UK trip day 6
Sept. 5th, day 6
I swear all toilets in the UK don't flush, like how all the soda is flat. But it was nice waking up in the morning in the nice big comfy bed and opening the curtains to see the sheep grazing in the pasture. The view also overlooks the water and the hills in the distance, very pretty and pristine. The innkeeper had a wide assortment of food to choose from for breakfast. Smoo ventured to try the haggis (sheep stomach grounnd up sausage with barley pieces maybe?) I stuck with bacon, eggs, fried tomato and toast. Ugh, the coffee was instant but at least in a French press so it wasn't *that* bad and I still drank it. And then we packed up yet again and jammed everything in the car. With the smallest "trunk" ever we ended up seatbelting mom's suitcase into the backseat with her during our travels, so to anyone passing by it looks like we care more for the suitcase than my mother :-P
On the way out of town we stopped in a one of the woolen mills, YAY for shopping (finally). Mom had already bought all of her presents so it was just me going to town and mom saying how everything I picked out was terrible or that she just didn't like it, well good thing none of it was for her! I got most of the gifts I wanted to get there and the prices were way better than anything we saw in Edinburgh AND for the best part... tax free shopping! Well, they still charged the VAT but we get it back (minus the admin fee) after it all gets processed after we get home and it'll get refunded to the credit card, sweeeeet.
Then we drove the short hop to the Culloden battlefield (one of the last stands of the Jacobites). The visitor's centre was very nice (and it's new); blends into the hillside instead of sticking up out of the ground so it's not the first thing you seen. Inside they divided up the story into both sides (the rebellion vs. the Engligh) and gave a good, quick overview of the history and confusion among the leaders trying to overtake the thrown. Outside we had personal audio tours again (very nice) to walk the battlefield (giant open field that doesn't get mowed so you get a feel for what they went through. The sorta funny part is that the battle lasted less than an hour after all the build up leading to it. Over the years they have found grave markers of the different clans, Irish, and English buried there. Overall I liked the place, it was worth the 10 pound sterling if you're into that kind of history.
Oh, side note, the exchange rate drops daily so it was about 1.82 that made ATM trips less painful, woo hoo!
When we were done with the battlefield we had a quick lunch in the cafe and we were off for Glenfiddich which is about an hour south along windy, hilly, and sometimes single lane roads. And again more sheep everywhere and cows and hills, repeat. It is awesomely beautiful countryside, just gets old after a few hours stuck in a car.
On the way we passed by a lot of small villages and distilleries, I counted 10 that I could see, all very small and probably the reason why the villages exist. Eventually got to Glenfiddich, oh sweet sunshine and freedom from the car! It is one of the largest distilleries if no the largest? and is located in Dufftown (we had a few laughs about that one). It's still run by the family, that's nice that they haven't sold out. They have a nice cafe area that we had tea and sweets at while waiting for a tour to start. The tour was well worth my money, free! It started with a 10 minute film about the general history, very cool, and their oldest cask is from 1928. Out tour guide was Romanian? no, uh... something eastern European with a heavy accent but she still did ok for the 7 of us in that group. I really wanted to drill her about the distillation process but it didn't appear that she actually knows specifics so I passed. What I did learn that I found interesting is that they "blend" 3 different cask styles (sherry/bourbon/something I can't remember) to get their distinct flavor, yet still call it "single malt" since it's from a single source. This as opposed to J. Walker that is blended and comes from just about every other distillery in the country. Also of note is how much evaporates from the casks, the 70 year old one had about 25% left in it? and yeilded some 68 or so bottles. Their youngest, 12 years, evaporates 10% I believe? They go by years in the cask, not when they think it's ready. Which is very different from J. Daniel's master person man who decides when it tastes right to pull it in about 3-5 years? I'm really bad at remembering details.
At the end of our tour mom and Smoo tried the 12 yr old and the liqueur. The liqueur doesn't ahve a big market so it doesn't get exported which meant Smoo needed to buy it. After shopping in the shop (YAY tax free) we were walking back to the car when I realized a cow pasture next to the parking lot with babies! So I ran to the fence to play with them, will have to see if Smoo's pics came out or not. The baby Scotch highlanders are the most adorable ever!
