Our objective of the day was Balmoral Castle, the summer residence of the royal family.  Before we left the town of Ballater, where we had spent the night, we drove over to the train station.  The Royal Train Station at Ballater was the end of the journey from London when the royals went north for the summer.  The station is now the Tourist Information Center and was closed until 10 am.  We had left our B & B just after nine  and felt we didn’t want to wait an hour to go inside, so we just took a few photos and headed west to Balmoral. The royal railway car has been retired and is kept on site. The River Dee runs through Balmoral land and is a favourite fishing spot of the royals.  The Balmoral estate is huge, covering 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of land between Ballater and Braemar.  It is a working estate with herds of Highland Cattle, ponies, and managed deer.  The estate manages the forests, has grouse moors, and farmland.The parking area is by the royal stables and garage. There are historic displays in many of the garage bays. It is a nice walk through the trees to the castle; which sits majestically at the back of a huge lawn. We  took  the  tour  of  the  rooms  open  to  the  public,  but   no  photos  were  allowed.  The  last  room  was  the  beautiful  ballroom  that  opened  to  a lovely  sunken  garden. The back of the castle is near the forest and a pathway takes you to the edge of the River Dee. There is a path in the forest that will take you to the cemetery where many of the beloved pets of members of the royal family are buried.

Near the pet cemetery is a memorial to Princess Alice. We walked around to the front of the castle and along the vast lawn to the caretakers house.I was tempted to sit on the swing.  I have seen photos of Prince Charles and Princess Anne playing on this swing.The formal gardens are at the end of the lawn and the road continues past the vegetable and flower gardens.  All the flowers for the arrangements in the castle are grown on site and the majority of the vegetables and fruit used by the staff and family is also grown on the estate. The  large  greenhouses  help  with  the  cultivation  of  less  hardy  veggies  and  flowers. We can’t have all the deer eating the produce.We had arrived at Balmoral Castle just a little after 10 am and didn’t leave until 2:30.  It only took about 10 minutes to drive to Braemar Castle, famous for the Braemar Gathering that takes place every summer.  BraemarCastleis The  castle  was  built  in  1628  for  the  Earl  of  Mar.  Its  main  purpose  was  to  defend  his  lands  from  the  neighbouring  Farquharson  clan  of  Inverery  (who  were  actually  vassals  of  the  Earl  of Mar;  which  apparently   did  not  mean much  in  practice).  The  Earl  also  used  the  castle  for  a hunting  lodge  in  the  summer. The  castle  suffered several  attacks  and burnings and sat roofless and abandoned over many years.  The Farquharson family bought it in 1732 and renovations are ongoing.  There are guided tours if you wish to hear the stories or you can walk around on your own.

From Braemar we drove south to Blairgowrie where we spent the night at the Altamount Country House Hotel. The next day we visited Kirrimuir, the birthplace of J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan.

July 9th was a busy castle garden day.  After we left Drum Castle we drove a short distance west to Crathes Castle.  The lands at Crathes were granted to Alexander Burnard, forester at Drum by Robert the Bruce in 1323.  That is what one calls a bit of history. The castle is not open to the public but the gardens are.  And they were gorgeous.  I have never seen shrubbery so large and so beautifully shaped as they had here.

I am sure they got asked so often about how they clipped these huge shrubs that they posted a photo to show how it is done.One of the things I really liked about Crathes was the colour-themed gardens. There was the blue garden: And the pink garden: And the pink garden: And the yellow garden, which I loved because yellow is my favourite colour: The lavender was in full bloom.

What a beautiful place to sit and rest and enjoy. There was a vine that had gotten into the shrubbery and was gradually covering it in pretty red. I cannot begin to imagine the amount of time it took to arrange and plant and care for all of these lovely gardens.  They are an absolute joy to walk around in but you could not pay me enough to get me toiling among the greenery.Our final stop of a very full day was the Peel Ring of Lumphanan, a giant earthworks from the 13th-century.  It was the site of a fortified residence, perhaps a hunting lodge of the mighty Durward family.  Nothing is left but the massive earthwork foundation. We arrived at the Glen Lui Hotel in Ballater at 6:30 and were very happy to put our feet up.

The morning of July 9, 2013 was spent at Castle Fraser and then we stopped at the Cullerlie Stone Circle.  It was almost 3:30 by the time we arrived at Drum Castle, which is famous for its gardens, specifically the rose gardens.  I have a sister who loves roses and has hundreds of them in her garden so I felt, for her, I should check it out.  I love flowers.  I love to look at flowers, and smell fragrant flowers, and photograph flowers, but  I don’t garden.  I have had a few roses in my yard over the years but they have all died and I have never severely mourned their loss as roses actually require care when in your garden.  I prefer to keep my garden work to the absolutely lowest amount of time I can get away with. Renovations are underway.  With so many old buildings in the British Isles there is always ongoing work to keep things from tumbling to ruin.

I don’t envy the people that have to keep all these hedges so neatly trimmed.There were several rose gardens, divided by the century in which they were created and popular. These information  placards  were  everywhere  in  the  garden. Drum Castle gardens are truly lovely. You could spend days taking photos there.  There are so many beautiful features and plantings.

