Caledonia

12.5.17: On the Whisky Trail
First stop this morning was Dunblane to visit the cathedral, stroll through this attractive town which has a gold post box to commemorate Andy Murray's gold medal and to have a coffee. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dunblane/dunblane/index.html
Sadly it was here too , that a gunman opened fire in a primary school in 1996 killing 16 children and their teacher.

A week in Scotland and we had yet to visit a distillery. This, however, was rectified today with a guided tour, thankfully in French, of Edradour, the smallest distillery in Scotland still using traditional methods. http://www.edradour.com/ Of course there was a tasting and a chance to spend in the shop. Ray, who has been here with our Scottish friends, Andy and Maureen, and who I haven't seen since, was working today, so we managed to have a 10 minute catch up. So that was a bonus, especially as I'd already done the tour the last time.
Next, it was on to the House of Bruar for lunch, some quality shopping and a walk to the Falls of Bruar for those who wanted to spend their energy rather than their money. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/blairatholl/fallsofbruar/index.html

The drive back seemed long and we were all beginning to flag a bit. Still we needed to be on form tonight as we were giving dinner to our hosts. There was a bit of a ceilidh, singing, a fair sprinkling of kilts and finally Loli got to dance some flamenco. Cousins Rob and Jean, who live about an hour away, came over and were so much at ease with everyone that Rob sang "Wild Mountain Thyme" as a solo. I had no idea that he had such a lovely voice but there again, his Gran was a music teacher and his Granddad a great singer.
Speeches were made and presents given. I was delighted to receive a really lovely Harris Tweed shoulder bag and glasses' case in autumnal colours.
So the last evening in Scotland for the group came to an end. I'm sure they'll all go back tomorrow with great memories having seen the country at its very best. I just have to leave you with a link to Dougie MacLean singing "Caledonia" especially as it's also the name of one of Edradour's whiskies. If you're an exiled Scot have a hankie ready and everyone "Enjoy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP8A9rtg0iI
Weather:
Very warm and sunny

Last Day

David and Laura were also setting off after us to the south of England to go and visit their new granddaughter who arrived a month early . It was really kind of them not to tell us to make other arragements but that's what they're like. Today is the last but one leg of our trip and we had Glasgow in our sights. Kelvingrove Art Gallery had been another "must see" as they all wanted to see  Dali's "Cruxifiction". http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/Pages/home.aspx  But before that we stopped off at the "Famous Grouse Experience" near Crieff and while we didn't do the tour there was plenty to see in the visitor centre. The shop was spacious and well laid out and it was surprising how many different kinds of whisky they do, not taking into account the Glenturret malt. We'd already discovered "Black Grouse" in Ballachullish and found it lightly peaty and of good quality for a blended. http://www.thefamousgrouse.com/
We started the visit at the museum with a coffee and then went in our different directions There was also an organ recital and a temporary exhibition about the growth of Glasgow in the 18th century that Christian and I spent our time looking at before meeting Blair and Anne in the restaurant for lunch. While Christian took it easy in the afternoon I had a look around the MacIntosh collection and encouraged the others to do so on account of the Port Vendres connection. Well, not just that, he's synonomous with Glasgow and very talented.  http://www.port-vendres.com/page_ic.php?CatID=126&ArtID=160&them=4000

The sun was with us all the day until we were ensconced in "The Hollies" our B & B in Prestwick http://www.theholliesbb.com/  when there was an almighty thunderstorm but fortunately the rain was off when it was time to walk down to "The Dome", an old haunt of ours, to meet Colin and Sheila for dinner. http://www.dome-prestwick.co.uk/the-venue/about-scotts/ Once safely back, the rain came on again so our luck had held out until the very last. I can't believe that we were only bothered once by the rain and we'd had many sunny days to boot.

A Capital Day

Christian stayed home to rest and Nany to potter around with Laura while David drove the rest of us to Rosslyn Chapel known for its Masonic and Da Vinci code connections.

