Want to see some stunning views? Walk from Stonehaven to Dunnottar Castle.

First, I've got to say that since I've been incapacitated and on the couch, I've been watching this show on MTV called Catfish. For those of you who don't know, it's a show where two guys investigate online relationships when one of the partners is suspicious that the other is lying (maybe pretending to be somebody else). Man! You guys need to be careful with online relationships. People will steal entire profiles. I've seen, on this show, people have their cousins get in an online relationship with their best friend while pretending to be somebody else by using some model's pictures. I've seen women and men use other people's pictures and just refuse to FaceTime or Skype because they didn't like the way they looked. And some of these went on for YEARS. Did you know that you can drag your photos from Facebook or your social network of choice into the Google search field, and it will bring up all webpages where your photo is located? Pretty neat trick. Any way, I've been sidetracked by shock and awe.

Let's get to the lovely stuff. The walk to Dunnottar Castle from Stonehaven is so nice. It's steep in a few places so I wouldn't go when it's wet. It's only a 1.5 mile walk one way (3 miles total). First though, let's get serious. We had to stop at The Bay for some Fish and Chips.

See the haar (sea fog) moving on to land?

After lunch, I drove to the harbour and parked on the carpark past the Tolbooth Museum. It's free to park there. Then, we walked along the harbour past the pubs and hotels along the water and turned right on Marischal Street. As you walk along, you should come to a sign pointing the way.

Getting a little steep!

I love the views of the harbour!

The haar is taking over.

This is the war memorial on top of the hill.

TaDa!

I didn't take pictures inside of the castle because I have plenty of posts about that! So here is the walk back to town.

This is a really nice walk. It's not very difficult. It just has one or two steep climbs but if you take it slow, I feel like anybody can do it! 

The Jacobite Steam - A.K.A. The Hogwarts Express From Harry Potter

This past weekend we took my sister to ride the Jacobite Steam. It's the train used in the Harry Potter films! We drove to Fort William from Aberdeen. When planning this trip, I didn't take the single lane roads, and with that the cars driving 15-20 mph UNDER the speed limit. We were still fine, but you may want to keep that in mind if you take this trip.

Maps for those who are unfamiliar with the area:

Our drive in blue.

The red marker shows the location of the train station. The dark grey shaded area across from LIDL is where we parked. I think it was £3 for the entire day.

The drive there was beautiful. Thanks to my sister for some of the photos! (FYI: You can click on them to enlarge the photos.)

 We walked up to the train station along the fence, and the conversation went something like this (We didn't tell Cacie where we were going.)

C: Why are we here?
K: We have some stuff to do.
(Train starts backing into station)

K: Welcome to the Hogwarts Express, Cacie!
C: What? Are you serious?
K: Yep! Better take some pictures.... by the way, we are also riding it.
C: Really?

And here was her reaction:

 When you get on the train, you have to really look to find your seat number. "B" for backwards, "F" for forward-facing. The window seats are labeled near the window above the seat.

 The aisle seats are labeled on the sides of the seats. This can be confusing if you don't notice one or the other.

 Check out the views!

 Snacks and drinks are sold on the train. We were in Carriage E. Seats 23-24. We got the left side of the train. SCORE. Great views.

 We were really excited to see Glenfinnan Viaduct. That's the bridge that you see the train cross in the Harry Potter films. If you want the best picture, go between carriages where you can pull down the window to take pictures without a glare.

We bought this map on the train for £1.

 The Loch Nan Uamh Viaduct was also really cool even though it was smaller than the Glenfinnan.

 The photos below show where the scene was filmed for Dumbledore's White Tomb in the Deathly Hallows. Cool!

 We stopped at the Glenfinnan Station for a short break.

 Back to the tracks!

 Our last stop was Maillag. It was a cute harbor town. We had plenty of time to eat dinner there. We chose the Steam Inn for dinner. It was really good. Tip: Go straight to your restaurant of choice when you get there to make sure you get a table.

 After dinner we got back on the train for the ride back to Fort William. Cacie and I spent lots of time between carriages this time so we could look out of the open windows and get better photos.

Disclaimer: You should NOT try this. We were looking out for each other, but there were loads of trees and tunnels with close walls. It's dangerous. Please be careful.

Tickets were £34 for an adult return and £19 for a child (16 and under) return. I thought it was well worth it!