Day 13 - Sunday 6/7/15 – Grantown on Spey, Ballindalloch
Castle, Glenlivet Distillary
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| Bill at the Glenlivet Distillery with his scotch |
Once again we awoke at 7:45 to a gray, drizzly day, but we have found that we
will get some sun during the day, so we are not discouraged. After
showering and dressing in our lovely, huge room, we went down for
breakfast. There was only one other couple here (our age) doing a whisky
tour for 3 days from Holland.
I had porridge (which was excellent) and a poached egg on toast. Bill had 2 poached eggs with the ham/bacon. It was a pleasant breakfast. At 10 we left to go kill some time before Bill's Glenlivet tour at 2:30. Tom, our host, had recommended Ballindalloch Castle which was on our way to Glenlivet, so we did that.
The castle is lovely and on a huge 'estate'. The grounds around the castle are lovely too - an enormous front lawn to rival any golf course green and a wonderful rock garden with blooming flowers on the hill up to a woods. We went through the rock garden and found a spot up near the woods overlooking the castle to sit a spell. Bill had a cigar and was quite happy with our time-waster.
We finally went in to tour the castle. It was originally built in 1564 and is still inhabited by the original family. It has been renovated and expanded over the centuries, but it was still quite beautiful and fun to tour. And it wasn't too crowded. There were lots of family photos and portraits throughout the house along with autographed photos of royals. I was especially impressed with the wood paneled dining room with tons of silver bowls, plates.
After the tour we popped into the tea room/gift shop. It wasn't much, but we got an Angus steak sandwich to split. Sandwiches here are really funny - meat or whatever filling and some butter. That's it. So we mainly opened the sandwiches and ate the roast beef that was quite good.
Before we left, we used the toilets which are in a separate building and are "award winning loos". They really were quite lovely with tartan carpet, gold sink fixtures, etc. They also had some amusing cartoon pictures on the wall.
On the way out, we were quite surprised to see some oyster catcher birds (the black and white ones with the large orange bills). One was even sitting on an egg right by the road in the middle of gravel. I got a photo of the egg but mama flew off. I couldn't believe oyster catchers would be as far from water as this castle is, maybe 30 miles from the ocean.
Glenlivet Visitors Center was only about 7 miles away, so we made it there before 2. It is an impressive set-up with a reception area, store/gift shop, cafe, and a small section of exhibits. The free 45 minute tour left at 2:10. I got on that with 20 other people. It wasn't a bad tour, but I already knew all I wanted to about Scotch production. The cask storage area was the most impressive to me.
At the end of the tour we could taste one Glenlivet product. I chose the Nadurra because Bill has never bought any of that. I am NOT a Scotch lover, and I came to find that the Nadurra was 124 proof, and I choked on the tiny sip I took. After my tour, I had another hour and a half to kill before Bill's deluxe tour finished. I looked in the gift shop and went to the cafe and got a latte.
Bill's tour ended at 4:30 and then he bought a "fill your own bottle". He got to pump it from a cask, cork it, seal it, and then fill out his label, fill out a form (the bottle actually had a bottle number) and then pay the $100 for it! He was thrilled.
We got back to Grantown-on-Spey at 5:30 and went to the Craig Bar for the only thing they serve: booze and "pies and chips". Our B&B host, Tom, was at the bar with his dog Mollie. We chatted for a bit before he walked back to the B&B. The owner's son, Robbie, is quite the character. Tom had warned us about him last night. We both found him entertaining. The language in the bar was quite colorful from all the oldies who seem to make this their "Cheers" bar. I heard the f-bomb a few times and some name calling including "fagot". It was all in good food, and so very British.
I got the mushroom/asparagus pie and Bill got the chicken/ham hock/leeks/cheddar pie. There were about 9 different pies to choose from. They were good but simple bar food pies.
