Castles and Such....

Inside a moldering castle.. I haven't used the word 'moldering' before.  That's fun.  Moldering.

Today we got passes that would get us into many historic sites for the day.  As it gets to be a better deal the more sites you visit, I knew it was going to be a tiring day.  We started with a tour of a whiskey distillery and then hit the road stopping at as many places as possible.  Our last stop was at Dunnottar Castle.  These ruins were featured in Mel Gibson's "Hamlet".  I had visited them once before with my friends when I was studying in Italy.  It was different this time.  There was a car park and wide path all the way to the castle.  When I was here years ago, we had to search to find a small little trail head and then hike a mile or so and approach the ruins from the side.  It was a slippery slide down some neglected steps to the facade which was built into the rocky sides of a cliff.  There wasn't another person there and it felt as if we had randomly come across it.  This time, there were many other people there and it was a short leisurely walk to the vista point.  The stairs looked new and there was even a hand rail taking you down to the entrance of the castle.  Being older and more prissy now, I appreciated the pains that had been taken.  Part of me though, the romantic and mud-loving part,  preferred the first time I had visited it. 

In Elgin Cathedral.

On top of a moldering castle.

The group in front of Dunnottar Castle

Jason and I walking very dramatically away from the moldering ruins of Dunnottar Castle.  Ok, I'll stop.

On the long drive home, we stopped to visit with these friendly Scot fellows.

One of the only pictures I took on the trip!