Balvenie Castle

I had a busy day today, with five castles (or ruins thereof) to visit. Sadly, I only managed four, since both Google Maps and my completely useless new GPS sent me into a field where it insisted Kildrummy Castle was to my left. The grains begged to differ. I then consulted my paper map book, which put the castle several miles to the southwest, and on my route to Pitlochry tomorrow. So I shall see it then.

Anyway, my first ruin was Balvenie Castle. I arrived shortly before it opened,at 9:30, but that just gave me time to chat with the two middle aged ladies from Historic Scotland. I went in, did the touristy thing and left again. Total time spent must have been well under 30 minutes. The one interesting thing to say about the property, is that the whole area smelled of yeast, as Glenfiddich distillery was just down the road.

The outside of Balvenie Castle.


The shitter. You knows I finds 'em.


The remnants of a frickin' huge oven. Here, they baked bread, roasted animals and boiled various foodstuffs. On average, every adult member of a household ate about two good sized loaves of bread each day. The preferred drink was ale (much weaker than today's version), but the lords and ladies of the house would usually have imported wine.


The great hall.