Donnottar Castle

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What a weekend!

Me and a couple of other international students decided to get out of Aberdeen and visit Donnottar Castle. We took the bus from our dorm, downtown, where we had to walk and find the bus station. Luckily, one of my flatmates was on her way to work and helped us out a bit and we found it no problem. After a rude man told us with an unidentifiable phrase which bus we had to take, we figured it out ourselves and ended up on the right bus...whew!!

Stonehaven, by bus is about 40ish minutes from Aberdeen. Lucky for us, the weather was sunny, so we were all in high spirits. We got to Stonehaven and guessed at which stop to get off at. As we were wondering around, an elderly guy saw and asked if we were trying to find the castle. He pegged us for tourists...it wasn't too hard. We had travel books out and backpacks on😊 He showed us where to go and gave us a little history of each road we were on. This city is like Cheers; you go there and everyone knows your name. This guy knew everybody!

It was quite a hike up to the castle, but well worth it! The view was absolutely amazing!!! Words can't describe! This castle is directly on a cliff that drops right into the North Sea. The best part about this whole trip was that it was not "touristy." Basically, you find the way up, you follow the one and only path, and you go. Nothing else. On the way up we also saw a war memorial; one of two in the world, the other in Mesopatamia. Pretty breathtaking. We stayed and took pictures; hiked the way over to the castle, which took a lot longer than anticipated, but again, well worth it.

The way back down went considerably quicker because we weren't stopping to take pictures every 2 minutes. We found a cute little cafe and had a well-deserved lunch. I tried lasagna, Scotland style. It was literaly drenched with cheese. Hmmmmmmmmm!

By this time we were all beat, so after we chased down our bus, (we were on the wrong side of the road), we hopped on and headed back to Aberdeen.

It was the perfect little day trip. Hope their are many more of those to come!

On my way to class today, it was quite entertaining to watch everyone slip and fall on the icy roads. I walk in the snow and have no problem...the girls where high heels and skirts and try to manage their way on the icy roads😊 Good laugh!

I am trying to get a ticket for the International Societies day trip to Loch Ness this Saturday. I am REALLY hoping I can get one! If not, I might just find a bus that goes to Loch Ness and follow behind...😊

Enjoy the pictures!

http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274333428/a=75322821_75322821/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink

http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=274331448/a=75322821_75322821/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink

Cheers!

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Comments

[Allison]

Wow, those pictures are so beautiful! I'm glad to hear that you've mastered the strategy of just guessing where to go--that's the best way to do it! ;)