Tantallon

Tantallon Castle - the last of our Scottish adventures..

Finally, to our dismay, the last day of our Scottish adventures arrived. Since we were all a bit tired and the weather was getting rather uncertain we decided not to venture too far away from Edinburgh, but visit one of the close by castle ruins.  We have decided to go east of Edinburgh this time (since all our previous trips took us west) and visit Castle Tantallon located on the coast of Scotland close to North Berwick.  It was built in mid 14th century and survived undamaged for only 300 years or so, but the ruins that are still standing give us an idea of how grand it must have been in it's time.  Very tall walls and towers are still standing there surrounded by the sea from one side and vast countryside on the other.  While you approach it from the road you can see the wonderful Bass Rock sticking out of the sea providing a great background to the castle on the  near by cliff.

The first thing that struck me when we got to the ruins was  what time and sea breeze did to the walls. The textures and colours of the eroded material were great and caused me to take a very many pictures of them. Here is a few:

The second this was the size of the structure, still easily recognizable regardless of the damage. I was constantly lost somewhere and only thanks to my older son looking after me I was able to find my way and find the rest of my family ;D

All of those little specs on and around Bass Rock are sea birds that live on the rock.  There are thousands of them there!!

By the time we left the structure I was completely blown away by the wind (it was so strong that one had to hold on to the ropes hanged on the staircases otherwise one might fall down swept by it)...  On the grounds my attention was caught by the walls surrounding the castle and the wild flowers that were growing out of them, planted by the birds or wind...

Of course, I had to take a closer look ;D

And that was that!! Next day we had to fly home and return to the present.  I will always cherish my memories of this trip. It was absolutely wonderful!!!  I still have hundreds of pictures left from the flights and both Spain and Scotland and, perhaps, if time allows I will share some more of them with you. But for now the adventure is over... Hope you've enjoyed this holiday with us. Until the next time...

Kasia