After Shetland we still had a few places on the itinerary. We picked up a car in Aberdeen for some lefthand driving and headed back to the Highlands for a few more ditillery visits. We were honestly pretty burned out of tasting whiskey and only visited 3 more distilleries, one of which was just for a bathroom stop!
The lovely Ladies Toilet at Glenfiddich Distillery.Ben Riach Distilllery in Elgin was Mark’s favorite tour. Only four of us and the guide had great information about the whiskey industry.
Walker’s Shortbread Cookies were founded in Abelour. No tour of the factory, unfortunately, but we visited the company store.
The whiskey comes after you finish the run.
We couldn’t figure out why all (about 3) of the hotels in Ableour were full. Then we heard about the Dramathon – running with whisky at the end. We REALLY wanted a t-shirt from the event but that’s not part of the swag. If you want to run it, beware. This area is NOT flat!
Glasgow was the next stop for a few days. It’s a much “grittier” city than Edinburgh and parts reminded me of Brooklyn. The food was good, though, and we visited two art galleries along the way.
The BEST scallops at a tiny place in Glasgow. Thanks to Darcy for the recommendation.
A bicycle locker by the university in Glasgow. Does this tell you how much it rains??
This is the Glasgow version of sticky toffee pudding.
Back to Edinburgh, for the 4th time, before we took the train to Cambridge for a weekend with Mark’s cousin, Darcy, and husband, Kelly. They are always fun to spend time with. They like whiskey so we found a home for all the driver’s drams and half of the tasting glasses we’d accumulated.
Cambridge was packed because it was a graduation weekend. It took us 4 tries before we found a coffee shop with seats. We shared an elevator with a Thai student dressed for graduation in the morning. He’s graduating with a Ph.d in Engineering – Computer Science and AI. Has a position at Stanford already and just came back for graduation. We ran into him later in Cambridge and he showed us the huge framed diploma each graduate gets at graduation. How will he get that back to Palo Alto?
A visit with Kelly and Darcy in Cambridge with the required stop at a pub.
These are the little driver’s drams we collected along the way. Kelly and Darcy got all of them after we had a little tasting at their house.
This was in the WC at the Polar Museum in Cambridge.
Last stop was London for a few days before we flew back to Denver. We visited the Tate – Britain, went to see “Wicked”, did a little shopping for whiskey, met an Iowa friend for drinks, and had one of those amazing small world travel encounters. We were in a very crowded Kings Cross train/tube station on a Friday evening, looking for the exit we needed when we hear “I know you.” It was Richard from the Islay whiskey tour. He recognized us.
We saw “Wicked” in London at a Sunday matinee with all the kids. Susan had a broken seat! It was time to switch after intermission.
We met Sam, a U of Iowa friend, in London.
I had to eat mussels one more time before flying home.
After overnight in Edinburgh, we took the train to Aberdeen to catch the overnight ferry to Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. After watching all 8 seasons of “Shetland” on Britbox, we had to see what Lerwick really looks like. Well …. exactly like it does on the show!
We had a tiny cabin on the ferry, complete with a little shower. The crossing was nice and smooth until 2 AM when it became very rolling. Not much sleep to be had for the rest of the night.
We rented a car in Lerwick where the lady told us it’s covered for all damage except the door. If the wind blows the door off, we have to pay! What does this tell you about the weather??
We stayed in a nice little B&B in Lerwick and drove around the island for 2 days. There’s only one numbered highway which runs the length of Shetland. October is definitely the off season! Restaurants and museums were closed and we answered “Why are you here?” several times. It is a gorgeous island even if I wouldn’t want to live there with all the wind.
Jimmy Perez’s house in “Shetland”.
This is the police station on “Shetland”.
Mark had to find a cake fridge that we saw on “Shetland”.
The road crosses the airport runway. We were scolded for stopping to take a picture.
Jarlshof Archeology site at the end of the road.
The Atlantic Ocean from the Mavis Grind.
The North Sea from the Mavis Grind. This is the only place you can see both bodies of water from one spot.
We finally found some Shetland ponies.
Sheep roam wherever they want – fields, roads, sides of roads.
Lerwick Brewery tasting room is run by an American from San Diego.
