Scotland trip report

[surfsnowgirl]

We got back from the Scottish highands a few days ago so I figured it would be fun to put together a little trip report.

Travel group was me and my SO Michael. Our friends Ann and Stephen and our friends Tracey and Briana. T and Brianna are the ones with the house in vermont so we ski together all winter and travel together in the summer.

We flew out of Stewart in NY direct to Edinburgh. We did 3 days in the mountainous region of Glenco, 3 days on the Isle of Skye and then 3 days in Edinbrugh. I'd never been to the highlands nor our 2 friends but my SO and our friend Tracey have been there several times.

Here are some highlights. There were lots other photos to the Faerie Glen and the Faerie pools, etc but I didn't want to go too crazy here with the photos.

One the way to Glencoe we checked out Doune castle where parts of Monty Python & Holy Grail was filmed.

Another castle in the Holy Grail. Didn't realize money python was filmed over here Castle Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Our view from the Claighaig Inn in Glencoe. National ice climbing center is just down the road. This place must be magnificent in the winter.

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   Glencoe is beautiful and the temps in the 60s are pretty damn nice too. My first Oban in country.

Some more Glencoe pictures

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   Beautiful countryside. The highlands are gorgeous. The local pubs and towns have such charm. Doggies everywhere.

Oban is a seaside town with a lot of charm

I've never been terribly impressed with the beer in the UK.

Beer choices were rather poor at one place so I had to resort to this

However, finally found this one and it's not the greatest but it was just fine.

On to Isle of Skye which is an amazingly beautiful place. Such a stunning place. Great eats, lots of boats, stunning scenery and uncrowded. It's like a new and improved Martha's Vineyard.

We would go for a walk every night when we got home to our B & B and the views were stunning. It really never gets dark

Finally the clouds part and the birds sing when I find the IPA of all IPAs when we were walking around a nearby town called Portree.

As always the Indian food is amazing in the UK. We had 2 indian meals that were off the charts.

Dunvegan castle on Skye. The gardens were the most magnificent part.

Edinburgh is a spectacular, old and very beautiful city that's rich in culture and amazing architecture

A couple fun signs we saw

So the tourists don't kill themselves when crossing the street.

A trip to the UK would NOT be complete with our Tea, scones with clotted cream and jam

My new favorite Tonic water

 

[luliski]

Thanks for the report. Great photos! I had a similar IPA problem in Spain and Switzerland a few years ago.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Thanks for the report. Great photos! I had a similar IPA problem in Spain and Switzerland a few years ago.

Thank you.

The Scottish highlands are truly a postcard and I think is one of the prettiest places I've ever been. The food in scotland is outstanding and we had some amazing eats.

A I do try to keep an open mind with beer but after 3 trips to the UK and really no happiness with any beer I tried I was getting a little sad . Tenants is a local scottish lager and that turned out to be ok if there was nothing else. Brewdog was pretty good. However, when I had that Innis & Gunn I'd have married that beer if I could. I wanted to hang there for a while longer but I wasn't driving so we had to leave.

Good to know about Europe as we're headed there in 2020 so I'll lower the bar on my beer expectations.

 

[graham418]

Even an optimist would say this glass is empty!!

Glad you had a good time. Hope you drank a lot of whisky and ate some good haggis

 

[surfsnowgirl]

View attachment 50468

Even an optimist would say this glass is empty!!

Glad you had a good time. Hope you drank a lot of whisky and ate some good haggis

Thank you. Yes that glass is absolutely empty

We had so much great food, pretty much ate and drank our way through scotland. They do chips over there like no other. They also make killer Mac & Cheese. I actually didn't gain any weight and believe me we ATE. We walked everywhere, up hills, mountains and I was ready to amputate my feet when we got back lol.

Drank a good bit of whisky, a handful of gin & tonics and brought back a fine box of Dahlwhiniie. I'm bummed we didn't get to talisker and dahlwhinnie but we ran out of time. No haggis for me, I won't eat it. Michael actually had some haggis spring rolls in Edinburgh our last trip and he said they were good.

 

[graham418]

I had a similar IPA problem in Spain and Switzerland a few years ago.

I do try to keep an open mind with beer but after 3 trips to the UK and really no happiness with any beer I tried I was getting a little sa

Keep an open mind.. theres more to beer than just IPA.

 

[fatbob]

80 and 70 shilling are the things to be drinking beerwise in sweatyland.

Glad Glencoe looked suitably moody for you. Did you hike anything there or in the Cuilin?

 

[surfsnowgirl]

@graham418 I always keep an open mind when it comes to beer and like many beers besides IPAs but it is what I prefer. I sampled lots this past trip and on prior trips and nothing really winds my watch. I don't even bother to ask for IPAs when I go to the UK anymore because they are sub par. I'll drink tenants and if I get desperate enough there's always Newcastle in the bottle. I'm all about asking for samples. I just don't think beer is the UK's thing.


