Wine!

A week after returning from Scotland we celebrated our 4-year wedding anniversary with some Veuve Cliquot Champagne and a wonderful dinner at our favorite restaurant, Brasserie Lipp!









Then that weekend we celebrated some more by going up to Zurich with our friends Michelle and Paul to the annual Zurich Wine Festival! We took the train up early Saturday morning, getting us to Zurich about mid-day. After checking into our hotel, we walked to the lake's edge where about 10 or more large boats were all docked, each containing a couple levels filled with booths of wineries. We paid the CHF20 cover charge and began to drink all the wine we wanted!












We pretended to be wine connoisseurs, and chatted up the wine experts with as many questions as we could manage with some language barriers.  We took a break to get a sausage for lunch and fill our stomachs up before continuing our wine tour.









After getting our fill of wine, we walked through the town, getting some more food before stumbling upon the last celebration of Oktoberfest! We entered the tent, already filled with celebrating Swiss Germans, and luckily found a table to sit at. We had some hearty sausages and potatoes for dinner, then proceeded to join in the fun of drinking and singing the traditional Oktoberfest songs, making fast friends with our neighbors.



The next day, we had a quick breakfast before heading back to the train station to go back to Geneva. It was a quick trip, but a fun-filled one with some great wine and great friends!

A Battle, Some Booze, and the Chariots of Fire!

We were the only guests at the Culloden House Hotel, and we were only there for one night, but it was a beautiful property just outside of Inverness, with the nicest staff that made sure we were well taken care of. We arrived at night and weren't able to really see the property's beauty until the next morning, but our room was one of the best suites they had with a four poster bed and lots of luxurious decorations throughout.  The house was originally a Jacobian castle, and was taken over in 1746 by Bonnie Prince Charles and his army before the famous Battle of Culloden, which was the final battle of the Jacobite rising.

That night we headed into Inverness, walked across the river and caught a glimpse of the Invnerness castle lit up at night.  We walked a bit more along the riverside, then headed down a main street and found a modern looking restaurant for dinner.  After a good meal, we found a pub nearby that had some live music playing. There were four guys sitting at a table at one end of the pub, playing some lively Scottish music, taking occasional breaks to take some shots and drink some beer before starting back up again!

The next day we had a delicious Scottish breakfast that we were quickly learning was enormous no matter where we stayed. You would get about 3-4 different courses just for breakfast! And all of it delicious so you couldn't really turn it down!  Getting our bellies filled, we took a stroll around the property, now able to see it better during the day.  The house sits on a huge piece of property and has a couple private guest houses and a massive lawn both in front and in back of it.  We wandered around, and eventually found their secret garden, which was not in full bloom this time of year, but somehow even in the overcast slightly rainy weather, was still beautiful. We tried to befriend some cows, but they were on the other side of a fence and kept moving away from us, so I don't think that went over too well. But they were fun to look at nonetheless.

Saying goodbye to the magnificent Culloden House, we headed to the nearby Culloden Battlefield to learn some more Scottish history!  We each rented a self-guided audio tour and headed through the museum, which gave us the history of the war leading up to the Battle of Culloden, then sent us outside onto the actual field the battle was fought on to learn more about the particular battle and how it was won and lost. We've been to a lot of museums, and I would say this was one of the best ones to go to as it really displayed the information in a clear manner and with the visual of being on the actual battlefield, it gave you a great understanding of how it all went down.

Leaving fully educated about the Battle of Culloden, we drove to the nearby Tomatin Distillery to learn even more about whiskey. This distillery was different than the Dallas Dhu Distillery as this one was still functioning and much more modern. We could really see the difference in the machinery, although the actual process was much the same. I guess you just don't mess with a good thing.






















Afterwards, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in a nearby town, and took a quick stop in Carrbridge to see the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands, the old packhorse bridge, which the village Carrbridge is named after.

We continued south towards our destination for the evening, the town of Pitlochry and the Knockendarroch House Hotel! Our drive took us through the Cairngorms National Park and we took our time on the drive, and taking in all the views.

