to photograph the  Dunnikier

And here is a photo from the street. The hotel is there in the middle, believe it or not.

As you can see, the place is more than a wee bit from the road. 

And,  just for the record, golfing is obviously not permitted on the front lawn. 

 I had quite an enjoyable walk, returning through Dunnikier park which is adjacent to the hotel.  In the back of the hotel there is a golf course which was quite busy today. As I could hear them on the other side of the hedge, wondering if I needed to worry about a errant ball hitting me in the head, I actually thought to myself, that if I played golf, this would have been the perfect day to do so. 

But instead I spent the day enjoying a great meal in the restaurant for lunch, and reading a book, first by the fire in the lobby, and then by the window of the room.

So, today's blog doesn't have anything too exciting to share.  

Wait!  Except that being in Scotland, I was able to watch an episode of Downton Abbey that will not be released in the United States until January.  Amy and I have enjoyed this Masterpiece Theater program in the past, and we were both looking forward to Series 3.  So, this was definitely a treat for me! 

Unfortunately, it was obvious that a LOT happened since this new series began, but I still  have those episodes to look forward to this winter.  And, don't worry, I don't plan on leaking any secrets in the meantime.

Also, something that I've been meaning to mention.  This is in reference to the word, Slippy.  Coming from Pittsburgh, I never realized that this word is not one that is used regularly in other parts of the country until I moved to Berks County, where the local people were not familiar with the word.  I just added it to the list of Pittsburgh words like Yinz, gumband, worsh, etc.  

But guess what?  I've heard the word several times while in Scotland.  Particularly in Dunfermline.

So, I have a theory.  I can't help but wonder if the word originated in Pittsburgh from Andrew Carnegie and the Scots who emigrated to the Pittsburgh area.  After all, there has to be some link.

Oh, and I also forgot to mention a VERY important fact related to Stonehaven.  This is the birthplace of the man who invented the pneumatic tire, Robert Thompson.  Now there's a great piece of info to pass along, don't you think?  Everywhere we go, we find some interesting fact worth passing on.  You really must admit, the Scots really do have an incredible history.

In the meantime, I leave you with an evening view from the window in our room, taken just as the sun was setting.  The light blue in the background is the Firth.

Tomorrow we transfer to a different hotel, closer to a train link, so that I can go out exploring if I choose to.  It won't offer this type of view, but I'm fairly certain that there will be some type of excitement that I will be able to share.

After all, I haven't disappointed you so far, have I?

Continuing the Scottish Castle Tour

Sunday morning began with Mass at the local Catholic Church in Stonehaven.  For as ornate as the outside is, the inside was surprisingly stark.  And, obviously unheated as there was quite a chill inside.  But the priest made everyone feel quite comfortable and he smiled a lot during the service.  He began his sermon with a reference to something that Benjamin Franklin had said at the Constitutional Congress, which I found interesting, since I'm sure he did not expect Americans to be listening to his homily!

A pipe organ added to the service, and I particularly enjoyed the version of Amazing Grace, which was one of my grandmother's favorite hymns.  The sound of the congregation singing radiated through the interior, making it that much more enjoyable.

It was obvious that we were not locals, and as we were exiting the church, one of the woman from the parish named Mary invited us to the hall next door to join their weekly tea and biscuit bunch for a wee chat. 

What a delightful way to begin the day!  They were mostly women, but all were eager to learn about us and each felt the need to give us some sort of travel tip.  It was cold, miserable, and raining like crazy outside,  only making our indoor experience that much more enjoyable.

Soon the time was up, but not before Mary insisted on taking a photo of us outside the church in between the raindrops.

Ok, before you make judgement on my choice of outwear, let me just say that this cape is made of wool, and is actually quite warm,  and it repelled the water quite well, too!  The length keeps one's legs warm as well.  I purchased it in Edinburgh on my January visit and was surely glad that I brought it along for the trip. I may stand out in a crowd, but at least I'm cozy!

Ready to face the weather, we jumped in the car and headed to Dunnottar Castle on the coast of the North Sea, just south of Stonehaven.

This place was amazing.  The wind and the rain didn't keep us from exploring the grounds, which were really quite vast.  William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, and King Charles II all found safe harbor in this castle at some time.

It was here that a garrison held out against Cromwell's army for 8 months and saved the Scottish crown Jewels.  They now have safe harbor at Edinburgh Castle.

