Today was Day 2 in Edinburgh, and we were lucky enough to have gorgeous, sunny weather - very un-Scottish!  After another quick train ride into the city I dragged Ray out of the train station, across Waverly Bridge (all of about 10 yards) and booked us on a terribly touristy open top bus tour!  The Edinburgh Tour promised us an hour out in the sunshine (and wind) with views of the highlights of the Old Town and the New (mind you, New Town was built in the 18th Century, so everything is relative.  Highlights included some great views of the castle...

...the new Scottish Parliment building on the Royal Mile (the "gun" shaped objects are meant to be curtains pulled back from the windows - the Spanish architect wanted these to symoblize the transparency of the Scottish government.... everyone thinks they look like hair dryers, screw guns or hand guns)... ...Grassmarket, where the executions and hangings would take place (X marks the spot)... ...and the school that inspired Hogwarts! Our lovely tour guide kept telling us to "look up" - and we are glad we did - the architecture in the city is amazing, and the amount of detail work in the buildings is inspiring, you can almost miss 90% of it, unless you "look up"! This warning appeared on our tour bus, as the didn't want any of the passengers falling out with a quick start or a low hanging branch.  Our tour guide did inform us that there was one exception to the rule: English passengers should be certain to stand up, on the off chance we happened by a low hanging branch!

After the bus tour it was lunch time - hard to believe, right?  I had a small list of things Ray was required to eat before we left the country: Haggis, Irn-Bru and a deep fried Mars bar, all Scottish by invention.  Today we fulfilled the haggis requirement.  In the off chance any of you clicked on the haggis link in yesterday's post, you will understand why trying haggis was a big chance... I don't think they can be imported to the US as they may have been deemed "unfit for human consumption", but the Scottish are a stubborn bunch, and resourceful.  I had accidentally ended up in a situation during my semester abroad where I was required to eat haggis.  Actually not bad... tastes a bit like a spicey sausage... a good haggis should be peppery and have a good deal of whisky in it, I've been told.

So we headed off to The World's End pub for some pints, haggis for Ray and fish and chips for me!

Ray had a pint of Guinness and I had an old favorite of mine, a pint of cider with black currant.  It was a bit pinker than I was expecting, but just as tasty as I remembered. Ray's haggis was served with it's traditional sides, neeps and tatties!  We paid the extra pound for the whisky cream sauce, which made all the difference!  Ray loved it, an plans to sample it again!

After lunch we marched ourselves down to the bottom of the hill to visit The Palace of Holyroodhouse.  The oldest parts of the palace date back to the 12 Century and to this day it is still the official residence of the Royal Family in Edinburgh.  The Queen arrives every July, on our way up to summer in Balmoral, and is annually presented with the keys of the city and pledged the loyalty of the Scottish people.  She also holds a garden party for 8,000, so you can imagine the lawn. 

There is also the ruins of the old abbey, which I believe pre-dates the palace itself, that was included with the tour.  We weren't allowed to take any photos on the inside, but it was a series of stunning rooms, full of portraits, tapestries and furniture older than any of the buildings in this country! The garden was quite lovely, and backs right on to a large park, which includes views of Arthur's Seat. Here Ray and I both point to the highest peak - where we had been just the day before! Our day ended with a bit of shopping and a rainy ride by bus out to the airport.  We had to pick up our "hire car" as we depart on our road trip to the Highlands in the morning.  The Nasmyths also leave for their holiday in the North of England.  Charles and Mary will be sharing their holiday with their youngest son, Richard, and his daughter, Skye.  As a special treat, they flew Richard and Skye up to Edinburgh this evening so we could see them briefly before we all part ways.

After the excitment of Edinburgh Castle and our educational stop-off at The Scotch Whisky Experience we grabbed an uneventful lunch of panninis, which were eaten strolling down the Royal Mile.  On the way down we stopped off at St. Giles Cathedral; St. Giles is the patron saint of Edinburgh and I remembered the lovely church from my first visit to Scotland, 13 years ago.  I also remembered being told a very interesting story about the heart, laid out in the stonework, in front of the church, and the requirement of spitting on it.  While I seemed to remember the "point" of the story, I can't recall why spitting on the heart was so important, but had been reminded that it was in part for good luck.  So I made Ray spit on the heart, after great protest, and then he decided he needed to take a photo of me doing the same.... sorry for that... We made a quick stop off inside and Ray took a few photos of the lovely Thistle Chapel. At the bottom of the Royal Mile we met up with Charles and Mary to climb Arthur's Seat.  I was under the impression that this would be a casual stroll up a bit of an incline to get some great views of Edinburgh.  After all - you get to drive half way!  While I was seriously mistaken about the incline, I was not misinformed about the views - a panoramic of the entire city and the Firth of Fourth. The wind was unbelieveable, but the view was worthwhile!  Here is an amazing panoramic photo Ray composed!

