Scotland - June 2018

A Journey Around Scotland

We flew from Amsterdam to Edinburgh in a little over an hour. All went smoothly until we tried to find our Airbnb - it was more like one of those geo-cache games in which you have to look for a landmark, then find a lockbox, open it to find a key, then find the right door to open. We wouldn’t have won a race, but in the end we did manage to find our place.

The weather was a bit on the cool side with a little drizzle - we figured “What else do you expect - this is Scotland!”

The Edinburgh Castle is the dominant feature of Edinburgh. Although few of the buildings one sees on Castle Hill are older than the 16th century, people have been living on the hill since the 2nd century.

I was quite intrigued by how they blended the castle’s structure to the hill’s rock, an old volcano.

Standing in front of main gate to the castle.

Just outside of the castle’s gates is a shop in which the basement floor is a place where they make tartans, the criss-crossed woven fabric they make the kilts out of and lots of other garments. The machines looked fairly intricate and not simple to run.

David Hume, best known for his “A Treatise of Human Nature” was born in the early 1700’s and was one of the most influential British philosophers. 

I suppose every bronze statue with toes showing will have one its toes shiny. It seems irresistible to tourists. Hume’s statue was not spared the tradition.

. 

We had a pint at the Tolbooth Tavern, one of the oldest buildings in the area. At one time (a few hundred years ago) it really was a toll booth.

Edinburgh is full of these alley ways that they call “close”. They’re intriguing to go through - you never know what you’ll find. Near the flat we stayed at, a close led to the writer’s museum. In the concrete blocks were names of well known writers with a quote from them.

Above is the quintessential Scottish meal of haggis, neeps and tattles. Haggis is minced sheep heart, liver and lung mixed with oatmeal and spices. Neeps are mashed turnips. Tatties are of course potatoes.

Located in Holyrood Park, Arthur’s Seat, is the highest hill in Edinburgh. It is an extinct volcano and yields great views. We couldn’t have picked a more perfect day for our hike. 

Victoria Street was one of the most aesthetically pleasing streets in Edinburgh, with a little more color than one finds in most streets.

After three days of Edinburgh, we rented a VW Golf and began our road trip north, known as the Highlands. Unbeknownst to me, I picked a rental car that provided additional challenges to driving on the left hand side of the road - a six speed manual transmission.

Our first stop was the coastal village of St. Andrews, known for its historic golf course. Although we stopped by to see the “link”, we were more impressed with what remains of St. Andrews Cathedral, a remarkable site. If nothing else, its sheer size is daunting. It must have made quite an impression on those attending a service at the cathedral in medieval times. The nave was 20 meters high and 50 meters long!

Diane spotted this mini version of a VW van. She wanted to take home.

Although not too vibrant, the village of Lossiemouth had a nice waterfront boardwalk. Nearby, the town of Elgin is home to the Glen Moray distillery where we had a fun and informative tour/tasting. 



This is where it all starts - with barley and the peat, if the scotch is to be peaty. 

The mash is then put in these giant stainless steel containers to which water and yeast is added. After about sixty hours of fermentation, the resulting liquid called mash is pumped into the vats to the right. From there it goes to the stills (below) where the mash is distilled resulting in nearly pure alcohol. 



Water is then added to the alcohol before its placed into various types of barrels. Distilleries use barrels that were used to make other spirits such as port, sherry and bourbon. The alcohol sits in these barrels for many years. Each year, 3-4% of the alcohol evaporates (or as they say, the angels take their share). This is one reason older whiskeys cost more - it’s not just the cost of the aging process.

The “Dipping Dog” was used by workers to steal whisky out of barrels. They’d hand it in their pants to avoid getting caught. It was called a dipping dog because it was a man’s best friend.

We also toured the Strathisla distillery in Keith, one of the oldest and part of the Chivas Brothers dozen or so distilleries. We had a posh setting for the tasting. If you didn’t want to drink all of your tasting (because you were driving), the distilleries all sold “driver packs”, a set of plastic or glass bottles to keep the tastings in. The alcohol threshold for drivers was .01%, so a good whiff of a barrel would likely put you over it, much less a couple of tastings.

Upon the recommendation of friends (the Nielsens), we visited the Mash Tun pub in Aberlour. Great place - as long as you want to either have scotch, scotch or, yes, scotch. They did serve some wine and beer. They had an entire glass display devoted only to Glenfarclas scotch from 1952 on up. From their “menu” one could choose from over 300 whiskeys. 

Outside of the Mash Tun we encountered some of the regular village people - after they had enjoyed a bit of juice. Very friendly. 




The typical Scottish breakfast is far from my everyday oatmeal routine but easy to get used to. The round paddy on the left is black pudding, a combination of pork blood, fat, oatmeal and spices - pretty tasty.

On our last day in the Highlands, we took a drive along the shoreline stopping at Macduff, Banff, Portsoy, Cullen, Portnockie, Findochty, Portessie, Beckie and Portgordon. I list these mostly for their unique sounding names. And no, I did not recall them from memory. 

