Lochs, Glens and Whisky

At the Hermitage

This morning after getting at least 6 hours of sleep, I woke up a little before 8am to get ready for my all day tour.  It had rained overnight so I wore my new waterproof shoes and my rain jacket just in case it rained during the tour.  My friend who went back out after they dropped me off at his apartment, didn’t come with me because he was so hung over (I have no idea what time he came in this morning, I think they say pubs close around 3 or 4?).  I walked to the tour company’ location and was the last to arrive, but showed up before 9am.  There were 15 of us, 2 from Mexico, 5 Germans, 1 Czech, 4 from Brazil, 1 Asian and one from I want to say Iberia, but not 100% sure.  My stomach wasn’t 100% but I did grab some coffee and a scone at our first stop in Dunkled.  We drove by the school which inspired JK Rowling’s Hogworts.  We also drove past the area where Beatrix Potter drew inspiration for the Benjamin Bunny books. 

Queens View

I never would have thought watching the Showtime series “The Tudors” would have come in handy, but it did.  The history of Scotland came to life as we hear the stories of Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth and her Cousin Mary of Scot who was eventually beheaded.  We stopped at the Hermitage for about 45 minutes, walking the land.  There we saw Scotland’s tallest tree, which ironically is a non-native plant to Scotland (as only 15% of Scotland’s trees are native) it’s an American Doulas Fir!  I went in the cave where the Hermit lived (hence the name). 

The Forth Bridge

Walked along the water where Salmon swim.  I opted out of lunch in a town called Pitlochry, and did some souvenir shopping.  Also used the public restroom, which unlike in America, it costs to use public toilets here (unless you’re in a pub or large restaurant that has facilities), granted it only cost me 30 pence.  This is the European way as I remembered from my 2008 Europe trip.  Continuing on we drove over a bridge and saw the Forth Rail Bridge, which was built in 1890 and built better than the bridge we drove on. 

Whisky

Across the bridge we saw Rosyth Naval Base.  We then entered the Kingdom of Fife, which is the only Kingdom in Scotland, even though they don’t have a king.  Back in the day however, Fife produced many Kings.  We saw the Island where Loch Leven Castle is.  This was where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned.

Sterling Castle

So much history was learned on this almost 12 hour trip.  So much learned and yet I feel like no one reading this will really care.  We stopped at Dewar’s Distillery where I tried some more single malt whisky, and must admit, I wasn’t a fan of their whisky.  So I bought  a whisky glass and a different type of their whisky to bring home and try.  We also drove by Sterling Castle, learned about the true Braveheart [did you know that the Wallace monument statute resembled Mel Gibson instead of the true William Wallace thus having to be taken down because people were defacing it?]   Drove past the town where Braveheart was filmed and where the Star Trek character Scotty got his name from.

Tonight after I relaxed from my tour, we went out to a couple pubs as a friend of Doug’s is moving to Australia.  I had some pizza at 10:30pm and met up with them for some drinks.  I asked what type of beer I should have besides Guinness and I was recommended Innis and Gunn, I had 1 original and 2 Blonde’s.  The Blonde was much better.  Guys here actually buy people drinks (regardless of sex).  I had a shot of vodka (after the 2 beers) and then some mixed drink (something with coke?).    We were at a Café style bar [think diner], which was very American as one guy told me, saying he disliked the place because of that.  We then went to Opium (Doug’s favorite place).  Never have I ever been in a place where there were so many people with piercings and tattoos!  It was a heavy metal bar and OMG, I wanted out.  I went upstairs with the group [I had a babysitter- Joey, since Doug wanted to go to a titty bar near the apartment, lol] and danced to 50s music, doing the twist and being twirled. OMG!  Then they started playing the heavy metal crap and I was done. The guys out numbered the girls in this group, which is so nice as it’s usually the opposite in Boston.  And yes, I did have problems understanding some the accents [a true Scot who was drunk, I understood every other word] but I definitely had a great time tonight.  We rolled in around 2am, and I’m trying to sober up and unwind before trying to go to bed.  People are so nice here, I feel so welcomed and comfortable.  I think it helps that there are similar people in Boston (drunks in pubs on every corner??).  I could see myself coming back for another round [that is, going back to Scotland for another visit].

Joey, me and Doug a Opium