EDITOR’S NOTE: Great Escapes is a collection about how typically journey doesn’t go as deliberate — and what occurs subsequent.
Niki Ghofranian surveyed the view from atop the stone partitions of Dunstaffnage Castle, hoping, in opposition to the percentages, to search out a method out.
The partitions stood some 60 ft above the grass under. Jumping can be ill-advised, maybe deadly.
In the gap: hills, lochs, islands. Nearby: forest, greenery, water. Not a individual in sight.
The views have been undeniably stunning. Breathtaking — the picture-perfect Scottish panorama that American vacationer Niki had at all times dreamed of seeing.
“There are worse places to be trapped,” she thought to herself.
It was after hours. The 14th-century gate was padlocked shut. And Niki and her sister Ritta Nielsen have been stuck in a Scottish castle.
It was June 5, 2019, and Niki and Ritta have been on a particular trip to mark their birthdays — Niki’s fifty fifth and Ritta’s 66th. The symmetry felt value celebrating.
“We thought, ‘Okay, let’s do something spectacular,’” Niki tells NCS Travel at this time.
The two had at all times needed to go to Scotland.
“We have Scottish blood in us from our mom’s side,” explains Niki.
They’d lengthy daydreamed about seeing rolling hills, dramatic lochs and imposing mountains. And, in fact, Scotland’s array of historic castles.
They arrived in Oban, in the west of Scotland, excited to discover Dunstaffnage Castle. Parts of the fortress date again to the Thirteenth century. Once the stronghold of the MacDougall clan, the castle was captured by warrior king Robert the Bruce in 1308. In the 18th century, younger Scotswoman Flora MacDonald was held at Dunstaffnage for aiding in the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Today, it’s all imposing stone partitions, ruined turrets and formidable views over the water. One part is roofed up, nevertheless it’s largely open to the weather.
“It was beautiful ruins,” says Nikki.
“When you approach the castle, it’s sitting on this huge mound of a rock,” says Ritta. “It’s very imposing looking.”
The sisters arrived by taxi mid-afternoon — later than deliberate, however Scotland’s recognized for its lengthy summer time daylight. The day nonetheless appeared to stretch forward of them.
They stood outdoors for a second or two, admiring the primary glimpse of the castle standing over the water. Then they headed to the customer heart to purchase tickets.
“It’s about 150 yards or so away from the actual castle itself,” remembers Niki. “When we walked in, the woman told us about the castle, and she took our money, and then she says, ‘We close at six.’”
It was about 4 p.m. Plenty of time.
“And I’m an American,” says Niki. “When places close here, they tell you they’re closed. They don’t just close.”
Entering the grounds, Niki and Ritta have been blown away. History seen on each floor.
“Niki marched along the battlements with iPhone in hand, posting and envisioning a history she had read about, while I searched every nook and cranny,” remembers Ritta. “God, what a stunning structure!”
Time appeared to face nonetheless. The two sisters had Dunstaffnage kind of to themselves.
After a whereas the 2 separated – Ritta heading outdoors of the castle partitions to take images of the outside, Niki climbing onto the ramparts. She stood there, taking in the uneven water and hills. There was nobody else round, no noise, past the wind and water lapping in the loch.
“It was very peaceful and beautiful,” says Niki.
Niki exhaled, taking in the tranquility. Then, the silence was interrupted.
“All of a sudden I hear Ritta yelling at me,” she remembers.
‘We had made a blunder’
Ritta had wandered over to the castle entrance, tried the large door and realized the gate was shut.
Not simply shut — “locked, with an impressive bolt system.”
They have been trapped.
“The door was closed … bolted from the top and at the bottom. Heavy-duty bolting and big heavy duty locks. So that did give me a rush of panic,” she says.
“It was clear we had made a blunder.”
The second Niki and Ritta realized they have been locked in
Ritta left the gatehouse and tried to search out her sister. She noticed her on the ramparts.
At first Niki couldn’t fairly hear what Ritta was saying.
“What?” she shouted down.
“We’re locked in!” shouted Ritta.
“What are you talking about?” shouted again Niki.
She assumed her sister was joking.
“Really. We are locked in! The gate is shut,” yelled Ritta.
Niki sensed the panic in her sister’s voice, however assumed it was a misunderstanding.
“So I go down,” remembers Niki at this time. “And sure enough, the castle doors … were shut.”
Niki stared at her sister in disbelief.
There hadn’t been any bulletins, or not less than none that they had seen. They began laughing. Nervous, incredulous laughter.
“We’re looking around like, ‘Okay great. We’re locked in here. This is unbelievable.’” remembers Niki.
Upon realizing they have been stuck, Niki did the primary logical factor: She pulled out her telephone.