Kemnay sits just southwest of Inverune which is not too far from Aberdeen.  We left our B & B at 9:30 and made the short drive to Castle Fraser.  The castle is an imposing sight as you approach along the Broad Walk; an impression the lairds intended.  The present castle took shape between 1575 and 1636 – a statement of pride for the Fraser family and a show  of strength to any potential foes. Unfortunately the castle was closed for some reason the day we were there.  There is a lovely walled garden just off the Broad Walk and the gate was open so we took a wander around. Only an avid gardener would consider planting their vegetable garden in decorative shapes. Once we toured the walled garden we climbed to the top of the tower to see the expansive view.. A bit of a zigzag route SE brought us to the Cullerlie Stone Circle, another one of the ancient cairns that dot the Scottish countryside.  Cullerlie is a circle of eight stones enclosing an area consecrated by fires on which eight small cairns were later built.

Our next stop this day was Drum Castle and Rose Garden.  This was on my list to check out for my sister who has over 600 roses in her garden.  I had heard that Drum had an extensive rose garden with many heritage roses so I thought I would go see some in her stead. (To be continued in Part 2)

Cawdor Castle is just a little further along Highway A96 past the Clava Cairns.  We arrived just after the noon hour and waited in a long line at the entrance kiosk.  Over a half hour later we learned that the credit card machine wasn’t working (the vehicles in front of us wanted to pay with their card) so we decided to keep going up the road and visit Brodie Castle instead. There were some very interesting old stones at the entrance to Cawdor Castle.

Brodie Castle is a 16th century tower house and is packed with art and antiques including French furniture, English, continental and Chinese porcelain, a major collection of paintings including 17th-century Dutch art, 19th-century English water colours, and early 20th-century works by several famous Scottish colourists.  The fabulous library contains about 6,000 volumes.

The castle was the home of the Brodie family until the late 20th-century.  Brodie’s lived in the area even before the first tower house was built in 1160 when it is believed that King Malcolm IV of Scotland conferred the land on the family.  The main tower has been enlarged several times and has a 17th-century wing and a Victorian extension. I thought  it  a lovely  place.  I really  liked  the  reddish blond  stone. The 24th laird, Major Ian Brodie, became a world-renowned breeder of daffodils and over 400 varieties are planted on the castle grounds.  The last laird was estranged from his family members so when he died he gifted the house, grounds and all the contents to the National Trust of Scotland!  A treasure trove for sure.  As usual, no photos allowed inside, but it was a gorgeous place – loved, loved, the library!

The next castle on our list was the ruins of Spynie Palace, which was the residence of the bishops of Moray for over 400 years, and is located just north of the city of Elgin.  (The lengthy history of all these places is so amazing.  Coming from Canada, which is such a young country, I find it all very fascinating and awe-inspiring.)  The tower house was one of the largest in Scotland. There were incredible views from the top of the tower.   After a jam-packed day we made our way to back to Elgin in time to wander around the ruins of of Elgin Cathedral before they closed. We drove just over an hour from Elgin to Kemnay, northwest of Aberdeen, where we spent the night at Bennachie (Ben-a-kee) Lodge.                                    What a great place name that is.

Our main destination this day was to visit Culloden, the battlefield where the Government forces decimated the Scottish clans as they fought to have Bonnie Prince Charlie restored to the throne.  Culloden is the site of the last major battle that was fought on British soil.  British history was changed here.  The defeat of the Scots effectively ended Jacobite hopes of restoring to the British throne the House of Stuart – the descendants of James II of England and VII of Scotland, who was the last Catholic British monarch. (The series of conflicts takes its name Jacobitism, from Jacobus, the Latin form of James.)Culloden, not too far east of Inverness, is the name of the village near Drumossie Moor, where the battle took place. The National Trust for Scotland manages the property and has created a network of trails with audio guides that recreate the battle as you walk the pathways.  There were about 7,000 men in the Jacobite army and 8,000 in the British army.  The battle only lasted an hour but 1,200 Jacobites were killed and 800-1,000 more wounded before the clans were routed by the Duke of Cumberland’s forces on April 16, 1746.  The Jacobite army was comprised not solely of Catholic Highland Scots either, there were quite a few Irish and French professional soldiers, and Episcopalian Lowland Scots fighting for Prince Charlie’s cause as well. The soldiers were buried where they fell among members of their own clans so the moor is dotted with rock cairns naming the various family alliances.                              There is a marker for the English forces also.The central cairn contains the date of the battle and memorializes the Highland clans.

We spent over 2 1/2 hours at the battlefield site before driving a short distance to the Clava Cairns, another site of ancient burial stone circles.  I find these places fascinating and we wandered around all the mounds before heading to Cawdor Castle.

