Thursday, 28 September 2006

The Short Break Away

Good Morning, at last I have time to write something about our holiday in my journal, this week seems to have been hectic with one thing or another.
We left home about 10am last Monday morning it was just raining but it was off before we got to Perth so that was great.  We had checked all the different routes on the PC and choose one that we had not thought of and roads we had not been on for many years. After leaving Perth we headed for Blairgowrie (famous for its berry crop in the summer)  the on up Glenshee to The Devils Elbow, this was an elbow in the road years ago and it was very steep but with all the skiing that goes on there now a new road has been built taking the elbow away such a pity as it is not the same now.  We stopped for coffee and a bite to eat at the top of the pass and then carried on down into Breamar.  As we passed Balmoral we gave the Queen a quick wave. As we passed her castle I tried to get a picture of it for you but there is no stopping just now as the family are in residence there is only one place you can see the castle from the road and we were not allow to stop. I was a bit disappointed because of this as it was looking lovely that morning with the sun shining and the royal standard blowing in the breeze. After Deeside we travelled up Donside which is a valley running parallel to Deeside and on northward. We were heading for the coast north of Aberdeen if you look at the weather map it is the flat bit between Aberdeen and Inverness.  We had another stop in a village called Rhynie and had coffee and home baking there. Now Rhynie is a very famous place for all the wrong reasons as it is the first place mentioned when we get our first significant fall of snow the news reader always says the road between Rhynie and Dufftown is blocked this happens usually in November and we then know winter is here.  The roads in this neck of the woods are very twisty with many many sharp bends the like of which I have not seen for a long time. At last we arrived at Macduff and found our Hotel which was right on the front and to put the icing on the cake we had a front room overlooking the sea and the harbour.  We quickly unpacked and headed out for a walk round the harbour. Will leave it there now and download some pictures for you. The lovely graphic I borrowed from Jeannette (Welcometo my Travels) a while back as I thought it was beautiful hope you don't mind Jeannette.  Take care Part two to follow.   Love

                                   Sara made this graphic for me.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have the graphic too its lovely isnt it ,liked your pictures,We dont think how hard those fishermen work ,when we sit down to a boil in the bag cod and parsley sauce ,or indeed fresh fish ,do we ? it certainly looks a great place to be ,enjoyed hearing about your journey there ,'waves to Queen ' and the hair raising bends in the roads ,look forward to the next episode 'Lead on Macduff' (sorry couldnt resist that ,)Who was Macduff ?,.,.,.,Jan x

Anonymous said...

I loved travelling round Scotland when I was there a couple of years back, you have such lovely scenery. I would have loved to have seen a pic of Balmoral, I've never been there. I've heard from Terry Wogan that the road to Tomintoul is always clear of snow, thanks to Mrs MacKay and her shovel! Lol! You were lucky to get a good room looking out over the harbour. I don't mind at all you snagging the graphic, snag what you want! I snagged it from somewhere in the first place! Looking forward to the rest of you photos. Jeannette xx  

Anonymous said...

sounds lovely ;)

Anonymous said...

Your Photos are lovely Joan, what a quaint little place. I have been up to Braemar and Balmoral, but never up there between Aberdeen and Inverness. Looking forward to reading Part 2,
Kate.
http://journals.aol.co.uk/bobandkate/AnAnalysisofLife/

Anonymous said...

Hi Joan,  what a lovely view from your hotel.  I love waking up in the morning and seeing the sea. I wouldn`t want to be there in the winter though! :o)

Sandra xxxx

Anonymous said...

PS:  Thanks for the lovely postcard from the Lake District, it arrived this morning. :o)

Sandra xxxx

Anonymous said...

love the pics...


Astra!

Anonymous said...

The pics are lovely and sounds like a lovely a route to travel on :-)

Jen xx