Scotland - Hagrid, Scotch, Skyfall & The Holy Grail

     

Edgar with us on Arthur's Seat

      After experiencing the month of Ramadan in the U.A.E for the first

Scott Monument

time, we took advantage of the Eid holiday following the month long fast and I was able to take my second ever two week vacation.  Our first stop from Abu Dhabi was Edinburgh where we had planned to meet up with Sarah's friend Edgar who was once involved in an exchange program where he came to stay with her family in high school.  Edgar had been living in Edinburgh for about a year already so we had the luxury of having him as our tour guide throughout the town.  He was spending him time in Scotland studying at the University of Edinburgh for his PhD in counseling studies.  He also was so kind to let us stay in his old dormitory (which he was moving out of) for a couple nights saving us money on our lodging.

            On our first day we took right to the town where I made my first stop at trying some legit scotch whiskey.  We found a place that had been around for ages that claimed to sell excellent blends of whiskey from all the various regions of Scotland.  Since I have a particular taste for a right peaty whiskey I chose the Islay malt whiskey blend  which comes from the Isle of Islay.

Top of the Scott Monument

               After that we made our way up a large plateau  called Arthur's Seat which overlooks the city, this climb is quite the work out so be prepared and bring water.  During our first day we started with trip off with beautiful weather, which in Scotland you apparently should always be grateful for that.  Following the climb up the plateau we went down the other side of Arthur's Seat to a small village pub called The Sheep Heid Inn.  This pub is the oldest surviving watering hole in all of Edinburgh, its a very cozy place with lots of character.  After we got back we took a nap and had a nice dinner at an outdoor rooftop restaurant called Tower restaurant above the Edinburgh national museum.  It was a delightful way to end our first day in Scotland.

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle from Arthur's Seat

            When we woke up from our first night in the dorms (which was a blast to go back to the dorms and sleep, totally takes you back to college days) we started off with breakfast in the place where Harry Potter was born (sort of).  We had breakfast in a place called The Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote most of The Sorcerer's Stone.  It was a nice place with a good view of Edinburgh Castle in the back windows.  While Sarah used the bathroom she found many tributes to the great works of Harry Potter graffiti'd on the walls and also found the phrase "I'd get sleazy for a Weasley", my personal favorite.

Leith

Dome Restaurant

            Following breakfast we started walking to the the center of town by Edinburgh Castle.  We walked up to the castle but did not go in as we had planned to tour many castles on our journey all over Scotland.  We then came to the Scott Monument which we decided to climb (for a nominal fee of course) for a nice view of the city.  Apparently it is the largest monument in the world to be dedicated to a writer (Sir Walter Scott).  I invite you to look at the monument and ponder how you climb to the top because I did the same thing before going up the first set of stairs.  Its somewhat claustrophobic as the stairs get more and more narrow the higher you get and as you also squeeze by people in the tiny spiral staircases.  It was a great view and fun to be at the top, but the way down was rather interesting, negotiating our decent with other ascending tourists.

Dome Restaurant

Edinburgh at night

            Following the Scott Monument we made our way to the area in Edinburgh known as Leith which is an old royal town of Scotland.  We started outside while eating lunch, but then got our first taste of standard Scotland weather (lots of rain) and were motivated to move inside.  The pub itself was quite cozy so enjoying the indoors was not a problem (I love a good euro pub that has a good amount of history to it, and thankfully in Scotland, they were not in short supply).    It has the waters of Leith running through it with lovely pubs and bridges that make it a great place to stop for lunch and people watch.  I was determined to find the ideal picture of the setting described when I googled Leith and after Edgar and I did some surveying of the area, we found it.  After we located the picturesque Lieth location, we decided to have a bite to eat at a local pub called The King's Wark.  After Leith we went back to downtown Edinburgh to walk around before drinks and dinner.  First we had drinks a place called the Dome bar and grille which had this really cool red light that created a very unique ambiance.  After finishing drinks we walked to old town Edinburgh for a late Italian dinner at a place called Gennaro.  The street this restaurant was at the site where a gallows used to be set to hang traitors, witches and the like (there was a pub near our restaurant called The Last Drop).

