Monday, February 20, 2012

Rundown; Huntly: Day One

I have been a bad blogger.....

I know I'm not exactly the most consistent blogger but the lack of personal posts over the last couple of weeks is inexcusable, I have no explanation for this besides laziness.....zero, zilch. I am however redeeming myself by writing a post today chock-a-block with stuff I've been up to over the past week.

Before I begin, how was V-Day? And Sidechicks Day? Equally amazing too I'm sure, guilt really loosens the purse strings.

Anyhoo, I've been meaning to see more of Scotland for a while now, I've only visited Edinburgh and Glasgow and they were very brief visits so when the opportunity arose to see more of the country I grabbed it with my spiced vanilla scented hands.

Last week I spent a couple of days in Huntly, a small village just outside of Aberdeen and I stayed in an 18th century country house hotel called the Castle Hotel.







It was dope, dope, dope.

Miles and miles of emptiness, I loved it.

We were only about an hour (by train) away from the city but it was like a completely different world; breath-taking scenery, vast highland landscapes, ice-capped hills.....I'm not an outdoorsy person, in fact I loathe the outdoors but this was an experience. In my JJC mind I felt like I was in a storybook.

Right at the foot of the driveway of the hotel was the ruined Huntly Castle which was once the stronghold to the Gordon clan, the historical aspect of the place was more my thing so I was really excited about having a real live castle near me.





Most of the castle was still intact and seeing as it was built in the 1300s that's a hell of an achievement. Nearly all the original structures were still standing; the brewery, fireplaces, the prisons, latin graffiti, the chapel, the great hall.....I felt like I was in a Jude Deveraux novel.

*sidebar* i don't know how many of you read Jude Deveraux but she's a phenomenal American romance writer who seems to have a bit of an obsession with Scotland. She likes to write about a family called the Montgomerys who were originally from Scotland and members of this family tend to pop up in the unlikeliest places in all her books. Reading Jude turns the Highlands into this terribly romantic place with red-haired men in kilts and strong calves (her words not mine), burning peat, whisky, wild women and bitter cold. Anyway before I came to live here my impressions of Scotland were primarily from Jude Deveraux books.

The hotel I stayed in was built by the Gordons after Huntly Castle became too dilapidated to live in and the owners kept most of the elements of the original house. The rooms had four poster beds and fireplaces and the view from the windows were nuts. There was even a chamber pot in my room (including a bathroom but seeing an actual real chamber pot was hella cool) and my bed was an actual 19th century four poster.

Tres cool.

I arrived at Huntly in the afternoon and spent most of the day sleeping.


H&M peach pussy-bow chiffon blouse
Aqua By Aqua high waist Travolta trousers in Stone

Decided to give a nod to Spring colours and rock pastels and nudes.

Later that night I went down for dinner. You guys remember the vintage blouse I copped from my one and only successful thrift shopping experience right?





Sequinned vintage wrap blouse
Topshop bandage skirt
Topshop fringed box purse
Topshop Art Deco earrings


My new Topshop "spike" ring, been using it to poke people when they annoy me, trust I've been doing a lot of poking.



I had read countless reviews of the cuisine in the hotel before I got there to ensure I wouldn't have to subsist on crisps and coke the entire time.

*sidebar* I remember last summer when my friend Nwabugo and I were trying to book a hotel in Paris to stay at, we had almost decided on a particular hotel, nearly entered card details when we read a review which swore the hotel had rats and numerous other horrors to gruesome too write here, we clicked the "x" at the top right hand of the page sharply and found another hotel.

The moral of this story is that reviews save your life. I never go anywhere or try anything new without reading reviews first.

The Castle Hotel however had excellent reviews and a four star rating so I was satisfied that the food won't be disappointing and thank God I was right, the food was pretty good; except this under the sea horror my friend had;



I love seafood but I have a peculiar aversion to anything that comes in shells: mussels, clams, oysters, scallops.....yuck. Can't abide the lot of them. I had something a little saner;


Paella, prawns, salmon and vegetables.....much kinder to my stomach.

My second day in Huntly was even more fun, I went out a bit and got to see a lot of the countryside and villages in the vicinity, coming up in my next post.

Love and light xx
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14 comments

  1. You look so beautiful with your hair short.

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  2. Thank you Lord for this post and subsequent posts. I've really missed your updates. Its very amazing you had fun and I hope your Castle experience made you feel like a Queen :)

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  3. I'd be lying if i say i did not miss you, your blog has grown on me :)

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  4. Just when I was wondering what happened to 3rdWorldP!

    That ring is a hazard!!!! Love eeet! And I heart the blue blouse. Looks like you had a great getaway in Scotland. x

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  5. wow look at that thrifted blouse!!!, love it.

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  6. Your Back! WooooHooo!!!!!! I swear wish I cold trade one of my useless so-called friends for you.
    Love the adventures you get up to and the cultural spiel you deliver to us now and again.
    Keep um coming girl! And as always you look picture perfect.

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  7. Finally a post 4rm u. rly nice outfit. pls more pics.

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  8. I visited so many castles, ruined, preserved or converted while at Edinburgh. This must have been so cool. :)

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  9. Oh BLess, was so happy when i came here today and saw another heading and not Wana Sambo I am Woman collection lol, its like a ritual now to come on your blog so thanks for posting something new. And both outfits look stunning. GOin to that Aqua website now now!

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  10. Awwww! You should smile more! You look absolutely gorgeous in the first picture. Love that outfit and the colour on you. Looks like you got all dressed up for your bf you haven't seen in a while. I love it!!!!

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  11. @Shirley: Wow, thank you. With long hair nko? xx

    @Her Excellency: LOL, e don enter religious matter? I had a blast.

    @Anita: I'd be lying if I said I did not love this comment. You sound like you used to be a reluctant reader, thank Christ for your conversion.

    @Andiva: I've been sleeping for a week now, lol.

    @Uduak: I know right, I'm so inspired to thrift some more now.

    @Alexa: Lol, your friends can't be that bad. Thanks babe

    @Weruche: Thank you, I will.

    @Myne: Scotland is littered with them, I have so many more I wanna see

    @Miss T: LOL, you guys are killing me. Thank you!

    @CeeBee: Bf? What bf? I know not whom you speak of :)

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  12. Wrap blouses are lovely..love the blue

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  13. Dare I say you looked amazing in that first picture..

    Your food doesn't look so sane, hope it filled you up. Lol.

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  14. LOVE your short hair over that float peach top! Were! =]

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