Back in the car for more driving, we stopped in at Glenlivit as it was right on the way. Just took a couple pics since it was already closed and then off to Ballater for the night. At the top of one of the hills we pulled over to snap a couple shots of the free range sheep! As in no fences and they graze where they please, at least they don't get spooked by the cars and stay out of the road mostly. But I still had to keep watch since I really didn't want to pay a farmer for a dead sheep. Back in the car for more driving, I think my motion sickness tolerance has increased to about 1.75 hours now as that was how long it was to get to Ballater, and when we got there I was really really thankful for my head to stop spinning. And of course we passed by a lot of hills, sheep, cows, sheep, repeat but for a change we started to see dairy farms (didn't see any in the lowlands) and lots of farms with Scotch highlander cows, so cute and fuzzy and of course the fuzzy/fluffy babies!
We checked into the Glen Lui "cabins" as they were the only place in town willing to let us stay for just one night. The rooms were decent sized with two single beds each, and private bathrooms that are huge! definately the biggest we saw on the trip. There are also two heaters in the room (one in the room and one in the bathroom) and they both worked! And of course a toilet that didn't really flush and shower pressure that was very low, but at least it was a bathtub instead of a tiny shower stall.
Then we started calling restaurants around town to get a table for dinner, ended up at the Deeside after 4 full up places. It's a nice place within walking distance of the Glen Lui. Dinner took the full 2 hours they were "open to serve dinner" but when we left there were other peope there so I assume they just didn't want to start any new tables after 8. We started with drinks in the lounge as the server took our order, Smoo had beer, and they prepared our table. For an appitizer Smoo tried black pudding (blood sausage), I passed on tasting that. Smoo and mom had rack of lamb and I tried the stuffed chicken, bacon wrapped, bread crumb fried goodness. We all shared "veg" as that's what they like to do (peppers, potatoes, and sometimes broccoli). After ordering dessert I swear it was a full 30 minutes all because mom ordered the apple pie (it's really a tart). I tried summer pudding (fruit/cream parfait) and Smoo had the cheese/oatcake assortment. It was a short walk back to the Inn, the rain had stopped and we listened to a band practicing for tomorrow... which is like listening for the ice cream truck, I can hear it but since it's echoing off everything I can't figure out where it is.
Went to bed fairly early as in the morning we'd need to pack yet again and head over to the games.
I swear all toilets in the UK don't flush, like how all the soda is flat. But it was nice waking up in the morning in the nice big comfy bed and opening the curtains to see the sheep grazing in the pasture. The view also overlooks the water and the hills in the distance, very pretty and pristine. The innkeeper had a wide assortment of food to choose from for breakfast. Smoo ventured to try the haggis (sheep stomach grounnd up sausage with barley pieces maybe?) I stuck with bacon, eggs, fried tomato and toast. Ugh, the coffee was instant but at least in a French press so it wasn't *that* bad and I still drank it. And then we packed up yet again and jammed everything in the car. With the smallest "trunk" ever we ended up seatbelting mom's suitcase into the backseat with her during our travels, so to anyone passing by it looks like we care more for the suitcase than my mother :-P
On the way out of town we stopped in a one of the woolen mills, YAY for shopping (finally). Mom had already bought all of her presents so it was just me going to town and mom saying how everything I picked out was terrible or that she just didn't like it, well good thing none of it was for her! I got most of the gifts I wanted to get there and the prices were way better than anything we saw in Edinburgh AND for the best part... tax free shopping! Well, they still charged the VAT but we get it back (minus the admin fee) after it all gets processed after we get home and it'll get refunded to the credit card, sweeeeet.
Then we drove the short hop to the Culloden battlefield (one of the last stands of the Jacobites). The visitor's centre was very nice (and it's new); blends into the hillside instead of sticking up out of the ground so it's not the first thing you seen. Inside they divided up the story into both sides (the rebellion vs. the Engligh) and gave a good, quick overview of the history and confusion among the leaders trying to overtake the thrown. Outside we had personal audio tours again (very nice) to walk the battlefield (giant open field that doesn't get mowed so you get a feel for what they went through. The sorta funny part is that the battle lasted less than an hour after all the build up leading to it. Over the years they have found grave markers of the different clans, Irish, and English buried there. Overall I liked the place, it was worth the 10 pound sterling if you're into that kind of history.
Oh, side note, the exchange rate drops daily so it was about 1.82 that made ATM trips less painful, woo hoo!
