After Edinburgh we traveled on to Aberfoyle. It is a small touristy village located in beautiful country area surrounded by lochs and hills. We have been staying and working in a beautiful 500 year old Castle which has been turned into a Bed and Breakfast. We have been staying with an English couple (Oliver and Francis) and their two children. It has been a pleasure getting to know them all. We have been working for the family as well. We work 5 days a weeks, 5 hrs a day and have two days off during the week to explore. Our work duties have included: cleaning the castle, making beds, restocking, gardening, decorating the rooms and serving breakfast and dinner. One night some guests had a murder mystery party and they all dressed up. One of the ladies had secretly hired 2 theatrical maids to come and entertain them all. That was as interesting night! We have enjoyed visiting Stirling, going for a bike ride to Kinlochard and climbing a mountain to get a view of the surroundings, also going to Kinlochard for a mini highland games, tossing the caber, going for walks around the area, swimming in the river (because Scotland has been having a heat wave. It has gotten up to 31 degrees Celsius), visiting Aberfoyle village and getting to know new people.
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| Duchray Castle from the front |
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| Duchray Castle from the back |
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| Aberfoyle Village |
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| The mountains near Aberfoyle Village |
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| A Pine forest near Duchray Castle |
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| Scotch Thistle |
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| The entrance to the Secret Garden (which is on the property next to Duchray Castle) |
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| Inside the Secret Garden! |
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| Swimming in the river! |
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| Making beds |
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| Hoovering |
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| Cleaning |
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| This is how you make a bed.... |
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| ...whoosh! |
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| Gardening |
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| The Robertson girls near Loch Ard |
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| Francis and the kids decorating cup cakes at the highland games |
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| Loretta being knighted |
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| Oliver lifting a rock at the highland games |
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| Amber tossing the caber |
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| Jess tossing the caber |
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| Oliver tossing the caber |
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| Oliver and the kids in Loch Ard |
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| The bonnie wee lassies |
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| Outside Stirling Castle |
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| Inside Stirling Castle |
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| Pretending to be Rob Roy jumping out the tower window in Duchray Castle. (There is a little bit of brief history about Rob Roy and Duchray Castle. Rob was at the Castle for some reason when a group of red coats came after him. A girl who lived at the castle helped him escape out of the same window that is behind me in the photo.) |
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| Doing puzzles with the kids before dinner |
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| Loretta, Liza, Lola (the two maid entertainers) and me |
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| Our very first tip! |
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| Cleaning windows! |
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| The little celtic band we went to see at the local church in Aberfoyle village |
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| The lounge room in Duchray Castle |
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| The vaulted dining room |
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| A winding staircase |
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| The Rob Roy suite also known as the honeymoon suite |
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| The great hall |
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| The twin room |
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| A bike ride to Kinlochard |
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| Hiking up Ben Venue |
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| A view from the mountain. Loch Ard is down below! |
