History comes to life!

Today we traveled to Donnatar Castle in search of William Wallace himself, and his ghost may well have been there because the castle came to life for all of us. The skies were cold and dreary for lunch in Stonehaven or 'Stoney' as it is called by the locals. In the words of Mel Gibson from Braveheart, 'tis lovely Scottish weather.' However upon our arrival at the Castle, the skies parted and it was the brightest and most beautiful day we have seen on our whole trip. Even our tour guide couldn't believe how crystal clear the skies were.

The formerly impregnable castle was overun by a militant band of Chuckanut Bay blue sweatshirts. Once inside the castle, the young men became boys again; running up and down stairs, peeking their heads out windows, pretending they were defending the crown jewels. At one point, a player said, 'This would be a great place to play hide and seek.' The two hours we spent exploring caverns and ruins flew by.

The day was not without business though. We had a hard training session on Aberdeen's pitch and prepared the team for what could be the toughest match of the tour. One and a half hours of drilling was capped by game speed drills in the rain and sleet. The team worked hard and was tired afterward, but everyone recognized the importance of the session to prepare for tomorrow afternoon at 4 pm when the play Aberdeen. We caught the end of their practice today when we returned from Stonehaven, and they looked good. Tomorrow, we will see how good.