Dunnottar castle, looking rather Aurthurian
We awoke to bright blue skies and after a delicious breakfast at the Shorehead Guesthouse (scrambled eggs with smoked salmon), we climbed the hill to find Dunnottar Castle, a ruined medieval castle with extensive grounds on a rocky headland. We had a beautiful mile and a half hike along the headlands before reaching the castle, and this was one of the best castles we’ve ever visited. This one was well worth paying for!
Climbing up from the harbor
Path and war memorial
Hey hay!
Blackbird
And now two
Finally approaching the castle
The next challenge was to hunt down the Easter Aquhorthies stone circle, a rare complete circle of stones dating to the third century BC. After a couple of wrong turns and interesting adventures in trying to turn around on winding, one lane country roads (thank you, Lisa!), we finally pulled into the tiny car park and trekked up the hill to find the circle. It’s always a bit mind-blowing to think of the people who precisely placed these huge stones in position millennia ago, and wondering why, exactly, did they do that? We will never know for sure, and it really doesn’t matter if we never know, but darn! It makes me wonder.
Stoned
We had a mission for the next destination. We had to find the red phone box in Pennan, where the film, Local Hero, was filmed. It was a fantastic drive along the north coast and then a slightly nerve-wracking plunge down the extremely windy and steep, one-lane (of course!) road into the tiny village that is barely tucked in between the stone cliff and the sea. Picturesque hardly describes it and one can easily see why it was chosen as the film site. The phone booth is still there and fortunately so was a woman selling scones and tea from her shoreside stand. It was the perfect accompaniment to the brisk weather and dramatic views.
Pennan
From the other end of town
And there it is!
Tea and scones
Pennan cottage
Our final destination for the day was the Mash Tun guest house and restaurant in Aberlour. What a blissful place to end the day’s travels. The few rooms to let are upstairs above the bar and restaurant and overlook the River Spey. The bar offers a huge menu of single malt whiskies and the restaurant offers a simple but wonderfully prepared menu. The bar is the center of activity and is a very popular place. It was hoppin’ when we got there and did not let up for hours, but everyone was having a grand time and we all just joined in. We did not have far to walk to go to bed!
Mike was of course in whisky heaven. The whisky list was a whole book that included tasting notes on every whisky there. He made sure to order plenty for Tami as well, mostly so he could taste them too. Still, at the end of the night our favorite remained Glenfarclas, a discovery on our last trip to Scotland. Mike then topped off his night with a dinner of haggis nachos!
Perusing the BOOK, notice the blissful smile
Part of the Glenfarclas collection
Couldn’t resist