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Scotland

Wow, what a trip! This view is of the Scottish Highlands. My work partner and I drove through them on our way up to Kinloss, on the Moray Firth, east of Inverness. We were there two weeks, stayed one night in Glasgow on the way up and one night in Edinburgh on the way back home. The weather was nice and warm the first week, and we had a little cloud and mist the second, but otherwise it was beautiful. We had some time for a little sightseeing... castle ruins, distilleries and Loch Ness.



I couldn't help but take a photo of this... for one of my friends, Erksine, who has some Scot blood in him. Hope you get a kick out of this, bud.


There you are, a bit of Scottish heritage for ya'.


Nessie was not about, but the lake is very large, long and beautiful. There are a couple of castles built along the loch, one is in ruins and has quite a bit of lore associated with it, another appears to be a hotel now. There are quite a few old castles in Scotland that you can spend the night in, and many old churches and buildings you can grab a dram and some haggis in. Yes, the first thing I did was try the haggis, and yes, it's pretty good. (but don't ask what's in it, though)

This is a cow. You heard me, a cow, not a steer or bull. Scottish Highland cows have horns just like bulls/steers. Uh-huh. The beef steaks from these guys melts in your mouth. I know, I had the best filet I've ever had at a restaurant in nearby Dufftown. They shed their long coats in spring and regrow them in the fall. They feed mostly in the highlands on brush, but the owner has brought this group down to feed on the green slopes near the Glenfiddich distillery. FYI, a "glen" is a valley, and "glenfiddich" means, "valley of the deer". Didn't know that, did you?

This is a photo of the distillation plant at Glenfiddich. The malt gets distilled in one of the big ones, then the leftovers get distilled again in the smaller ones. Much too complicated for this page but this room looks cool anyway, huh? I tried about a dozen different whiskeys there (not all at once), and found two in particular that I very much enjoyed. I brought a couple bottles home with me, one is Craggenmore, a Speyside whiskey, the other is Talisker, from the Isle of Skye. They're best enjoyed at room temperature, "neat", and perhaps with a Walker's Highland shortbread to bring out the flavors.


This is the river Spey, where the now famous Spey fly rod originated. The Spey rod is a fly rod that is 14-18 feet long, a two-handed fly rod designed for casting far across wide rivers such as this one. My fishing buddies will appreciate the fact that most rivers in the UK have privately held fishing rights, and that you can't just walk up to any stream and drop a line in. A neighbor of mine, however, has come up with two tickets to fish a river in the southwest of England, and we will be going flyfishing some time in the next couple of weeks. Wish us luck!

Okay, for those of you who have been patient enough to read through the entire page, here's a special treat...
On our return journey from Kinloss, we stopped for a night in Edinburgh. Some of you are aware that I have been dreaming of attending Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh after I retire from the navy, and enter into their degree program in Brewing and Distilling Technology. Well, I made an appointment with the Senior Teaching Fellow at the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (the ICBD), which is the department of Heriot-Watt that offers this degree. After a lengthy interview and tour of their 650,000 pound brewhouse, I was invited to apply to their postgraduate distance learning program, where upon completion of all the modules and a 3-4 month project, an MSc in Brewing and Distilling Technology would be bestowed. I am currently awaiting the application and if accepted will begin immediately, in the hopes of completing the modules by the time I retire 3 years from now, or very shortly thereafter.
Wish me luck!!!