Stormy weather

We chugged our way north on the Caledonian sleeper, waking occasionally to the sound of the train passing through junctions and stations.

We woke properly around 6am, ready for our free fruit juice to be delivered with an oat cookie. The sun had risen, and we had marvellous clear views across to the Cairngorn national park.

Our friends live not far from Stonehaven, the station that we had requested to be dropped off at, and it was not long before we were pulling into the little station and disembarking the train. It was so great to see our friends after such a long time, and after a few hugs on the platform we made our way to their waiting car and made the short trip to their house in Muchalls.

Although we hadn’t visited their house before, it felt very familiar, warm and inviting. From the kitchen window they have beautiful views overlooking the local farmland, and fortunately we had just a glimpse of blue sky to set the scene beautifully.

Not all our days were dry though, after all we were in Scotland. But we didn’t let that stop us, and over our stay we ventured out to see some of the spectacular local Scottish countryside and towns. One little fishing village nearby was Gourdan, where we enjoyed a very tasty fish and chip lunch at the local pub.

The castle of Dunnator is also close by, and when we saw it for real we understood why it has been used for some big name movies, like hamlet, Frankenstein, Brave and Mary Queen of Scots. The day we visited it was very wet and gloomy, which actually showed the old ruin off to its best.

We will definitely be looking to return in hopefully warmer and not so stormy weather, but our time was well spent catching up with some very dear friends.