Dunkeld finale

This morning everyone busied themselves with packing and organizing chores. This afternoon we needed one more charming destination to have lunch and take a stroll. We found both in Dunkeld.

Lunch was at a local pub called the Taybank with hearty, but creative fare. Dogs were welcome and at one point there were three in the small dining room. After lunch we walked through the village and found some delightful and unique shops.

The ancient cathedral was on the bank of the Tay, which was rushing through the town, and looking like it could swallow up anything in its path.

Joe found a couple of veggie gardens that intrigued him.

Farewell from Scotland. Next stop Jamestown.

The British Open: part two

Waiting, waiting and still more waiting were the order of the day yesterday at the Open as crazy Scottish weather really made it tough to play any golf at Saint Andrews.

We knew when we left the house in the morning that there was a high winds delay as we could see the trees bending sideways with each gust so we took our time and left a little later figuring that the quickly changing climate would be more conduscive to golf when we arrived. But no. 

The "look" at St. Andrews:

At 11 an announcement was made to delay play until 3. Ugh! So we took a walk through the village of St. A to get a little exercise. We went into churches, did a little poking through shops, people watching was fun too. 

 By 2 p.m, they were saying 4, then at 3:30, they said 5. About 30,000 people were at the course for the event so it was a very large group looking for ways to entertain themselves. Drinking was the most popular pasttime and many spectators were falling down drunk by the time play actually resumed at 6 p.m. We had a couple of half-pints of Stella Artois--the official brew of the Open--but were still steady on our feet when we had to rush to find a good viewing spot before play commenced.

We ended up in the grandstands on the 17th green/18th tee and were able to see many fine players come through who were finishing their Friday round to determine the cut for the final two days of play.

So, because of the rains on Friday, that round finished Saturday night. The Saturday round will be played in full on Sunday and the final round will be played on Monday. A little confusing.

But, we were there. We saw some of the biggest names in golf. We had a lovely dinner at The Doll's House and celebrated Patty's birthday.

Part two

The village of Pitlochry is darling, with loads of upscale shops selling woolens and cashmere, and assorted fine gifts. I found Hettie's Tea Room on the web while researching the area some months ago and it looked like a funky, cozy place to have a spot of tea and lunch. We wandered around, spending a few pounds at the boutiques, then nipped into Hettie's for a hearty lunch.

After leaving Pitlochry we headed back toward Aberfeldy, where we visited on Monday, and to the Bolfracks Estate to see their gardens. The house was white stucco, much like the Blair Castle, and there was a reception booth with an honor box into which to put the garden visit fee. 

The grounds were steep, and once at the very top of the property the views back toward the mountains were very pretty. It sprinkled while we were there so we made the trek around the flowers pretty quickly. Many of the flowers were hung over from the weight of the rain, but the roses all had lovely scents and there were some very pretty vistas.

Now that we have been to three castles with gardens and a fourth garden too, I'd have to say that the English have it all over the Scottish in terms of garden wow factor. I won't say the gardens here were a disappointment, but they are just not on the same level as their English counterparts.

Second day of touring with our guide Pam: part one

We set an ambitious agenda today for a castle, a scenic view, a village with lunch, then a private estate with a garden to visit. It was all possible if the weather cooperated, which it did--about 75% of the day.

We started with a visit at Blair Castle, an estate of just 145,000 acres at the southern end of the Scottish Highlands. It has belonged to the Dukes of Atholl for many centuries. This would be the furthest north we'd visit on this trip. 

The castle was lovely, and different with its white stucco surface. There was a deer park with giant elk walking the grounds and there were the antlers of hundreds of deer of bygone days used as decoration throughout the castle rooms. A bagpiper plays for 15 minutes at the top of every hour and this young man was particularly good at it.

After our tour, during which we got soggy while walking around the 9-acre walled garden with its lily ponds full of swans, coots and baby ducks, we headed to the Queen's View, which is a breathtaking vista set high above the river.

The Queen's View:

My new favorite brew

The name "Birds and Bees" ale just sounded right to me at lunch today. Then, when I saw the gorgeous aqua blue label with the stunning fauna, I knew it was my new brew.

Yummy! Hoppy, refreshing, hint of elderflower. Delightful! Brewed in Scotland.

Heaven for gardeners

Dobbies. I have always wanted to go to a Dobbies store in the UK. After all the times  I've read the words "available at Dobbies" while reading British gardening magazines, I knew this place must carry just about everything a garden fancier would want. Well, as luck would have it, I discovered that there's a Dobbies just outside of Perth. I was not disappointed.

Dobbies is like Bass Pro Shops for gardeners--a cross between a retail store, restaurant, and tourist attraction. It's big, colorful, and bright as the indoor sections are all in a giant glasshouse. It truly has everything, from seeds and tools, to plants and pots, to barbeque grills and chaise lounges, to dinnerware and candles for your patio table, to everything you'd need to put in a koi pond--even the koi! It also has a great clothing section--especially boots and raingear--and books, toys, pet food, ETC ETC ETC. Wow! I wish we had these wonderful shops in the States.

A royal tour

Today we met our driver/guide Pam who is a neighbor of our hosts George and Gillian. We hired her to drive us to various castles and public gardens on the days that Joe and Don play golf. 

We chose three castles in all, in the weeks leading up to our trip, then Pam looked at our wish list and made suggestions about other places we could visit nearby.

Today we visited two castles that are historically important: Glamis Castle and Scone Palace.

Glamis Castle is an imposing brick residence, the childhood home of Elizabeth, the Queen Mum, mother of the current queen. There, the family of 11 children lived and played in their hundred rooms and hundred acres.

Mary, our tour guide, led us through the rooms, regaling us with the centuries of history of the Bowes-Lyon family, which was the queen's surname. Of course, there were ghost stories too-- Earls sealed behind a secret wall, an executed duchess returned to sit in the chapel corner, etc.

