Monday, June 23, 2014

Day 6 Scottish Tour

Day 6

This morning we drove along the River Dee Valley "Royal Deeside" to visit "Balmoral Castle"  the summer residence of the Royal Family in Aberdeenshire.. Balmoral Castle was a popular place for Queen Victoria to escape to when she needed a respite from busy London. Balmoral was a little disappointing because the only room that was open for viewing was the Castle Ballroom where works of art, silver and china were on display, but the gardens at Balmoral Castle were worth the visit.



Balmoral Castle with one of our tour guests listening to the audio tour.




Balmoral Castle from a different angle.





Balmoral Castle at a distance.




glass house where seedlings for the gardens are started.




A view of the Balmoral estate gardens. The gardens were started by Prince Albert (Queen Victoria's husband), followed by Queen Mary who designed one of the gardens and then the Duke of Edinburgh extended them.





The Balmoral vegetable garden.






Additional view of the Balmoral vegetable garden.




Outside Balmoral Conservatory.







Flowers in the Conservatory.




Conservatory Flowers.





Me with my audio tour box dangling from my neck at Balmoral Estates.





An attractive walkway on the estate.




The Garden Cottage, a retreat for Queen Victoria was not open for viewing but I was able to take a photo through a window.





One of the rooms in the Balmoral Cottage.




The River Dee that flows near Balmoral Castle.



The walkway to Crathie Kirk (church) where The Royal Family attends service when they are in residence at Balmoral castle. I didn't go inside because I draw the line at paying an entrance fee to enter into a church.




Crathie Kirk.




The view from Crathie Kirk.



After our visit to Balmoral Estates and Crathie Kirk, we stopped in the town of Ballater, a village in Royal Deeside located in The Cairngorms National Park. Glenmuich church with its beautiful stained glass windows was open for viewing.



Inside Glenmuich Church.




Stained Glass window inside the church.

We drove to the village of Banchory where we stopped to view the Falls of Feugh and enjoy tea with home-made scones. While we sampled the tea and scones, the lady who baked the scones entertained us with her bagpipes.


The Falls of Feugh.




The Falls of Feugh.



A closeup of The Falls of Feugh.









The Lady who baked the scones and entertained us in the restaurant at The Falls of Feugh.
























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