May 11, 2015
Using Bed and Breakfast facilities for our housing has been wonderful! The original plans were to find places on the fly. After further thinking, Kathy decided to pre-book the accommodations and she did a perfect job. We are meeting new friends at each location and could not get better service. Our current hosts even washed and dried our laundry!
Do you remember the story of John Brown, the devoted servant of Queen Victoria? The movie, "Mrs Brown" with Judi Dench, tells the story of her friendship with this Scottish highlander who helped her during her grief following the death of Prince Albert. Well, we found his burial site at the beautiful little cemetery of Crathie Church near Balmoral Castle. This is the royal residence in August and September each year and right down the road from our B & B. Cemeteries are such a great historical record!
Leaving the River Dee, we headed up a very curvy, roller coaster, one lane road that was challenging but very fun to drive. We crossed little stone bridges that were so arched in the middle, I'm sure long trucks would get high centered. This route brought us by yet another ski resort, and to the small community of Grantown with a two block long farmers market. We enjoyed perusing the many handcrafted items including some great chocolate and rapeseed oil. The fields all around Scotland and England are bright yellow with the flowering rapeseed.
Todays castle of choice is the Cawdor Castle on our way to Inverness. We were there just yesterday but we both are having a hard time remembering what we saw on the inside. I guess we are suffering from Castle memory overload. I have been continually impressed with how well these beautiful homes have been displayed. It is easy to understand what life was like during the different periods of each of these castles. I guess you will just have to come to Scotland yourself to really get the full picture.
We change gears now as we drive deeper into the highlands and closer to Inverness. Every now and then in history, there are events that are game changers. For the Scots, it was the battle of Culloden. It was another battle for dominance, this time between the Scottish Clansman and the English. After many years of conflict, the English conquered the Scots on the battlefield of Culloden. The area is well preserved and we walked the battlefields and heard the story unfold as we walked. So many were killed at this one place.
Following this strategic battle, the English continued to persecute the highlanders by taking their land and sending them to lives of starvation and neglect. Oh the crimes against humanity that have been committed for dominance and personal gain.
We have now made our way to the city of Inverness and found our next home without difficulty. We are just a few blocks from the downtown area where we found a great little pub that provided very creative and tasty grub!
Tim and Kathy
Using Bed and Breakfast facilities for our housing has been wonderful! The original plans were to find places on the fly. After further thinking, Kathy decided to pre-book the accommodations and she did a perfect job. We are meeting new friends at each location and could not get better service. Our current hosts even washed and dried our laundry!
Do you remember the story of John Brown, the devoted servant of Queen Victoria? The movie, "Mrs Brown" with Judi Dench, tells the story of her friendship with this Scottish highlander who helped her during her grief following the death of Prince Albert. Well, we found his burial site at the beautiful little cemetery of Crathie Church near Balmoral Castle. This is the royal residence in August and September each year and right down the road from our B & B. Cemeteries are such a great historical record!
Leaving the River Dee, we headed up a very curvy, roller coaster, one lane road that was challenging but very fun to drive. We crossed little stone bridges that were so arched in the middle, I'm sure long trucks would get high centered. This route brought us by yet another ski resort, and to the small community of Grantown with a two block long farmers market. We enjoyed perusing the many handcrafted items including some great chocolate and rapeseed oil. The fields all around Scotland and England are bright yellow with the flowering rapeseed.
Todays castle of choice is the Cawdor Castle on our way to Inverness. We were there just yesterday but we both are having a hard time remembering what we saw on the inside. I guess we are suffering from Castle memory overload. I have been continually impressed with how well these beautiful homes have been displayed. It is easy to understand what life was like during the different periods of each of these castles. I guess you will just have to come to Scotland yourself to really get the full picture.
We change gears now as we drive deeper into the highlands and closer to Inverness. Every now and then in history, there are events that are game changers. For the Scots, it was the battle of Culloden. It was another battle for dominance, this time between the Scottish Clansman and the English. After many years of conflict, the English conquered the Scots on the battlefield of Culloden. The area is well preserved and we walked the battlefields and heard the story unfold as we walked. So many were killed at this one place.
Following this strategic battle, the English continued to persecute the highlanders by taking their land and sending them to lives of starvation and neglect. Oh the crimes against humanity that have been committed for dominance and personal gain.
We have now made our way to the city of Inverness and found our next home without difficulty. We are just a few blocks from the downtown area where we found a great little pub that provided very creative and tasty grub!
Tim and Kathy
Need to correct you about Culloden. It wasn't an English versus Scottish conflict. It was a Protestant versus Roman Catholic civil war. There were Scots fighting on both sides and on the Jacobite side there were French and Irish soldiers. It was not a battle that secured English dominance of Scotland, but it did result in the systematic dismantling of the Clan system in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteThank you to Secret Scotland for the historical correction on our blog! Your guide has been great for us on our adventure through Scotland. Directions have been easy to follow and your suggestions have worked very well. Thank You!!
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