Scotland 13 - Stonehaven and Dunnottar

I spent the first half the morning hanging out with the kids: E/H/A went out for a hiking trail, and A/D went for a run. A nice, slow-tempo morning, sitting out on the patio and watching the harbor, playing feetsies on the couch. Chill.  Once A/D finished up their showers, and it was time to try Dunnottar again! But this time we drove... and this time it was open!

Dunnottar is the best ruined castle we've seen so far. In addition to being on a spit of rock out at sea - always a great selling point- it's also relatively intact by Scottish standards.  I realize that's not saying much... Most of the buildings have most of their walls! Some even have a second floor, and what more could you ask for, really? There were one or two fenced off spiral stairways heading towards third floors I'd have chanced, all the same I can see why the solicitors said no.... 

Touring the grounds (entirely self-guided), you walk through time from the oldest keep, to the expansion into a castle, to the full grounds as it became a more refined manor. Scottish history is as much legend as it is fact: William Wallace allegedly forced the English forces to retreat into Dunnottar in 1297, then snuck in through a postern (a hidden back-door - inconveniently not added until the 15th century).  Once in, he burned the garrison and all 4000 troops inside. Or he stormed the island, and drove them all off the cliffs.  Or a few hundred English took refuge in a chapel, which he obligingly chained shut and burned down. Nobody is quite sure, but naebody is much worried about it.

[My mom and I took the same picture... and hers was better]

The crown jewels were also stationed here in the 1650s, and held out for 8 months of siege as  Cromwell attempted to batter his way in, before being smuggled out by the minister's wife disguised as a washerwoman, and buried under a local church. Enough history, what is it now? It's wandering through basement cellars, massive kitchens, and ruined dining halls. Looking up through ancient chimneys, admiring the stables across a pasture, and watching the sea through lichen-lined windows. Imagining the daily life of Presbyterians (my personal sect) locked in a dungeon 500 feet above the North sea - a great view, but a crevice for a privy. The whole experience castle was great, and tempting as it was to walk home, I got back in the van.

Lunch was a mishmash as we did our best to empty the fridge, and afterwards we dropped Ethan/Hanna/Ada off at the train station to head back to the airport.  And, of course, then it was nap time.

I took my mom's (repeated) recommendation and headed over to the Tolbooth  museum (no idea why it's called tollbooth) museum, swinging by the harbor and the lifeguard station on the way. The Tolbooth was a wonderful mismatch of Stonehaven history. There was geology (Stonehaven is on another tectonic fault line, running parallel to Loch Ness and a distant cousin in the same continental collision) , paleontology (The oldest air-breathing fossil - a sort of devonian millipede - was found nearby), archeology (obviously, with castles all about), and more recent history - newspapers, school yearbooks, sailing and farming equipment, and then random antiques of all kinds. Like prototype showers or iceboxes.  Perhaps most interesting (though I do love fossils and rocks) was a short video of the fireball ceremony for Hogsmany. For over 100 years (and in truth nobody knows how far earlier) they ring in the new-year by walking up and down high-street swinging flaming cages of flotsam soaked in kerosene, before hurling them into the harbor. I've been known to swing some firepoi, and the video was shot from directly in front of our bnb - so it was a very on-target history lesson. They had a few sample fireballs in the museum, which were surprisingly heavy. 

After nap time I had a cup of tea, and my parents took Sage down to the ocean (she always wants to go to the ocean, she's girl after me own heart). Once I finished my cuppa, I figured I would go hang out too, and jumped our patio wall to see what the fuss was about. They were picking up pretty rocks and throwing them in the ocean. It was a great time, though a few of the best rocks may have slipped into my pocket. Then we wandered over to where the stream fed the ocean, threw rocks at that, saw some dogs, slipped rocks into the dolphin statue... it was a good time.

Dinner was a massive salad that A/D prepared while we were throwing rocks, we did a puzzle, we had some icecream because someone did a poopoo on the potty! and a bit of reading / planning wrapped up the day.

Tomorrow we're off to North... Brrrrrsomething. Just north of Edinburgh. We'll probably stop at something along the way? It mostly depends on when Sages decides to nap. With A/H/A headed home, the mood is a bit wistful, a bit like the trip is wrapping up. In fairness though - we're all beat.  My legs are spent, my back is sore from hoisting babes, and everyone is a bit knackered. As always, we need a vacation from the vacation.