South of Inverness lies Loch Ness, famous for the still-not-confirmed “monster” called Nessie.  We didn’t see her either.  About halfway down the west coast of Loch Ness lie the ruins of Urquhart Castle. Urquhart was a very strategically important fortress; located as it was on a rocky promontory jutting into the deep waters of Loch Ness.  The castle changed hands several times over its 1,000 year history and when the last soldiers marched away in 1692 they blew up part of the castle as they left.  The ruins are extensive as the castle was added to and re-fortified many times. Our visit to Scotland coincided with baby bird season and there was another nest at Urquhart. The castle is a living history site where they have costumed staff doing demonstrations of weapons and tactics and explained the general living conditions of the period. The white ribbon – cockade – on his hat would let people know he was a supporter of Bonny Prince Charlie, the exiled heir to the Scottish throne; whose attempt to regain his place resulted in the disastrous Battle of Culloden that was a crushing defeat for the Scottish Clans. We left Urquhart just after 1 pm and returned to our hotel in Inverness for a restful afternoon and evening. Every once in awhile a person needs a bit of down time on lengthy trips like these.The gorse was blooming on many of the hillsides.

We had a very early start to catch the 7 am ferry from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis back to the mainland terminal at Ullapool.  The northern part of Scotland is narrow with many inlets and waterways that almost separate the land into islands.  It is just under 50 miles across from Ullapool on the west to the east coast road that goes north to Golspie and Dunrobin Castle.  I had read about Dunrobin, which is really a grand house, and not a castle, and its beautiful gardens so we specifically drove the 35 miles north to go see it.  And we were not disappointed.  What a fairy tale-like place.  I loved Dunrobin!

I have always loved structured, geometric shaped gardens.  I think it is the orderliness of it all which satisfies my OCD tendencies.Dunrobin, with its pointed turrets would make a great setting for Cinderella or Rapunzel.  It was a beautiful place and the gardens were immaculately groomed.

I  really  think  they  should  pass  out  medieval  or  Victoria  gowns  to  wear  while  you  stroll  the  gardens.  I just seems  more  appropriate  for  the  surroundings.  I loved  this  place  and  would  really  like  to  go  back  some  day.Once we had completed our leisurely walk around the gardens of Dunrobin we got back in the car and drove about 50 miles south again to Inverness where we spent the night.

We spent all day on the Isle of Lewis, first visiting the Calanais Standing Stones and then Doune Broch, a stone roundhouse.  By mid-afternoon we were at the Black House Village Museum, a collection of old stone houses.   The village of Arnol has moved several times, from the seashore further inland in 1735, and a few more moves over the years, until it reached its current site on the ridge in 1853.This type of house was called a white house, to distinguish it from black houses which housed people and animals under the same roof.  The white houses were built in the 1900’s when legal pressures and health regulations started to demand that the livestock should be housed in separate dwellings. This fellow was demonstrating an old loom that wove the tartan fabrics used for blankets and clothing. Many of these homes were lived in until recently when the museum was created in the village.   All the thick smoke from the smoldering peat fires was stirring up my asthma so I wandered the village wearing my carbon-filled bandana so I could breathe.

The Blackhouse was a residence for both animals and humans. There was no chimney and a peat fire was lit at all times in the center of the kitchen and living area.  The dwellings had thick stone walls and thatch-covered roofs.  Looking at the Blackhouse from the outside it is long and narrow, and its main feature is a thatched roof made of twigs and heather and overlaid with straw. The building is constructed from local stones with no cement between the stones.  The thick stone walls and earthen floor absorbed the heat of the fire. The earth core of the walls was good for insulation and also served to keep out draughts, and the chilly winds. The turf and thick thatch, heavy with soot, were also good insulators.

This is John’s photo.  I did not even attempt to enter the Blackhouse.  The smoke was so thick I couldn’t even stand near the open doorway.Also at the Black house Village there were partial dwellings that had little signs telling you what the rooms were used for.  This low building had no fire so I was able to crawl inside.Even with stones being used for construction for thousands of years the fields of Scotland are still full of themFrom the Black House Village we drove further up the coast to the Butt of Lewis; the most northerly tip of the island. This northernmost point of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides lies in the North Atlantic, and is frequently battered by heavy swells and storms and is marked by the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse.  The sight of all the rocks offshore and the strong winds of the north confirms why a lighthouse was needed up here.                   The area is also a favourite spot for bird watchers  From the Butt of Lewis we drove back down almost as far as Black House and then cut across the island back to Stornoway.We spent the night in a very nice room at Thor lee Guest House and caught the ferry back to Ullapool in the morning.

The main town on the Isle of Lewis is Stornoway.  We caught the 9:35 am ferry out of Ullapool and arrived in Stornoway at 12:35. It was a short drive across the island to the Calanais (pronouced Calanish) Standing Stones; one of the most famous and best-preserved Neolithic monuments of Scotland.  The stones are a cross-shaped arrangement that is about 4,000 years old and pre-date the famous monument of Stonehenge in England.  Calanais was an important place for ritual activity for 2,000 years.  It was amazing! We spent over an hour wandering around the stones and then drove up the coast to the Dun Carloway and Doune Broch Centre to see the ancient stone roundhouse.Rough, uneven stone stairways and very narrow corridors. One is never very far from a small-holding sheep farm in northern Scotland. The sheep wander the hills and roads in the same way free-range cattle roam the forests and meadows at home.