Drinking single malt scotch at 10am is certainly a great way to start the day. After another full- English breakfast in Inverness we boarded the bus once more and headed an hour and a half away to The Glenlivet distillary.
A handsome young man who barely looked old enough to drink whiskey gave us a very informative tour of the "no photos allowed" distillary during its "silent" season. Nothing was being made because they were cleaning for a month. I learned quite a bit about making single malt. Then we got a complimentary shot or dram. It was great fun.
Jet lag kicked in in a very big way today because we couldn't keep our eyes open on the bus. It was serious. I tried to fight it but the gloomy, cool weather was more conducive to napping.
We enjoyed a very nice visit to Balmoral Castle, sans the royal family of course. We walked around the grounds and were only allowed in the Great Hall filled with paintings of royal dogs and horses. It is quite clear how beloved their dogs are and have always been. The Queen's dog - walking outfit was even displayed along with staff uniforms.
Staff also seems to be quite respected as beautiful little silver statues were on display of the grounds - keeper or gilley, among others who loyally served the family until they died. I thought that sentiment was very telling and sweet.
We had lunch there and then boarded the bus once again heading south on the east side of the island towards Edinburgh. We drove past Braemar Castle and that's where it occurred to me that castles come in many sizes, mostly surrounded by walls. Balmoral has no walls but both castles have 50-70,000 acres each. Those news stories and Downtown Abbey showing the royal family and aristocracy roaming vast green lawns with their dogs where sheep graze free are true! It was pretty cool to see it in person.
The rest of the day was riding through the remainder of the beautiful and romantic Highlands culminating with a great view of The Firth of Forth. I always thought this was a joke when it actually is the first cantilevered bridge in the world. It it very pretty.
We made it to The George Hotel in Edinburgh and had a little over an hour to rest before venturing out once again on our bus to The James Hotel for a Scottish evening of traditional music and dance plus "the ceremony of the haggis" complete with our very talented master of ceremonies reciting a poem written for the occasion. And, of course, more whiskey after another delicious supper.
All in all it was a lovely day. It's after 10pm and dusk is just descending on the city. I don't know how people get used to this. But as I said, room darkening curtains are a must.
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