Road trippin Day 4: Carbidsdale Castle

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This morning we were up early again, it is so wierd going to bed when it is still light out at 11pm. We were on the road by 8am and cruised to the official Loch Ness exhibition. Although it was slightly chessy, it was still quite fun. Unfortunately it made me a sceptic after seeing it, even though I went in thinking that Nessie might be real, however they say over 1,000 people have claimed to have seen something on Loch Ness. After we perused the gift shop and bought some postcards we were onto our next destination for the night.....a haunted castle in Culrain, 45 min north of Inverness!

Caro and Lottie!
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The drive up to Culrain was once again a stunning backdrop and was a little bit cooler today, although I didn't expect to see oil rigs in the middle of some of the lochs on the way up. We somehow ended up on the wrong side of the river so had to turn around and go back the other way to get to the caslte, only added another 15 min or so. But we have now decided to start reading maps properly, we are girls after all.

It was scaaaaawy

Heading north to Culrain
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As we pulled up to the castle it was like Wow! It was hard to believe that they could have converted such an amazing place into a youth hostel. It was amazing! It once belonged to the Ducchess of Sutherland, who gave safe passage to the King and Prince of Norway during the Nazi takeover of Norway. Really interesting paintings on the walls, although some were a little scary. Apparently there were three ghosts that have been seen through the castle and of course my imagination started running overtime. A few wierd things did happen to me though. I went to use the loo the first time, but the women's one was out of order so I ducked into the men's one real quick and into a cubicle.  I thought I had locked the door but it swung up and so I made sure I locked it properly the second time and had a hard time trying to push it closed like some force was behind it! I didn't even flush, I just got the hell out of there. Later on I used the loo on the other side and when I pulled the string down to turn on the light it started flickering like a strobe light then went out completely, so I'm sitting on the toilet in the dark. Wicked.

Culrain
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The castle was amazing despite being a little spooky. There was a long art gallery in the main hall, a library full of books and a self-catering kitchen. By 8pm the place was fully booked out, mostly a lot of families. There wasn't a helluva lot of things to do up there in Culrain and no pubs within walking distance, which I guess saved us a bit of money. Had another early night and caught up on writing postcards. Really looking forward to Paris on Tues!!