The Travel Blog and the Latest Edition

OK, I finally finished a post for our first day in Scotland. I've decided to create a travel blog on Blogger because I'm too impatient to figure out how to upload pictures and things like that on Wordpress, where I originally put my travel blog.

So, since the posts are so long and there are other things I'd like to talk about in between travel stories, the Scotland trip will be on Wandering and Rambling. I also copied the stories already on the Wordpress site onto this blogger site.

Now I'm totally exhausted from creating links, updating photos, and cutting and pasting posts into the new blog. But Wandering and Rambling is up-to-date.

I'll keep working on more Scotland posts. Next up, Islay and the first 2 distillery tours.

Some of the Islay Landscape




Distilleries

Bruichladdich (Brook-lad-ee)



Bunnahabhain (Boon-ah-ha-behn)

What to Expect

Part of the fun of traveling is learning and trying to fit in. I’ve learned the hard way, so I thought I’d spare you the embarrassment by telling you some things that will happen when you visit Scotland.

You will feel like an idiot as you stand with an open hand full of coins and the bartender just takes what you owe out of your hand.

You will have to repeat yourself and ask others to repeat themselves. It’s not English, it’s dialect.

You will almost get run over when you try to cross the street because you didn’t look right first.

You will sit at a table in a pub, waiting for a server who will never come—order at the bar.

You will stare dumbfounded at the bus route sign, not recognizing any of the names of the stops.

You will get on the bus anyway because what the hell, it’s going in the direction you want to go.

You will get car sick at least once while riding in the Highlands.

You will try haggis—oh yes you will.

You will go into a kilt maker shop, then walk right back out again when you see the prices.

You will keep pushing the “start” button on the shower and wonder why it won’t start. Then you will see the “shower” label by the power switch outside the bathroom door.

You will not have a good hair day.

You will eventually stop saying, “Boy, it’s windy/rainy/cold” because it just is.

You will decide a cheese platter for dessert is a brilliant idea after you taste the amazing cheeses.

You will buy a wool, cable knit sweater.

You will start calling soccer, “football.”

You will feel like an idiot if you try to answer questions in a pub quiz.

You will not be sure how to answer when the server asks a) if you want your tea/coffee white, b) if you want white or brown toast, or c) if you want still or tap water. [a) with milk, b) white or wheat bread, c) bottled water without bubbles or water from the tap]

You will get used to ordering your Coke or water “with ice.”

You will wish you spent more time on the treadmill to prepare you for all the walking you will be doing and all the stairs you will be climbing.

You will start referring to things as “wee” and “lovely.”

You will go into every Scotland souvenir shop and look at the same trinket in every store but still not buy it.

You will wonder how soon you can go back to such an amazing place.

First Things First

Please go over to Mom's blog and wish her a Happy Birthday! And while you're surfing, go over to my brother's blog and read a nice tribute to her. He's such a good son.



More Scotland:

I decided that striving for organization is too stressful and if I wait until I'm organized to talk about my trip, then I never will. I'll give you a quick overview, then I'll post some longer stories later.

It was an exhausting schedule, but we saw and did so much that it was worth it. The tours started as soon as we landed. We packed Willie's van to the brim with people and suitcases. The poor person who sat in the last seat in the back took his life in his hands because around every curve a suitcase would come sliding off the pile and into that person's head. And there are a lot of curves on Scotland roads.

We did 2 distillery tours that first day, which should have been a sign to me of what the days to come would be like. But jet-lagged, excited, and a little car sick, I wasn't in any shape to pay attention.

We saw 14 distilleries in 9 days. Well, I saw 11 because I escaped one day to Inverness with 2 other women. We were teased about our "shopping" day, but we spent most of it just sitting in a cafe by the river, eating lunch and drinking tea. Lunch was a luxury on this trip.

The trip we signed up for had 2 free days--one in Inverness and one in Edinburgh. However, by the time we got there, those days had been cut and filled with more distilleries. It was, after all, a distillery tour, but I've never been good with things being black and white. It's a distillery tour, so you can't do anything else? No historic places? No castles? No time for shopping? Apparently not. But we've been promised that it will be different next time.

It is understandable, though, that we didn't have time for these extra things because Willie arranged some amazing tours. We only had one tour with a pretty 20 year old who knew her script well and had no idea she was talking to people who had been drinking and collecting scotch longer than she had been alive. She did a good job, she just had a tough crowd. The rest of our tours were given by distillery managers and owners and the tour fees were waived, mainly because they knew they would easily make it up on the amount of whisky we would buy. I'm not sure I have the guts to admit how many bottles of whisky we bought. Let's just say that they we contributed greatly to the Scottish economy and that I'm going to have a lot of fun shoe and purse shopping in Italy.

I said this was going to be a quick overview, didn't I? Well, too late for that, so I'll try to do a quick rundown instead:

We went to Glengoyne and Auchentoshan the first day and spent the night at the Anchor Inn in Tarbert. The next morning we took the ferry over to Islay (first trip ever on a ferry!) and went to Bunnahabhain and Bruichladdich and checked into the Lochside Hotel in Bowmore. We went to Bowmore on Saturday, then Ardbeg on Sunday (both nice enough to open on days they are usually closed). Sunday morning we were supposed to go to the Isle of Jura to tour the Jura distillery, but there was no one there to show us around--it's a small island, small place, and in the middle of changing distillery managers, I think. So, with the morning free, we went to services at the Round Church in Bowmore. On the way to Ardbeg, we stopped and took pictures of Laphroaig and Lagavulin, who were closed on the weekend.

Monday was a travel day to Grantown-on-Spey. We stopped in Lochfyne to shop at the whisky shop, then headed up through Glencoe and Fort William, then over towards Inverness. We invaded The Garth Hotel and got ready for the next round of distilleries.

Tuesday we went to Glenfarclas, where the owner George Grant gave us a tour and provided us with a lunch. After that we toured Tomintoul distillery. Wednesday went to Forsyth to see how stills are made, then we toured Speyburn, then we went to the Gordon McPhail shop in Eglin for a megatasting, then we went to Royal Brakla. Tired yet? On Thursday, everyone else went to Balblair, Glenmorangie, and Dalmore. Then, on the way to Edinburgh on Friday, we stopped at Glencadam. Saturday, our flight got cancelled because of snow in New Jersey, and the earliest they could get us back would be Tuesday. We found a hotel that had enough rooms (not an easy task) and got checked into the Airport Hilton. Then we had 3 days to explore Edinburgh and way too many pubs.

Oh my gosh, I have so much more to tell! The food! The cows! The sheep! The ales! The wind and rain! The scenery! The people! The woolen shops! The bottle for the van! But I've rambled enough for one day, so I'll write more later.