Blair Castle

Hello everyone, Scott here. Yesterday most of the team went their separate ways touring with their hosts. My hosts happened to be out of town for the day so I tagged along with Caitlin and her hosts. We did quite a bit of driving around the countryside through curvy roads at a speed that seemed to be pushing the edges of safety, but we seemed to make it without incident. Well...besides the flat tire on the way back, but we're getting used to that. On one of our last GSE team meetings before we left, we drove up to Flagstaff for their Highland Games in Caitlin's Toastermobile (Honda Element) and had a flat as well. So at least I'm getting a little practice.



Our major stop for the day was at Blair Castle in Fife. It was really a gorgeous castle with some interesting history. Part of the lower levels of the castle were decorated with some cross sections of trees that were planted in 1737. They were quite massive and quite beautiful. Photography was not allowed in the castle, which was unfortunate because it was full of ornate inlaid wood, intricate weapons, clothes, tapestries, china, etc. Another interesting tidbit is that the castle boasts Europe’s only remaining private army.

After a nice lunch at the castle of haggis, neeps, and taddies (Caitlin tried a bite) we wandered outside to see our very first piper of Scotland...it turned out to be a private show for the most part as most of the crowd was attending an equestrian event held at the grounds, but it was very enjoyable anyway. We spent most of the rest of the day at a nice shopping area known as the House of Bruar and then back home to our Hosts. Another eventful day.