Scotland Trip 2026 - Blog 3-of-3

Thursday, January 29, 2026 - Up and at 'em. A nice breakfast in the hotel, and we left about 9 AM. The Map for Day 3 in Scotland:

There are stone walls underneath all that moss:

Wide-open countryside:

By 10:30 we were at Arbroath Abbey. No art associated with this place (that I am aware of), but still a Very Cool Place:

Continuing north, over the River North Esk:

Driving north along the Scottish Coast, on the wrong side of the road. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing

We reached Dunnottar Castle a little before noon (we did not go ALL THE WAY OUT on this stormy and windy day). Having said that, it was Very Cool:

30 minutes later, we were up in Aberdeen:

Of course - it being half-past NOON - our first priority (after parking the car) was Finding Lunch! The car park exited into an indoor mall, with a sandwich shop RIGHT THERE - Thank You God. Then it was out on the street for a block to the Aberdeen Art Gallery:

Claude Monet - "La Falaise à Fécamp", 1881 oil:

J.M.W. Turner - "Bellinzona from the Road to Locarno", 1843 watercolour:

We then journeyed 20 minutes up the road to the Abedeen Treasure Hub - Museum Centre:

Two weeks ago I exchanged emails with Fern Bulfin, the Collection Information Officer, to see if we could see 4 Turner watercolours (which were "Not On Display"). She very generously/graciously offered a 1:30 time slot on Thursday!!!

J.M.W. Turner - "Interior of Ely Cathedral - North Transept and Chancel", 1797 watercolour:

J.M.W. Turner - "Baccharach on the Rhine", c. 1820 watercolour:

J.M.W. Turner - "Canal Scene with Shipping", 1800-1824 watercolour:

J.M.W. Turner - "Caerlaverock Castle", c. 1832 watercolour:

I don't have the engraving - yet. The engraving appears in 'Scott's Poetical Works' (Cadell), 1834:

They sure have quite a range of architectural styles in Aberdeen:

We drove a little east, to the University of Aberdeen area, first seeing The Cathedral Church of St. Machar:

We then walked 1/2 mile down the street:

and visited King's College Chapel:

Back outside, and back to our car:

That was a FUN hike:

We left Aberdeen, and drove southwest to Dundee and The McManus (their Art Museum):

They have a David Roberts (that I knew about) ["Edinburgh Town and Castle", 1831 oil] and a watercolour by J.M.W. Turner (that I did not know about) ["River Scene, Le Havre", c. 1832 watercolour]:

We said goodbye to Dundee at 5 PM:

Back to The Hotel, and dinner at 6:30. Thank You God for this wonderful Scotland adventure (and driving safely on VERY NARROW ROADS)!

For listening, I just kept the car radio on "Smooth Scotland" - the Bee Gee's seem to be in play-list-rotation:

Past entries of this blog are available on the website https://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine/New York:
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/