We went prepared for rain and we were surprised to see the sun, but not for several hours after our arrival in Edinburgh.
The castle was bustling with many tour groups, so the experience was not as pleasant as we would have liked. But I somehow managed to get a lovely photo of Stacey without any unknowns lurking in the background.
After leaving the castle, Stacey and I walked through a store where one can watch the tartan plaid being woven by machine below.
It was fascinating to watch these mechanical looms take spools of wool and quickly produce a tartan plaid. The place was filled with so many different colored patterns to choose from.
As soon as we left the building, raindrops began to fall, and we decided that this was the perfect opportunity to enter the "Whiskey Experience". In case you didn't know, Scotland is world renowned for its Whiskey, probably because with the nearly year round cold damp weather, one needs a little something for warmth.
It certainly was an interesting tour, with us being transported through the distillation process in an "oak barrel," watching the barley and water being mashed, the yeast added for fermentation,
the heating and the distilling, and, finally, traveling past barrels of aged whiskey on the wall.
We both agreed that the experience was rather "touristy", but, hey, it got us out of the rain, and, aren't we technically tourists?
Plus, the sample that we tasted at the end really seemed to warm us up. Or, could it just be that the temperatures actually did get warmer? Either way, it seemed that we were much happier upon exiting the building. And isn't that all that really counts?
Since Scotland's norm is the bone-chilling, cold weather that you've been describing, I suspect that people living there drink or do whatever warms them up! ;-)
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