Downtown Inverness

Loch Ness Boat Tour

Loch Ness

             Our third day marked the end of our stay in the city of Edinburgh.  In the morning we had to say goodbye to our wonderful host Edgar, the dorms, and the big city.  After a decent amount of coercion, Sarah convinced me it would be a good idea to rent a car vs rely on public transportation.  Of course the entire time I was just thinking about driving on the opposite side of the road.  But I have to say looking back on it, renting a car was a very good idea.  I did get a few honks on my way out of the city, but after that I started to get the hang of it.  From Edinburgh, our next stop was Inverness which was far north Scotland (where the majority of distilleries are housed) and also near the famous body of water known as Loch Ness.  Almost four hours of driving we finally arrived to the town of Inverness.  Our first B&B pick was the Ach Aluinn where we were hosted by a very kind and accommodating older couple who literally gave us everything we needed to explore the city and surrounding areas.  While in Inverness we ate at a nice restaurant called the Mustard Seed and also did a nice boat tour of Loch Ness (no we did not see Nessy our underwater ally) which ended by an old castle ruin.  Following the boat tour we drove to one of my favorite distilleries called Dalmore (introduced to me by my good friend Jason Gillikin), our first distillery stop of the trip.  

Portree, Isle of Skye

Skye

Old Man Storr

At the Summit of
Old Man Storr

 After a short visit in Inverness we made our way to the Isle of Skye, one of the most picturesque locations in Scotland.  The Isle of Skye is full of rolling hills, green everywhere, and bodies of water wrapping around all of the landscape.  Our second B&B of the trip was the Gables, a very nice place overlooking the Broadford Bay.  We had a host who took great care of us and also found our next stay on the island as well.    While on the Isle of Skye we decided to hike up to Old Man Storr this huge rock spire that towers over the rolling green hills on the island.  During our hike the weather took a turn for the worst and we were pretty much drenched by the end of our hike.  The view of the area was very much worth it though.  Before our hike we had a nice lunch at a place in Portree, Skye called Cafe Arriba which I have to say was one of the best restaurants we dined at in Scotland.  It was at this place where I found a fantastic beer called Innis and Gunn (see picture, the beer actually has a rum finish and it tasted amazing) which I asked for at any restaurant we went to going forward.  In the evening we ate at the oldest pub and inn on the island called the Stein Inn.  The entire area was very nice to look at and was full of flavor and history, it was at the Stein Inn where I sampled a good amount of whiskey from the surrounding areas (I tried a whiskey called Talisker which is the only distillery on the Isle of Skye).

On the way to Talisker

Talisker Distillery

            We stayed one more night on the Isle of Skye and in the morning on our way out we made our way to the Talisker distillery to do our first tour of a Scotland distillery.  It was very educational to learn about each step of the process to making a good whiskey.  The Talisker whiskey was very peaty which of course I enjoy so I bought some to take back to the U.A.E. to enjoy later.  Following the tour we had lunch at the Old Inn, yet another historic pub to enjoy and reflect on.  On the way out of Skye ( while driving to Glencoe) we also stopped by another castle by the name of Eilean Donan set in a very beautiful area.

Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan Castle

            Leaving Skye behind we set course for Glencoe, which was to be the first of many movie sites we were to visit while in Scotland.  Glencoe is where the James Bond movie Skyfall was filmed and also the site where Hagrid's Hut (from Harry Potter) was built and filmed.  I have to say without a doubt that Glencoe was the most beautiful natural locations that I have ever seen.  I am of course always waiting to be trumped by another location, but Glencoe is just unbelievably beautiful all around.  Normally I would say pictures do not do the real site justice, but the below panoramic is a pretty decent sample of what it was like (I took that with my iPhone...I was impressed with the outcome).  After hours of driving looking for movie sites, we had a bite to eat near Hagrid's Hut site at a pub called the Clachaig Inn  (I really can't stress enough how awesome all these pub type places are they we kept finding on our journey).

Castle Arrggghhhh (Stalker)
 The Holy Grail Movie Scene

Castle Stalker

   After leaving Glencoe in the morning we made our way to the town of Oban where we planned to catch a ferry to take us out to a geological phenomenon more commonly referred to as Fingal's Cave.  On the way to the ferry we passed the castle Stalker (another great movie site) or in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the castle arrrggghhh which is featured at the end of the movie (click the links for the funny scenes).  This island castle can only be toured by private arrangement (it is privately owned) to get transport to the castle itself.

Glencoe, Scotland

             When we arrived in the town of Oban (also the name of a popular whisky made here) we boarded a bus that took us out to the ferry dock for our trip to Fingal's Cave.  The tour also included a visit to a neighboring island filled with puffins (these cool penguin like birds who continually nest on this spot) among other fun creatures to observe.  We had an hour or so on this island before we made our journey over to Fingal's Cave.  This formations on this cave / island showcase an endless series of hexagonal jointed volcanic basalt columns at different heights that are unlike any rock formation I have ever seen before.  The rock

Puffin

Puffin with fish

formations on this island almost look like they have to be man made, but are actually a natural formation that comes from continual volcanic heating and cooling through ice formations and fresh lava flows.  There are similar formations in Northern Ireland which is very close to the island.  We had another hour or so on the island of Fingal's Cave before heading back to the mainland.
               When we got back on the mainland we had dinner in Oban and then made our way to the port city of of Tarbert.  We stayed at a place called the Anchor Hotel  which was about five minutes from the port that was to take us to the Isle of Islay in the morning.

