Day 15 - Tuesday 6/9/15 – Grantown on Spey to Edinburgh,
Balmoral Castle
We were up at 7:15 and were the first down for breakfast at 8:15. I had ordered the Scottish breakfast with scrambled eggs, and on the side - tomatoes, mushrooms, and haggis. Before the hot breakfast came, I had some cereal. Bill got the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. The toast was brown bread - homemade.
Of course it was a glorious morning - much warmer and lots of sun!!! Now that we are leaving, the weather is going to improve dramatically. We hauled our suitcases down 37 steps from the top floor and said our goodbyes to Neil and Karen. They were a delightful pair of hosts.
We were on the road at 9:45 headed towards Balmoral Castle. It was only a 38 mile drive, but the roads are still the back roads going from huge green rolling hills and farmland to monstrous mountains and steep (try 20% grades) hills. The weather continued to be beautiful all day!
We arrived at Balmoral at 11:30. It wasn't too terribly crowded. One parks the car and then walks across a river to the ticket and transportation. They have a covered trailer with benches that takes us through the beautiful woods to the beginning of the tour. These estates - Ballindalloch, Glenlivet, Balmoral - are massive estates and cover woods, lakes, farmlands, etc.
We got our audio tour and headed off. The stables have a really interesting array of exhibits - cars, carts, photos, a movie. Then we headed off to the front of the castle. It was very much like Ballindalloch with the castle facing a huge lawn with gardens and woods around the yard. We took photos and enjoyed the sun and warmth. The only room we were allowed to enter was the ballroom which was a permanently converted exhibit room. They did leave a stairway covered in the tartan that Queen Victoria had used extensively.
We went by the cafe and checked out the menu. It was really quite a good one and had some items I had wanted to try. We got a "coronation chicken" sandwich (chicken salad with curry powder) dreamed up for Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953. We also got a beef bridie which is a Scottish meat pastry (looks like a pastie). I wanted a taste of clapshot which was paired with a chicken dish, so the nice guy put some on with the bridie. Clapshot is mashed turnips, potatoes with cheese. For dessert we had a scone with clotted cream and jam. What a lovely final meal in Scotland!!
We left the castle for our final push to the airport (another 100 miles) at 2:15. The scenery was amazing all the way to the outskirts of Edinburgh. I have lots of photos and videos. I did use the GoPro but ran out of battery after the Castle. I got video from my still camera, so all is well.
We came into the airport and got the car back to Avis at 4pm. It was a pain unloading all of our junk from the car, but I think we got everything. We only got charged $225 for the second tire Bill blew, so we felt lucky. At least we made it back in one piece even if the car didn't.
We didn't have to go too far to catch the Holiday Inn shuttle, got here, checked in, and now we are ready to collapse. Luckily they have a small dinner menu in the bar, so we got a light dinner and are now trying to repack to go home.
It has been an amazing trip. It will take me several days to process it all in my head and do my photos!!
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| Barb at Balmoral Castle |
We were up at 7:15 and were the first down for breakfast at 8:15. I had ordered the Scottish breakfast with scrambled eggs, and on the side - tomatoes, mushrooms, and haggis. Before the hot breakfast came, I had some cereal. Bill got the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. The toast was brown bread - homemade.
Of course it was a glorious morning - much warmer and lots of sun!!! Now that we are leaving, the weather is going to improve dramatically. We hauled our suitcases down 37 steps from the top floor and said our goodbyes to Neil and Karen. They were a delightful pair of hosts.
We were on the road at 9:45 headed towards Balmoral Castle. It was only a 38 mile drive, but the roads are still the back roads going from huge green rolling hills and farmland to monstrous mountains and steep (try 20% grades) hills. The weather continued to be beautiful all day!
We arrived at Balmoral at 11:30. It wasn't too terribly crowded. One parks the car and then walks across a river to the ticket and transportation. They have a covered trailer with benches that takes us through the beautiful woods to the beginning of the tour. These estates - Ballindalloch, Glenlivet, Balmoral - are massive estates and cover woods, lakes, farmlands, etc.
We got our audio tour and headed off. The stables have a really interesting array of exhibits - cars, carts, photos, a movie. Then we headed off to the front of the castle. It was very much like Ballindalloch with the castle facing a huge lawn with gardens and woods around the yard. We took photos and enjoyed the sun and warmth. The only room we were allowed to enter was the ballroom which was a permanently converted exhibit room. They did leave a stairway covered in the tartan that Queen Victoria had used extensively.
We went by the cafe and checked out the menu. It was really quite a good one and had some items I had wanted to try. We got a "coronation chicken" sandwich (chicken salad with curry powder) dreamed up for Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953. We also got a beef bridie which is a Scottish meat pastry (looks like a pastie). I wanted a taste of clapshot which was paired with a chicken dish, so the nice guy put some on with the bridie. Clapshot is mashed turnips, potatoes with cheese. For dessert we had a scone with clotted cream and jam. What a lovely final meal in Scotland!!
We left the castle for our final push to the airport (another 100 miles) at 2:15. The scenery was amazing all the way to the outskirts of Edinburgh. I have lots of photos and videos. I did use the GoPro but ran out of battery after the Castle. I got video from my still camera, so all is well.
We came into the airport and got the car back to Avis at 4pm. It was a pain unloading all of our junk from the car, but I think we got everything. We only got charged $225 for the second tire Bill blew, so we felt lucky. At least we made it back in one piece even if the car didn't.
We didn't have to go too far to catch the Holiday Inn shuttle, got here, checked in, and now we are ready to collapse. Luckily they have a small dinner menu in the bar, so we got a light dinner and are now trying to repack to go home.
It has been an amazing trip. It will take me several days to process it all in my head and do my photos!!
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