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To those who are thinking ‘when is she going to write anything’, we had a little difficulty leaving Aus ha ha. Everything was going smoothly until our departure time of 10:15pm to Doha passed by in Adelaide Airport and the ‘Delayed’ was still marked against our flight. At 11:45, two hundred passengers heard the words we all were dreading: “the flight has been cancelled”. Long story short, we flew out of Melbourne Airport (yes, Melbourne) the following night at 7:05pm to Doha. And if anyone is ever in that situation, I can highly recommend Qatar’s choice of Peppers for accommodation in Adelaide although flying with Qatar again might require more consideration.
We hired a car at Edinburgh Airport. We had booked a car “something like a Ford Focus” and were given an almost new Audi. Thank you Hertz. An hours drive up to Doune in sleety rain and 12C, we felt quite at home coming from Canberra. We checked into the Woodside Hotel. Very quaint in picturesque countryside. Very friendly people. We met up with friends, Rod & Felicity, who are also staying here.
Lucky for us, Rod was born and bred in Doune. After a hearty breakfast, we
set off for Doune Castle. A lot of restoration work about to commence there. Audio commentary was courtesy of Monty Python and Outlander cast, both having used the Castle in production. Doune Castle was built in the late 1300s by Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany. Much of the castle retains its medieval layout. Tough times!
Next stop was the Deanston Distillery. Converted from a cotton mill that employed some 1500 people (many of them women & children), Deanston produces very fine whisky. They produce their own power and contribute to the grid. We had a wonderful tour guide, Ron, who amazingly had only been there two months. We thought he had been there for years!
After a morning walk around the Doune Ponds (a reclaimed sand mine), we headed up to Stirling Castle. Another great tour guide. Fascinating to see a working castle. Stirling Castle is very impressive. Also a lot of restoration work happening and the military museum reminds me of our War Memorial albeit on a smaller scale.
Beautiful dinner tonight at Chez Roux Cromlix.
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Janet
non-member comment
Great blog
Well done on your 2nd entry. Great photos.