Ruth had wanted to do some walking on the estate grounds, however it's very expensive.
It costs £18.50 ($34.60 CAD, $25.20 USD) per adult just to enter the grounds.
Last year, King Charles made the interior of the castle available for public tours for the first time ever. If you want to see the inside, it will cost you £110 ($206 CAD, $150 USD). You can include afternoon tea inside the castle, by adding on another £60 ($112 CAD, $82 USD) per person.
So, while we are willing to spend money on some things... this is not one of them!
Instead, Ruth found a walking area on the estate that is totally free... the Cairns Walk... and it includes a view of the castle which is otherwise impossible to see without paying the money.
Yes, we finally saw highland cattle!
The cairns were installed as memorials by various members of the Royal Family in the 1800's.
Loki on the trail.
Loki and me heading uphill.
At the top of the highest point is a pyramid!
The pyramid was commissioned by Queen Victoria as a memorial to Prince Albert who died in 1861 at age 42.
View from the pyramid.
Me, at the pyramid.
They had been calling for possible showers, but we ended up getting a decent rainstorm. Fortunately, Ruth had packed our rain ponchos that we had bought for hiking the last time we were in the UK.
Scotland scenery near Balmoral Castle.
Ruth and Loki with another memorial cairn.
Me, admiring the scenery.
Our free view of Balmoral Castle!
Zoomed in.
Statue of John Brown, Queen Victoria's personal servant.
Despite the rain, it was a good hike. In fact, I really don't mind hiking in the rain when you have the right gear!
Today, we finish up our housesit and say goodbye to Loki. We don't leave until this afternoon though. We're heading down to Balintore Castle for our one night castle stay! Really looking forward to that. Then tomorrow, we cross into England for a one night Airbnb, then we've got nine nights south of Newcastle looking after Jasper and Masie... a couple of shelties!
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Nice price drop on the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K.
And in Canada...
If you haven't already, you should watch the movie, "Mrs. Brown", about Queen Victoria's friendship with John Brown.
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