What Does A Person Need With 189 Rooms?

 

It's a castle day today! Fun Fact: Some of the castles we toured all started with the word Dun. Dun (pronounced doon) means fort. Dunrobin (translates to Robin's Fort) is on the schedule for today.

Of course, before we reach our castle, Tour Guide Phil stops the bus for a photo op.  The Packhorse Bridge is also known as the Coffin Bridge.  It was constructed to allow funerals to cross the River Dulnain to the church. Parts of it were washed away during a flood.

I wonder how many people were bounced out of their coffins on the way over.

Dunrobin castle is one of Scotland's most northerly great houses. The castle has been home to the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland since the 13^th century and is one of Britain's oldest continuously inhabited houses. In fact, the 25^th Earl of Sutherland lives here with his family. The castle is the largest house in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms. The inside of Dunrobin could have been a set for Downton Abbey. The drawing room even had the furniture almost in the same position as Downton's drawing room. The Earl and family must live on the upper levels because there certainly wouldn't be much privacy with all the tourists running through the lower levels.

Dunrobin
One of the prettiest castles we saw

The gardens at Dunrobin were inspired by the gardens of Versailles and were laid out in 1850. One amazing plant was the South American rhubarb which had eight-foot leaves. I wonder how many pies a single stalk would make.

The gardens overlook the Dornoch Firth

We are here for a falconry demonstration. There were two birds that they used – a Harris Hawk and a Gyr Falcon. I wonder a lot about different things and love to learn all sorts of small or big facts. So, what is the difference between a hawk and a falcon?

• Hawks have broad, curved wings, while falcons have long, pointed wings

• Hawk will fly next to another bird and knock them out in mid-air with their talons while falcons use their beaks to sever their prey's spine

• Hawks tend to glide or hover while hunting, while falcons do high-speed dives.

This is a Bengal Eagle Owl.  He/She didn't fly today.  I just like owls.

This is a Gyr Falcon

Harris Hawk

The Harris Hawk looks a lot bigger and more regal here

After our castle adventure, we headed to the Old Smiddy Inn where a lovely man serenaded us with stories and songs. He had a lovely voice and made us laugh and cry.

And of course there are bagpipers.  They are brother and sister.

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