It isn't Balmoral!

Our 9:30 a.m. departure from Edinburgh was through a thick pea souper that reduced visibility to approximately 100 yards. Conditions were humid. It was a two-layer day!

Scone Palace was filled with exquisite furniture, paintings, tomes of books & porcelain bearing the hallmarks of Meissen, Chelsea, Worcester & Sevres. The needlework of Mary, Queen of Scots & the bed hangings that she worked while imprisoned on Loch Leven were beautiful. The desk at which Marie Antoinette wrote her letters prior to her 1793 appointment with the guillotine had centre stage in one of the many staterooms. The suite occupied by Queen Victoria during her visits was red & opulent.


With photography prohibited, the beauty, the charm, the history has been committed to memory & hopefully will long be remembered.


A small Presbyterian Chapel on Moot Hill was the traditional home of the Stone of Scone where past Kings of Scotland were crowned & medieval parliaments were held. Macbeth, Robert the Bruce & Charles II were crowned there. In 1952 the original stone was stolen by a group of university students. Recovered 15 weeks later, it was taken to Edinburgh Castle where it now stands alongside the crown jewels. One might conclude no stone was left unturned in the recovery process! A replica of the Stone of Scone now sits upon the hill in front of the chapel.

Great anticipation awaits Her Majesty's visit tomorrow during which she will confer city status on Perth.

Phil & I savoured the flavour of strawberries bought roadside at Blairgowie while heading towards Mar Lodge, a 29 000 hectare estate in the Cairngowie National Park. Home to red deer, red squirrel, minks, badgers & otters, it is recognized as one of the most important nature conservation landscapes in Britain. The scenery was breathtaking.

Depth markers indicated significant winter snowfalls in the area. This was confirmed by the presence of ski runs & chair lifts at Glenshee. No snow today, just rain. The Met Office's promise.

Balmoral, was purchased in 1852 by Queen Victoria & Prince Albert as a family holiday home. The present Royal Family continue this tradition. From May until the end of July, Balmoral is open to the public. Therefore, today the manicured gardens, wooded areas, the river, floral garden, vegetable patch, rose garden & even the royal chickens were all accessible. We enjoyed a very relaxed couple of hours ambling through the grounds. Herself  & her Prince Philip! The ballroom was the only part of the main dwelling open to the public. It houses an exhibition about the history of the estate. Balmoral, a holiday house fit for a Queen!

We have arrived Aberdeen. Our accommodation isn't Balmoral! Our accommodation, a one bedroom apartment, is satisfactory, but we are down in the docks precinct. It's grubby. Bins are overflowing. Rubbish is strewn on the pavements. We saw a woman empty a bucket, of what appeared to be & hope was, dirty soapy water into the gutter. I didn't do well on this one! I'm ready to leave!