Eilean Donan Castle is very near the bridge from the mainland of Scotland to the Isle of Skye. We arrived late in the afternoon when the tide happened to be out so where I was standing to take the photo is very often under water. I would love to go back when the tide is in the the light is a bit better to get a reflection of the castle in the loch. Eilean Donan Castle is quite possibly one of the most photographed Castles in the world. Unlike Dunnottar Castle from my earlier post, the Eilean Donan Castle was completely restored in the early 1900 & gives a glimpse of what it may have been like  has been like to actually live in the castle.

You can’t drive far in Scotland without seeing a Castle. Some are ‘new’ (using the term ‘new’ rather loosely) , some are old, some are beautiful homes, some were designed as fortifications. Dunnottar Castle on the east coast in Kincardine near the town of Stonehaven falls into the relic category. At least to me, Dunnottar looks like a castle is ‘supposed’ to look. (Perhaps that’s why I took so many photos…) It sits on a large promontory overlooking the sea. It’s beautiful, yet somewhat ominous looking. At one time it was essentially a very small village for the members of the family of one of the most powerful families in Scotland. Dunnottar was one of the homes of the Earls Marischal, from the 14th century when Sir William Keith, the 1st Earl Marischal, built his Tower House, also known as the Keep. It also holds quite a history having been visited by William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots as well as many other including John Rogers & Beverly Straub. I would love to have seen it a few hundred years ago.

Since Dunnottar was so photogenic, I’ll go ahead & post a couple of more images… This one was taken looking out the “master bedroom” window.

And one more for today. This is a shot of what was once the ‘smithy’ or black smith shop.

(If you look closely, you’ll note he was a romantic & decorated his shop walls with flowers.)

While in Scotland we stayed at Balmoral, so spending some time at the Castle & surrounds seemed like an obvious way to spend a beautiful spring day in Scotland. (No, we didn’t say in the castle. We stayed in a wonderful little guest house. You can see a photo of our place here.) The grounds are beautiful & the Castle itself is wonderfully un-pretentious. The estate is virtually self sufficient with the organic gardens providing all the vegetables & floral decorations.