Stonehaven and Dunnottar Castle in the rain

The view from our Aberdeen hotel room. We couldn't figure out how to get to the front of this building, as it seemed to be hemmed in by other buildings, so we are not sure what it is. Maybe a church (maybe decommissioned?).

We started the day with a trip to Primark, where I bought the girls lightweight rain jackets. They didn't have any in the big girls' department, so I had to buy a women's extra small for Avery. Lots of room to grow into it! We also bought two umbrellas. We had bought a plaid umbrella at a shop in Edinburgh, but it seemed to have "issues" so I didn't feel confident about it. The ones in Primark seemed a little sturdier, although they were plain blue and black -- no hints of Scotland.

We then walked to the train station and boarded the train for a 20 minute ride to Stonehaven. This is a small coastal town with beautiful stone buildings and a harbour.

From the Stonehaven train station, we walked down to the harbour, where the coastal path to Dunnottar Castle begins. The walk was downhill, past lots of beautiful stone houses with lovely gardens, and we found the coastal path with no trouble. However, only a few minutes after we started walking, it became extremely windy and rainy -- so bad that I decided we should take a taxi instead of walking. We found a coffee shop where we took shelter and I asked where to get a taxi. The young guy looked quite sorry for us as he said we would have to walk quite a distance to the taxi rank in the town square. Of course we were not thrilled to hear that, but we set off and after about 10 minutes, we reached the square, where we found one taxi. Whew! The driver was very nice and gave me his contact info in case we wanted a ride back after touring the castle.

Again, we had to go up and down a lot of steps to reach the castle. The girls counted, but I forget exactly how many -- maybe in the 70s.

This castle is perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. I must admit, it would have been nicer to explore if the sun had been shining, but even in the rain, it was spectacular.

The steps leading to the castle

As we were leaving the castle grounds, we met a family who had walked from the down along the coastal path, so I stopped to chat with them. They were all enthusiastic about their walk and persuaded us to give it a whirl. The rain was much lighter now and even let up at times, and the view was breath-taking.

Scottish thistles are subtly different from the ones we have here. They look prettier, but maybe it's psychological, a result of knowing they are the country's national symbol?

Interestingly, despite the wind and rain, we saw quite a lot of people out in boats -- sailboats, kayaks, and other small craft. 

Part of a healthy Scottish meal! Irn Bru and a shortbread variety pack.

We each had a sip of Irn Bru and decided that was enough.

We also had sandwiches, delicious UK carrots, and fruit for dinner, and then after eating went out for a walk. I was hoping to walk down to the beach, but I let the girls lead, and we just ended up exploring the streets near the hotel, finishing up at the park we went to yesterday.

The other thing we had to try -- a deep fried Mars Bar. Avery and I agreed that it was NOT delicious, but Zoe thought it was OK.

Our step total for today was quite impressive, especially the "flights climbed" section!

Edinburgh Castle & train to Aberdeen

 The hotel breakfast did not disappoint! We even got to try haggis. I had forgotten exactly what it was, and fortunately, I didn't google it until after I tasted it.

I can't say it is my favourite thing, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I will admit that I didn't eat all of it. Zoe and Avery both tried it. Neither asked for more! 

After breakfast, we made our way to Edinburgh Castle, where I had booked tickets for 9:30.

Again with the steps -- more than 100! This was one set, called Granny's Green.

The castle was pretty amazing. They give the kids an activity page with various things to look for and questions to answer about each item. That was perfect to keep the girls interested and motivated to wander through the different buildings, tunnels, etc.

When we finished our castle tour, we still had some time before our train to Aberdeen. (Because of missing the flight, we missed out on a whole day in Edinburgh, which included a bike tour.) It was a little hard to know what to do. I would have liked to climb Arthur's Seat, but we were told that would take 2 hours, plus the time to get there, and I wasn't sure if we could make it.

So, we ended up just wandering around, looking in shops and exploring quaint streets.

I think Zoe felt like she was in heaven in this Harry Potter shop!

I had told the girls to keep an eye out for kilts. We saw a few, but not as many as Dave and I saw when we were at the Colosseum in Rome!

From the train on our way to Aberdeen:

I was a little surprised at the amount of farmland and that it was not as green as I had been led to expect.

Aberdeen:

Our walk from the train station to our hotel included more steps -- 65 or more, and a quaint street called Windmill Lane.

The Holiday Inn Express City Centre in Aberdeen:

This lovely park was a 5-minute walk from the hotel, perfect for an evening stroll before bed.