A Sun Shiny Day in the Cairngorms

We were delighted to awake to brilliant blue skies and sunshine this morning!  After yet another fabulous breakfast, 

we bid fond farewell to Norrie and started out for a gallivanting adventure through the Cainrgorms.

Our first destination of the day was Corgarff Castle.  Now,  I don’t exaggerate when I say that this fortification is literally in the middle of nowhere.  And, in order to get there, one must cross the northern slopes of the Cairngorm plateau.

The drive was truly breathtaking……in more ways than one.  I would say that the scenery was amazing, but I decided to take the back seat in the car to prevent our daughter from becoming car sick.  Not that I couldn’t see and enjoy the beauty from my car position, but nothing makes me more nervous than when my husband decides that he must look at the view when driving.

So, here he is, driving a standard transmission, with the gear shift AND the steering wheel on the opposite side of the car than what one would normally be used to.  All while driving twisty turny roads at 60 mph…..not to mention on the opposite side of the road than what we are used to.   So, when he says, “Wow!  Look at that!” and I note that the car is slightly drifting into the other lane, my comment is generally, “I can’t , because SOMEONE has to watch the road!”

So, that could explain some of my breathlessness.  Although I did manage to absorb some of the amazing beauty along the way.

After some white knuckle moments, we finally arrived at our destination.  And let me say…..it was actually quite a disappointment.  The online brochure featured a beautiful, white bulwark, surrounded by a  white, star shaped fortification,


And, here’s what greeted us when we arrived.

We decided that since we had traveled all this way, we would still pay the fee for the self tour through the building.  When we popped through the door and startled the volunteer, we agreed that he probably doesn’t see many people peaking their head through the door.  In fact, we watched one couple arrive, look at the building, read the information sign, jump back into their car, and drive away.

Even the sheep seemed to question just why we were there.

  

But you know us, always up for something different.  So, we toured the building, which took all of about 25 minutes.

And, here’s a quick synopsis.  the castle was built by John Forbes as a tower house in 1550. It was burned down in 1571 during a clan fight, and, again, in 1689 by Jacobies, and in 1715 by Government forces.  

In 1748, the castle was converted to military barracks when the flanking pavilions were added in an unusual star shaped enclosure.  It has been restored to represent what it would have looked at in that year.

We walked around the building, took some shots,

then loaded back into the car to continue our windy adventure through the Cairngorms to Kildrummy Castle Gardens. 

The brochure states that this is one of Scotland's hidden secrets, and let's just say that we can definitely agree with that statement!  We maneuvered our way up a long road to the Kildrummy hotel, turned around, and drove back towards the road, entered again, stopped and read the sign that stated that entrance was through the Hotel, only to learn that tickets are to be purchased near the bottom at the little tea shop.  

No worries.  We are used to having to back track.   And, once we were in the gardens, it was obvious that it was worth the effort. 

The gardens are actually built in a quarry that was left behind after the building of the castle. 

They are privately owned and get no funding from the government, but they do abut against Kildrummy castle, which is owned by Historic Scotland.  But we opted to pay the admission to the gardens rather than the castle, and I honestly believe that the castle views were perfect from this vantage point and would offer little more by walking closer. 

There was actually a lot of up and downhill walking, and we joked that it verged on the edge of a "2 booter", but that was only due to the fact that there had been so much rainfall on Thursday, that the grades were pretty slippery and I really needed to carefully watch my footing.  

From here we headed back again on yet more windy roads and made our way to Craigievar Castle.  Marty and I had tried touring this castle 2 years ago when we had visited, only to find that it had closed early for the season, without warning.  

The history behind this castle shows that it had changed hands several times, but had never been involved in a battle.   It was originally owned by the Mortimers in the 1300s and   purchased in 1610 by William Forbes who added the upper floors and embellished it with turrets and towers.  It is said that Walt Disney used this castle as his basis for the Sleeping Beauty Castle.   

The interior contains articles that have been in the castle since the early 1600's.  The tour was fascinating and well worth the time and cost and we were thrilled to finally be able to see the inside.

There was a funny story which involved Queen Victoria visiting the castle.  She apparently showed up at the castle one day, found no one at home, and decided to wander through the place until a servant found her.  Unfortunately, the young servant did not recognize the queen at the time, and you can well imagine the outcome of that circumstance!

The only disappointment regarding the day, was that I had promised Amy that we would have tea and scones at the castle, as nearly every castle that we have visited has had SOME kind of tea room where Marty and I would partake in a brief respite with a scrumptious treat.  Unfortunately, this castle did NOT have a tea room.  So, I asked the woman who gave our tour if she could recommend someplace, and she suggested a wee shop in Lumphanen.  

We were there in short time and had no problem finding it as it was literally the ONLY shop anywhere near our travels.   

The experience was absolutely delightful! The place is run by a single, older woman,  who welcomed us as we entered, told us to have a seat, and she went about making a cheese toastie for another customer while getting a set of tea ready for another couple.  We patiently waited until she was finally able to take our order, a good 15 minutes later.  She was really quite entertaining and I will say that we definitely were enjoying the REAL Scottish experience.  We ordered the Earl Grey tea, and lemon drizzle cake (as the scones were all gone for the day), and I can tell you that it was delectable. 

Tea was served in these lovely English Bone China tea cups.

When we left, we told Rosalind, the proprietor, that her Lemon Drizzle cake had been scrumptious, and she commented that she had been concerned by the taste because the middle had sunk after baking.  But we all agreed that only added to the deliciousness because that area sucked up even more of the lemon drizzle! When we walked out of the door, we knew that we had just experienced a memory that would last for some time.  And, really, that IS what gallivanting is all about!

I've much more to share, but it's getting late and we have an early day planned for the morning.

So, for now, I bid you goodnight and look forward to sharing tomorrow's adventures, which, really, should NOT involve any crazy driving!