We saw the King and Queen!

This definitely wasn't in my planning spreadsheet. In fact, none of today was in my spreadsheet. Everything that happened today was a complete surprise.

Our plan for today was to drive to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. But Ian had a change of heart. He felt like he had seen plenty of lakes in the Lakes District. He was more interested in seeing the highlands. He plotted out a drive that finished in Braemar. It was a beautiful drive. Once we got off the motorway, we had loads of green rolling hills, sheep and picture perfect villages to look at. As we got closer to the Highlands, the landscape changed to heather covered mountains. It was a bit similar to New Zealand but, in New Zealand, the mountains are jagged topped where in the Highlands there are more of a dome top. Ian says that is because of ice caps or glaciers or something like that.

As we got closer to Braemar, we realised that today was the day for the Braemar Gathering. This is probably the best known of the various Highland Games that happen during summer in Scotland. Once we realised the happy coincidence, we decided to see the games. It was like something out of the movie Brave. The Gathering takes place in a beautiful, green recreation ground ringed by mountains. We were watching classic events such as the caber tossing, tug of war and heaving weights over a bar (all competitors wearing kilts) as well as all the usual races and field events. It was fun and kind of surreal.

We were getting ready to head back to the car when I noticed some unusual movement. I asked one of the attendants what was happening and he said that the Royal Family were about to arrive. They always come to the Braemar Gathering. This year was the first year that Charles would attend as the monarch.

As soon as I heard that, I planted myself against the rope along the entrance drive. And, unbelievably, Charles and Camilla followed by Princess Anne and her husband sailed past us almost within touching distance. All completely coincidental. I couldn't have planned it if I tried.

On the way home, we did a hike near the Glenshee Ski Centre (who knew there is skiing in Scotland!). This was the best part of the day for Clare.

What a day! 

N.B. Blogger doesn't allow the uploading of videos. If you want to see our video of the royals arriving, click here.

Also, see the pipers coming in behind the motorcade, here as well as watch a caber toss and tug of war.