Loch Ness and Inverness

We knew that we wanted to go to Loch Ness and the Isle of Skye – the question was how to get there. We typically don’t rent cars in foreign countries, so exploring other options took quite a bit of research. I looked at so many time tables, bus schedules, and maps! I saw that there was train from Aberdeen to Inverness, but I couldn’t figure out if the bus from Inverness would take us to Urquhart castle at Loch Ness. We ended up making a day trip of Loch Ness and Urquhart with the Baylors, but later learned that it was indeed possible to be dropped off by the bus directly at Urquhart. 

wooden gangway

5 story Grant Tower of Loch Ness

We had wonderful weather for the day at Loch Ness – sunshine! Admission was £7.20 each. Passing by the massive replica of a medieval wooden catapult and crossing over the wooden gangway, what would have been the drawbridge, one enters the castle grounds.  There is a multitude of ruins to view, including the kitchen, smithy, great hall, chambers, and one of my personal favorites, the dovecots (reminiscent of what we saw at Masada in Israel). There is also the large 5 story Grant Tower overlooking Loch Ness providing beautiful views of the lake as well as the castle grounds if you climb to the top of it.   

in the tower

Tim Barker overlooking Loch Ness

Dovecots at Loch Ness

Urquhart is one of the largest castles in Scotland. It was built in the 1230’s, seized by the English in 1296, sacked by the MacDonald Lord of the Isles in 1545, and left to fall into decay after 1689. Most of the existing buildings date from about the 14th century.

 

We left Drumnadrochit and headed south to the end of the loch via bus. The buses are like large touring buses with individual upholstered seats and overhead storage. We took the Scottish Citylink 919 from Inverness (the Junction Bus Base )to Invergarry on A82 (see the timetable for Inverness to Skye for all the stops along the way). We did get glimpses of the Caledonian Canal, Loch Oich, and Loch Garry from our seats. 

 

 While waiting in Invergarry for a little less than one hour, we trampled around the river a little and then decided to get out of the rain. We stumbled upon, rather romantically, the Invergarry Hotel , which is actually the only thing around, and headed in to have ourselves a little afternoon tea. I would absolutely recommend stopping in there if you need a warm up and want a relaxing quiet atmosphere. There seems to have been some hiking trails around there as well, if one had more time.

The Bridge at Invergarry & Classic stone walls in Scotland and England

The bus stop at Invergarry, UK

Tea at the Invergarry Hotel

The last leg of our journey that day took us from Invergarry to Portree on the Isle of Skye via bus 916. Due to the time of year, it was dark before we arrived at 5:07pm. But we were able to see 2 castles enroute as well as the bridge to Skye. 

Eilean Donan Castle, Lochalsh, UK

The Bridge to Skye

Dunnottar Castle in Stonehaven, Scotland

Dunnottar Castle was probably (in retrospect) my favorite castle. It was amazing! 

 

Before getting to the castle, about 2 miles north, we stopped in the town of Stonehaven and got deep-fried Mars bars at the original fish and chip shop, Carron.  

  And for dinner we had fish and chips at The Bay, again in retrospect, the absolute best we had during our whole time in Scotland. And it’s really no wonder that they were the best; they were just named Scotland’s best and will be competing for the title of best in the UK in a few weeks. I would absolutely recommend them. However, there was no seating and it was November! So we were a little chilly sitting out on the beach promenade! 

 Now on to the castle! The views of it from what appears to be the main land are breath-taking; it’s high up on a cliff; the grounds are a beautiful green despite it being late in November; and the waves are crashing below on the shore! 

Tim was so excited about being at the North Sea

Several key figures spent time at Dunnottar including, Mary Queen of Scots, William Wallace, and the future King Charles II. However, as I mentioned here, what Dunnottar is most famous for, is the safekeeping of the Scottish Crown Jewels, while Cromwell's army was after them. 

