Castle Fraser

We woke up Sunday morning to sunshine and blue skies, so we knew we wanted to be out and about for the day. Since we have memberships to the National Trust of Scotland, we decided to go visit one of the local castles - Castle Fraser. The good news with this castle, as with a lot of the Scottish castles, is that there were two woodland walks on its grounds ... so we were able to stretch our legs and Tux had a terrific time running around and exploring. Between the two walks, Lynn and I stopped in at the tearoom and had a cup of tea/coffee and shared a "fancy piece" (ie, piece of apple sponge cake) and then we did a quick self-guided tour of the 16 rooms within the castle.

As we were leaving the castle grounds, we saw a hot air balloon group preparing for an evening launch. Lynn, her sister and 2 friends did the same ride about a year ago, on the same type of beautiful evening ... sunshine/sunset, blue skies and slight breeze.

All in all, it was a super day enjoying one of the historic sights of Scotland!

Lonach Gathering & Highland Games

Last Saturday we attended the 169th annual Lonach Gathering & Highland Games at Bellabeg Park in Strathdon. What an amazing experience! This is a true Scottish tradition. The day starts with the March of the Clansmen at 8 am where, carrying pikes, axes, and standards, they visit prominent households in the area claiming wee drams of whisky at each stop. Dressed in full highland gear they march over the hills for 6 miles. With a wee dram at each stop it is no wonder they continue the tradition of being followed by a horse and cart should any feel the need for a wee rest.

At 1 pm (and then again at 3 pm), this huge group of clansmen march into the Bellabeg Park arena being lead in by a large (bag)pipe band. What an experience to witness! Other events of the day at the Park include Highland Games (throwing the hammer, tossing the caber, etc.), best dressed Scotsman competition, highland dancing, bagpipe competition, tug of war, and the hill race (people of the general public register to run up a local hill - what stamina they have to have to compete!)

There are also tents set up all around the arena where various vendors sell their wares (food, drink, candies, clothes, kilts, etc.).

We lucked out with the weather - there were a couple bouts of showers when we had to break out the umbrellas but in general it was fairly clear and the sun even came out a few times! Thankfully it was dry during the two clansmen marches, so I was able to really "soak" it all in!