Day #7 - Castles & Aberdeen

06 July, 2009 - Writing at 20:08 GMT

We are just loving this vacation thing and we realized that we have not taken a Beth and Taber vacation before - in the past it has always been a vacation with family or others. We love our families very much and want to continue spending time with them and find some additional times for us that are all about Beth and Taber!

Thanks for the posts on the blog, it is fun to read your notes, share the Scottish jokes and laugh. Yes, Silver Dollar, we are losing the right pounds (a.k.a. $) and gaining the bad ones! Yes, Luke, Roger is here and we do talk to him, when he is quiet and does not say anything it seems like someone is missing from the car.

We're in Aberdeen, one of Scotland's larger northern cities. Apparently this is home to lots of fishing vessels and oil drilling companies. We have yet to meet those folk. We departed the good company of Joyce and Tom (Tom used to be a headmaster (a.k.a. principal) in Anstruther and they live right next door to the school!) twice as they got to flag us down and remind us that we had forgotten our fleece jackets - oops!

We left Anstruther and drove to Stonehaven. Stonehaven looks like another wonderful seaside village with a strong fishing community. We were in Stonehaven long enough to grab some snacks, more water and then we navigated to Dunnottar Castle. The pictures speak for themselves. It is 165 steps down from the cliff, across the small spit of land then up into the ruins of the castle. We thought of Luke (our 12 year old nephew) as we knew he'd have a wonderful time exploring the buildings and wondering what each was used for. We picked the right time of day as there weren't a lot of visitors in the castle and we went where we wanted to and took lots of people free photos.

The home of 'Beth's people' was our next destination. Fraser Castle (Beth's maiden name is Frazier) is outside of Aberdeen and without Roger (the GPS or SatNav as the Scots call it) we would not have found the place. It is a terrific castle, but tucked out of the way on another wonderfully windy Scottish road without a lot of signs to mark it. As I type Beth is reading one of the guides we bought. I posted a photo of Beth in front of the castle, which is known for the "Z" formation, that is supposed to be effective for defense. I thought the Dunnottar Castle looked easier to defend, but what do I know? We do not have any interior photos to share as we were not allowed to take any, but we did have an enjoyable visit with some knowledgeable guides. This was our first trip inside a castle that was still standing with an intact and furnished interior. Castle Fraser had been restored by the family that purchased it in 1921 and they subsequently donated it to the National Trust for Scotland in 1976.

We are staying at the Aldersyde House in Aberdeen and had dinner (Beth had fish (yes - fish!) and chips and I had the steak and Guinness pie and we each had a pint (Beth = cider, Taber =

the beer that the guy drinking a Guinness suggested!). The hunt for Haggis continues, but part of the challenge is finding a place that makes Haggis and something Beth likes.

Tomorrow we're off to the Gordon Highlanders Museum (the Akins are part of the Gordon clan), another castle and we want to explore Aberdeen before we leave on Wednesday.