On our move from Inverness to Gleneagles we only had one stop at Blair Castle. It was one of the largest we visited and is set up well to offer many attractions.

We had been driving all over Scotland and every once in a while I would catch sight of the shaggy highland cows or coos as they say up here, but never with my phone out at the ready. Jo who is the wife of the tour coordinator and Alison’s uncle sets t the back of the bus with us and she had said that she had seen some cows up near Blair castle so I watched out the window with camera ready from the time we turned off the highway (highway might be overstating it a bit but it was one of the better roads we were on). I saw a few but they were on the wrong side for a good photo. I went through my map hoping we had to go back to the highway the way we came but I could see we wouldn’t have to. I was about to ask if maybe we could do it when we pulled into the parking lot and there these four were. Jo had been holding out. She said she was afraid to say that there castle had some in case they had moved them. Never have I been more frustrated with my back of the bus seat. I was afraid that everyone would scare them off before I got out to see them. Thankfully they didn’t and I got some good photos. They are super cute and the little calves darted around while the cows pretty mush just munched on grass. I was already happy with the stop and I hadn’t even really seen the castle.

Blair castle was started back in the 13th century but it is hard to see that part. Most was built in the 15th century but remodeled in the 1870s. A t is owned by the Duke of Atholl- originally the Earl of Atholl but somewhere along the way he got promoted. It has connections to Robert the Bruce, the Jacobite rebellion and Queen Victoria. It is also the home of the Atholl Highlanders which is one of the last private army regiments in the world. It provides guard service to Queen Victoria when she was in the Highlands but mostly just ceremonial roles now.

Queen Victoria nd Prince Albert stayed on their way to Balmoral and there are some things from her time here. They pointed out the room she used which had a small bed that supposedly she and Albert used. (Clearly Elizabeth II was not sharing that tiny bed on the Britannia with Phillip.). It also had the chest of drawers used by Prince Albert that had 7 drawers and his clothes were laid out for the day of the week with Sunday clothes going in the top drawer. Sunday clothes being your finest day wear this is where the saying top drawer came from. You never know what you are going to learn from an Alison Weir tour.

I also learned that the people invited to the coronations had to pay for their chairs. The coronations were a big expense on those attending. They had to have the robes, chairs and back in the day had to find horse drawn carriages no new finagled automobiles for these events.

Also with other houses this one had a huge display of weapons in the entrance hall. All designed to be impressive as visitors entered. Not the most inviting decor but I guess powerful and deadly were better things to show off.

We walked through the gardens before the house but they weren’t really all that exciting. It was a large and I mean enormous walled garden named the Hercules garden due to the Hercules statute that is not inside the walled garden. Walked the whole thing looking forward only to learn it was on the outside but surprising not near either of the gates. It did have baby ducks so all is forgiven.

After touring the house val and I walked down to the meadow where the sheep were grazing in a field of dandelions. We have seen so many sheep on this trip in fields along the highway but again this is the first time we could get good photos. The babies are so cute. They stand so proud and strong and basically just stare you down until mama sheep walks away and they go scurrying after her.

We tried to see the cows again as we got back to the bus but they were too far away. Really I should not be so stingy. I had been trying to take their picture from a moving bus and now I got to be really close so I should be happy with what I got but they are so cute.

From Blair Castle we headed out to Gleneagles which is our fancy hotel on this trip and is it ever fancy. It is a world class golf resort that has also held world leader summits. Sadly we don’t have much free time to enjoy the amenities that range from golfing to archery from fishing to falconry, horse back riding to spa facilities and anything in between. tonight we barely have time to change for our dinner. Val and I got a great room in the old original 1924 part of the hotel and it was lovely. The newer rooms were bigger but ours was great.

Dinner was lovely a great recovery from the fiasco at the Inverness hotel. After dinner I went with a few others to the bar to try some whiskey. After a lot of wine at dinner I might not have needed the whiskey which then led to me getting a pink gin and tonic and closing down the bar. At least I didn’t buy any concert tickets after having this pink drink.