• About
  • Contact Me
  • Disclosure

accentBritain

~ a romance with art and all things British

accentBritain

Tag Archives: Ballater

Castle Fever

18 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by pat in Scotland, The Royal Family, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Ballater, Balmoral, Castles, Prince Philip, Queen Victoria

I have been thinking of Balmoral lately, with the Royal Family in residence for their summer holiday, and Prince Philip having to retreat to the hospital in Aberdeen for a recurring health issue.

Beautiful Balmoral in the spring…a splendid castle. Photo by me

When we visited Scotland in May, we found our charming inn, the Dundee Hotel…

The Deeside Hotel in Ballater, our home while in Scotland. Photo by me

…tucked in along the road not far from Balmoral, just on the western edge of Ballater, and managed to drag our luggage up the narrow stairs to our room. Charm does not usually come with elevators in Great Britain.

Outside our room at the top of the stairs, the signs of the area…red deer and scotch. Photo by me

It was unusually warm for this part of the UK, probably close to 80 degrees, and after managing to get one window open in the room (air-conditioning doesn’t seem to be the norm in Scotland) we decided to walk in to town to enjoy the sun and get the lay of the land.

The parlor at the Deeside Hotel. photo by me

One thing I noticed walking down the main road was that there was definitely a castle theme in the architecture.

A neighborhood castle. Photo by me

Ballater is a holiday location on the “Deeside” which is what the locals call the area on the north side of the River Dee.  Most of the town closes up for winter and the season is March to November at the most, although there are a few ski resorts nearby.

We assumed that many of these homes were second homes, and obviously if you have the money to have a home in Ballater, it might as well be a castle.

Even new construction favors the castle tradition in Ballater. Photo by me.

It may be the Balmoral influence, which is only about 6 miles down the road. Or maybe they are just waiting for the Americans to invade and feel they need some extra fortification.

In the hills of Ballater on the main road. photo by me

None-the-less, it is a wonderful area, and returning to our rather warm, and bright room (the sun sets after 9:45pm in May) we decided it was definitely worth the long trip north. After all, it was one of Queen Victoria’s absolute favorite spots on earth. And no one would dream to argue with her.

The original train station used by Queen Victoria in Ballater. Photo by me

Head For The Hills

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by pat in Scotland, Travel, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Ballater, Braemer, Red Deer

On the next unseasonably warm day in Scotland, we headed to Braemar and the Glen of Lui to take a cool walk in the forest that was highly recommended to us by a knowledgable local.  My Beloved Brit even broke out the shorts. It was well in to the 70s, unheard of, especially this time of year.

Through the forest on a warm spring day in Scotland. Photo by me

We went to see the salmon run, and although the salmon were not running that day, it was still a pretty interesting walk.

The salmon were not running. photo by me.

We saw a large herd of beautiful red deer in the distance coming down from the hills to the river’s edge again.  We could not get very close, but it was still impressive.  We had also seen several cross the road right in front of our car earlier in the morning.  Less exciting, more scary, but still very cool once the shock wore off.

In the distance, a herd of red deer coming in for a drink. Photo by me

On the drive back to Braemar for lunch,  I spotted this classic red British Telephone booth…but notice at the top the inscription…”email,text,phone”.

 

An old traditional telephone box has a new twist. Photo by me.

I turned to return to the car and noticed that this mother and baby were as interested in me as I was in the telephone booth.  They just stood watching as I snapped away.

Hello. Welcome to the neighborhood. Photo by me.

We bid them goodby and retreated to Bramaer for lunch. A perfect morning in Scotland.

The hotel in Bramer and our favorite lunch stop for sandwiches in the lobby before heading back to Ballater. Photo by me.

 

 

♣ Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 27 other subscribers

♣ Archives

  • September 2022
  • May 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • August 2021
  • May 2021
  • January 2021
  • September 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • July 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • July 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011

♣ Recent Posts

  • Autumn Stroll on the C&O Canal
  • A Winter’s Project
  • A Walk In The Park
  • An Adirondack Pond
  • Golden

♣ Categories

  • Art
  • Art Museums & Exhibitions
  • Bath
  • Books
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Burnham-on-Crouch
  • cars
  • Cornwall
  • Cornwall
  • England
  • entertainment
  • Fashion
  • Food
  • Gardens
  • Grasmere
  • Guana Island
  • History
  • Lake District
  • Lake District
  • London
  • movies
  • Music
  • National Trust
  • Olympics
  • paintings
  • Peak District
  • Sailing
  • Scotland
  • Shopping
  • sketching
  • The New Forest
  • The Royal Family
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • United Kingdom

♣ my button

accentbritain.com
<a href="http://accentbritain.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://accentbritain.com/accentBritainbutton.jpeg" alt="accentBritain.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>
Copyright 2011 accentBritain LLC. All rights reserved. All original photos, text and art is copyright protected.

Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: Chateau by Ignacio Ricci.

 

Loading Comments...