A Very Good Day

Friday
An absolutely perfect morning where I took advantage of the noise made by the old biddies in the room above me who woke up before the crack of dawn. I was up and raring to go at six am to search out the cursed castle near Kenmore. The sun is fully out by 5 a.m. I took a leisurely walk through the deserted gold course on the Teymouth Estate and it was so peaceful and beautiful. I was the only human out and about walking along the path. I could have been scared, but was not. My mind was at peace, I enjoyed the sunshine, fresh air and the parklike setting.

Back to the curse: Apparently, a long time ago, the Campbells (lords of the land near Kenmore in Perthsire) booted out a bunch of Macgregors from their homes. A Macgregor woman cursed the Campbells by saying that the end of their line would die alone and blind. Well, approximately 300 years later, in the 1920s, the last of the Campbell line died without any heirs and was blind.

The present incarnation of Teymouth Castle was built in the 1800s. The Ryder Cup will be held near this area in a year (2014). Two different companies have gone bankrupt trying to turn the castle into a luxury hotel and golf course. It looks like the curse is still at work! I forgot to mention that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited this castle.

My wow moment occurred on my solitary peaceful walk. I spied a deer and it spied me, we both stood very still staring at each other from a distance. I teared up. I was able to take a few pictures. Later on, I spotted three more deer as they walked across a path onto the golf course. It was truly a perfect early morning. I was able to take some lovely pictures of Kenmore itself in the sunshine. Later on in the morning, the group visited a nearby Crannog ( recreated prehistoric dwelling) which was kind of interesting.

Some interesting tidbits about the area of Perthshire:
- Queen Victoria made Scotland a very popular vacation spot during her reign
- many rich English and Scottish people built mock castles in the countryside
- many middle class families vacationed here as well, in lovely middle class homes
- one of the most famous being Beatrix Potter when she was a child, her stories are based on her experiences here (Macgregor the farmer) not on the Lake District where she lived after she made her money
- we drove past JK Rowling's restored Victorian mansion located near Aberfeldy
- she is very private, but down to earth, apparently takes her own cans to the recycling depot
- Alan Cumming is from Aberfeldy and helped to restore the Art Deco theatre there - my entertainment gossip knowledge came in handy when I told the guide that he was performing in the Scottish play on Broadway ( a few years later, I saw him reprise his role as the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret on Broadway)
- we were briefly in Krief, the hometown of Ewan MacGregor - we learned that his mom is a sweetheart

We were on the road today heading towards Inverness, and in the afternoon, the weather held out long enough for us to enjoy a sheep herding demonstration. It was a lot of fun. There was a lot of ooohing and awwing over the lambs and the border collie pups. I got to bottle feed a lamb and hold a very baby puppy! While sitting on a boulder, a border collie came up beside me and shook all the mud and sheep shit he was covered in onto my coat. I sighed, wiped myself off and petted the poor beastie. What else could I do? Thankfully, it rained later on in the day and I think that got rid of most of the stench.

I'm awful.....as much as I loved the wee little lambies, it didn't stop me from enjoying a lamb shank at dinner in Inverness. It was delicious!Leer más