We arrived at the Knockendarroch House Hotel as the sun was setting, and as the rest of our hotels, were greeted with really kind and friendly staff, who showed us to our room.  The hotel was bustling with guests, so we took some time to relax in our room, enjoying some of the whiskey we purchased at the Tomatin distillery, before heading down to the drawing room for our pre-dinner drinks by the fireplace. We then enjoyed a delicious multi-course meal, trying some creative dishes by the chef, before heading back to the fireplace to enjoy a nightcap and dessert.





















The next morning, we, again, enjoyed a large hearty Scottish meal, not being able to say no to the several courses they serve.  Then we headed out to our car and drove around the town, and the nearby countryside. Our first stop was at the Pitlochry Fish Ladder, a man made ladder of sorts to help salmon swim upstream and cross a dam that had been built, thereby blocking the salmon's natural method of swimming upstream.

Then we headed for a quick stop at the Blair Athol Distillery, which was just as unique as the other distilleries we had seen. And we tried to go to the Eradour Distillery, only to discover it was closed for winter!









From there, we drove through the countryside, stopping to befriend some cows and sheep and take in the beautiful scenery, which inspired us to get out of the car and go on an impromptu hike in the woods to see a waterfall Travers had read about.





























Getting our nature fill, we headed south some more to St. Andrews, the famous town and golf course. The weather cleared up for us just as we arrived, and we were able to drive around the golf course, saw the beach that was made famous by the intro of the movie Chariots of Fire.  Then we parked the car, and actually got to walk across the 18 hole between various groups of golfers. After eating a hot lunch and having a cold beer at a local pub in town, we then walked through the Cathedral Cemetery which is mostly in ruins now but was quite dramatic with the backdrop of the ocean and the overcast skies above.

As the rain started up again, we hit the road back to Edinburgh where we would spend our last night in Scotland before heading to the airport early the next morning.  We had a simple meal, then found a pub with some live music of two guys sitting in the back, just jamming away on their instruments, while we sipped beers and enjoyed the fun and friendly culture of Scotland!

Whiskey and Water

We arrived at Fort Augustus, a small quiet town on the southern end of Loch Ness. After checking into our hotel, The Lovat, we put on our rain gear and headed out in search of dinner down one of the only streets with lights on.  We chose one of three open restaurants, taking a seat at the bar. We ordered some of their popular dishes, a couple of beers and a couple of whiskeys to wash it all down.












Getting as sleepy as this town was, we called it an early night, waking up early the next morning to get a better look at the town in the daylight and light rain. Fort Augustus has several locks that connect the Caledonian Canal to the Loch Ness. We strolled down the locks and out to the edge of Loch Ness, before checking out of our hotel and hitting the road to Urquarht Castle, a ruinous castle on the western side of Loch Ness.

We drove up the coast of Loch Ness, arriving easily at Urquarht Castle, which was once one of Scotland's largest castles. Now in ruins, it is still quite impressive. We walked across a temporary entrance, as they were restoring the existing one, and explored the castle grounds, being careful not to trip and fall on the various stones scattered throughout the place as we took in the spectacular views of Loch Ness and the hills on the opposite side of the lake, even luckily catching a glimpse of a rainbow.







































From there, we hopped back in the car and headed further north, passing through Inverness, to an oceanside town called Nairn. We headed right to the beach which was empty except for some birds, but the views were wonderful. We headed into town and had a delicious lunch at The Classroom Bistro, then continued our drive to Dallas Dhu Distillery, an historic distillery built in 1898.

Once at the distillery, we took a self guided tour through the distillery, learning what it takes to make whiskey, the difference between single malt and a blend, and what the angel's share is. We ended our tour with a couple samples of whiskey, making sure not to drink too much as we still had some driving to do.



















From there, we headed to Fort George, a British fort that was built in 1745 just after the Jacobite rising. Unfortunately for us, it closed just before we got there, so we strolled around the outside a bit before it got too dark.










Hopping back in the car, we drove back towards Inverness to our destination for the night, the magnificent, Culloden House.