What is so amazing about this castle is how it stands high on ground jutting out into the North Sea.  It really is surrounded on 3 sides by high cliffs and water.  And the 4th side takes some real climbing up and down a long series of steps in order to get to the castle.  Invading it surely could not have been an easy feat!

Words really cannot describe the beauty of the area where this castle stands.  Dolphins were swimming along the shore of the North Sea,  and sea birds were nesting in the rocks.  The crashing of the waves only enhanced the experience.

We really could have stayed longer, but the cold, rain and wind convinced us to travel on where we could spend time indoors away from the harsh conditions.

About half an hour away, along a beautiful scenic route featuring the autumn leaves along the hills,  was Crathes Castle, built in the 16th century.  (What were you expecting?)

This castle appears to be much smaller than some of the ones that we have visited, but the tour inside was spectacular.  We actually walked through 4 floors of the building.  We kept finding ourselves in a turret, making our way up the circular steps to the next floor for viewing.

The tour was self guided with information sheets in each room, so we could look about at our leisure.  There were guides in some of the rooms if we had any questions.

When we first entered the castle, there were a couple of features that I found to be interesting.  First of all, the walls were well over 6 ft. thick.  The doorways were deliberately made low to prevent anyone who might choose to invade from running through the castle at high speed.  An intruder would have to duck, thereby slowing his pace once inside.  Clever, don't you think?

But first, he would have to manage getting past the Yell, a special metal gate behind the wooden door, that was built in such a way that it would be very difficult to penetrate.

And, as if that wasn't enough to delay an invader, the 11th step up the turret tower is a "trip" step, designed as such to cause someone running up the steps to trip due to the slight difference in height.

The castle was built with 2 sets of turret steps so that the family could escape down the one set if invaders came up the other.

Personally, having seen a lot of castles, I'd say that the guy who built this one suffered from Invasion Paranoia.   In the history of the castle, it was never mentioned that it had been invaded, but I suppose that back in that time period one couldn't take too many chances.

No photos were permitted inside, except that we were permitted to open the windows on the top floor and get a beautiful shot of the gardens.

We had chosen not to tour the gardens, which was a smart move on our part, since the rain began to fall once again upon our exiting the castle.

By this point, with the change in the time, it was getting dark earlier, so we opted to head to Kirkcaldy, which was almost a two hour drive along the scenic roads of Angus.  We drove through Dundee, across the Firth of Tay and into Fife. Believe it or not, we could see the sun low on the horizon, and, luckily, it has lingered into this morning.

We are staying at the Dunnikier house which is an old hotel.  It has quite a bit of charm to it, with a roaring fireplace and big leather sofas in the lobby, but the rooms definitely show the age.
Our room is on the top floor, which involves many steps, but I am happy to be on top.  I feel bad for whomever might be below because it is impossible to walk anywhere without hearing the creaking of the floorboards.

We have a lovely view of the Firth of Forth in the distance, and I could watch the sunrise this morning, over the firth.  Just lovely.  I'll try to take a photo and post it so that you can see how lovely it is.

Time to enjoy the sun while it is shining!

Exploring the Sites of Scotland

Can you guess what we saw yesterday?

Snow?  Yes….but only on the far distance mountains.

Castles?  You betcha!

A man with a mattress?  Nope….and that was probably for the better anyway.

I have to admit that the arctic blast has definitely hit and the temps were pretty frigid.  

So, we bundled up and headed out early for a short drive  to Huntingtower Castle.  

This castle was previously known as Ruthven castle, and it has a unique history surrounding the kidnapping of James the VI of  Scotland (who became James the I of England) at the age of 16.  He was held there for 10 months prior to escaping, and he was not so kind to  the conspirators, including the owners of the castle, as a result of their successful plot.

The castle is very well maintained, and features a remarkable original painted ceiling.

But there is another story associated with the castle which I only learned while touring the castle,  that I would like to share with you bloggers.

This castle once consisted of two towers, one square and one L-shaped.  It was built in such a fashion as to have a "house" for two families, namely brothers, who had originally lived on the property.  The towers were separated about 3 meters in length.  If you look at the first photo, take note of the middle part of the castle where there are 4 windows, 2 on each floor.  That part of the castle was not yet constructed at the time of the story.