 

The rock above is known as “Fiddler’s Bow”. Quite striking. It was then time to leave our wonderful B&B - the Crooksmill. Elizabeth, the hostess, treated us royally. The B&B was adjacent to the River Isla. (Photo below) 





After our stay in Keith, we drove west through Inverness then south through Loch Ness, Fort Augustus and Loch Lochy ending up in Fort William, where we spent one night. 

In spite of no sign of the Loch Ness monster, we still enjoyed our tour of the Urquhart Castle. The castle was a fortress from the 16th century, the site of many bloody sieges and battles. It was around these areas that the “clans” were very powerful and would battle the kingdom.

The following day we drove eastward through Glencoe, Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. We found the drive around Glencoe to be the most beautiful part of the drive. Of volcanic origin, with lots of help from past glaciers and erosion, today the area consists of lush green valleys with streams, lakes and waterfalls.

 

The Highland cow is a unique looking cow, with a long hairy coat and horns. 

Going counter-clockwise, the red line denotes our driving route. The next time we visit Scotland we will have to visit the west coast.

Sicily Part III

Sicily - Mount Etna

From Avola, we drove north to the city of Giarre. From there we worked our way up Mount Etna to the village of Sant’ Alfio. What was most remarkable to us was that Mount Etna was clearly displaying some of her enormous capacity to destroy her surroundings - there were ominous smoke trails coming from the volcano’s crater. At over 10,000 feet high, Mount Etna is one of the largest and most active volcanos in the world.

As we drove the windy and narrow road up the mountain, we finally reached the village of Sant’ Alfio. We met Antonio, our host’s caretaker, at a cafe in the village across from the church. After brief introductions, Antonio led the way to the villa where we would be staying for a week.

The villa was nice and spacious but not fancy. It had a small pool, a grand view of the Ionian Sea and a peek of Mount Etna. The estate was loaded with fruit trees including a number of cherry trees with lots of ripe cherries to pick and eat.

We enjoyed the surroundings of our villa and of the nearby village of Sant’ Alfio. Probably our favorite tour from Sant’ Alfio was to the ancient hilltop city of Taormina. Situated majestically above the Ionian Sea, Taormina is one of those special places in the world one feels fortunate to have the opportunity to visit. 

The most prominent place in Taormina is the ancient Greek-Roman amphitheater (Teatro Antico di Taormina). With dramatic views of the sea below and of the surrounding area, the amphitheater is the second largest in Sicily. It was built around 300 B.C.

  

We splurged for coffee at the Grand Hotel, just below the amphitheater. The service was good, the views were superb but the coffee tasted more like an instant coffee - the O-N-L-Y time in Italy that the coffee was not superb. Although not cheap, I’d still recommend it for the experience alone.

Colorful small markets and beautiful piazzas. From where the above photo was taken, if you were to turn around you’d see the water.

One of the many narrow passage ways that was calling to my camera’s lense. It was difficult to pick which one to use for the blog. I took many of these types of shots.

With numerous wineries in the Mount Etna area, we did partake in a little wine tasting. The one drawback we found was that most wineries require appointments and often charge a hefty fee because they also want to feed you lunch. We found one winery, Scilio, that was less formal.

In fact, you could just bring your own bottles and they’d fill them for a few euros. The winemaker gave us a one liter plastic water bottle filled with the table wine for three euros. His other wines were more expensive but were of good quality. Needless to say, we came away from the adventure with a treasure trove of wine.

We also visited the Murgo Winery. For that winery we made an appointment and set it up for a lunch and wine tasting. For 30 euros each, it was a bargain. A five course meal, each paired with different wines. It was a very special afternoon.

 



They had enormous barrels and also had a section of the winery devoted to sparkling wines. They utilize the traditional French style which in Italy is called the Metodo Classico. We tasted both of their sparkling wines and they both were excellent. The photo below shows our tour guide pointing to what happens when a bottle of sparkling wine pops open under seven atmospheres of pressure. It blows straight up.

One of the more fun things Maarten and I did at the villa was play chess. Neither of us had played in years, his experience being more recent with his grandsons. That’s what I use as my execuse for coming out on the short end of the stick. But I did improve with each game.

 

Our last stop in Sicily before flying home was Catania. Sitting at the foot of Mount Etna by the sea, it is a large and populous city. It is known for its beautiful Roman Catholic cathedral that is richly decorated with numerous sculptures. 

In front of the cathedral, in the Piazza del Duomo, for no rhyme or reason, there is a whimsical statue of an elephant (Fontana dell’ Elefanta). Lots of people tend to congregate around it in the evenings.

The hotel where we were staying happened to be on the main pedestrian boulevard leading to the cathedral. On Saturday night, it was THE place to be or be seen. Before heading out to dinner, we stopped at a wine bar in a busy alley way and had a bottle of Adènzio Blanco, a crisp and refreshing white wine with Savignon Blanc characteristics.

In the short time we were in Sicily, we’d seen and experienced a lot. We were particularly impressed by the ancient archeological sites of Sicily. We also found the people to be friendly and enjoyed the food, the gelato, the wines and the culture.