“Never mind the whisky at the Glenfiddich,” said the owner of the B&B. “Just go make sure you use the ladies’ room. The one near the reception.” Sure! I quite appreciate a good loo. Don’t you? So I went into the Glenfiddich distillery for a wee wee (that must be a Scottish term–it’s what comes…
The Speyside Way Day Six: Duff!
While you were watching Miley Cyrus, I was getting drunk in Dufftown. And enjoying some fine Black Cock. Actually I lie. Black Cock sucked. And I was not drunk in Dufftown. I tasted 11 different whiskies, plus 2 beers, and did not get drunk. It’s true, I swear. So I saw new mushrooms today….
Speyside Way Interlude: Tripping on Mushrooms
Tripping, not trippin. There are dozens of different mushrooms blooming on the Scottish forest floor this August. I tasted none, but wanted to. Here are a few I saw and photographed with my iPhone 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. This next two…
The Speyside Way Day Five: We are Walkers.
Aberlour, Scotland is a major waypoint on the Speyside Way long distance walk. It also happens to be home to Walkers shortbread. Here’s the short and long of Day Five. Expecting a tourist trap with piped-in bagpipe music and tartans tarting up the walls, I was pleasantly surprised to find Walkers bakery shop has a…
The Speyside Way Day Four: Keeping Spirits High
This is how to lift your spirits while walking 15 miles uphill and through a bog: So at the spur of the moment, we decided to walk a spur route to Tomintoul. It would add an extra 15 uphill miles to our total walking. But at the halfway point was the Glenlivet Distillery. Free…
The Speyside Way Day Three: Learning Gaelic
bedraggle \bih-DRAG-uhl\ , verb to make limp and soiled, as with rain or dirt. dreecht \dreechkt\, adj. Scots Gaelic for grey damp gloomy day My footsteps were angry trudging uphill through bog. Before leaving Grantown-on-Spey, the owner of the B&B told us of a Gaelic word “for days like this.” That word was dreecht. …
The Speyside Way Day Two: Aqualung, Smoked
After the nervous energy of Day One burned off, Day Two seemed more sluggish AND we had to cover about twice the distance as Day One. But there were a quite a few highlights today, not least of which was getting more up close to he river that makes this region special. We continue…
The Speyside Way Day One: Beginner’s Luck
It was a swankadelic bus from Inverness to Aviemore. The double-decker coach was arranged in tables for four like on a train, not seats in cramped rows. And we had free WiFi and plugs for devices. The fancypants bus left Inverness at noon and we arrived at the official start of the walk in…
The Whisky Way Prologue: A journey of 80 miles begins with a wee step.
The car license number was FR13XXU. Read as “Friday the 13th Juju.” And a good juju it was. Brand new, fancy transmission, good on mileage. It got us from Southampton to Bath, Bristol, Oxford, Cambridge, York, Edinburgh, Inverness, Findhorn, Orkney, and Skye. A grand total of 2556 miles in one month. Today we left the…
Stupid Wet People
Tomorrow we ditch the car and start to walk the Speyside Way from Aviemore to Buckie. I have never done a long distance walk before, but I love walking so that part is fine. We are staying in hotels, not camping. But still, I am freaking out! My bag is tiny. I have no idea…
Beer and Archaeology in Orkney, Scotland
You can’t drink ruins. But when you drink a beer, you are essentially drinking archaeology. Beer is a tangible, tastable manifestation of human history. Why is beer like archaeology? Both are modern whispers of the ancient Both are universal Both are diverse Both beg you to dig deeper and explore their mysteries. If weighed on a…
Bonnie Scotland
Spending another month in one of my favorite places to visit: Scotland. This time we rented a car and have been visiting Highland distilleries and historic sites, and are also headed to Orkney. This picture was just taken on my iPhone, so it is dark and fuzzy but I can upload it to the blog…
Love and Barley 