The Extremely Belated Scotland Post (Plus An Update)

Hello! You found the compass!

      I apologize for how severely late this post is. The trip to Scotland happened in late November, and I am just now getting around to writing about it. I figured I should finally type it up before yet another adventure happens! (No, nothing is planned. This is just a precautionary measure! Hah.) Naturally, some details might be hazy or outright missing, which may affect the tone of the piece. Hopefully I can still make this entertaining for you!

      This time around, my travel companions were Michael (same one as Amsterdam) and Daniel. We left Surbiton Station in the evening to get to the London Victoria bus station, where we'd spend eight hours (if memory serves) on an overnight bus to Glasgow, our first stop. We managed to get seats around a table, giving us room to use our backpacks as pillows for the journey. I slept on and off for most of the ride. I remember waking up and feeling like a Popsicle at one point. That would be a sign of things to come for our time in Scotland: generally, it was pretty cold. This is Scotland in November we're talking about.

      Upon arrival in Glasgow, we had only a faint idea of where our hostel was. We decided that a warm breakfast was in order, and quickly found a cafe near the city center. I scarfed down porridge and hot chocolate, while the boys nabbed coffee and pastries. Their love of coffee and my love of hot chocolate would become something of a running theme on our journey. Almost every time we had an opportunity to try new coffee or hot chocolate, we did so. (I found the greatest hot chocolate ever in Edinburgh, but that comes later.) We wandered around Glasgow for a bit, mentally mapping our way to the hostel. Once we got there, we threw our things in the storage room and set out to explore Glasgow with renewed vigor. No backpacks, full stomachs, and cameras ready for use!

      Right outside of our hostel was a river. We walked along that initially, and found some interesting things to photograph along the way.

      According to a sign just out of frame on that tiger picture, the tiger was commissioned by Tiger Beer. They wanted to represent the year of the tiger, as well as the elements of the Chinese zodiac: water, earth, wood, fire, and metal. While we didn't find the water, earth, wood, or metal tigers, I assume they are out there somewhere.

      We decided we should turn around and head back to the city center to fully appreciate all the sights there. We managed to find a Gallery of Modern Art, plenty of bustling streets, a few more landmarks worth photographing. Having only one day in Glasgow, we tried to make it good. (Also, in continuation with my "this is apparently a tradition now" tradition of trying Mexican food in different countries, we all got burritos in a Chipotle-like establishment in Glasgow. Good, but Chipotle is better.) We did have a whiskey tour lined up at the Glengoyne Distillery, but had time to kill until we had to hop on the bus to get to it.

   
      Our main stop in Glasgow was the famous Glengoyne Whiskey Distillery! A short bus ride through some of the Scottish countryside dropped us off right in front of the distillery for our Tasting Tour! Along with the basic tour, we got to taste an additional whiskey. We also got vouchers from our hostel that got us free nips of ten-year Glengoyne. Fun! Now, let's take the tour...

      The first stop on the tour was a water supply behind the main visitor's building. The supply is used to make the whiskey, and comes down a mountain via the barely-visible waterfall in the back of the picture. The water was relatively low compared to normal due to little rainfall. At one point during the year, the tour guide said it had gotten completely empty. When that happens, no whiskey! This is part of the reason that the distillery is closed during July. If my memory is correct, the tour guide said they close not only for employees to have time off, but because the water supply needs time to refill. 

      Pictures weren't allowed for parts of the tour, but above is your glimpse into the place where the whiskey is made. Glengoyne whiskey has only three ingredients: barley, water, and yeast. Depending on how long it ages and in which casks is what gives the whiskey different flavors. You can also learn a lot about the whiskey based on what the bottle says. Seems obvious, but the words are important. For example: Highland Single Malt. Each word is important in identifying traits about the whiskey. Highland is the region it Scotland it comes from. Other regions include Skye or Lowland, to name two. Single refers to the number of distilleries the whiskey is made at. Since Glengoyne is a lone establishment and its exact recipe kept secret, all of their whiskeys are "single". Malt refers to the type of whiskey (or at least, that's the best I can get out of my very unhelpful notes that just say "malt = whiskey"), meaning it is made from a mash of malted grain, usually barley.

      In the first picture above, there are examples of the different types of casks used for the whiskey. Also, on display in the cabinets are visual representations of how the whiskey ages and evaporates as it ages in different casks. From left to right: American & European Oak refill casks, American Oak bourbon casks, American Oak sherry casks, and European Oak sherry casks. Glengoyne never uses virgin casks. Instead, to enhance the flavor of their whiskey, they always import casks that were used for other types of alcohol. As you can see, the type of alcohol greatly affects the color of the whiskey. Additionally, a lot of whiskey is lost per year to evaporating or being absorbed into the casks. They call the lost bits of whiskey the angel's share.

      Glengoyne prides itself in keeping closely with the original recipe and processing techniques since they were founded in 1833. Their slogan is "Unhurried Since 1833" with good reason: their process isn't the fastest for churning out loads of whiskey, as they've kept their process relatively the same since 1833, but it has produced some of the most famous Scotch whiskey in the world. If it ain't broke...

      After the tour, it was dark out and I went back to the hostel to crash. The next morning we grabbed pastries and coffee/hot chocolate (as usual) and headed to the Glasgow Necropolis before having to catch our bus. We didn't have time to see the necropolis up close, but we did explore the cathedral it is attached to and successfully got locked in the cathedral's basement for a little while. (The detailed story isn't nearly as exciting-sounding as the vague one, so I'll leave it at that.)

      So there ended our Glasgow adventures! It was time to get on the bus and head over to Edinburgh which is, thankfully, a much shorter ride.