We made it back to the B&B at 6:30 which is about as early as we have gotten home this trip. After Tom and Francoise had dinner at 8, they invited us to their living area for a chat. Bill had a "wee bit" of Scotch with Tom before we all called it quits at 9:45.
I had porridge (which was excellent) and a poached egg on toast. Bill had 2 poached eggs with the ham/bacon. It was a pleasant breakfast. At 10 we left to go kill some time before Bill's Glenlivet tour at 2:30. Tom, our host, had recommended Ballindalloch Castle which was on our way to Glenlivet, so we did that.
The castle is lovely and on a huge 'estate'. The grounds around the castle are lovely too - an enormous front lawn to rival any golf course green and a wonderful rock garden with blooming flowers on the hill up to a woods. We went through the rock garden and found a spot up near the woods overlooking the castle to sit a spell. Bill had a cigar and was quite happy with our time-waster.
We finally went in to tour the castle. It was originally built in 1564 and is still inhabited by the original family. It has been renovated and expanded over the centuries, but it was still quite beautiful and fun to tour. And it wasn't too crowded. There were lots of family photos and portraits throughout the house along with autographed photos of royals. I was especially impressed with the wood paneled dining room with tons of silver bowls, plates.
After the tour we popped into the tea room/gift shop. It wasn't much, but we got an Angus steak sandwich to split. Sandwiches here are really funny - meat or whatever filling and some butter. That's it. So we mainly opened the sandwiches and ate the roast beef that was quite good.
Before we left, we used the toilets which are in a separate building and are "award winning loos". They really were quite lovely with tartan carpet, gold sink fixtures, etc. They also had some amusing cartoon pictures on the wall.
On the way out, we were quite surprised to see some oyster catcher birds (the black and white ones with the large orange bills). One was even sitting on an egg right by the road in the middle of gravel. I got a photo of the egg but mama flew off. I couldn't believe oyster catchers would be as far from water as this castle is, maybe 30 miles from the ocean.
Glenlivet Visitors Center was only about 7 miles away, so we made it there before 2. It is an impressive set-up with a reception area, store/gift shop, cafe, and a small section of exhibits. The free 45 minute tour left at 2:10. I got on that with 20 other people. It wasn't a bad tour, but I already knew all I wanted to about Scotch production. The cask storage area was the most impressive to me.
At the end of the tour we could taste one Glenlivet product. I chose the Nadurra because Bill has never bought any of that. I am NOT a Scotch lover, and I came to find that the Nadurra was 124 proof, and I choked on the tiny sip I took. After my tour, I had another hour and a half to kill before Bill's deluxe tour finished. I looked in the gift shop and went to the cafe and got a latte.
Bill's tour ended at 4:30 and then he bought a "fill your own bottle". He got to pump it from a cask, cork it, seal it, and then fill out his label, fill out a form (the bottle actually had a bottle number) and then pay the $100 for it! He was thrilled.
We got back to Grantown-on-Spey at 5:30 and went to the Craig Bar for the only thing they serve: booze and "pies and chips". Our B&B host, Tom, was at the bar with his dog Mollie. We chatted for a bit before he walked back to the B&B. The owner's son, Robbie, is quite the character. Tom had warned us about him last night. We both found him entertaining. The language in the bar was quite colorful from all the oldies who seem to make this their "Cheers" bar. I heard the f-bomb a few times and some name calling including "fagot". It was all in good food, and so very British.
I got the mushroom/asparagus pie and Bill got the chicken/ham hock/leeks/cheddar pie. There were about 9 different pies to choose from. They were good but simple bar food pies.
We made it back to the B&B at 6:30 which is about as early as we have gotten home this trip. After Tom and Francoise had dinner at 8, they invited us to their living area for a chat. Bill had a "wee bit" of Scotch with Tom before we all called it quits at 9:45.
As usual it was a cold (high of about 50), windy, rainy/sunny day. It rains for half an hour, then the sun peeks through for half an hour, and the cycle repeats all day. As long as we have a bit of sun during the day, I am happy.
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