After 4 days in Lerwick, we took the overnight ferry back to Aberdeen to begin the next adventure.
After 3 days in Edinburgh – more laundry – we joined our second whiskey tasting tour. The tour group had 11 people in it – 4 Canadians (2 women and one couple), 1 Chinese (Richard), 2 Swiss/Macedonians (Vlad and Maja), us , 2 German guys (Policeman and food inspector from Hamburg) with David as the tour guide. This tour was 4 days long.
The sun came out the next day after Storm Tracy roared away!
The Kelpies in Scotland. Nice rest stop, too.One of many sticky toffee puddng desserts we tried for our “research” project. Some were moist, some were dry, some too sweet, some just right. You can taste A LOT of this in 3 weeks in Scotland.Standing stones.
The rain started at the Kelpie rest stop, falling harder the further west we drove. By the time we reached the standing stones, it was a downpour. Mark and I passed on trudging across flooded fields to look at the stones up close! We finally made it to the west coast and took the ferry from Kennacraig to Islay.
Day #2 – The guide did not want us to complain that we didn’t get our money’s worth. First stop was a walk up the street to Bowmore Distillery for a tour and tasting with a “breakfast dram” at 9:30 AM. Stopped at the Whisky Vault for a tasting and then to the Islay Woolen Mill for a 15 minute stop. Number 3 tasting was at Kilchoman Distillery, delayed by about 15 minutes as we waited for a funeral procession from the distillery to the cemetery. The actual service was held in the malting room since this is “Silent Season” – no production. At least 175 cars drove past us, including Search and Rescue people. The dead guy worked on the farm that the distillery is on AND he liked whisky! After lunch, we stopped at Bruinladdaich for a short stop. Stop 5 for the day was Brunnahabhain but Mark and Susan shared one tasting. We liked this one. Everyone had bottles for “Drivers’ drams”. They are little bottles that the tasting fills up. We could drink it at night. Most places gave us at least 3 different whiskies to taste. You can understand how we accumulated so many! Last tasting of the days was at Ardenhoe, another new distillery. 4:45 for a tasting.
We stayed in a little cottage up the street from this distillery.
Kilchoman Distillery. We had to wait for a funeral procession of at least 175 cars to leave here.
Bunnahabhain Distilllery
Try saying this name!
# 6 distillery for the day on Islay
Bowmore Distillery. We got to keep the little tasting glasses at each stop. We had so many by the end that we gave half of them to Mark’s cousin in Cambridge along with about 10 drivers drams.
Day 3 – We had a 9:15 start to head across the peat bogs to Port Ellen and all the distilleries there. First stop was Ardbeg Distillery. Ardbeg had the brilliant idea of making poster tubes to hold the drivers drams. Jennifer, our tour guide for the visit, gave us an extra!
Ardbeg kettles
Mark owns a tiny plot of Laphroaig land. His plot was underwater so no visit for us. A visit to Laphroaig
Laphroaig Distillery was the tour after lunch. Mark joined Friends of Laphroaig before we left CO so he now has a certificate with the location of his 1 sq. foot of land. Got a bottle with a stamp on the box. They did this to stop a water dispute with Lagavulin.
Lagavulin was the last stop for a tasting. The entire group was burned out from tasting and just wanted to go back to our rooms and get dinner. We had a yummy dinner at Bowmore Hotel with its huge whiskey collection ehich we did NOT sample.
Mark at Lagavulin Distillery. Yes, it was cold in the wind.
I’m trying not to blow away by this tiny castle ruin.
We saw Ronnie’s name on 2 of the plaques on the mills. He’s one of the 3 millwrights left in the UK.
He is one of the last 2 millwrights in the UK who work on the grain mills for all of the distilleries.
Day #4 – Off to Port Ellen to wait for the ferry. Because of Storm Amy last week we’d been bumped to the late ferry (12:15 PM) but David managed to get us on the earlier ferry at 10. The waiting area looked like mass chaos with cars and truck everywhere. Vehicles were packed in and we watched a loader give a driver directions on how to park the car in the last little bit of room on the ferry. We were last on, making us last off when we arrived at Kennacraig.
The vehicles are jammed on the ferry. There was quite a backup caused by delays due to Storm Amy cancelling ferry operations for a day.