Fingal's Cave

Fingal's Cave Island

               We woke up early to head out to our ferry down the road to take us to Islay.  We loaded our car into the ship and found a nice couch to chill on during our two hour ride to Islay.  The boat docked on Islay around noon and we drove off to head towards our Bed & Breakfast by the name of the Glenedgedale House.  After arriving we almost immediately decided to stay an extra night. The house is run by a nice young family that will accommodate your every need.  I have to say I have stayed in some nice hotels in my day, this place rivals many of them.  The breakfast is superb which is accented further by many home made items that are also offered as take away snack items.  I was even offered a night cap "dram" of whiskey before I went to bed while I was reading on the couch.  If you know me I am overly critical of customer service whenever I am paying for an item or service, needless to say this establishment exceeded my expectations.

Fingal's Cave

Glenedgedale House

               While on Islay we toured three of the main distilleries that lined the coast of Port Ellen, including my favorite distillery: Laphroaig.  For
those of you who do not know about this particular brand of whiskey, its one of those "hate it or love it" types of life experiences.  Laphroaig is made in part by roasting barley by burning peat moss, a special kind native to many parts of Scotland and Ireland.  This peat roasting gives the whiskey a very strong "camp fiery" taste.  Lahproaig is readily available in most quality bars around the world and if you are going to give it a swirl, I recommend slowly sipping it, also the second sip is much better than the first, do not ask me why.  Lahproaig is also the favorite distillery of Prince Charles, who makes frequent visits and even had a special blend made in his name to be sold for a charity.  I did a special private tasting of some rare Laphroiag whiskeys after the

Bunnahabhain Distillery

distillery tour where they offer tastes of whiskey which they remove from the Laphroaig whiskey vaults.  I did the tasting with a local Scottish gentleman who I later learned was one of the four police officers assigned to the Isle of Islay.  We also toured the Ardbeg distillery and had lunch at the cafe there along Port Ellen.

Laphroaig Distillery

                On the evening of our first night we ate at the Port Charlotte Hotel Restaurant which offers many great plates along with great service.  We enjoyed it so much that we had dinner there on our second night as well.  Our second day on the island fell upon bad weather so we enjoyed our Bed & Breakfast a while and then stated driving towards our port city that would take us back to the mainland.  On the way we stopped at another distillery called the Bunnahabhain Distillery which was a much more lax distillery tour that allowed us to take pictures where many others would not.  It was a nice ending to our trip on Islay, after our tour our plan was to head to the town of Stirling in search of more movie destinations.  I have to say before ending this trip story, Islay was probably one of my most favorite parts of the trip, although it may be a slight battle between Islay and Skye as both were great places to visit.

Inside Bunnahabhain

Doune Castle

                When the ship brought us back to the mainland we started driving to Stirling, we planned to see Stirling Castle in the city and also the short drive out to Doune Castle where a large portion of Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed.  For those who know the movie well, you can see in many of the pictures of the castle where the various scenes of the movie was filmed, but I have also included scenes for those who need a refresher.  In Stirling we stayed at a very nice establishment called Castlecroft Bed & Breakfast, the rooms were wonderful, it was my favorite bed of the trip and the host was very kind and accommodating.  We did not do too much in Stirling besides grab a bite to eat and then head to bed.  In the morning we went to Doune Castle before going back to Edinburgh for a Davinci Code movie site stop.  Doune Castle was a great highlight for me, seeing all of those places close up where they filmed the Holy Grail was really cool.  Doune Castle was a cool castle in general as it was one of the few that still looked like a legit castle (many castles we saw just looked like houses on the inside vs having that old medieval "castley" look).

Inside Doune

Doune Castle in Monty Python
& the Holy Grail

                After leaving Doune Castle we went to the town of Rosslyn which is just outside Edinburgh.  Rosslyn chapel is featured in one of the last scenes of the Tom Hanks movie the Davinci Code.  As an expert of the movie I knew the scene had to be in a basement portion of the chapel.  As Sarah and I entered the Chapel I feared the basement was a made up part of the movie, but alas as we walked further we found the famous scene from the movie.  The chapel itself was absolutely beautiful, the entire chapel is a giant carving of art and design fearing various scenes from the Bible.  The annual visitors rose from around thirty thousand to closer to one hundred seventy thousand annually after the book and movie were released.   The Rosslyn Chapel also continues to be a working church.  After the tour we ate at a local pub called the Rosslyn Inn Hotel , another standard well establish pub.

