Why not join me on a virtual walk along the Scottish coast?
You're coming then? Brilliant! Let's get going!
We start off in a tiny wee fishing village, Whinnyfold, 20 miles north of Aberdeen.
We walk north along the cliffs, admiring the blue seas and the graceful arc of Cruden Bay in the distance.
(You may, like me, have to be on a lead for this stretch, along a narrow and uneven path with steep drops on one side and eminently chase-able sheep on the other.)
Eventually we reach the beach, and can run free, sniff around the rock pools and sip the salty water.
If you biggify this picture you can see the outline of a castle in the top left. That's where we're headed.
But first you may wish to stop a while and reflect, and watch the tide go out.
We are lucky that for once there is almost no wind, so no sand blowing in our eyes.
It seems we might even have the beach to ourselves today.
And also the path up to the spooky ruins of Slains Castle. (Bram Stoker stayed here; they say it's where he found inspiration for the Dracula story.)
We can walk right up to the castle and explore. It's great fun - so many fascinating nooks and crannies to investigate. (The buildings are actually fenced off for safety reasons, but there's a hole in the fence so we can slip straight through!) If I had a human who would remember to charge her camera battery once in a while, then I would be able to show you the ruins close up, but I'm afraid you'll just have to imagine it today, or perhaps follow this link.
P.S. I am off on my big train journey to visit human Granny and Granddad on Thursday. But by