There was a young maiden named Dorothy Ruthven who lived in the castle with her family in the square tower of the castle.  One day, a young man came to visit, and Dorothy's mother gave him a room in the L-shaped wing of the castle so that he could rest there for the night. During the course of the evening, the story goes that Dorothy quietly snuck up to this young man's room.  Unfortunately, the maid spotted Dorothy as she entered the room, and immediately went running to Dorothy's mother to inform  her of Dorothy's inappropriate behavior.

Needless to say, Dorothy's mother was in a rage at the news, and went running up the steps of the wing to confront the couple.

Dorothy, however, realized the danger she would be in if they were discovered, so she darted out the window, ran to the edge of the tower, and leaped across the 3 meter length to the tower where her own bedroom was.  Dorothy would have jumped from just about where I stood to take this photo to the round tower that juts out.  Remember, the middle part was not yet built at that time.

She somehow managed the jump unscathed. In the meantime her mother, when her mother arrived at the guest's room, she found him fast asleep, or at least he appeared to be.  

Not quite satisfied, she ran back down the steps, out the door to the other tower, up the steps, only to find Dorothy blissfully sleeping in her own bed....alone. 

Dorothy's mother was relieved at the sight, and went off to bed with no worries about the young couple.

The next day, Dorothy and the young man eloped and, according to the legend,  lived happily every after.  No one ever said what happened to the maid.  And I'm not quite sure what "happily ever after" constitutes in Scotland.....particularly back in that time period.  In today's world, I'd say that the young miss would have made quite an Olympic long jump athlete, though!

Here's how I look at it, Dorothy probably figured that she could die from falling and possibly break her neck, or she could risk having her neck broken by her mother if she was found out. So the jump was certainly worth the risk to her, and apparently all turned out well in the end.....according to the legend.   Great story to start the day, don't you think?

After our visit at the castle, we headed to Dunkeld, a small town on the Tay, where we were surprised to find quite a crowd of people. Apparently some type of festival was going on,and we were lucky to be able to find a parking spot so that we could check out the town.

It's a charming little town that lies along the River Tay.  The National Trust bought up a series of properties in Dunkeld, and they have been well preserved.  One of the houses still holds the "ell" on the side of the building.

The "ell" is a measure of length which was used by the scots for fabrics, etc.  The Scottish ell was standardized in 1661 at 37" long.  The ell faded into obscurity with the imposition of the metric system in 1824.

"Gie 'im an inch, and he'll tak an ell"  was a famous expression back in the day.

We walked around the town, checking out some of the sites

And Marty made a little friend:

Then, we hopped in the car and headed east to Glamis (pronounced Glams) Castle.

We were awed at the site as we drove down the lane towards the car park.

                                   

Look closely and you'll see the snow capped mountains in the distance.

This was the childhood home of Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.  Elizabeth was the daughter of an earl, and this is where she grew up.  She married George, who became King when his brother Edward abdicated the thrown in order to married a divorced woman.  If you saw the movie, the King's Speech,  know that is the story about King George.

It interesting to note that the royal family considered Elizabeth to be a commoner.  I can't imagine living in a place like this being very common.

Our tour guide, Linda, was fabulous.  There were only four of us on the tour, and she admittedly gave us much more information than would have normally been given on a tour.  In fact, the next tour, which would have begun 1/2 hour after our's, was right on our tail, and Linda had to keep asking them to wait just a wee bit longer.

Unfortunately, once again, there was no photography permitted in the castle, but take my word for it when I tell you that it was spectacular.  I couldn't help but smile when Linda pointed out two small wooden chairs next to the huge fireplace in the one room.  She mentioned that the Princesses Elizabeth (now the queen) and Margaret would often come to this house to visit the grandparents.  The "wee" little chairs were for them to sit upon.  Of course, they would have had wee little Royal cushions on them so that their wee little Royal bottoms would be comfortable.  Of course!

On the way out of the castle, we had some entertainment from this Highland Cow (pronounced Coo).

The clever guy was quite adept at turning his head and working his horns through the wires so that he could munch on the freshly cut grass on the other side of the fence, only proving that the grass was much greener on the other side.

After our delightful tour of the castle, our travels took us to Stonehaven, which is located right on the North Sea.  We had a fabulous dinner in a nearby restaurant.  The owner of the B&B had booked a table for us on the second floor, overlooking the water.

 Can't say much about the view since it was already dark, raining, and the moon was hidden behind the clouds.  

But I can tell you that dinner was Fabulous!