A Very Full Day in Scotland

The remains of Hadrian's Wall near Cawfield's Quarry
Haltwhistle, England

After breakfasting with some Polish athletes we left Newcastle. I think they were soccer players, but they were all so tall and skinny they could easily have been basketball playing gymnasts. We walked off our breakfast while visiting Hadrian’s Wall at Cawfield's Quarry; remnants from the Roman Empire. When new, the wall was 16-20 feet high, but now it’s only chest height. The stones were pilfered after the fall of Rome, but they were reused in the fencing and houses of the locals.

Milecastle 42 at Hadrian's Wall
Haltwhistle, England

The wall was very precise; every mile was a milecastle gate, and every seven miles was a fort, regardless of natural topography. The part we visited skirted the edge of steep incline, but Milecastle 42 was there. The wall functioned as the northern-most boundary of Rome, and there are conflicting accounts as to why the Romans didn’t press further into Scotland. One account claims the Scots were ferocious fighters who held the Romans off; the other maintains that the Romans looked at the sparse, rocky land and said “keep it”. It should be obvious which account the Scots prefer. We paced the wall for a bit, playing centurion, and then we pressed deeper into Scotland.

In April my sister and I rode the train from King’s Cross station in London to Edinburgh in Scotland, and it passed close to the Scottish coast line; we followed a similar route when we drove north.  I love the landscape of Scotland; it feels so open and grandiose. The drive was beautiful, but it was a bit time consuming, and we arrived late for our whisky tour in Edinburgh.

Part of the world's largest collection of Scotch Whisky
at the Scotch Whisky Experience, Edinburgh, Scotland

Luckily tours run all day and we were able to join a later tour. The only apparent downside: we had to share our tour with a stag party. However, it was still early in their night and they weren’t rowdy. The tour started out with a barrel ride where a ghost detailed the instructions for brewing decent whisky. Most interestingly, the size and shape of the still can change the taste of the whisky. There are a few tour options at the Scotch Whiskey Experience; my dad chose Gold but the rest of us selected Silver. Gold tours come with 4 bonus drams in addition to the 1 dram everyone in the Silver tour receives.

Wandering the Beautiful Royal Mile
Edinburgh, Scotland

There are 5 flavor profiles of whisky in Scotland, but Campbeltown Malt is rare and wasn’t really discussed during our tasting. Of the 100 or so brewers in Scotland, only 3 produce the Campbeltown Malt, and rarely is it exported. Since there were 4 remaining flavor profiles, and 4 of us on the tour, we each selected a different style. I do think my Dad and I ended up drinking most of all 4 though. After the guided tasting, we were led into a room with wonderful views of the Royal Mile and Holyrood Park, where my sister and I hiked last time. Here Dad received his additional 4 drams; one of each style. We asked for some dark chocolate, and he and I proceeded to share the drams; cheeks growing steadily redder. Mom and Joe ordered beers, but they didn’t like the one that tasted like caramel popcorn. I found that caramel popcorn beer was a great chaser for the smoky Speyside whisky. Then, in case we hadn’t consumed enough, we went to Whiski for dinner. As before, it was delicious.

Poor guy. He did not see this coming!
South Bridge Vaults, Edinburgh, Scotland

When we finished dinner we wandered the Royal Mile a bit before meeting the Mercat Cross for our Ghostly Underground Tour; the same tour my sister and I were on in April. This time though, our tour was in the final time slot for the evening; no one would be entering the vaults after us. It was still damp, dark, and eerie, but we didn’t feel anything supernatural. We did take some pictures this time, and Joe managed to accidentally blind a guy with the flash; it was so dark we couldn’t see him until it was too late.

That night we stayed in the Edinburgh Hilton which was a labyrinth of passages and stairways. It felt a little like Hogwarts; I kept waiting for the staircases to move. The bed was giant and old, and it’s creaking was a little scary after the ghost tour, but we managed to sleep well. The weird thing is, the rooms on their website look nothing like the historic room in which we stayed.

Useful Links!
Pictures from our Trip!
Hadrian’s Wall an English Heritage Site
Hadrian's Wall near Cawfield's Quarry
The Scotch Whiskey Experience in Edinburgh, Scotland
Learn more about Whisky from the Scotch Whisky Association
Edinburgh Tourist Information Site
Holyrood Park from Historic Scotland
Whiski Bar and Restaurant: Whisky on the Menu and in the Fare
Ghostly Underground Tour from Mercat Tours
Book a Room at the Edinburgh Hilton

Read about my previous Adventures in Holyrood Park with my Sister
Read about my first encounter with Whisky

Read about our first ghost tour!