"Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all..." - Alistair Reid
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| (Fergus the hairy coo at Ralia Highland Cafe) |
Date: 9 May 2017 (Tuesday)
Route: Edinburgh - Pitlochry
Distance: 70 miles (1 hr 48 min)
Today we drove towards the north via the M90 then A9 Highway. The weather was sunny and cool while driving on the mountain road. We stopped at a layby by the highway for a short rest and a cup of steaming coffee.
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| (Coffee stop by the highway) |
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| (Detour to visit a famous castle) |
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| (A beautiful castle seen from the highway) |
Blair Castle stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl in Perthshire in Scotland. It is the ancestral home of the Clan Murray, and was historically the seat of their chief, the Duke of Atholl. The castle stands in Glen Garry, and commands a strategic position on the main route through the central Scottish Highlands. The entrance fee into the castle and the Hercules Garden was £11/pax.
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| (A nicely written saying) |
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| (The entrance to Blair Castle and Hercules Garden) |
The castle is a category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.
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| (The ancestral home of Clan Murray) |
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| (A majestic Scottish Highland castle) |
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| (A bagpiper plays on the hour at Blair Castle) |
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| (The main hall at Blair Castle) |
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| (Highlanders artifacts on display) |
From Blair Castle we continued driving towards north and stopped at Ralia Highland Café for a light refreshment.
Ralia Highlands Cafe was built in 2005 on the site of a redundant Tourist Information Centre. The owner of Ralia Cafe spent many years travelling up and down the A9 during his career in whisky and food manufacturing. He stopped at Ralia in often desperate for a cup of coffee!
This is a great place to stop for toilet breaks and refreshments for travellers.
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| (A lunch stop at Ralia Highlands) |
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| (A quiet cafe with a good view of the highlands) |
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| (Cakes and sandwiches for lunch) |
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