Bus and Booze, Rain and Snooze

We’ve arrived in Oban after a day on the bus with stops along the way. More about that in the next posting.

Yesterday, we left our country manor for a tour of the Isle of Skye. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skye. Of course, it was raining but we’ve gotten used to that and with “THE” old broad raincoats, we stayed pretty dang dry.

The Isle of Sky offers some of Scotland’s best scenery. Narrow, twisty roads wind around Skye in the shadows of craggy, black, bald mountains. We’ve talked all along about the sheep – they are everywhere. In fact, 200 years ago, many humans residents were forced to move off the island to make room for more livestock during the Highland Clearances http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/scotland_clearances_01.shtml. The people who remain are some of the most ardently Gaelic Scots in Scotland.

We started the day at Talisker Distillery, a single malt scotch whiskey company. Scotch is produced from a simple recipe of barley, sugar and water but the flavor varies based on the water used, equipment and the distilling process. We could actually smell the scotch even outside the building. It was a very interesting process involving many cycles of grinding, soaking, heating, cooling, evaporation and aging. Interestingly enough, barrels from the US that previously stored bourbon or cordial or used to age the scotch. http://www.discovering-distilleries.com/talisker/history.php. Our tour ended with a “wee dram” of whiskey. Remember, this was our first activity of the day – my god it was only 10:00 a.m. Needless to say, the old broads are going to stick with beer and wine.

We spent the rest of the day cruising along the Cuillin Hills http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuillin and so many different lochs we’ve lost count. Our guide fills the time on the bus with historical stories and music relevant to the surroundings. We must admit, sometimes the old broads nod off on the bus. The day ended with another group meal at our hotel. NO haggis!

Word of the day – blowy – means windy. “It’s rather blowy out.” No sh-- Sherlock, it’s been down right blowy for almost two weeks.