Prior to us visiting Scotland, Corinn and I did a lot of planning.  On Corinn’s list, one of the major “things we must do while in Scotland” was to visit the Scotch Whisky Experience.  She’s done this tour 13 years ago and recalled it being much fun, suggesting that I wouldn’t be disappointed.  In fact, she was right.  Not only was it a tour, we road in a whisky barrel for an “immersive” experience!  In fact, from my point of view working in the interactive field, this tour was top notch in design, visually and mechanically (of course, if you trust my experience that is ). 

 

To start off, a virtual, ghostly gentleman took us through the process of making a batch of whisky, something I never really understood prior to visiting Scotland.  Next on the tour, we sat in a tasting room where we learned way more about the subtleties in the whisky varieties that made each distillery unique.  We also discovered that where you obtained your malts and distilled your spirits actually does make a huge impact in the tastes and smells of the whiskies produced!

 

There are five main areas where distilleries are found in Scotland, however, the fifth area has not produced as much as it used to (21 distilleries in 1886, now down to 3): 

• Highlands (flowery, sweat, smoky, fruity)
  
• Lowlands (vanilla, light, finishes dry)
  
• Islay (peaty as all heck, salt)
  
• Speyside (smoke, leather, apples, honey)
  
• Campbeltown (peaty, oily, salt, spice – also the antiquated area)

Hopefully this gives you a quick reference of what to expect from whiskeys produced in these areas. Sometimes the “nose” does not exactly represent the “taste”, but the experience is what a whiskey drinker looks for.

 

Even though this was the “tasting room” we didn’t get to test a whiskey of our choice from one of 4 regions (Campbeltown was left out) until we entered the world’s largest whiskey collection, which was FRIGGIN’ HUGE!  A Brazilian whiskey lover, Claive Vidiz, collected ~3,400 bottles of whiskey over 35 years, of which is now owned by the Diageo company, and it was on display in all its liquid glory!!!

 

While in the room, we finally got to test the whiskey we picked. I tried the Islay region while Corinn tried the Lowlands.  I believe Corinn coughed when she tried the Islay and made a face that clearly informed me how she really felt about the taste; I enjoyed both regions and I did notice the big difference!

 

In the end, the tour did not at all disappoint!  We left to the shop and I bought a couple bottles:  Glenfarclas 21 Year and Glenmorangie Astar.  These will probably last my lifetime, but will be much enjoyed.  I hope to share with my good friends and family when over.  

P.S. - THANKS CORINN FOR BEING AWESOME!   

As the forecast had indicated sunny skies in the capital, Ray and I took the train from Dunfermline into Edinburgh for some site seeing. Our first stop of the day was Edinburgh Castle, at the top of the Royal Mile (so named as the Castle is at the top and Holyrood Palace is about a mile down the hill at the bottom).  The castle is one of my favorite spots in Edinburgh, and it impressively sits on the top of a volcanic mountain in the center of Edinburgh's Old Town. The oldest part of Edinburgh Castle dates back to the 11th Century, and it offers some of the best views of the city's Old Town. Ray did seem rather interested in the cannons.... We also stopped by the Castle gift store, and Ray had his first run in with haggis, a traditional Scottish meal! We may save the real haggis experience for another day!

Charles very thoughtfully checked the weather forecast for us this morning.  It seemed Edinburgh was expecting some showers, but that it would be clear in the West - so West we headed!  As Ray and I will be renting a car on Friday and driving ourselves out to the Isle of Skye, Charles thought we might benefit from seeing where we would be heading and teaching us the single-track road etiqutte.  Our first stop of the day was Stirling: here we did a drive-by of the Stirling Castle and Stirling Bridge, location of a famously victorious battle in the fight for Scottish independence in the 13th Century.

Ray and I visited the Wallace Monument, the memorial created to honor William Wallace of Braveheart fame, while Charles and Mary took a coffee break down in town.  The monument is a brisk walk up a rather steep hill.  When we reached the top we were fortunate enough to meet one of Wallace's men, who gave us the tale of Wallace's life, capture, execution and the 500 years between his death and the construction of the monument.  A long time to remain in the hearts and memories of the Scots, as he said. The Wallace Monument has 246 steps... up one very narrow spiral staircase.  Ray's first spiral staircase - and he didn't even let his claustrophobia get the better of him!  While 246 maybe doesn't sound like a lot, they have certificates and t-shirts in the gift shop proclaiming the accomplishment of climbing them all! The views from the top were great! To celebrate our accomplishment (all 246 stairs in both directions) Ray and I awarded ourselves with wee claymores.  Ray documented the "pinning" ceremony.

On our way out to Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond we made a quick stop at Doune Castle, famously used in the filming of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  "...I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries..."

On to Loch Katrine, and the first of Ray's experience with Scotland's lovely lochs!  Charles, Mary, Ray and I took a stroll around the shore and experienced some lovely views, and a few moments of the puzzling Scottish rain. Our final destination was Loch Lomond; Charles took this as an opportunity to drive us down a single-track road.  The Highlands, and Skye in particular, have lots of single-track roads, and it sure was a good thing we'd had a chance to be driven down one by an expert before we made our own attempt!