Friday 11 July 2014

Inverness and Edinburgh

Today was yet another moving day. Robyn, Caitlin, Mikeal and myself packed up our bags and stuffed them into the car - a Renault Scenic wagon. Our destination was Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. However, we had other business to attend to first.About an hour south of Inverness, I turned the car into the parking area of the Dalwhinnie whisky distillery. For 8 pounds each, our guide - Gordon - took us through the distillery and explained how the drink is made. The basics were fairly easy to understand, and since there was no exam at the end, we didn't listen too hard to the in-depth bits. At the end, he gave each of us a nip of 15 year old scotch in a glass. We drank the scotch and kept the glass.

Mikeal is the whisky expert in our group. He had bought a bottle at the Inverness whisky shop yesterday, and resisted the urge to buy more. I bought a small bottle of Lagavulin, just to show my appreciation. This was made at Lagavulin (on Islay Island), not at the Dalwhinnie distillery; Both are owned by Diageo - about the largest supplier of alcoholic drinks in the world. They actually own 15 distilleries in Scotland, and sell a selection of these at the Dalwhinnie shop. So much whisky, so little time !

 

 

 

Both Mikeal and I signed up to be "Friends of the Classic Malts". If (when) we go to any other distillery listed in the "passport", we get a free tour and a free sample plus 3 pounds off the price of any purchase. If I visit all distilleries in the passport, and get the stamp, then I get a pewter quaich. This is a small Scottish ceremonial drinking cup, but I don't think I'll ever see one.

Onwards we travelled, to The House of Bruar for lunch. This place is a collection of shops, run as a single business. They had lots of nice stuff, but it was a bit expensive. We ate lunch and looked around a bit, but didn't buy much. There was still some way to go before we reached Edinburgh, so we resumed our journey.

The rest of the trip went smoothly, with only one quick stop for fuel (diesel) near Kinross. Here we narrowly avoided the traffic around Britain's's second biggest pop music festival - T in the park.

The in-car navigator took us straight to our apartment in the docks area of Edinburgh. The streets of Edinburgh are wide enough for traffic, and the layout of the place is fairly simple. It compare quite favourably with, say, Torquay in England for driving. On the way we saw the famous Firth of Forth rail bridge. It is unusual, and is a total contrast to the other (concrete), modern bridges across the Forth River. 

 

The apartment is in a large 5 storey building, which is C block. The other three buildings form the other three sides of a rectangle, giving residents a large courtyard in the middle. The whole complex is built on reclaimed land, and is very close to the harbour. As we walked along one side of the harbour, we saw the decommissioned royal yacht, Britannia on the other side. It's actually quite a nice area.

As this place has cooking facilities, we did some grocery shopping at the nearby ASDA supermarket. Edinburgh, like all big cities is served by Asda, Aldi, Sainsburys, Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer. The competition does keep prices down. Food is cheaper here than in Emerald.

While robyn cooked dinner, Mikeal and I sampled some of the Lagavulin scotch I bought today. It has a very peaty (smoky) taste; just lovely. I had to have a second, and finally, a third. Mikeal showed his loyalty by staying with me shot for shot.

There is another distillery near Edinburgh. Maybe tomorrow.....

Until then....

Lex, Robyn, Caitlin and Mikeal