Drum Castle and Castle Fraser

There is an estimated 2,000 castles in all of Scotland and Amanda and I saw it as our personal mission to squeeze in as many of these as possible, so we managed to see three.  The decision was made to rent a car and try to see these two castles which were only about thirty minutes away from each other and Aberdeen.  I started the search for an automatic car, which is very hard to find, and found an Enterprise willing to pick us up from home.

That night my stomach was in knots as I tried to rehearse how to drive on the left side.  Right turns are across traffic, left turns are like right turns in the states, no left turns on red, and then my stomach dropped.  Oh no.  Roundabouts.  I was raised in good ol' Hallsville, Texas.  Where I am from Roundabout is a fancy way of squishing our words together to tell people how long of a drive it will be, "it'll take yuh 'roundabout twenty minutes."  This circle madness is beyond my driver's ed with roads feeding in from every angle with the belief you are suppose to just jump on and then exit without hitting any of cars.

Amanda was my trusty navigator.  She did a fine job considering that none of the roads are marked and I was too preoccupied saying the word "left" repetitively to look around for her.  Our first couple of roundabouts weren't too bad.  Then after a series of wrong turns and no U-turn signs, Amanda and I were struggling.  There was a certain roundabout where the exit we wanted was on the left but I accidentally ended up in the right inner lane, it definitely brought back the scene from Europe vacation, Chevy Chase.  On my third circle I told Amanda "Look kids, there's Big Ben and Parliament!"
Click on this link to see My Roundabout Experience.

Drum Castle

By the time we successfully pulled into Drum Castle, I was tempted to kiss the pavement.  Drum Castle  was given to William Irvine by Robert the Bruce in 1325 and remained as the family's home until 1975.  Talk about settling down.  They survived many attacks and battles throughout those centuries leaving behind a beautiful home that is steeped in history and, my personal favorite, the stories of the family members who give the history some spice and nuttiness.  Hugh Irvine, was one of the nuttier ones.  He was a painter that was very talented and painted many landscapes of Aberdeen and London.  One year he went off to study in Rome.  He studied under Lord Byron who was a famous English poet and romantic.  The guide said that he and Hugh were very good friends.  Hugh Irvine sent word to his family that he was delivering a self portrait that he and Lord Byron had worked on together for the Drum home.  I wish I could have been there the day it arrived.  A twelve foot naked angel flying through the clouds with a perfectly placed ribbon and chiseled abs and the face of, you guessed it, Hugh Irvine.  The family placed it in the back Library to try and keep it concealed, but how do you really hide a 10-12 foot painting?  With a family crest motto of "Through sun, Through shade, we will prevail" I'm sure they were thinking a painting that big caused quite a lot of shade.

Castle Fraser

Another car ride over (this time we only had to turn around three times and pull over once!) was Castle Fraser.  Although not as old as Drum, it is the most elaborate Z-plan castle in Scotland, which is a specific design of where the towers are placed in a castle.  Amanda and I thoroughly enjoyed the grounds and talking to the Scottish guides who waited eagerly to tell you about all of the portraits and furniture in each room.  It was only after we finished the tour that we read the sign saying that visitors had seen ghosts in the rooms.  It also said not to worry that their ghost had always been friendly, but we decided we were about done with the tour anyhow.

Until next time! Love you guys!