Castle Venlaw

We had a late start this morning, slept in till almost 9am......didn't mean too, but I guess we must have needed it!!! After a hearty scottish breakfast we set off to Edinburgh Castle, after driving around in what seemed like circles for 30 mins, finally John dropped me off, and went to park the car - the castle is on the top of a huge cliff and the car park is at the bottom of the cliff, quite a long walk and lots of stairs. He was a bit tired when he finally reached the castle. The castle was quite different to Lincoln or Skipton Castles, as it has been added to up until about 150 years ago. It is still a working Army Base. We walked across the Parade Ground where the Military Tatoo is held every year - not as big as we thought it would be. The other difference is that it is still furnished. We heard and watched the 1 O'Clock Gun be fired, and I was able to catch it on video. We had afternoon tea in Queen Anne's Cafe in the castle grounds, and then set off to find the car. By this time the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and it was cold, windy and rainy. Once again back in the car we headed off for Inverness, or so we thought. Woops, wrong direction. Finally on the right road, we headed up the motorway, as we had about a 3 hour drive ahead. We drove up through the mountains, through some lovely country and towns, and also some ordinary ones. We drove into Blair Athol, and past Blair Castle (too late to go in) , which was different again, as it is all white. Further up the road the country became quite desolate and there were small bits of snow on the hills and the roadside. The temperature at its lowest was 8.5 deg and its highest was 13.5 deg. We have now arrived in Beauly, which is about 12 miles from Inverness, where we will be based for the next 3 nights.