@fatbob I'll have to look up those beers, don't recall seeing them. Why do you call Glencoe sweatyland

The weather was half and half, some days rainy and some sunny so it was nice. I don't mind rain. One day I didn't anticipate us doing any hiking and I had my flip flops and I was wrong, there was hiking. I'm a trooper and hiked quite a bit. I'm a professional flip flop wearer from my California days I survived just fine .

We hiked up in the hills behind the Claighaig in glencoe and then a huge hike in Glen Nevis, Ballymeanoch, Dunchraigaig, all over the Feerie pools and faerie glen and I'm sure I'm missing a couple places.

 

[fatbob]

Sweaty sock = Jock

Beer is definitely a UK thing but it's pretty regional notwithstanding the fact that the US has caught up in the past 20 years from the crappy major sub pilsner beers.The original IPA was British brewed for export to the empire colonies in India. Greene King do the definitive version. Elsewhere bitters are great across the Nirth.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Sweaty sock = Jock

Beer is definitely a UK thing but it's pretty regional notwithstanding the fact that the US has caught up in the past 20 years from the crappy major sub pilsner beers.The original IPA was British brewed for export to the empire colonies in India. Greene King do the definitive version. Elsewhere bitters are great across the Nirth.

Ahh ok

I hope i didn't offend. I'm sure there's fine beer there, just minimal things have grabbed me this far. I feel the same way about Canada.

I've been to London and all around the suburbs, northern England, Wales, edinburgh and the highlands in the last 4 years and other than innis & gunn, brewdog and tenants haven't found a beer that winds my watch. I'll drink Newcastle any day but have done lots of sampling and my UK beer list is pretty small. I've not given up yet. In the meantime, If i can't find anything on my short list or my samples are uneventful, you guys have excellent gin.

 

[luliski]

Good to know about Europe as we're headed there in 2020 so I'll lower the bar on my beer expectations.

If you go to Barcelona, we found a brewpub called Black Lab that had good IPA and good food. It's near the beach, so convenient too.
In Switzerland it was lager all the time.

Keep an open mind.. theres more to beer than just IPA.

I do keep trying. I'll get flights with something other than IPA, and if I'm with someone drinking a different style I'll taste it. Our local Farmers' Market only serves beer from a lager house, so I had an IPL last week . But I think that's their lager that tastes like an IPA! It was even NE style, which is a big thing in California these days. I didn't even like beer until I tried IPA, though, so I think I just really like that specific taste, and I usually see no reason to drink unless I'm drinking something I like. I have an open mind to different IPA styles: after visiting Vermont I fell in love with hazies, and this summer it's been milkshake IPAs. I wish I had one right now, but they're hard to come by.

 

[Marty McSly]

Good to know about Europe as we're headed there in 2020 so I'll lower the bar on my beer expectations.

IPA is a British thing. High alcohol and very bitter to survive the trip to India back in the day. In wooden barrels on sailing ships.

In Europe, Pilsners are the specialty

Glad you found the Innis & Gunn. I found one in Canada last year that was pretty special.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

IPA is a British thing. High alcohol and very bitter to survive the trip to India back in the day. In wooden barrels on sailing ships.

In Europe, Pilsners are the specialty

Glad you found the Innis & Gunn. I found one in Canada last year that was pretty special.

I always knew that about IPA's and why they tasted so bitter. However, I definitely like our IPA's way better. Yay for Innis as they make one heck of a beer. I wish it was more prevalent. Most beers we tried on all our UK trips were just very pedestrian. I'd love to try the one you pictured. I will definitely try some lagers and all other kinds when we go to europe in a couple years. The states are in the golden age of beer because there's so many sizes, shapes, colors, it's really beer utopia. I feel like all this beer talk should be moved to the beer thread.

 

[Carolinacub]

Sounds like a spectacular trip. We've done the Med coast and Crete but I really want to do Scotland. I have family in Edenborough and in the Shetland Isles. Only a generation removed so there is still some connections going on.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Sounds like a spectacular trip. We've done the Med coast and Crete but I really want to do Scotland. I have family in Edenborough and in the Shetland Isles. Only a generation removed so there is still some connections going on.

Scotland is amazing. It's very beautiful and I loved all the mountains in Glencoe. Edinburgh is a magnificent city and 2 days wasn't enough there. It's historical with outstanding eats and really cool architecture. It's a very liberal city and the were guys holding hands with guys and girls holding hands with girls all over. It also has an outstanding theater district. They do this huge film festival called the fringe festival every year and it's looks amazing.

I'm not familiar with the shetland isles, I'll need to look that up.

Yes you should get there, especially with connections there. I can see why my friend Tracey gets the need to go back every few years. The farther away from edinburg you get the more you feel like you are on the set of the movie braveheart or one of those types of movies.

My grandmother was from Glascow.