     Ah, Edinburgh. This was by far my favorite part of the journey! The city was beautiful, and I'd love to be able to go spend more time in it someday. We arrived Saturday afternoon and set out to find our hostel. We were excited for this one: the hostel was a re-purposed church. Along the way, we stopped into a place for our usual drinks. This is where I found the best hot chocolate ever! It was a dark hot chocolate, and it was just perfect. Even the guys really liked it!

     We found the Belford Hostel pretty easily and went in to throw our stuff down. Sure enough, it was a cool setup. They took all of the pews out of the main area of the church and built a bunch of little rooms instead. It was fun being able to stay overnight in a church, even if the inside barely resembled one anymore. 

    Since it was barely evening at that point, we went out to explore Edinburgh a bit more. We ended up seeing lots of churches, including the famous St. Giles Cathedral, the principle place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. 

      That night, we also checked out a jazz club and grabbed some food at a local pub. This particular pub (whose name I cannot remember) is known for its haggis. Since we were in Scotland, we figured we should all try it once. So we did! As a friendly reminder, haggis is a savory dish made with the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep, minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for three hours. (Nowadays, it's usually cooked in a sausage casing.) Overall, it wasn't bad! I wasn't an enormous fan of the taste, though, so I wouldn't order it again. Worth trying once just to say I did! With that done, we returned to the hostel for a night.

    

   Sunday: our last day in Scotland. Also, it happened to be Saint Andrew's Day! (The day celebrated the patron saint of Scotland.) We woke up fairly early to get started. We found a cute cafe near the hostel to eat at. The owner was a very nice woman who told us about local places to check out, including a market that was a short walk down the river to the next town over. The boys went back to a church near the hostel to hear the choir while I stayed in the cafe for a bit (I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to move). When we all met up again, we took a stroll along a pretty little river and into the next town. 

     The market was fun! The smell of all the different food made my mouth water. I found yet another hot chocolate person, but this time the drink was literally just a bunch of melted chocolate with a little bit of milk. Very rich, but very good. I also got to try some Indian food, Greek food (including a wonderful baklava), and I believe Michael and I finished off with something Spanish. It was a yummy place!

      We went back to Edinburgh to check out the castle. Initially, I was a bit sad that we wouldn't get to go in since none of us could afford the ticket price. However, it turns out the castle is free on Saint Andrew's Day! We, of course, jumped on the opportunity to visit it. With the view from the castle, I was able to get great pictures of Edinburgh!

      Inside the castle were various rooms with different educational stories to tell. I went into one very dark place (apparently called David's Tower), and learned that Scotland's crown jewels were buried there for four years during World War II. In 1941, under threat of invasion, a decision was made to bury the Scottish Crown, Sceptre (given to King James IV by Pope Innocent VIII), and Sword of the State (given to King James IV by Pope Julius II) in David's Tower. Only four people knew of the locations of the jewels: King George VI, the King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, the Secretary of State for Scotland, and (believe it or not) the Governor-General of Canada. The idea behind Canada being in the know was that if the first three were captured or killed, the governor-general would be safely across the Atlantic. The jewels were returned to their rightful places in 1945.

     

      After touring the castle, we went on another whiskey tasting. This time, we went to The Scottish Whiskey Experience. While very educational, it was definitely more touristy than actually going to a distillery. However, we did get to see the worlds largest collection of whiskey bottles! 

      That night, we went to check out the festival in town (pictured at the end of night one). There were stalls filled with all sorts of goods, including food, clothing, handmade trinkets, home goods, and so on. We found one man who was selling real wool tartan scarves. He had all the different clans at his stall, and could name all of them (probably had plenty of practice throughout the day). He told us that he'd sell any of us a scarf if we brought him hot chocolate. (He was working alone and couldn't leave.) So, I took him up on it. Apparently nobody else during the day took his offer, perhaps thinking he was kidding. But sure enough, when I brought him hot chocolate he let me take my pick of any scarf I wanted. Since I knew nothing about any clans and was picking purely on color alone, I went with the Douglas clan. 

    After that, it was almost time to head to the bus station. We stopped in a Costa to eat some bread and dip we'd bought at the market, and have a couple hot drinks. We talked about what our family Christmas traditions were and had a good time. On the bus home, I introduced Michael to Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas album (AKA the best Christmas album known to mankind). It was my first listen of the season, which made me a combination of "warm and fuzzy" and homesick. I was happy to have someone around to enjoy the music with me. And of course, he loved them! (Who wouldn't?)

     We arrived back in London at around 6AM. We all sleepily parted ways and headed for our beds. It was a good weekend. 

      Now I suppose I should give a generic update on life in England. I was happy with my scores on last semester's finals, and hopefully I can do even better this semester! The weather is finally getting Spring-like! I can actually open my window, and the sun is out! Let's see, what else...I spent a week over Easter with Jake and his family, which was a great time. I got a job as a student ambassador, which is a LOT of fun (and pays well, so that's a nice bonus) and I applied to be an international student ambassador as well.

      Oh, and I also got accepted into the MFA program here....  :)  This means, FAFSA and visa willing, I will be staying in England for another year. My program now ends in September 2016. Surprise!

      Basically, if all works out, there will be plenty more adventures to come. The next few stories will all take place within England. I am going to a Zelda Orchestra next week, and at the end of this month there's a Sherlock convention (why not?). At the end of May, I'm attending London Comic Con and will be dusting off my cosplay once again. Little adventures, but fun ones.

      That's all for now. I'm off to do some really exciting student stuff, like laundry. Have a wonderful day, everyone!