“But it was very, very low battery left, and I didn’t have a charger,” she says.
Ritta didn’t even have a telephone together with her. She started inspecting the castle for escape routes.
“I just circled the environment looking for options of where and how we could get out of the castle on our own,” she says.
Niki figured her less-than-15% battery was sufficient for a telephone name.
She Googled “Oban police” and dialed the native station.
“So I called and tried to tell them where we were,” remembers Niki. “The person I was talking to did not understand what I was saying. I don’t know if it was the way I was pronouncing the castle’s name or what, but she asked me to spell the castle’s name to her, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, we are really in trouble now, because they don’t know where we’re at…’”
“Dunstaffnage” is, in any case, not the simplest phrase to say or spell — whether or not you’re American or Scottish.
Next, Niki messaged her spouse, Martha, hundreds of miles away: “I can’t use my phone but we are locked in Dunstaffnage Castle and hoping police can come let us out.”
The reply got here nearly instantly. Martha mentioned she assuming her companion was “drunk.”
“No, it’s true!!” replied Niki.
“Do you need me to call the police?” requested Martha.
Niki defined she’d already known as, however she wasn’t holding out a lot hope.
Niki and Ritta attempt to shoo some birds and name the police
Her telephone battery was fading quick. The sisters’ prospects of escape regarded no higher than that they had half-hour earlier. They have been going through the opportunity of a lengthy evening in a Thirteenth-century castle.
They didn’t have a lot meals, just a few alcohol-infused goodies Ritta had purchased at a candy store in Oban.. Better than nothing, however not excellent. They each had coats and sweaters, however they knew they’d get chilly as soon as darkness set in.
Much of the castle was uncovered to the weather, however there was a small room contained in the gatehouse — a attainable makeshift bed room.
“But there were pigeons in there, so my sister kept going in there and trying to shoo the pigeons out,” remembers Niki.
Each time Ritta flapped her arms, attempting unsuccessfully to chase the birds away, Niki struggled to comprise her laughter.
“She was trying her best to shoo those birds, and that was the most comical thing I’ve ever seen,” says Niki. “The way she was acting with those pigeons … she must have been panicking.”
Ritta thought the maintain, the castle’s important tower, may be a higher bed room choice. At least it was bird-free.
Niki was additionally open to the concept.
“I was not panicking, because to me, it was still part of the adventure. I love castles, and I honestly would have happily stayed the night,” she says. “It would not have been a problem for me. It might have been a little bit cold, a little uncomfortable without a bathroom, but it would have been a great experience.”
Still, they knew this was a final resort. In a last-ditch try to get assist, Niki climbed again up the ramparts.
From the castle partitions, Niki as soon as once more admired the spectacular rural panorama. What an expertise, she conceded. Spending a evening locked in Dunstaffnage, she thought, was one thing many individuals may pay good cash for.
Then she noticed a younger youngster operating out of some close by woods.
“I yell down to the kid, ‘Hey, we’re locked in the castle!’ And the kid looks at me probably thinking the same thing my wife was thinking: ‘What is wrong with this person? They’re locked in the castle? Sure.’”
Still, Niki pressed on.
“Go tell your mom!” she shouted. “Tell your mom we’re locked in the castle. Go get your mom!”
The child ran again into the woods with out responding.
“What parent is going to believe their kid when their kid comes running to them saying, ‘Hey, there’s people locked in the castle, they’re telling me they’re locked in the castle?’” Niki thought.
But minutes later, the kid returned with a lady she assumed was their mom.
“She’s yelling up at me, saying, ‘What do we do?’” remembers Niki.
Then the lady talked about Historic Environment Scotland, which manages Dunstaffnage Castle.
“I’m going to try and get hold of them,” shouted the lady under. “Maybe they can come and reopen the door.”
She disappeared again into the woods, telephone in hand. Niki walked down and located Ritta sitting in the gatehouse with the pigeons. She up to date her sister, and so they break up the remaining chocolate.
Time handed. Neither is bound how a lot.
“The timeframe … who knows, actually,” says Ritta. “We didn’t even know how long we had been in there. The bird episode, in memory, did seem like it was a long time.”
Hope began to fade. Then they heard sirens, and shouting.
Flashing lights appeared and police automobiles pulled up.
“They’re yelling, ‘We don’t know how we’re going to get you out,’” remembers Niki. “‘Go see if a window is unlocked!’”
There have been a couple of small home windows in the castle’s coated gatehouse, however they have been screwed shut. The police mentioned they have been going to name the fireplace brigade.
Firefighters arrived quickly after, unraveling lengthy ladders.