It's an amazing building with incredibly ornate stone work There were too many people trying to look around so it wasn't easy to look around.  http://www.rosslynchapel.com/  Had our coffee there and then went into Edinburgh for lunch before we "did" the Royal Mile. The pub I'd chosen was a wee place that had been an 18th century coaching inn and had lots of character. http://kaysbar.co.uk/ The food was good and extremely well priced.
The sun was shining and the Georgian New Town was looking its best when we drove through before going up to the Castle. David dropped us off and went to park.

Watched the changing of the guard and wandered down the Royal Mile, popping in and out of tartan shops, the Cathederal, Deacon Brodie's teashop for a coffee and finally to Holyrood.

There were royals (only the Wessexes) staying as it was the opening of the Church of Scotland General Assembly. Unfortunately we were too late to let Michèle and Henri to have a peak in the Parliament building but we did have time for a cuppa in the Palace tearoom.

Rather than go back home it was arranged that we'd go to the Bridge of Allen (which had been our first stop when we brought the big French group over in April2011 ) for Fish and Chips after a drink in a very crowded hotel bar across the road.
Today was supposedly World Whisky Day (established by an Aberdeen student!) but there was no evidence of it anywhere and we didn't even have a nip either. Next year it's on 16th May, so get planning.

Over the Bridge to Skye

Breakfast, while good enough, wasn't the all singing and dancing affair that we'd been used to until now. There was a choice of cooked or continential which included yoghurt. André, who had opted for cooked snaffled one of the yoghurts and  caused much consternation and a lot of laughs!
The weather wasn't promising for the afternoon so I reversed our itinerary heading first to Armadale Castle, one of the seats of the MacDonalds. On the way we made a short detour to the pretty little village of Isleornsay http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/skye/isleornsay/index.html where the
only place open so early was a lovely but expensive  shop selling beautiful woollens and tweeds. Nany bought a little broach but the rest of us kept our cash securely in our purses.
Only ruins are left of Armadale Castle but the gardens were a real delight with rhododendrons and azaleas in bloom; the Clan Donald centre was interesting too, especially for Michèle and Henri. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/skye/armadalecastlegardens/index.html We spent quite a bit of time wandering around; well Christian didn't as he wasn't up to walking but we all met up in the old stables which have now become a very pleasant restaurant for a coffee.
By now it was starting to feel much cooler and by the time we arrived at the Old Carbost Inn for lunch heavy rain had settled in. http://www.theoldinnskye.co.uk/index.php?id=1
The bar was busy and it took quite a while to get served. Next came my least glorious moment as  instead of turning right to the Talisker Distillery, I sent our trusting driver to the left in direction of  Talisker. Visibility was poor and the single tract road made it impossible to turn around for several miles as the uninhabited scenery made it evident that it wasn't the right way. Eventually found the distillery, 200 yds away from the pub! What a good job we hadn't booked the tour. We contented ourselves with doing a tasting and buying. http://www.discovering-distilleries.com/talisker/tours.php
Our final stop on Skye was Portree where André bought himself a tweed cap and wax jacket at half price so he was well pleased with himself. The rain had become on and off  drizzle so weatherwise things were looking up. A cuppa was by now a priority and luckily there was a teashop still open and so ended what was for me a bit of a disappointing day. It was probably the weather but I found the scenery stark, Portree tired was half wishing that we'd gone to Mull instead. Still the others were happy so that's the main thing.
Back on the mainland, the weather was dull but at least it wasn't raining. Went down to the Balmacara Hotel for dinner as it wasn't far. Ate in the bar which was quiet where it was obvious that the barman- cum- waiter was new to the job and hadn't been given any training. I later learnt that he was there for two weeks only to earn a bit of cash and that his normal job was shepherding!

Tartan Trail

The sun was still shining when we piled into the mini bus and Laura's car for today's excursion. The first stop was Aberfeldy then it was onto Pitlochry for a walk and a visit to the Edradour distillery which is the smallest one in Scotland. Still privately owned, they pride themselves on quality not quantity. Had lunch at the house of Bruar but sadly having done the walk to the falls, we didn't have any time to do any serious shopping. Dinner this evening was in the Comerie Golf Clubhouse where Bill, the chef put on an excellent meal. Cousins Jean and Rob came over from Bridge of Earn to join us so we were able to do some catching up in between looking after the group.