Stonehaven Street Festival

On Saturday, Amie and I ventured down to Stonehaven, a little harbour village south of Aberdeen. They were having a street festival, so we walked around the town square, listened to the pipe band, did a little shopping at the craft booths, and enjoyed a grilled hamburger.

The festival wasn't very big, so all of that didn't take very long. We decided to walk around town a bit, and go down by the harbour. The water was incredibly choppy because of the weather we've had lately, and the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks was incredible.

Then we got adventurous. Dunnottar Castle is about a 1.5 mile walk south of Stonehaven via the cliffs along the coast. So we climbed up, up, up this very steep hill from the harbour to get onto the cliffs. We were exhausted after that, but that was the hardest part. The walk along the cliffs was gorgeous, even though the sky was grey and cloudy. But everything was so green! And there were rabbits everywhere, scurrying to their warrens when they heard us coming. We passed the Stonehaven War Memorial to those residents of Stonehaven who lost their lives in the two World Wars, and finally made it to Dunnottar Castle. I am always impressed with the location of this castle. It is out on the edge of a cliff that is virtually cut off from the main land - you have to walk down a steep staircase to the narrow beach, and then back up the steps on the other side to get to the castle. It is ideally situated for protection, because there's no way anyone could sneak up on it - there's only one way to the castle, with the steep rocky cliffs on three sides. Amie and I were content to stay on the main cliffs rather than climbing all the way down and back up to the castle - we've both explored the inside before. But the cliff walk was certainly worth it. After walking the 1.5 miles back to town (much easier on the return trip, let me tell you!), we headed back to Aberdeen, worn out but pleased with our adventures of the day.