The gardens were lovely, but a long, wet walk on muddy paths as we had a bit of a downpour while we were on the tour.

Scone Palace, pronounced "Scoon," was the site of the coronations of many of the Kings of Scotland in historic times. On a small hill on the property is the Stone of Scone, upon which the kings were crowned. It has been privately owned by the Murray family for 640 years, and they still live there.

In the café we had to share a scone with butter and black current jam--just to say we'd eaten scones at Scone.

The grounds are extensive and a small flock of peacocks entertained visitors with their regal strutting.

A brilliant idea!

Okay, so we are having lunch in the "spectator village" which has a great selection of food concessions and a picnic table area at which to eat. Here comes this enormous eagle swooping overhead and it lands on a post nearby. Then it makes another pass over the tables and lands on a nearby rooftop.

After lunch we walked around and found a little corral where the eagles--two of them--were headquartered for the Open. They, and their handlers, were hired to keep the picnic area free from seagulls and other pesky birds who would take advantage of all the good food in the area. By swooping around from time to time, they sent the seagulls a pretty strong message: buzz off!

The Open: day one

Today was a practice round day at The Open Championship. The players get to practice the course in a stress-free, casual environment. It was also a good day to practice being a spectator as we learned the driving route, the parking situation, and got a good chance to visit all the shopping concessions, the food booths and see a good part of the town of Saint Andrews--all before the big crowds arrive for the actual tournament days. Another good thing is that we could take photos today, but not during the actual matches when we return on Saturday.

I brought along my opera glasses, which was a great idea because I was the only one in our group who could identify all the golfers coming up the fairways at some distance.

John Daly and his crazy pants: 

Ian Poulter: 

Jordan Speith!!!

We got to see many famous players up close and were in the right place at the right time when Jordan Spieth and his group came up to the 5th tee. We got within 10 feet of the tee box, just behind the ropes--it was quite thrilling to see some of the top players in the world.

When we return on Saturday, we will be ready for a great day of serious golf.

Plan B

The guys were supposed to play golf this morning, but it was raining pretty hard and the club pro pretty much told them they'd be silly to go out in such nasty weather. So, whereas Patty and I were going to go shopping and poking around by ourselves today, I was charged with coming up with a new plan that included all of us. No problem!

We started at the visitor center in Crieff where there is also a crystal outlet, a glassblower and garden shop. It was so cool and wet outside we were happy to stand and watch the glassblowers working in front of their kilns for awhile. One was making perfume bottles and the other was working on paperweights.

Then we headed for the village of Aberfeldy, which was about 45 minutes away on one of the most beautiful roads I've ever seen. The landscape was filled with heather and fern-covered mountains. Very sparse, dotted with white sheep with black faces laying next to rocks that could be their twins. Occasionally a clump of wild pink foxgloves sprung out of the ferns. Hardly a tree in site as the weather is prone to extremes of wind and temperatures. 

We got to the charming town of Aberfeldy and walked in and out of a few shops, one of which was selling fleece pullovers for 8£ so I went in and put one on under my rainjacket and asked the clerk to take the tag off. It was the smartest thing I did today as it allowed me to enjoy all of our activities without being frozen.

We had a nice lunch of soup and toasties at the Tay Café before heading out of town to find Edradour Distillery, an historic single malt maker near Pitlochry.

We took the tour, which was much better than the Famous Grouse in many ways. We loved our guide James, who was a big white-haired Scot with a booming baritone voice. He was certainly passionate about his distillery and the products they produce and it was reflected in his tour. 

The woodland setting was gorgeous and the crisp whitewashed buildings with bright red doors were perky and just plain cute. We tasted two of their single malts--one aged in oak casks in which sherry had formerly been made, and the other in a cask in which Super Tuscans are made. I preferred the first, thought the second was a bit too gimicky. We received a classically shaped "nosing glass" ( in the right of the pic) which is used to enhance the aromas of single malts. 

Back at the house, the cows were up near the driveway again. We've learned that they all have routines and spend certain times of the day doing the same things. It's amazing how close they actually come to the house. The pheasant is on the clock too--he arrives at his spot under the birdfeeder around 5 a.m.

Stop staring at me!!

Seriously, look at somebody else!

Crisps, not chips

My favorite aisle in any UK supermarket is the snack foods. Here, I always get a big laugh over the crisp flavors, which usually sound awful to me.

Case in point:

Only in Scotland!!

A wee dram

I am not a whisky drinker, but when in Scotland, I should partake in all the cultural experiences that are available to me. Today, we ended our day being tourists with a go through of the Glenturret Distillery, which is just 8 miles from our house.

The tour is called The Famous Grouse Experience as it's the most popular whisky in Scotland and part of a whisky consortium including the historic Glenturret, which began on its site in 1775.

We learned how water, barley and yeast are transformed, over many years, into the product that's coveted around the world. From the time the barley is dried and ground into grist to the day it goes into an oak cask is about two weeks. We saw how hand labor and old machinery are still in use today in all phases of the production. After the whisky achieves the desired alcohol content it goes into casks, which are are stored away for at least three years and as many as decades till the desired product is born.

The final phase of the tour was a tasting of two of their products. One by Glenturret and the other was Black Grouse, a smoky flavored version of whisky made by drying the barley over a peat fire. 

The first one burned going down, but had a delightful aroma. The smoky one tasted like drinking Scotch and smoking cigars at the same time.

When we got into the gift shop the clerk asked if we'd like to have a taste of another product called Naked Grouse, which is the famous grouse, but aged an additional six months in oak barrels in which Spanish sherry had been made. It was very smooth and quite pleasant. We took a bottle home to sip on a cool night.