Friday, August 12, 2005
Day 78: Edinburgh to Scottish Highlands
August 12: Today was a very good day, but lots of rain and very cold!
Our tour manager decided to take us on a surprise visit to St Andrews - the home of golf - not usually on the itinerary. This is where Tiger Woods won the British (golf) Open a few weeks ago!
Got to see the old and new clubhouses, the castle, cathedral and abbey ruins, the cemetery and also the grave of one of the founders of golf, Tommy Morris. The beach where "Chariots of Fire" was filmed is also here.
Had a few putts of golf on the green, took lots of photos, and did a quick visit of the British Golf Museum. Great morning!
After having lunch at a small town (Braemar) along the way, we went to the Glenlivet scotch whisky distillery. Saw the warehouse and tasted some whisky... wasn't a fan of the taste, but supposedly it's really popular. (Did you know?... For a whisky to be declared scotch whisky it has to have been housed in a warehouse in Scotland for a minimum of three years!)
The scenery has changed quite noticeably. It's now very hilly, with lots of lush green paddocks, with sheep, a few Scottish Highland cattle, and even big mountains... hence the 'Highlands'.
Arrived at our hotel in the early evening, got to have a relaxing swim in the indoor pool, after a long day's driving. Yummy dinner at the hotel, before chilling at a local pub.
One of the couple's on our tour got engaged tonight - ooh, how sweet!
Our tour manager decided to take us on a surprise visit to St Andrews - the home of golf - not usually on the itinerary. This is where Tiger Woods won the British (golf) Open a few weeks ago!
Got to see the old and new clubhouses, the castle, cathedral and abbey ruins, the cemetery and also the grave of one of the founders of golf, Tommy Morris. The beach where "Chariots of Fire" was filmed is also here.
Had a few putts of golf on the green, took lots of photos, and did a quick visit of the British Golf Museum. Great morning!
After having lunch at a small town (Braemar) along the way, we went to the Glenlivet scotch whisky distillery. Saw the warehouse and tasted some whisky... wasn't a fan of the taste, but supposedly it's really popular. (Did you know?... For a whisky to be declared scotch whisky it has to have been housed in a warehouse in Scotland for a minimum of three years!)
The scenery has changed quite noticeably. It's now very hilly, with lots of lush green paddocks, with sheep, a few Scottish Highland cattle, and even big mountains... hence the 'Highlands'.
Arrived at our hotel in the early evening, got to have a relaxing swim in the indoor pool, after a long day's driving. Yummy dinner at the hotel, before chilling at a local pub.
One of the couple's on our tour got engaged tonight - ooh, how sweet!
# posted by mishij @ 12:24 PM 
