Scotland Day 3.1 - Scone Palace, Queens View (w pics)

My jet lag is catching up with me. I'm doing all the right things, getting plenty of sunshine, going to bed at a reasonable (but not too early) hour. But I'm still waking by 5:30am, and even with a bit of pissfarting about, shower, breakfast, chat with JD, I'm still on the road by 8:30am. I had two powernaps on the side of the road on my way to Inverness today - a function of lack of sleep, long boring highways, warm sunny days, and patchy radio.

My three quid English breakfast (yes, that's haggis at 7pm, and it was delicious!)

My first stop after leaving Dundee was Scone Palace (pronounced 'skooon'), just outside of Perth. For a fairly steep fee, you can walk through a number of rooms and 'admire' the furnishings and objets d'art (no photographs allowed), and then about the astonishingly extensive grounds. The current palace was completely rebuilt 1803 to 1809 (or thereabouts), and is owned by the Earls of Mansfield. 

For me, it was an off-putting display of centuries of wealth and privilege. It may have been where several kings, including Robert the Bruce and Macbeth, but any traces of the medieval abbey were destroyed during the Reformation.

Chapel on Moot Hill, with wicker sculptures of deer in foreground.

I then continued towards Inverness, turning off the road at Killiecrankie, to visit Queen's View. Made famous by Queen Victoria's visit (railways had recently opened up these previously inaccessible areas), but it was probably named after Queen Isabella, wife of Robert the Bruce. There is a magnificent view over Loch Tummel (made larger by the hydroelectric dam, built at its outlet ca. 1950). It really is very pretty countryside, with big trees, and purple heather.

Here are two photos of the loch looking west, in steady drizzle, and an hour later (after lunch) in spotted sunshine.

Lunch was a v yummy toasted sanga, sorry croque monsieur, with mushroom and red onion, plus a broccoli and Stilton soup. An excellent way to wait out the rain.

After my underwhelming response to Scone Palace, I decided to skip Blair Castle, at Blair Atholl, and instead went on to Inverness, and my accommodation for the next two nights.

This hotel (Beaufort) was randomly picked from Booking.com on the basis of availability, cost (still more than £100 a night), and not being a shared bunkroom. I will, however, be skipping the breakfast as £13.95 (or AU$25.50) is rather steep. I'll find something in town.

On the other hand, they have a bar (with at least a grigio by the glass in the absence of a sparkling), with bar food, and tolerable wifi, so I shall update some of my earlier posts with photos and more detail.