It was a Lovely Weekend for a Guinness

Erik and I spent last weekend in Dublin with the Tucci’s. We were really excited for the trip although a little nervous for the Ryanair flight (they are considering payment to use the on-board bathroom!). Needless to say, we arrived on time and quickly found ourselves in a cab with a very chatty and informative driver. Our first night was spent at the Porterhouse listening to some live music. At this establishment we first learned just how expensive Dublin was. To put it in perspective, a round of 4 pints of beer cost the equivalent of $30!!

The second day was our official Guinness Day. We toured the Storehouse and old factory. They really did a nice job walking you through the brewery process without actually being in the functional brewery. The building was 7 floors high, with the gravity bar on the top floor where we redeemed our free pint overlooking the city. One of the most interesting things that I learned during this experience was that doctors used to prescribe (literally) Guinness for aliments and recovery. They also prescribed it for moms who were breastfeeding! My, how times have changed.

The following day we took a tour of the city on the open top bus. Despite the windy chill the tour was a really good way to see the city. The tour highlighted almost all of the major sights in Dublin, as well as their “White House,” which is where their Prime Minister lives, and literally is a small version of what we have in the US. We spent the evening visiting different pubs seeking out authentic live Irish music. We found several pubs where people just brought their instruments in and started playing, others had set bands. There was spontaneous Irish dancing at almost all of the pubs we visited.

Although we really enjoyed our trip to Dublin, we were definitely surprised by the cost (ranks up there with Oslo in our opinion) as well as the state of the city. The tourist section, Temple Bar, was very nice and pretty much clean; however, as you went away from that area we saw a lot of abandoned and closed shops. For me, it wasn’t as clean as had expected it to be. We are certainly glad we had the opportunity to visit Dublin. If we are able to visit Ireland in the future, we would like to take our time exploring more of the countryside.

Trekking with the Tucci's

This past weekend we travelled into Whisky Country and the Highlands with Erika and Pat Tucci who are visiting us all the way from Washington State. Our initial plan was for it to be a whisky tasting weekend, but plans changed the second day when we were thwarted by snow! Our first day began bright and early with a distillery tour at Glen Moray (we learned it’s pronounced “murry” like “curry”). Since we had been there several times before, we had the pleasure of receiving a distillery tour hosted by the Manager. The tour was phenomenal. The four of us learned even more intricacies of whisky making and were able to enjoy several wee drams, including some reserve bottles! Erika even had the honor of helping the manager open two bottles for our tasting which totaled over 300GBP or $450! Definitely the most expensive whisky any of us had ever sampled. After spending 3 hours there, we moved on to Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Macallan for a few more wee drams. That evening we stayed at one of our favorite B&B’s - The Craighurst. To cap a fantastic evening of whisky tasting and to truly become Scottish, we ended the night by trying some traditional Haggis Bites. Needless to say, we have now had haggis once and will probably never have it again….

The original plan for Saturday was to head to two more distilleries a bit further in the Highlands. However it was snowing when we woke up! About 2 hours into our drive, we found ourselves on a Highland road that was closed due to the snow (our car almost got stuck in the ice/snow when we were trying to turn around). Since we were unable to make it across the mountain to the next distillery we decided to take an extended day trip through Fort Augustus, around Loch Ness, Inverness and then back to Aberlour. The drive was absolutely beautiful with the snow through the highlands, but the weather was quite unpredictable. We had everything from sun, hail, snow, wind, below freezing temps, and then more sun, which was a bit much for Erik who forgot to bring a jacket on this trip!! Despite Marin finding out that car sickness isn’t something that you grow out of, the day was fantastic and picturesque. We covered over 300 miles and were even stopped by a Shepherd on one road to allow a flock of sheep to cross!

Saturday evening was spent at The Mash Tun. This B&B had a restaurant and Whisky Bar attached, so we were able to relax with a fantastic meal and a few more drams. On Sunday morning we woke up, had a traditional Scottish Breakfast (baked beans and all), and headed back to Aberdeen. We spent the afternoon watching some Gavin and Stacy then had dinner accompanied with some 2005 Witness Tree that the Tucci’s graciously brought to share.

Day Tripping Down South

On Saturday we decided to take a day trip down South. When we woke up, the day was bright and sunny (sunrise is currently 6:05a.m.). Since it was such a beautiful day, we set off on the coastal route towards Dundee and St. Andrews. We were looking forward to seeing the ocean on our drive…but then the typical Scottish weather set in. Intense thick fog made it impossible to see more than five feet in front of our car and lasted for about two hours until we hit St. Andrews.

Our first stop was the prestigious St. Andrews golf club, the birthplace of golf! We weren’t able to go into the clubhouse as it isn’t open to the public, but we were able to walk along the course for a bit. At first glance, the course doesn’t look like anything special or too challenging. However, when you see it up close, you notice the subtle rolls, dips and angles in the fairways and greens. The bunkers also resemble black holes! We would have loved to play a round…but that costs more than a few pence and you have to book far in advance, only to find out if you were selected by the lottery system the day before you want to play!

While in St. Andrews we also visited the Castle and Abbey. As you can see from the pictures of both the Castle and Abbey, there isn’t much left. But even from the ruins, you can imagine how impressive it was in the 11th and 12th Century. The pictures don’t show it well, but both they are located on the ocean, which was finally beautiful now that the fog disappeared. Before we left for our next stop, we had a fish and chips lunch in a local pub that was finally served in the traditional style – wrapped in newspaper. Aberdeen doesn’t allow this for sanitary reasons.

After our lovely lunch, we got back in the car and travelled to Loch Leven. This loch is home to Loch Leven Castle were Mary Queen of Scots was exiled for several years. The castle is located on an island in the middle of the loch.

Our last stop for the day was Stirling Castle and the Church of Holy Rude. This castle is set up at the top of the city, and seems to have its own little village. It really looks like a miniature Edinburgh Castle. The history is also somewhat similar, as it was used for a military garrison after being a functional castle. The Church was also the location for the coronation of King James IV.

After that, we had a quick drive home. Amazing how much you can see in a day!