4 Cawdor Castle: Over 600 Years of Mystery and Legend...

but the one of which you're thinking? Nope. Didn't happen.

Anyway. When we headed up to Scotland for one last stolen week away in September, Cawdor Castle was the only sight-seeing place I had on my "must" list. We'd missed it the last time we were in Moray, as it had already closed for the winter, when the family resumes residence.
Fun fact: In my googling just now, I've found that there is a long-going legal battle between the current Earl of Cawdor and his step-mother. Turns out the Dowager Countess (the step-mother) isn't interested in vacating her castle, despite this being a breach of tradition! (From what I've read, though, that tradition is becoming more contentious in recent generations. The whole people living longer, wanting to make a house a home thing. Can't say I'd give up Cawdor willingly!!)

Anyway. I was pretty upset that we didn't get to see "Macbeth Castle" last time, so one day we drove out to visit this tower house. It was dreary, rainy, and glum; classic Highland weather, but after we'd parked the blue skies came out!

Approaching Cawdor from the car park. Entry is a steep £9 per person, but of all the castles that are costly to enter, Cawdor does deliver, unlike others (ahem, Eileen Doanan).

  

The current structure was begun in the 14th century, with the unique feature of having been built around a tree. This tree's wizened trunk is still on display, and has been scientifically dated to have died in 1372, which was approximately when it was denied access to sunlight. Oops.

Clan Campbell claimed Cawdor (say that three times fast!) when twelve-year-old Muriel Calder, the daughter of the 7th Thane of Calder (an older spelling of Cawdor), was kidnapped by the 2nd Earl of Argyll and married to his twenty-year-old son, Sir John Campbell. Apparently this marriage proved harmonious, despite its rocky start.

Drawbridge and crest.

Like most castles that are still residences, photography is not permitted indoors.  There is a fairly comprehensive guidebook, which we of course purchased.  You can see a bit of an interior tour here, on the castle's website. The most interesting feature of Cawdor, by far, is how the old castle, with it's thick stone walls and small, oddly-angled rooms, has been turned into a current home. Tapestries still hang on the walls, both for decor and warmth, tartan rugs and furniture abound, centuries-old weapons act as wall decoration, and small, lumpy beds still beckon, untantalizingly. Artfully mixed in are armchairs, classic in design but clearly offering more lumbar support than their predecessors, family nicknacks that don't qualify as heirlooms (yet), and the occasional family photograph on a side table. The walls are still decorated with large, painted portraits of Campbells past and present. 

Lovely benches built into the garden wall during Victorian times.

The maze is quite fun, although the sudden rain made our traipsing turn into more of a hustle!

The river just below the castle (I believe the River Findhorn?) and the avenue of trees that wraps the maze. 

Footbridge leading from the castle to the Big Wood.

If you're ever up in the Highlands, and Moray specifically, be sure to get to Cawdor- it's a fascinating castle with varied enough history to satisfy anyone's taste!

Oh, and really, that should be "when", not "if". The Highlands should DEFINITELY be on your "places to go" list... after all, Moray is top of my "places to live" list!!

3 Knaresborough and the River Nidd

Knaresborough is a historic market town located just a few miles from Harrogate. It's got a medieval castle and hosts a famous Bed Race every June (2010, 2011, 2012, here, & here) that seems to magically attract beautiful weather, no matter the forecast.

These views of the bridge across the Nidd are redundant, but it's an iconic view of Knaresborough- and I couldn't resist on this gorgeous day full of festive atmosphere!

This one's my favorite- now just to decide what size to print it for the wall!

4 Oban

 Our trip to Scotland was painfully short:

we drove up (approx. 6 hours) on Thurday, stopping in Carlisle, and arrived about 6 PM; 

Friday started early with a ferry ride at 7:45AM and our day out to the small islands lasted until about 8 that evening;

and Saturday we went for a 10AM tour of Oban Distillery (who doesn't like to start their morning with the smell of fermented barley?!?) and then headed home, making a few stops along the way.

