Pretty Pictures in Scotland

Dunkeld Scotland
Skye and Jax Dunkeld Scotland April 2011

Dunkeld Kirk

Dunkeld Kirk

Dunkeld Kirk

Skye and Jax Dunkeld Kirk April 2011

The Famous Grouse Experience

Our first tour was the Famous Grouse Experience where the Glenfiddich brand of single malt whisky is made. Scotch wiskey is a huge part of Scottish heritage dating back to ancient Celtic times. The process used in modern distillary is the same that was used way back when. We thought taking the kids on a learning expidetion when it involves a "wee nip of the water of life" would be not only educational but also tasty. The process is pretty straight forward.
1. Steep barley in water until the point of germination occurs. This releases enzymes that help break down the starches in the grain and helps convert them into sugar.
2.Dry the malted barley using heated air. Sometimes peat is used which gives a VERY distinct flavor to the scotch!
3.The dried grain is ground into a fine powder called grist and put into a vat with a lot of hot water. There it is left to steep. More breaking down of starches occurs and the mixture ends up something called wort.
4.The wort is poured into another vat so it can cool. Yeast is added and the mixture is allowed to ferment.
5.The mixture is then sent through the still
6.The scotch is then diluted a little bit before it is put into casks to age.
7.The scotch is put into oak sherry barrels to age for a minimum of 3 years before sale.
8.The scotch can be diluted a second time for a "bottling strength" of 40% to 46% or it can be sold as "cask strength" at 50-60%.
At the end of the tour, we tasted a few of the Grouse brand beverages - Snow Grouse, and Black Grouse. Snow Grouse is ment to be kept in the freezer and has hints of vanilla. Black Grouse has a very strong smokey flavor. Both are awful and taste like paint thinner.
While we were at the Famous Grouse Experience, we decided to jump into Scottish heritage with both feet and ordered some haggis for all of us to try. You will see in the photo below how haggis is served. The haggis is in the middle and on either side are "neeps and tatties" or mashed turnips and mashed potatos. You are supposed to load your fork with a little veg then haggis then veg, take a bite and sip your whisky. We all tried it. Haggis isn't really that bad. The thought of it is what makes many people say "NO WAY". (remember it is the heart, lungs and liver of a sheep mixed with spices, oatmeal, suet, onion, salt and stock then placed in the stomach and simmered for about 3 hours.) The texture is a little like corned beef with the flavor a little more spiced. The part I found tasted the worst was the turnips. They are just too strong in flavor for me. Like I said, we all tried it, even the kids and we all decided it wasn't horrible.
We all liked this tour. It was really informative and it gave the kids and us a chance to to try some new things.

The Famous Grouse Experience Pictures

The Famouse Grouse Experience where they make Glenfiddich single malt wiskey

Pretty rushing, pure Scottish water that is used in their scotch...

The sherry barrels that store the scotch.

Copper vat

"What an awesome statue! Let's go look!"

Loch Ness and Jaxon's Birthday

Before we left for Scotland, we asked each of the kids what was one thing they wanted to do. Skye, of course, wanted to go to the Isle of Skye. Jaxon wanted to see Loch Ness. Since we happend to be in Scotland on his birthday, we figured it would be a great time to take a tour. We borded a tour bus about 8 in the morning for what ended up being a really long day. It was our first trip into the Highlands and all I can say is wow. The beauty of the land is stunning. Beautiful land, however, seems to mean windy windy roads, like little snakes made a path and they decided to pave over it. We stopped for a short break in a small town called Pitlochry before continuing on the Loch Ness. There isn't much to say about Pitlochry other then it is very quaint and they have something called a fish ladder there. It seems to help the fish move from the lower lochs up to the higher. It consists of 34 seperate pools each with an opening about 3 feet below water level which allows the fish to swim up stream. There are a couple of larger pools where they can rest before continuing their journey. After about 30 minutes in Pitlochry, we borded the bus and headed North. It was a cold rainy day to be heading out on the Loch but we were all excited none the less. (we had hopes of seeing Nessie) Skye and I chose to stay inside the boat while Jax and Josh headed outside to see the view unobstructed.
To be very honest, the Loch cruise was a bit of a let down. We went out for 30 minutes and back for 30 minutes. Not much time to get a chance of seeing anything but wild mountain goats on the hillside and lots of dark black water. That being said, you have to know that Loch Ness is the second largest loch in Scotland measuring over 21 square miles and over 754 feet deep. It would be ambitious to think we would see something in a body of water so large.