We took a Rabbie’s Speyside tour from Edinburg. 15 of us on the tour – 7 Germans from around Stuttgart, Gary and Sara from Kent, David and Matthew (Father and son), Lorett from Isreal, and us.
Lindore Abbey was the first distillery we visited – no tour, just a tasting, a friendly dog, and a good toilet
We love mussels! We ate mussels at least 8 times on this trip. Some were better than others but none were bad.
Day 2 started with 9 AM pickup after breakfast at Ravenscourt B&B in Grantown-on-Spey.
Day 2 – Stop #1 -First stop was at Cardhu – 4 whiskies from the cask. Cardhu makes Johnny Walker and is owned by Diageo.
Mark volunteered to draw some whiskey from the barrel for the group’s bespoke tasting.
Four different whiskies to taste.
We had an interesting visit to the Cooperage. Four year apprenticeship, we watched them them testing the repairs they’d done to the barrels. The used barrels are shipped intact from the US bourbon distilleries and then repaired; Some distilleries have the barrels taken apart in the US and reassembled in Scotland. Coopers are paid by the piece.
Visit to the Copperage.
Our last visit was to Speyburn Distillery. The tour went all over the distillery with a retired whiskey maker with a very strong accent. I could have used subtitles for him and the Germans in the group couldn’t understand him at all.
Day 2 – Tasting #3 – Speyburn Distillery
On Day 3 we wandered our way back to Edinburg, keeping our eyes on Storm Amy that had a direct aim on Scotland. Our first stop was Dalwhinnie Distillery with very white buildings, also owned at Diageo. Tasting had whiskey with chocolates to accompany them with an older guide. Whiskey was OK but chocolate was better.
Day 3 – Dalwhinnie Distillery, also owned by Diageo.
Dalwhinnie whiskies
Storm Amy’s rain really started after lunch. We all voted for NO WALK because we didn’t want to get that wet. Adam stopped in Dunkeld at the oldest church still having services. Mark and I walked back to the bus in the parking lot through the tiny town, used the public toilet for 50p each at a manned office in the parking lot. I assume they get lots of visitors in better weather. Does he really collect enough money to pay his salary?? The toilets were clean, though.
The tour threw in a few historical stops including the Dunkeld church.
Adam drove back to Edinburgh in the wind. The old Firth bridge was closed due to wind. A few events have already been cancelled. Gary and Sara on our tour had a train to catch if it wasn’t cancelled due to the storm.
We flew to Edinburgh from Munich where we did the laundry, got pedicures and met up with two different whiskey tasting tours. The first one was 3 days in Speyside while the second was 4 days on the island of Islay. both booked through Rabbie’s Tour. We highly recommend both of these tours! We had a driver/tour guide who knew exactly where to go. We could sample all the whiskey we wanted and someone else drove!
One good story from this trip – On the flight to Edinburgh, the guy in 1A (Susan was in 1 C) threw a fit because there wasn’t room for his bag in the Row 1 reserved bin. Tried to put the bag behind his legs. No go! The captain had to come out for a word. The passenger had to be first off so he could catch a bus in Edinburgh. Pilot told him we would be on the apron at Edinburgh, taking a bus to the terminal, but the passenger was welcome to could sit in the very back of the plane and be the first off at the back exit. That made him happy and gave Susan more room. Of course, when we landed, the busses didn’t leave the runway for the termninal until the entire plane had deplaned. He left at the same time as the rest of us. Oh, well!
We made a 2 week visit to Munich and Salzburg with friends, Steve and Christina. Munich and Oktoberfest was the first stop – fun as always!
Steve and Mark – “Prost”!
Christina and Mark – “Prost” again.
This is a surfer on the river in Munich.
My favorite city in Europe, Salzburg, was the next stop. We took the train from Munich to Salzburg; we spent 4 days visiting some favorite locations including the Augustiner Monastery for their beer and a picnic in the garden. One day we all took a tour to a salt mine – not the same one we visited 35 years ago. The city was celebrating St. Ruppert’s festival with music, crafts, beer, sausages.
The Hohensalzburg in my favorite European city.
We visited a salt mine in our lovely miners overalls!