The four of us had such an amazingly fun time! We walked over to the right to get the cliff like view of the castle. 

Then, on our way down the hundreds of stairs, (okay maybe not hundreds, but a lot of stairs) we went a bit off the beaten path and ventured down this steep side to the rock covered shore. Again, we had so much fun leisurely taking pictures, throwing and collecting rocks, and having quite the adventure as friends. 

  

We scrambled back up the side of the cliff and then finished the stairs up to the castle. The entrance fee was 5£. Inside we explored the various ruins and took quite a few more pictures which can be found here (coming soon). 

Dunnottar Castle Guide to Ruins

Whigs Vault (where 167 Convenantars were imprisoned for "Christ's Crown & Covenant")

The Chapel

Tim and Katie ~ Julie and Tim

View from the top of the Towerhouse (Keep)

The Towerhouse

We made a full afternoon of Stonehaven and Dunnottar castle and soaked up the winds of the North Sea. 

Education, Salvation, and a little Creation

Looking down to the first floor of the library

 

On Tuesday, we went over to Old Aberdeen; Baylor gave us his brief but grand tour of The University of Aberdeen. We definitely enjoyed the views of the North Sea from the top floors of the new library, and Tim was glad to poke around and see what kind of resources they had.

The New Library

 We saw the courtyard of Kings College, a private library Baylor has access to, as well as some other interesting gates and sculptures around the university.

Barker and Baylor

Baylor's "private" library

Us in front of Kings College

I almost forgot we weren't at Disney!

"The Student" with his apple cut in half

 Within walking distance is the Cathedral Church of St. Machar founded in 580 AD; the present building dates from 1350. Below it is another garden, Seaton Park, that Tim and walked around in while we waited to meet up again with Baylor. 

On Wednesday I got to join Jules for her weekly play date with other women from the Aberdeen Women’s Fellowship. While walking back, we poked our heads in a used furniture-slash-charity shop and picked up a whole pile of things for one pound total!  

Super glad I had a chance to go out one night just with Julie, and then another night just the 4 of us went out while the kids stayed with a sitter. The night Julie and I went out we had such a fun and wonderful time laughing, talking, sharing... I know we won't quickly forget the memories we made that night. 

Around Aberdeen, Scotland

 Arriving in Aberdeen, Tim and Julie were fantastic hosts, serving delicious meals, providing tours of their town and university, and accompanying us on our other day trips away from Aberdeen.

We enjoyed taking part in their daily tea and digestives. 

 

Playing and reading to the girls. . .

. . . and hanging out late at night like old times – chatting away. 

 

On Monday, we walked around Abderdeen, taking in the sites. Before walking along the Union Terrace Gardens, we stopped to admire the view and let Maddy feed the birds  - she was thrilled with the birds, waving and saying hello!

 

At the north end of the gardens we saw the buildings quipped “Education, Salvation, and Damnation”: The Central library, St Mark's Church, His Majesty's Theater.

In honor of William Wallace

"Education, Salvation, and Damnation"

 

After lunch at Old Blackfriars, one of Aberdeen’s oldest and best-loved pubs, we parted ways. Tim and I headed towards the upper docks to see the big ships.

We stopped in the visitor’s information center to pick up some more postcards, a patch for my collection, and some helpful brochures.

 St. Nicholas Kirk, had an interesting kirkyard (church yard – graveyard) but we couldn't figure out how to get in the church despite it supposedly being open!

And Marishal College, the second largest granite building in the world, has a long history and helps to give the Granite City its name.  

 We paused our exploring and rested in Books and Beans with some lattes and a panettone. We sat up on the second story and looked out the window between shelves of books. The books seemed to be primarily fiction, so we didn’t find any must-haves.

After taking the #17 bus, when we got back, Julie was getting ready to serve us another restaurant quality meal: Bobby Flay's chicken and waffles! It was quite amazing - I don't know that I'll ever conquer that one so it was a treat for sure!