“I’m thinking to myself, ‘Okay, are we gonna have to climb down?” remembers Niki. “I was pretty high, the castle. The walls were pretty darn tall up there.”
Instead, the firefighters proposed breaking down the door.
“I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no.’” remembers Niki. “‘I love history. I love castles. Don’t you dare break that door down for us like that.”
She would fairly wait till morning, she instructed them.
“And anyway,” she added, “if the castle has stood for that many years, how can you break the door down? I mean, aren’t castle doors pretty strong and fortified?”
The firefighters regrouped. Ritta described the hinges on the within whereas they assessed the scenario from the surface.
“It was humorous in a way for me to be talking with them through the gate because they were telling me, ‘Well, yeah, this castle is impenetrable,’” says Ritta. “It is known as the impenetrable castle.”
The firefighters helped Ritta transfer varied latches whereas they utilized strain on the door from the opposite facet.
“They just coached me through it. And it was so cute, because they were encouraging me. ‘You can do this,’” says Ritta. “I think they all rammed into the door and broke the lock.”
The sisters lastly stepped outdoors — to cheers from the emergency companies.
“It felt wonderful, absolutely wonderful to be free,” says Niki.
The reduction was additionally tinged with embarrassment, provides Ritta, who remembers feeling “guilt-ridden, mortified.”
Rod Campbell, Monument Manager at Dunstaffnage Castle later instructed NCS Travel that “no damage was caused to the castle by the emergency services.”
“They were able to prise the two adjoining entrance doors apart and our manager, who was called out, locked it again,” he says.
Campbell says a workers member walks around the castle every evening at closing time shutting doorways and “jangling the keys” to alert guests. There is not any bell or loud-speaker system in the castle, he provides.
“On this occasion, the two visitors were not spotted, and the main door locked with them inside,” he mentioned. “Clearly after an incident like this, the manager reiterated the procedure with the team and it hasn’t happened again!”
Campbell sympathized — as a result of he’s skilled one thing related himself.
“I’ve been locked in a castle in Portugal … and a church tower in Sicily, both at lunchtime,” he mentioned.
Everyone concerned in rescuing Niki and Ritta appeared to see the humor of the incident.
Before leaving, the sisters posed for pictures with the firefighters in entrance of the castle.
The police have been additionally in good spirits.
“Oh my god, this is the best thing we’ve seen all day,” Niki remembers one police officer saying. “This is really fun.”
Still, the sisters couldn’t cease apologizing.
“I couldn’t believe we caused the police to have to come,” says Niki. “We caused the fire brigade to have to come. We caused a big, gigantic mess. And it was uncomfortable to me that we did this … but they all were laughing and happy.”
Niki and Ritta have been then given a trip to their Airbnb in a police automotive.
“I’m sure the people that lived in the houses there probably thought, ‘Oh gosh, who are these hoodlums? They’re getting out of the back of the police car,’” says Niki, laughing.
The sisters by no means found whether or not their name to the police, the mom and youngster, or Niki’s emergency textual content to her spouse in the end led to their escape.
Nearly a week later, whereas they have been in Dublin on the following leg of their trip, they found they’d made the information in Scotland. They have been interviewed by native reporters, feeling concurrently intrigued, baffled and embarrassed by their quarter-hour of fame.
Back dwelling in the US, Niki has a framed Scottish newspaper article in which, to her amusement, the sisters’ misadventures function on the identical web page as a {photograph} of Prince William. An Oban resident despatched her the report after they linked on Facebook.
Since then, Niki and Ritta have continued to take pleasure in touring — now paying shut consideration to closing occasions.
“That’s really what I took from it,” Niki says. “Not to mention all the resources that were spent to try to get us out. I mean, that was a lot of time for the police that could have been doing something else. The fire brigade could have been doing something else instead of trying to get these dumb Americans out of their castle.”
Ritta has even bought a watch that she applications to inform her when it’s time to depart a location
“If someone says they’re closing in a certain hour, make darn sure you’re done by that hour and exiting the building,” agrees Niki.
The expertise cemented Scotland as a trip the sisters will always remember.
“It does make me want to go back” says Ritta, who says she would like to volunteer for Historic Environment Scotland.
“I think that would be really, really delightful to volunteer and just be in the space, because the environment was so palpable … There’s a kind of energy, the history still seems very alive.”
“I can remember everything like it was yesterday,” agrees Niki. “But I cannot go on a vacation again to this day without somebody telling me, ‘Careful, don’t get locked in a castle.’
I will forever be the girl who got locked in the castle.”
Additional reporting and video by Max Burnell, NCS. Imagery in video courtesy of Niki Lee Ghofranian, Randi L “Ritta” Nielsen and Getty Images