Ireland day 0760. Saturday 28 October 2023- Scotland 3 *

Ireland day 0760. Saturday 28 October 2023- Scotland 3

Today’s summary	A leisurely breakfast then went into Ballater to have a quick look at some of the shops. We were a bit limited in what we could do because of he poor weather. Had lunch at the Boat Inn in Ballater then returned to our friends’ house for another evening by the fire
Today’s weather	Rain absolutely all day. Light to moderate easterly wind. Appx 7c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

It has rained constantly from the very moment we touched down in Aberdeen two days ago – and we are loving every minute. It gives us the perfect excuse to unwind and spend time with our friends. There’s an excellent log fire, which makes the dark evenings cosy and enjoyable.

But today, despite the rain, we felt the need to get out and see a bit of the world. So after a relaxing breakfast we headed over to Deeside and into Ballater to do some shopping. It’s a very nice small town and feels prosperous, so it’s always fun to visit. After a quick look round, we went a bit further down the valley to Aboyne, and headed for the Boat Inn for lunch. An excellent meal, enlivened by the passage of Percy the green engine on a track over our table, and which circumnavigated the whole dining area just above head height. We took a look at the adjacent river Dee, which appeared to be in full spate and not at all inviting.

By the time we had finished our late lunch, it felt as if it was about to get dark so we headed back over to Donside, this time travelling via Heugh Head and Bellabeg. On the way, we took a short detour to go up to the Watchers – an outdoor artwork installation set on the hillside overlooking Corgarff caste. I got out to take a look but it was so dreich that everyone else stayed sensibly warm and dry in the comfort of the car.

It’s fully dark now, and the fire is lit. Time to start some serious relaxation!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


A rainy day outside but the fire is always nice!	Ballater town centre. It’s a really nice town, and always feels prosperous. Royal Deeside cachet certainly helps

This used to be the Rothesay Rooms restaurant in Ballater, founded by then-Prince Charles after the 2015 floods. It has recently been bought by the same firm that now owns the Fife Arms in Braemar, who re-named it the Fish Shop	Aboyne town centre was coned off when we arrived this afternoon. A bit of research revealed that this was in advance of the “Illuminator” run – a series of after-dark race events starting at 6:30pm

There were 8km, 15km and 15mi Illuminator run tonight. This is the route of the 15 mi event. It looks like great fun (though the weather was far from ideal)	Looking through one of the Watchers. One of the holes is centred on Corgarff castle – which is just visible as the white smudge in the middle of the picture

Percy (Thomas’ friend) paid us a visit while we were in the restaurant. He whizzed round on a track above our heads, exploring the whole dining room as we were eating. Val felt quite at home