Crathes Castle

Taking the bus is a norm here in Aberdeen.  Like many big cities it is not always popular to own a car and therefore you depend highly on the public transportation.  Since we had already done the plane and train thing, Amanda and I decided to try out the bus system.  Our destination was Crathes Castle, supposedly a little bit west from Aberdeen.

After finding the right bus we realized that unlike the states the bus doesn't have a nifty little scroll thing at the front to tell you what stop you are nearing.  There are also no anouncements that let you know.  After some observation, we realized that our only way of getting the bus to stop is to approach the bus driver before the stop and tell him, "Next stop please."  So there we were left with our faces glued to the window hoping we could catch a glimpse of a sign for our destination before we actually passed it.  As luck would have it, we gave up on our search to move closer to the front of the bus and admit to the bus driver that he would just have to take over the stop duties when Amanda pointed out the Crathes Castle sign.  I then leaned over and said, "Next stop, please," like a true professional.

Did you know that Concessions does not mean a cute little stand where you can buy food in Scotland?  It actually means "Special discount ticket."  So, when you ask the nice Scottish lady for 1 adult ticket and 1 concession and then ask where the food is, she will give you a very funny look.

Crathes Castle is beautiful! It has four gardens and 16th century home all originally owned by Katherine Gordon and Lord Alexander Burnett.  They had 21 children, which all slept in their room on a straw mattress that would be stored underneath the parent's bed.  The guide told us that Lord Burnett died at age 45 and Katherine lived to be 80. In the guides own words, "she finally got some peace."

It was a great day of bus adventures and meeting new people.  On to the next day!