The crew of our Loch cruise boat have all been working on Loch Ness a minimum of 10 years and one fella for over 23 years. They all claim to have seen things on the Loch. The photo above is a dopplar of 2 large unidentified underwater objects that were moving free, of their own accord, and at different speeds. (meaning they changed speed on more then one occasion) All of the crew feel that to think there is one "Nessie" is foolish. All the Loch's in Scotland are connected, so it is a common thought that whatever is in Loch Ness has had the ability to move
freely from the Loch to the sea and back giving it the chance to mate and reproduce and live in relative saftey. It was very interesting to listen to the crew talk about all their experiences, but you can't help but be a little skeptical. They all claim to have photographic proof but have all refused to sell it. They claim it would damage the Loch to have people up here looking for the creatures. Makes some sense.......

We finished up our cruise and headed back toward Edinburgh with a small stop to see Hamish the Hairy Cow - or Heery Coo as it is pronounced in Scotland. I have put up a picture of his bride and their new baby. It will give you an idea of the size and make you stop and wonder if Beevo would like to meet his Scottish cousins!

Loch Ness and Jax Birthday Photos

Jax excited for our excursion
Leaving the inlet

The actual Loch Ness

Pretty Landscape

Some "Heery Coo's"

Jax enjoying his birthday cake...

Rosslyn Chapel

For anyone who has read The DiVinci Code, visiting Rosslyn Chapel is a must. For anyone who enjoys looking at old churches, Rosslyn Chapel is a must. So to sum it all up, visiting Rosslyn Chapel is a must. This little jem is about 20 minutes from Stirling and worth taking the time to check out. Construction of the Chapel began in September of 1456 and was to be cruciform in shape, but was never completed. The Chapel stands on 14 pillars, which form 12 pointed arches on three sides of the nave. The decorative carvings took over 40 years to create.

There were several interesting things about this Chapel. First was the amount of precautions to in essance "hide" the Chapel from sight until you have paid admission. There was a 6 foot solid board wall that led up to the visitor's center - which you had to pass through during entering and exiting. Second was the actual size. This is Chapel is VERY small, which makes sense since it wasn't completed. That said, it was about the size - if not a little smaller - of the downstairs in our Texas house. The temprature inside is very cool and the accoustics are amazing. There are several docents available to explaine the history, the significance of the carvings and to answer any questions you might come up with. It was very crowded for being such a small space and there is reconstractive work going on to help combat the erosion that is occuring. Picture taking is allowed and I recomend taking as many as you desire. The detail work in this Chapel is almost incomprehensible.

**Historical details provided by Wikipedia because I have a bad memory

Stirling Castle is one of the most impressive castles we have seen in our travels so far. It sits 250 feet above the plain on an extinct volcano making it a stratigic military key to the kingdom. There are some wonderful historic displays at this castle. The recreation of the castle kitchens are super cool. The kitchens are filled with servants, food, wheels of cheese, sides of beef, a bakery full of loaves - all created out of wax.

As much as we thought the kitchens were really cool, the highlight of the historical displays had to be the tapestry weavers which were recreating The Hunt of the Unicorn. The tapestries for the Queen's Hall were commissioned especially for Stirling Castle and are created using the same techniques that were used in the 1400's. The tapestries are closely based on a set of seven from the Metroploitan Museum of New York. Work began on the tapestries in 2001 and is set to finish in 2013 and while the public is invited to watch the weaver work, no pictures are allowed and you are not allowed to speak to the weavers. Still, it is breath taking to see this wonderful art form take place in front of you.

** aditional information and photos were found at Google.com