Storm Babet hit the Aberdeen coast very hard while we were vacationing in Scotland. It was an intense extratropical cyclone. The effects of the storm were felt in the highlands with lots of rain, flooded roads, and high winds. We were staying at the Dalmuzie Castle Hotel in the Spittal of Glenshee. The hotel's power was affected by the storm and they had to operate on a generator for almost 24 hours.
Our Scotland day 7 view as we left Dalmunzie Castle - wind, rain, and having to use the Waze app to dodge and reroute around all of the flooded road closures.
I had read quite a bit about how beautiful the hiking trails were at The Hermitage in Dunkeld. Even though it was raining, we still wanted to explore the trails.
Almost every stump we saw was covered in coins that looked like they had been hammered into the wood.
Later, we saw these little signs all along the trail trying to get people to stop putting coins in stumps.
The forest was absolutely beautiful.
The river was raging.
We saw this "risk of death" sign on one of the trails. Wow! I was surprised they had not closed the trail. We decided to go a different way.My husband was feeling braver than me. I did not go anywhere near the edge overlooking the river.
Ossians Hall - The original building on this spot was built in 1752. The National Trust has placed the current building here. There are murals on the walls.View from Ossians Hall.
Parts of the trail were flooded.
This tree looked like it was growing straight out of the rock.
This totem pole is was installed in 2001 through a partnership with the Squamish First Nations group from Canada.
We spent a couple of hours walking on the trails. About a week after we got home, I saw people posting pictures of The Hermitage with the leaves changed to fall colors. It was beautiful while we were there, but it would have been spectacular to see the changing of the leaves.
We left The Hermitage and went to Culross. Our first stop was at the Culross Abbey. The foundation of the abbey dates back to the 6th century. Parts of the current building date to 1217.
There were many beautiful stained glass windows.
These are the remains of three 8th century Celtic crosses.
Most of the tombstones in the kirk were leaning over and covered in moss.
Culross is a National Trust area that is the most complete example of a 16th century village in Scotland. Some of the building were used when filming Outlander.
The wooden sign on this building says "Sassenach Apothecary Fraser's Ridge".
The streets in town were made of cobblestones.
Culross Castle was constructed between 1597 and 1611. We went to tour the castle, the open sign was out, but the castle was closed. We asked in town about it and were told it could be closed due to the staff having issues with the weather. So, we just wandered around town.
Bessie Bar Steps lead up to a path that overlooks the back gardens of Culross Castle.
Path at top of steps.
After wandering through town, we had a late lunch at the Red Lion Inn. The inn dates back to the 1500s. It was really neat and very cozy. There have been many reports that the inn is haunted and has "active" ghosts.
The ceilings in the back dining area were painted with landscapes.
The ceilings in the front dining room were painted with Scottish beer logos.
Lots of red lion lamps in the room.
After lunch, we started heading back towards Edinburgh. We spent the night in Kelty at Clark Cottage Guest House.
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