Rosslyn Chapel Crypt
(Davinci Code Scene)

Rosslyn Chapel

                We had a short stop in Rosslyn in anticipation of making our way down to London with only three days left before our flight back to Abu Dhabi.  We soon realized that a drive from Edinburgh to London was not something that could ideally by done in a day so we arranged to make a stop in the city of York (Old York!).  Our Bed & Breakfast went by the name of Elliotts, apparently the old B&B used to be the town brothel.  It was hard to tell as our rooms and stay were nothing resembling a brothel.  York itself was a beautiful town which was definitely worth the stop before London.  We walked the historic city as well as the largely intact wall that still surrounds the city dating back to the Roman times.  Sarah had a goal to walk the wall around the entire city (which we did).  It was a lot of fun as the various turrets over the roads usually had some type of shop or cafe inside them.  We also walked down the historical road inside York called the Shambles which is a small road that is supposed to be representative of a previous time dating back to the fourteenth century.  We also toured the York Brewery which is the only legal brewery that is allowed to operate within the city walls.  In the evening we paid a visit to the Blue Bell, a hundred year old bar that had stayed in the same family for almost the entire time.  After our day in York we started on the other half of our journey to London.

York City walls

Shambles Street

                 When we arrived in London we started towards the town of Greenwich, we had made arrangements to stay at The Mitre, which is where we stayed last time we were in London.  We made arrangements to stay there for the last two nights of the trip.  Greenwich is a nice place to stay just outside the business of the city while being only a short subway ride or boat ferry on the Thames back into London.      
                  We rode the ferry and the underground, but I had a new annoying tourist mental note to jot down whilst on the ferry.  A while back Budweiser beer used to do these commercials called "Real Men of Genius" where they would salute someone for their ridiculous acts or occupation.  Well today I salute you mister awkward tourist picture taker.  If you are in a crowed space, it doesn't matter if you have to rest your

Tower of London

The Blue Bell

camera on a complete strangers shoulder without asking, you'll get that sub par picture of the London Bridge.  It doesn't matter if you have to push people over to get a tilted off kilter shot with someones finger in it, you'll move them over with no shame.  So crack open an ice cold bud light mister awkward tourist picture taker, and know that when it comes to pictures you'll probably delete when you get home, you wont miss a single opportunity to piss people off for that fateful snapshot.

York Minster Abbey

221 Baker Street

                  Since we were back in London again I made a point this time to tour the Tower of London which we did not do last time and also visit 221 Baker street, the fictional residence of Sherlock Holmes.  I had been on a recent Sherlock kick after going through the BBC series Sherlock set in modern times (a series which I highly recommend watching).  The tower was alright, but it was very crowded and one of those scenarios where you feel like cattle at times, but it was cool to see the crown jewels.  We also learned a superstition about the ravens on the grounds.  Apparently there was a saying one time that if the ravens leave the tower that the kingdom would fall.  So for that reason there is a guard in charge of the ravens (they have their wings clipped so they can't leave) that feeds them raw beef, eggs and bird feed.  The Sherlock location was also a cool thing to see, but again because of the recent Sherlock series being out, it was also very crowded.  After we got those items out of the way we went shopping on Oxford street for a while picking up all the non Abu Dhabi store items we needed to bring back with us.  We also walked by Buckingham Palace which I guess you could call a movie site (The Kings Speech), but if you do not arrange to go in, you just kind of stare at the gate.  Despite my not so cheery review of some of our visits, I really do love London.  It is a nice place to visit and if you do not live there I would say it is an enjoyable place to go for a short trip.  The weather this time of year was perfect for London and in Scotland for that matter.

Buckingham Palace

Tower Ravens

Tower of London

                 Our second visit to the United Kingdom (mostly Scotland) was a blast.  Ireland was one of my most favorite locations for scenery and great people, but Scotland may also be on the same ranking scale for those two items.  I loved Scotland, our trip was full of great food, whiskey and scenery.  To kick the trip off Sarah was reunited with Edgar after sixteen years who was a wonderful host and great to get to know.  I saw more movie sites that ever before on a trip (Harry Potter, James Bond, Davinci Code, Braveheart, The Holy Grail & the King's Speech) and I was able to visit my favorite whiskey distillery (Laphroaig).  Scotland is a truly wonderful place each area brings its own unique flavor of culture and history, but all locations come with the kind hospitality of Scottish folk.  We were treated extremely well by all of our hosts and anyone else we met with along the way through our travels, those interactions and experiences are what make you want to come back to a place and I hope we get back to Scotland sometime soon.