Day 9: Adventures in Scotland
Day 1 in Cullen
Day 9: Adventures in Scotland was our first full day in Cullen. With the exception of the Portsoy Boat Festival, I didn’t have anything scheduled for the four days in Cullen. However, my list of things to see around Cullen had gotten longer since planning a trip for 2020. My aunt and I are incredibly blessed to have friends who live in Cullen. They loaned us books about Cullen and pointed out all of the key places that we had read about in the books on the Scotland reading list.
For five years I followed Cullen Past and Present on Facebook and enjoyed all of the pictures. I was more than ready to have photographic evidence for my own Cullen memories!
That morning was overcast so we waited until about 10am to go to Cullen harbor. Every night while in Scotland I called my parents to tell them about that day. (And to make sure that my horses were all behaving themselves!) The five nights in Cullen I called while walking around the harbor and on the beach. Fortunately there aren’t many people walking the beach at 10pm. I was able to use speaker while taking pictures of the sunset!
Cullen Harbor and Beach: 10am and 10pm
Fyvie Castle, Garden, and Estate
Since it was a bit of a drippy day, our friends suggested that we tour Fyvie Castle. Because of our National Trust for Scotland USA membership, the guided tour visit to the castle, as well as the parking, was free.
We arrived in an absolute downpour! All of my Scotland expert friends agree that there is one thing that you can count on with Scottish weather: it will rain! However the rain set the perfect mood for touring Fyvie Castle. Fortunately there was just enough time before the tour to enjoy a nice, warm cuppa and a bag of crisps in the cozy tearoom!
Our guide wasn’t actually one of the regular tour guides. As a staff member he took the time to point out all of his favorite parts of the castle and to share all of the castle lore and stories. Our extremely knowledgeable guide then encouraged us to ask questions. I think all of us felt that we hit the jackpot for our tour, and that was before we got to the music room! Getting to experience the sound of the piano in the music room is not part of the regular tour.
Fyvie Castle was the inspiration for the castle in one of my favorite novels by George MacDonald, Donal Grant. Just as in Donal Grant, Fyvie Castle has ghostly stories and a hidden room-everything that is needed for a good gothic mystery,
Portknockie and Bow Fiddle Rock
It had been raining on and off all day, but it cleared up for us to have a nice 30 minute walk along the Portknockie Cliffs Path before dinner. On our walk we saw Bow Fiddle Rock, Scaur Nose, Florimel’s Rock, Whales Mouth, Jenny’s Well, Preacher’s Cave, Cullen Bay Hotel, Seatown, and the Cullen Viaduct.
Wrapping Up the 1st Day in Cullen
Day 9: Adventures in Scotland was like waking up in a dream. After all my aunt and I stayed in the cosy, seaside fisherman’s cottage AirBnB that we had reserved in 2019. We were also getting to see the places where George MacDonald stayed while writing his novels as well as the places described in those books. I was a kid when I fell in love with Scotland in George MacDonald’s books. As an adult I fell in love with the modern day area of Cullen in Michael Phillips novels Angel Harp, Heather Song, and Murder By Quill.
I can’t wait to share about the second day in Cullen. It is a day all about George MacDonald!
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