Chapter 8 - Aberdeen Part II

Chapter 8 – Aberdeen Part II

Thursday, September 8, 2022

We prepared breakfast in the Airbnb. Duncan of Duncan's Tours picked us up near our apartment at 9:30 am and we headed south to see Glamis Castle near the village of Glamis in Angus, Scotland (Photo 8 - 1). It is the home of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Glamis was the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, wife of George VI,

and mother to Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth II’s younger sister, Princess Margaret, was born here. Queen Elizabeth visited here many times as she grew up.

Glamis Castle is in a beautiful rural area and has a lovely view of the Montrose Basin, an enclosed estuary of the river South Esk. William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth references Glamis as the home of King Macbeth although there’s no historical connection to the castle. The Castle was used as a military hospital during World War I. It is currently the home of the 19th Earl.

We traveled from Glamis just a short way to the House of Dun which was home to the Erskine (later Kennedy-Erskine) family from 1375 to 1980. The 13th Laird of Dun was an Edinburgh lawyer appointed Lord of Justiciary in 1710. His wife, Lady Augusta, was an illegitimate daughter of King William IV. She “modernized” the home and filled it with her exquisite needlework – chairs, cushions, curtains, and bed duvets that are still on display and show amazing skill (photo 8 – 2). The last Laird of Dun was Mrs. Millicent Lovett who on her death bequeathed the house and all its furnishings to the

National Trust for Scotland.

We had lunch in the café at the House of Dun prior to our tour. After the tour, Sarah walked through the walled gardens, some of the most manicured and beautiful we’ve seen (Photo 8 – 3).

Following the coast back toward the north, we stopped off at Johnshaven, a coastal village along the North Sea with a population of about 640. We saw lots of lobster traps and a fisherman making new ones (Photo 8 – 4). Following a narrow country road, we drove to Catterlien, another small coastal

town. We got our first glimpse of Highland Coos (or Beasties) although none wanted to cooperate for a good picture (Photo 8 – 5). Catterlien sits up on a cliff overlooking a curved bay said to be a landing point for St. Ninian around 400 A.D. to try and convert the Picts to Christianity (Photo 8 – 6).

We stopped off at Dunnottar Castle, a ruined Medieval fortress on the eastern coast of Scotland (Photo 8 – 7). It’s best known as the place the Scottish crown jewels were hidden from Oliver Cromwell’s invading army in the 17th century. Our last stop of the day was Stonehaven, another lovely coastal town.

Duncan dropped us off at about 5:45 pm. We had a quick

dinner at Fridays in Union Square Mall and watched the news about Queen Elizabeth II on BBC the rest of the evening.

Friday, September 9, 2022

We had a lazy morning. Bruce slept late while Sarah did laundry and worked on our blog. We really just spent the day reading, watching the news about the Queen, and resting. We had lunch in the apartment. For dinner we went back to Bistro Verde for another delicious meal. We shared an appetizer of lightly breaded calamari, shrimp salad with mangos, and fish cakes. Bruce then had the grilled sea bass with vegetables. Sarah had skink – absolutely delicious.

Saturday, September 10, 2022

We’ve made plans to go by train to Edinburgh on Monday for the day. The Queen’s body is to be taken there on Sunday and the procession and service will be on Monday.

Bruce slept late and we went out for breakfast about 9:30 am to Patisserie Valerie. The sun was shining but it was a crisp fall day. Sarah walked to the Aberdeen beach and north along the esplanade turning west along the River Don (Photo 8 – 8). Following wooded paths, she walked into Seaton Park which is just north of St. Machar Cathedral. The central area of the park was beautifully landscaped (Photo 8 – 9). Following the cobblestoned roads back through Old Town, Sarah caught the bus back the city center and our apartment. It was about a four hour walk on a beautiful day.

Late Saturday afternoon, we had High Tea at Station Hotel near our apartment.

Sunday, September 11, 2022

We had breakfast in our apartment and headed out to line up for the route of the Queen’s procession through Aberdeen. Her cortege had left Balmoral about 10:10 am. We waited about an hour and a half until she passed the intersection where we were lined up. Unfortunately, the crowd was probably twelve deep, and we were unable to really view the procession. Bruce got a picture from a distance just as the hearse carrying her coffin came into view.

Since we are planning to go to Edinburgh tomorrow for the day and then leave Tuesday for Inverness, we spent the rest of the day organizing, doing laundry, packing, and updating our travel blog.

We had a late lunch/early dinner at Carter and Miller, a delicious steakhouse.

Monday, September 12, 2022

We caught the 8:20 am train for the two-and-a-half-hour journey to Edinburgh. We immediately walked up Cockburn Street to the Royal Mile. The crowds were already gathering to witness the Queen’s procession. We found a spot – we were already two to three back from the barricade. It was about 11:15 am. We met a couple from California who were there on holiday and had taken the train over from Glasgow that morning. There was a significant police presence. The crowds continued to gather until it was probably 10 – 12 deep. It was an arduous four-and-a-half hours until the procession began at a little before 3:00 pm. Around 12:30 pm, however, the policeman standing near us alerted us to a motorcycle and car coming from the direction of Edinburgh Castle towards Holyroodhouse. We caught our first glimpse of King Charles and Queen Camilla as they passed us waving to the crowds.

The procession passed our “spot” a little after 3:00 pm. You’ve probably seen the images on TV. We were close enough this time, however, for Bruce to get a quick video. The Queen’s four children walked behind the hearse with King Charles closest to where we stood. It was very solemn. The Queen and Edward’s wife, Duchess of Wessex, were in the first car immediately following them. (Photos 8 - 10 and 8 - 11)

It was over in a moment causing us to consider if it was worth standing there for such a long time. Bruce would say no; Sarah would say yes. The crowds dispersed, some I’m sure to queue up to later go into St. Giles to view the Queen’s coffin as she lay at rest.

We stopped off and had dinner on Cockburn Street at Ecco Vino, a tiny little Italian restaurant. We were starving as it was now about 3:30 pm and we had not had anything to eat since before we left Aberdeen. Bruce had the catch of the day which was cod with quinoa, tomatoes, mushroom, red peppers, and onion. Sarah had spaghetti alla puttanesca.

After eating we headed back to Waverly Station to see if we could get an earlier train back to Aberdeen. As we waited for our train, we saw several individuals dressed in black with programs for the service held in St. Giles Cathedral. We were able to get a 5:30 pm train (about 45 minutes earlier than planned) and arrived back in Aberdeen around 8:00 pm. Bruce had a nice conversation with a young college student who is studying mechanical engineering at a University in Edinburgh but is from Aberdeen. Students in the UK really have to have already selected their field of study before they

start university.

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

This is our last day in Aberdeen. We had breakfast at Patisserie Valerie before finishing our packing and heading to the train station. We caught the 11:56 am train to Inverness arriving at 2:14 pm.