Christmas in a castle

It is not every day that one gets to visit a castle, let alone celebrate Christmas in one!!

Last week, I joined a Haggis adventure tour for the Christmas period with my friends Beth & Jase. On Christmas Eve we departed Edinburgh before the sun was even up. In our little 30 seater bus, our trusty driver Kenny weaved our way through the highlands of Scotland towards Carbisdale Castle. After dinner and a good chat with our new friends, we tried our hands at a little ceilidh - Scottish folk dancing.

I did have high hopes for a white Christmas, but instead we awoke to glorious sunshine on Christmas morning. There is no doubt that it was still cold, but the sun did make it that little more exciting. Instead of going to the mountains, we headed to Durnoch beach for a little fun in the sun. As you may have already noticed by my previous posts, I enjoy making snowmen. Without snow it was a little difficult to build a snowman, so I settled myself with a sandman instead!







In the afternoon we spent a wee time in the local pub – Aye, Jase & I dressed ourselves in replica traditional Scottish outfits. Yes, your eyes have not mistaken you… Jase is wearing a kilt… the real question is, however, what’s underneath??? Anyway, moving right along... in the early evening we dined in the castle with a Christmas feast including brussel sprouts… I still cannot fathom how people can eat them, but they are apparently all part of the tradition. (Mum, you’ll be pleased with me – I had two and only squirmed a little!) After our meal, we again danced the night away with some more ceilidh with a hundred odd other fellow travellers.








On Boxing Day, although I did have a fleeting thought of the cricket, it was quickly replaced as we explored more of the Scottish highlands, including a drive past Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in Scotland) and a stop at the mysterious Loch Ness. We did not catch any glimpses of a monster in the waters… except perhaps for the girl on the left in the photo below. Let me tell you that that smile is because I had no sensation from my shins down!

For the remainder of the weekend, we stayed at Edinburgh and did a little more sight seeing around town – I managed to see the Queen’s official Scottish residence this time round!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!