Family Time: Day 6

Posted by Kalie on November 30, 2009

Friday we spent the morning traveling to and exploring the area around Cruden Bay, a small coastal town north of Aberdeen.  First we stopped at the harbor, then my dad, Shawn, and I hiked a kilometer to the ruins of Slain’s Castle.  This castle was different from all the others I’ve visited.  While it’s open to the public, it hasn’t been kept up.  In the early 1900’s it was abandoned and the roof was removed.  It lies on the North Sea coast along sheer cliffs.  The general atmosphere of the castle is creepy as it is nearly fully in tact aside from having no roof.  This castle was inspiration for Bram Stoker’s story of Dracula.  After visiting it, I understand why!  Creepiness aside, it was a nice venture and made for some great photos on the sunny day.  The scenery of the ocean cliffs alone was worth the walk down the muddy lane.

From Cruden Bay, we drove to Turriff to visit Delgatie Castle.  This was the castle my family and I stayed at for a week two years.  This castle is also very different from the others, as it has been refurbished into self-catering flats.  It has ties to the Hay clan, which is special to my family as my mom’s maiden name is Hayes.  We stopped in the tea room and chatted with the owner who we had gotten to know two years ago.  (It was also my first time to have proper high tea while in Scotland.  I had black tea and a scone prepared with butter, jelly, and cream.)

That night we found a pub in Aberdeen, The Blue Lamp, that had live music.  It was open mic night, so good music wasn’t a guarantee.  Fortunately, most of the acts were very good and we even got a taste of some traditional Scottish music.

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