When we were done with the battlefield we had a quick lunch in the cafe and we were off for Glenfiddich which is about an hour south along windy, hilly, and sometimes single lane roads. And again more sheep everywhere and cows and hills, repeat. It is awesomely beautiful countryside, just gets old after a few hours stuck in a car.
On the way we passed by a lot of small villages and distilleries, I counted 10 that I could see, all very small and probably the reason why the villages exist. Eventually got to Glenfiddich, oh sweet sunshine and freedom from the car! It is one of the largest distilleries if no the largest? and is located in Dufftown (we had a few laughs about that one). It's still run by the family, that's nice that they haven't sold out. They have a nice cafe area that we had tea and sweets at while waiting for a tour to start. The tour was well worth my money, free! It started with a 10 minute film about the general history, very cool, and their oldest cask is from 1928. Out tour guide was Romanian? no, uh... something eastern European with a heavy accent but she still did ok for the 7 of us in that group. I really wanted to drill her about the distillation process but it didn't appear that she actually knows specifics so I passed. What I did learn that I found interesting is that they "blend" 3 different cask styles (sherry/bourbon/something I can't remember) to get their distinct flavor, yet still call it "single malt" since it's from a single source. This as opposed to J. Walker that is blended and comes from just about every other distillery in the country. Also of note is how much evaporates from the casks, the 70 year old one had about 25% left in it? and yeilded some 68 or so bottles. Their youngest, 12 years, evaporates 10% I believe? They go by years in the cask, not when they think it's ready. Which is very different from J. Daniel's master person man who decides when it tastes right to pull it in about 3-5 years? I'm really bad at remembering details.
At the end of our tour mom and Smoo tried the 12 yr old and the liqueur. The liqueur doesn't ahve a big market so it doesn't get exported which meant Smoo needed to buy it. After shopping in the shop (YAY tax free) we were walking back to the car when I realized a cow pasture next to the parking lot with babies! So I ran to the fence to play with them, will have to see if Smoo's pics came out or not. The baby Scotch highlanders are the most adorable ever!
Back in the car for more driving, we stopped in at Glenlivit as it was right on the way. Just took a couple pics since it was already closed and then off to Ballater for the night. At the top of one of the hills we pulled over to snap a couple shots of the free range sheep! As in no fences and they graze where they please, at least they don't get spooked by the cars and stay out of the road mostly. But I still had to keep watch since I really didn't want to pay a farmer for a dead sheep. Back in the car for more driving, I think my motion sickness tolerance has increased to about 1.75 hours now as that was how long it was to get to Ballater, and when we got there I was really really thankful for my head to stop spinning. And of course we passed by a lot of hills, sheep, cows, sheep, repeat but for a change we started to see dairy farms (didn't see any in the lowlands) and lots of farms with Scotch highlander cows, so cute and fuzzy and of course the fuzzy/fluffy babies!
We checked into the Glen Lui "cabins" as they were the only place in town willing to let us stay for just one night. The rooms were decent sized with two single beds each, and private bathrooms that are huge! definately the biggest we saw on the trip. There are also two heaters in the room (one in the room and one in the bathroom) and they both worked! And of course a toilet that didn't really flush and shower pressure that was very low, but at least it was a bathtub instead of a tiny shower stall.
Then we started calling restaurants around town to get a table for dinner, ended up at the Deeside after 4 full up places. It's a nice place within walking distance of the Glen Lui. Dinner took the full 2 hours they were "open to serve dinner" but when we left there were other peope there so I assume they just didn't want to start any new tables after 8. We started with drinks in the lounge as the server took our order, Smoo had beer, and they prepared our table. For an appitizer Smoo tried black pudding (blood sausage), I passed on tasting that. Smoo and mom had rack of lamb and I tried the stuffed chicken, bacon wrapped, bread crumb fried goodness. We all shared "veg" as that's what they like to do (peppers, potatoes, and sometimes broccoli). After ordering dessert I swear it was a full 30 minutes all because mom ordered the apple pie (it's really a tart). I tried summer pudding (fruit/cream parfait) and Smoo had the cheese/oatcake assortment. It was a short walk back to the Inn, the rain had stopped and we listened to a band practicing for tomorrow... which is like listening for the ice cream truck, I can hear it but since it's echoing off everything I can't figure out where it is.
Went to bed fairly early as in the morning we'd need to pack yet again and head over to the games.