All of these pictures of Oban (except the last three) are from our first evening, just after the heavy rainstorm had passed.  

Truth: I don't like the beach. I hate the feel of salt water and I especially don't like sand in my crack. (sorry, Mom)

But...

I absolutely love harbours. I love coastal life, and I love seeing, watching, and being on boats.

I never claimed to make sense.

 Hmmm... think he knows this guy in Montrose?

 That Coliseum-like structure on the right is McCaig's Tower. Unfortunately we haven't visited it yet... I guess we're not done with Oban yet!

 The Caledonian-MacBrayne ferry company travels between Oban and Mull all day long.

 Isle of Kerrera, across from Oban harbour. Yet another place I'd like to visit. 

 Boats in the harbour the morning of our tour.  We took the CalMac ferry over to Mull.

 Isle of Kerrera harbour.

Dunstaffnage Castle from the CalMac ferry. 

I was jump-out-of-my-skin excited for our tour!

3 Drive to Oban

These aren't the best pictures, as they're all taken through the car windows, but I wanted to show you how our drive went...

 The sign of happiness. 

 We drove through some torrential rain.  I know Great Britain has a reputation for lots of rainfall, but it's usually drizzle or a light shower, and doesn't really have any effect on our daily lives.  What we've had so far this "summer", though, has been frequent heavy rainstorms, with big, fat droplets- complete with thunder and lightning, which are uncommon here!

 We drove straight through Glasgow, which I loved! Despite the fact that we weren't stopping there, it was nice to see the city I enjoyed so much!

 I always think the lowlands look a lot like Georgia, if you exchange the English ivy for kudzu.  Oh, and the directions of traffic!

 We drove alongside Loch Lomond for quite a while. It's often called the most beautiful loch in Scotland, and, while it is gorgeous, I have a hard time calling it the most beautiful when the Lake of Monteith is nearby- not to mention Loch Awe, Loch Shiel, Loch Leven, and of course Loch Ness! 

(Seriously, they're all gorgeous!)

More roadside views.

 As we got closer to Oban, the rain started back up... 

Dunstaffnage Harbour, outside of Oban.  We've arrived!

1 The Garden of Cosmic Speculation: Part II

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation was designed and developed beginning in 1989 by Charles Jencks and Maggie Keswick, Jencks' late wife, as a way to celebrate the sciences through their passion for landscape architecture.   The garden is atypical in that horticulture isn't the main focus; plants are used as a design tool to accent and display the theories put forth in the overall layout and the individual sculptures.  The garden does have a very pleasant and relaxing feel, and offers a natural flow and progression for strolling through its various segments.  With wide-open areas bordered by carefully designed mounds, ripples, and hedges, the garden beckons you to take a seat and enjoy the scenery, either deep in thought or with a picnic.  

There is a treehouse of sorts there, in the "Garden of Taking Leave of Your Senses" area, with these unusual stairs.  I went up...

and it overlooks this strange swampy-thing.

Going down the stairs was harder- they're rather shallow, and steep.  

We didn't use these stepping stones...

since this clever staircase is right behind them!

I think Wolverine was his gardener... 

This, the Black Hole Terrace, was what I saw the most images of online before we went.  It seemed a lot larger than it was in person, leading me to fervently hope assume the entire garden would be rather Queen of Hearts-like.  It wasn't; but it was still fantastic. 

Found some flowers! This was, in fact, called the "Flower Paradise Garden."

Hedge-hole leading to the Time Garden.

This description... 

is on this little guy. (Not Paul; the building.)  Paul's quite keen on it, though, and wanting his own octagonal clubhouse/enclosed gazebo someday.

The Comet Bridge.

I really liked the arched walls and hedges.

There were several sculptures in the DNA Garden 6 Senses.

I do like a designed footpath!

The other most-photographed part of the garden- the Universe Cascade.

A pillar-topper.

The Garden was definitely worth the drive up!  It's an unusual site that I doubt I'll have another chance to see, so I'm really glad we made the trip!