Guest post: “Scotland – Why I love it. Part 2” – by Annette

12

Saturday 14 February, 2015 by Uncle Spike

This is the second in a mini-series on Scotland. After the popularity of my own Scottish travel images from the old days, this one is from our special Guest Writer for this month. Annette, from My Aberdeen Garden, and I are mutual followers, and as a long time resident of Scotland, she offered to share her perspective on life around the north-eastern area of Scotland that is Aberdeen. Enjoy…. SPIKE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scotland – Why I love it (part two)

.

MAP OF THE ROUTE

.

Leaving Aberdeen and travelling south takes us to Stonehaven, a wonderful old fishing village, now famous for the Hogmanay Fireball ceremony. During this ceremony local ‘swingers’ whirl great balls of fire around their heads as they walk down the High Street before hurling them into the sea after midnight.

We have never been to this ceremony as we prefer to spend Hogmanay nearer home without danger of catching fire, but we often visit the little harbour full of fishing boats and enjoy an ice cream sitting on the sea wall.

.

.

.

There are some great pubs on the water front where you have a great choice of food. You can try a wonderful soup from a little further north, Cullen Skink, made from smoked fish and potatoes or around Burns night you can try such local delicacies as haggis risotto. Of course for the faint hearted there is always plain haddock and chips and very nice it is too.

Just up from the harbour is Dunnottar Castle. This is a real fairytale castle sitting on a headland above Stonehaven. It has been used for various productions, including the film version of Hamlet starring Mel Gibson.

.

.

The earliest part of this castle is the chapel which dates back to 1276, but some of the later parts are in good repair and are used for events such as weddings. I have no idea how they get all the catering stuff there – they must drop it from a helicopter I think.

.

.

This castle has everything from nesting puffins to its resident ghosts. That is not surprising as it has a long and bloody history. Most famously, in 1652, the castle protected the Scottish Crown Jewels from Oliver Cromwell who had invaded Scotland from England.

One ghost who is said to roam in the ruins of the brewery is known as The Green Lady as she is dressed in a green tartan dress. I can honestly say, though, that I have visited the castle on numerous occasions and have not even caught a glimpse.

.

LOOKING FOR PUFFINS OR MAYBE GHOSTS

.

It is a great castle to take children to visit as there are all sorts of alleys, tunnels and steps leading to mysterious and secret areas.

There are rather a lot of steps back up to the car park, though, and all sorts of games have to be devised to get younger children to walk back up.

At least they usually sleep well that night – unless of course they are dreaming about those ghosts.

written by: ANNETTE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m Annette, a keen gardener, traveller and blogger living in Aberdeen, Scotland. I have lived in my garden, well not literally you understand, since 1987 with my husband, aka The Traveller, and my three children.

I have always loved gardening but in the early days there were always things getting in the way: Mums and toddlers, gymnastics classes, school shows, taxi runs, you get the picture. Now my children are all grown up and I have recently retired so I have lots of lovely time to tend to my garden and to write my blog. I am also interested in photography so hopefully you will see my photos improve as my blog matures, rather than deteriorate as I mature!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this second in the mini-series on my perspective of life in the Aberdeen area.

Annette

You can visit my blog at https://myaberdeengarden.wordpress.com

.