These are the Scotland pictures.

   During our first full day in Scotland, we started our castle hunt at Tantallon Castle. Found along the shore near North Berwick, the ruins are at an outstanding setting on top of the cliffs. The view of the large monoliths in the Firth of Forth (bay near Edinburgh) is very unique. The grounds near Tantallon are simple grassy rolling hills. At the first Scottish castle, a seven day ticket may be purchased at a very reasonable price to gain entrance to 54 different castles and other historical places in Scotland.

  The second castle that we hunted down was Dirleton Castle. This castle featured tremendous gardens, no of which were located in an area that the castle was visible. East of Edinburgh, there are a half dozen castles to find before you even drive 100 miles, assuming that you don't get lost. As it appears, there were very few visitors.

Crichton Castle showed that the castles of Scotland certainly had style. The inner courtyard diamond faceted façade is very unusual for Scottish castles.

 The Linlithgow Palace was the 4th castle of the day. It sits beside St. Michael's Church, which was built at about the same time.

  Early the second full day, we stopped in at the Blackness Castle when we took while finding a shortcut to the Firth of Forth Bridge. The castle sits on the shore of the Forth within sight of the modern bridge.

 On the way to Perth, we stopped to see the Lochleven Castle. We were aware of this island castle that was used to the Queen Mary of Scots. The ten minute boat ride into the lake made the castle reveal itself gradually.

  Very near Perth, we found Huntingtower. Formerly known as the House of Ruthven, it is an impressive site. Many of the roof structures are intact, so much of the building is very usable. Tourists are permitted to walk along the edges of the roof.

  After an overnight in Pitlochery, we drove along Loch Tay in the southern page of the Scottish Highlands. This was the only day of our trip that we experience rainy weather. The lesser roads are only one lane wide. Good trip planning avoids problems. Many of the two lane roads were very narrow. An oncoming bus would usually take up more that their share of the road. Sandy had to remind me to keep all four wheels on the pavement, since a rock wall formed the guard rails. The road along the north shore of Loch Tay does not have any terrifying view, but travels along the shoreline. We did not travel to the more famous Loch Lomen, but instead chose the path less travelled. We had a detailed map that showed where some castle and other ancient ruins might be found, but did not see any direct evidence from the road. More time and better weather would have prompted more investigation. Exactly what is a Stone Circle?

  Certainly Doune Castle was quite a surprise. Just north of Stirling, it has the look of a castle that is just begging to be attacked. In fact, it was used in the comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

  Stirling Castle is the heart of history in Scotland. This is a major tourist site, and can be crowded. Since we visited mid-week with rain threatening, parking was available and it was not over crowded. We did have to wait about ten minutes for parking, since the lot was full. The scenery of the surrounding area of Stirling was good at many vantage points.

  We spent our last full day in Edinburgh and the surrounding area again. Edinburgh Castle was exteemly busy. It is difficult to drive around Edinburgh. We parked the car about a mile away from the famous "Royal Mile". The tourist shops along the mile were obviously for tourists. Just about any Scottish related item could be found, including tartans, bag pipes and the like. Inside the castle was busy also. Here there was absolutely no parking for automobiles. There were a large number of tourist buses. We certainly had fond memories of the smaller and less know castles, where we spoke directly with the caretaker.

  Not as common as they once were, we discovered this Police Box and Telephone booth at Edinburgh Castle.

  Upon our arrival at our last evening's stay, we visited Aberdour Castle just as they were about to close. Here we were encouraged to take our time, even though we were the only visitors. We looked into every room and climbed every tower. We wandered into the back to view the defensive perimeter. When we returned to the Caretaker's Office, she invited us to view the nearby gardens while she locked up the castle for the night.