Thursday, August 15, 2019

Day 9 - Cawdor Castle and Elgin Cathedral

Today we visited the lovely Cawdor Castle! I greatly enjoyed the gardens there, and the castle itself was very nice.

Cawdor Castle
built around the 15th century tower house.
In residence is the Dowager Countess Cawdor
more information can be found here














We also stopped by Elgin Cathedral, which was absolutely magnificent! It has to be one of my favourite sets of ruins we've been to.


Elgin Cathedral
13th century
more information can be found here











Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Day 8 - Ice Cream at the End of the World

Today was definitely one of my favourite days of the whole trip. Dunrobin Castle was absolutely brilliant, and there were so many good photo opportunities!


 

Dunrobin Castle
Clan Sutherland are still in residence today.
More information can be found here
Dunrobin Castle















We also got to enjoy an amazing falconry display, where we saw a Gyrfalcon, Harris hawk, and even a Peregrine falcon at work. The Peregrine was just as fast as you'd expect, and at one point it flew right by my head!

Gyrfalcon (Chip)


Gyrfalcon (Bramble)




Harris hawk (Elm)

Behind you!



Peregrine falcon (Robin)




Great Grey Owl (Gigi)


Eagle Owl

After Dunrobin, we headed up north until we hit the end of the road - literally. We went all the way up to John O' Groats, the northernmost point on the UK mainland. We had some icecream, had photos by the signs, and enjoyed the sea breeze for a while before heading back to the hotel for a well-deserved drink!