Visiting the Royals

Thursday 2nd August

Just a quiet drive today along the scenic route to Aberdeen. We stopped at 2 castles along the road; Glenbuchat Castle which is a ruin and currently closed to the public, then Castle Fraser which is a National Trust property where they rip you off for parking. We decided not to tour this one as we were really looking for lunch so just did a drive by shooting.

The Cairngorm Mountains.
This is a popular holiday destination - skiing in winter, walking
and just generally enjoying the National park.

As we drove through this area the hills were
all pink and mauve - covered in heather.
It sometimes looks dirty brown but depends on how sunny it is.

Glenbuchat Castle. Built in 1590 by John Gordon for his wedding. 

Set in this beautiful location.

Castle Fraser.

No sign of Jamie or Claire. 

We found nowhere to eat before we arrived in Aberdeen around 2. We found Aberdeen confusing - we got no sense of where the actual city centre was, and finding parking was a nightmare, so we eventually just stopped at a carpark hoping there was food nearby.

Our hotel is on the outskirts of Aberdeen in an industrial area. It is a huge hotel - not our normal type but came at the right price.


Friday 3rd August

Down to Edinburgh area today but first off a visit to Balmoral Castle. Bad timing again - the castle is closed from end of July for the Queen to take her summer vacation. When we arrived there the road was closed and there were quite a number of police present. Being nosy I asked one of the policeman if the Queen was actually there, and yes, she was. He was a very friendly policeman and forthcoming with information.  He told us if we waited by the edge of the road for 5-10 minutes we would see the Royal Scottish Guard practising the 'marching in' ceremony. Apparently even though she is already there, there is an official ceremony on Monday. Damn! Too early for that. We enjoyed watching the rehearsal though - right place, right time. Sadly, no welcoming cuppa for us at this castle either.

More of the Cairngorms.

The River Dee - Balmoral Castle lies alongside the river.
We are standing on the bridge on the access road to the castle.

As close as we got to the castle - closed.

Not the real deal - a photo of a jigsaw. Best we could do.

The Royal Scottish Guard rehearsing the official arrival of The Queen.

The Shetland pony, named Cruachan, is the official mascot
of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The lady is the stunt double for the Queen.

Inspecting the guard.

We couldn't even get a photo of the castle from the road as it was surrounded by huge trees. I did get a brief glimpse of a turret with flagpole flying the flag. We consoled ourselves with the next castle along the road - Braemar Castle.

Braemar Castle. The castle was built in 1628 when the Earl of Mar
built it as his Highland hunting lodge.

We continued along the scenic route via the village of Braemar (nice village) and then through the Cairngorm Mountains towards Perth. More beautiful views. Once we hit Perth it was motorways to our hotel for the next 5 nights. Reminds us of our Premiere Classe hotels in France, but this one has a kitchen so we can self cater. There is also a pub next door with reasonably priced meals.