DUNNOTTAR CASTLE
Only two short miles from the lovely seaside village of Stonehaven is Dunnottar Castle. It is so awesome that it caused me to gasp in amazement when I first laid eyes on it and I have been in its magic spell ever since.

We visited there early on a foggy morning. The fog lifted slightly to allow us to take our photos but then it came in to claim the castle as its own once again. The castle was not open for tours at the time but even so it was much too dangerous to travel down the steep walkway in the fog. We did our best to take photos of what we saw.

Dunnottar Castle dominates a flat promontory that is 160 feet in height and juts out into the North Sea. The castle complex is like a walled city with many structures. The tower is the most prominent of the many buildings and was built in the 15th century. However, it is known that there were fortresses there for as far back as the first century. The rock that holds the castle is linked to the mainland by a small strip of land and is surrounded by the sea on three sides. The castle itself had to entered through a tunnel. This combination made the castle inaccessible to enemy forces even at high tide. In the early part of the sixteenth century, Dunnottar was among the strongest fortresses in Scotland. Unfortunately today it is an impressive ruin.

I wished we could have lingered to stay longer, or to return when the sun was there, but unfortunately we had to be on our way. One of my goals is to return to this site one day for a thorough visit to this castle.