There's nothing like a good night sleep to set the stage for adventure! Lord knows, sleep has been lacking BIG time lately, but no worries! I am in Scotland with my husband, relaxing in a charming B&B in Carnoustie. Our room is on the top floor with a lovely view of the Firth of Tay and the sun is just beginning to peek over the horizon.
We managed to make the escape on an overnight flight out of Newark that got us here in record time of just over 6 hours! You really can't beat that for travel time across the ocean, but you can certainly rule out much more than about an hour's shut eye on my part.
My husband managed to catch a few more zzz's than I, which was certainly an advantage, since he was the one who rented the standard transmission Hyundai, which, as you may or may not know, comes with the gear shift on the opposite side. (6 gears, which he finds to be rather exciting!) I felt better knowing that he had more sleep since driving here involves a LOT of opposites than what we are used to!
Landing early afforded us to make even more of a busy day than I had already planned. We hopped in the Hyundai and headed North, driving through the Kingdom of Fife which holds a lot of gallivanting memories, across the Firth of Tay, and along the coast. Our first stop was the Broughty Castle Museum.
This has been a stronghold on the river Tay for centuries, and was actually under the rule of the English during part of Henry VIII's reign.
The interior is set up as a museum, and we were able to climb the turret stairs all the way to the top for an observation deck view.
One could not actually walk outside at the top, which was probably for the best, as the wind gales of the Firth nearly toppled us at ground level. We didn't need any more excitement at the top!
The proof of the wind is in Marty's hood. Believe me, he regretted not packing the knit cap!
There were two men staffing the castle, and it was obvious that they loved their job as we heard hundreds of years of history compressed into an hour's tale of excitement. The one guide was so excited to have our interest that it was a bit difficult making the break away. Luckily, another couple popped in through the doors, and we bid fond farewell.
Back in the car, my driver headed north to Edzell Castle, but not before stopping along the side of the road for a quick snooze. The lack of sleep was definitely wearing on him. The highway has frequent pull over stops, so he chose one, popped his seat back and quickly fell asleep for about 10 minutes before jolting awake to the sound of a Lorry. That was a scary moment for him as he had been dreaming that he was driving while sleeping. Once recovered, he hopped back onto the highway and headed towards our destination.
Soon, we were driving through this lovely entrance to the town.
and, after making a left and driving down a long narrow road, Edzell Castle stood in the distance.
Marty insisted on taking a "selfie".
Jet lag photo advice: wear the sunglasses. I don't look the least bit tired, do I?
What makes Edzell Castle so fascinating is the walled garden that was built in 1604 by the owner.
Along three sides of the wall are stone carvings, the Seven Cardinal Virtues, Seven Liberal Arts (Grammar, Rhetoric, Dialectic, Arithmetic, Music and Geometry) , and Seven Planetary Deities.
Most of the plaques were in excellent shape, although Music obviously lost her head.
Amazing, considering that this wall was built in the early 1600's.
The cost ended up being too much for the owner, and the castle eventually fell to ruin.
We were able to explore the castle and climb up inside the tower for an awesome view of the garden.
Amazing, don't you think?
I took one last shot of the grounds on our way to the car park.
And we headed back into the town for a bite to eat. We hadn't had anything since departing the plane, and since the meal choices involved green and red peppers, my sustenance was definitely lacking.
How could I pass on this delightful scone, complete with cream and jam, with a nice pot of tea?
I'm fairly certain that this was the BEST scone that I have ever tasted while in Scotland.
We were way ahead of the planned schedule and still had a lot of time prior to check in, so we began the drive to Carnoustie, stopping in Brechin along the way.
We pulled into a carpark and decided to take another power nap, for about 10 minutes, which revived us enough to explore this town's ancient cathedral and round tower.
There was very little room to maneuver in order to get a decent photo of the tower. This is about the best I could do, as I didn't think it would be appropriate to climb onto gravestones for a better shot.
Here you can see the tower peeking behind the Cathedral.
Apparently it is one of two round towers in all of Scotland although I don't know much about its significance. I'll have to check into that when I have better internet access.
From here, we headed to Barry Mill, which was is about 2 miles from Carnoustie.
This was a working Oatmeal Mill until the late 1980's. It was then bought by the National Trust of Scotland.
The Mill is powered completely by a water wheel and the Trust is attempting to get it up and running, as it did for centuries, to make their own brand of oatmeal to package and sell. They are working on the technicalities for that venture.
Here you can see the water wheel with the buckets that fill, enabling it to turn and thereby turn the grinding mill on the interior of the building.
There is a kiln attached to the building, which is used to dry the oats, so the process from beginning to end takes place under one roof.
Our tour guide was awesome, and we spent well over an hour touring the place from top to bottom, as she showed us every detail of the process of milling oats into a fine powder to be used for making porridge.
The water source comes from a stream that flows below this ancient bridge that once was the main road from Dundee to Arbroath.
On the bridge, right in the middle, is an engraved plaque.
Look closely, and you will see two horses pulling a cart with a man inside. The sun is reflecting off the horses on the left. Underneath is carved the date: 1775.
Gotta love that 20X power zoom camera!
By now it was time to check into the Sea View B&B. We have a room on the top floor, which does involve walking up 2 sets of turret-like steps, but, believe me it is well worth the effort! Check out this photo that I managed to capture just prior to sunset.
Pretty awesome, don't you think?
By now we were pretty hungry, so we walked to the Station Hotel Restaurant, where we had a lovely dinner, although my order changed a few times due to difficulty finding a meal that didn't involve some sort of contact with peppers. (I may need to consider sticking to Scones!)
As you can see, Marty enjoyed a Caledonia Best, apparently his favorite.
I'd say he sure looks happy!
Then made our way back to our room where, by now, the moon was glowing over the Firth.
An absolutely delightful day. Then, we plopped into bed to make up for our shortage of sleep.
Just think....if we could do not all that on just an hour's sleep, just imagine what adventures await us on this glorious day!
I'll be sure to keep you posted!
No comments:
Post a Comment