Away from the castle trail

Day 15: Tomintoul to Glenprosen
Km driven since Drumnadrochit: 467

Our intent this day was to follow the Castle Trail, in the Aberdeenshire. It all changed when we met the other residents of the Youth Hostel : two Danish guys, who had been hiking in the country and didn't find the predicted destination. Instead, they had arrived in Tomintoul,  a village where the bus comes twice a week (and the police once,  on Wednesday). Touched by their plight, tender-hearted Lilly offered to take them to Aviemore,  a forty minutes drive.

Having cleared the back seats (a feat in itself), we then fitted them both and their huge backpacks in the car. Once in the town,  we decided on another course for the day, and drove to Blair Castle. It's a magnificent castle,  with the original furniture on display, and a huge collection of family paintings and weapons on the walls. We waltzed in the ballroom. We also enjoyed the grounds,  which include a red deer pasture, a grove containing some of the country's tallest trees, and also an "adventure playground", where we had a fun time on the adult-size swings.

Our next stop was Birnam, where we visited the Beatrix Potter exhibition. It was altogether not so interesting, as we had already seen the garden, in which we had read about Peter Rabbit's author. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the shop. We also made a quick stop at Dunkeld, the adjoining town, to see its cathedral (part ruin, part in activity).

Our arrival at the Youth Hostel this night is the subject of another article.