Relaxing in the Cairngorms

Does this look cozy?

You bet it does!

Here I sit, relaxing after a superb dinner that was cooked to order by the proprietor of our B&B.  The owner makes dinner exclusively for patrons, and since it appears that Marty and I are the tonly two in the house, we enjoyed a lovely dinner while being waited upon by the charming and extremely entertaining couple who run the Carmoor house in Carrbridge, a lovely village that sits at the base of the Cairngorms.  

But, let me back up a bit and give you a synopsis of the day, which was once again warm and sunny.  I'm fairly certain that this string of good weather has to be a record setter, as Marty and I have never experienced anything like this in our travels here in the past.  How lucky are we?

We headed out of Dufftown towards Grantown-on-Spey for some tourist information, via the scenic route. We hadn't traveled far when the sign for Glenlivet Distillery popped up.  It seemed a waste to be so near and not at least stop in.

Glenlivet is one of the few distilleries that continues to offer free tours, and although I thought that I had convinced Marty that by this point  I could give a proper distillery tour, I somehow found myself in a group, being led into the mashroom by the guide.  Honestly..... how many distillation columns can you look at?  But I went along with the group, noting some of the differences from previous tours that we have taken. 

Glenlivet uses no peat in making whiskey.  (Hence no smokey flavor)

The wash barrels are made of Oregon pine, which gives a different flavor to the whiskey. 

Glenlivet uses continuous Copper stills during the process which also affects flavor of the whiskey.

The most notable difference was the state-of-the-art facility which commanded some awesome views of the countryside.

Can you imagine working in a place that offers that view every morning?  Although several months out of the year it is surely covered with snow due to the high elevation.

Surprisingly, the tour was over rather quickly, and in no time, we were being escorted into the tasting room where a generous sampling of 3 different whiskeys awaited our palates.  Sorry to say, but none really suited my taste.  I am just not meant to be a whiskey connoisseur,  I suppose. 

Here's a little amusing history surrounding Glenlivet.  Back in the early 1800's this area was filled with illegal stills, since the taxes were ridiculously high, and the terrain and weather made it difficult for anyone to enforce the rules.  

In 1822, King George IV was traveling through this area, and was offered some of Glenlivet whiskey.  He enjoyed what he tasted so much that he wanted to be certain that it wasn't his last taste.  Within short time, the excise taxes were lessoned, resulting in George Smith obtaining a license to become a legal distiller.  That certainly turned out in his favor!

There was no photography permitted on the tour, but there were a few items of interest in the visitor center, this whiskey holder being one of them.

Now that we were done with Glenlivet, we were on our way once more, when we passed a road sign for Cragganmore Distillery.   ( Did I mention that this was Distillery heaven!)

Of course, we had to stop in since this one was in our passport!

I agreed....under one stipulation.....NO TOUR!

So, imagine my relief when we walked through the door, and the woman behind the desk asked if it would be OK with us if she just stamped our Whiskey passports and offered us a wee dram!

No arguing from me!  Apparently there was a sudden shut down and no tours were being offered today, lucky for me.

And, to top off that surprise, I actually enjoyed their 12 year old Cragganmore!  Who would have figured that?

Back on the road, and within short time we were in Grantown on Spey, where we made a quick trip to the information center, walking out with a town map and walking tour of the village.  That took all of 20 minutes.

Here you see what was once an orphanage:

Main street with mountains in the distance.

War Memorial

A lovely view

And a baptist church

That didn't take much time and we were soon driving into Aviemore, where I had reserved tickets for us to enjoy high tea while riding on a steam locomotive through the Cairngorms.

We arrived at the train station where we saw a grouse cross the road right in front of us.

I wonder why he crossed the road, since he was headed right towards the railroad tracks.

You can see that the views were awesome before we even got on the train!

Marty managed to get a photo of the two of us, waiting to board.

And one of me after we were settled in, although the sun was definitely beating down on me.

 Soon, our lunch was served, and as you can see, it was quite delectable!

Views from the train were amazing, although the view from the opposite side was much nicer than what we were able to see out of our window.  I was able to zoom in for a shot, unbeknownst to the couple sitting across from us. 

The train stopped at Broomhill for a brief time where we could get out and walk around.  The station here is the one that is featured in Monarch on the Glen, which Marty and I have enjoyed watching on Netflix.   The Glenbogle name is actually fictitious, but I enjoyed getting my photo taken there nonetheless.

Views from Broomhill were stunning.

 Soon we were back in the station and departing the train.

Back in the car, we headed to our B&B where we were greeted by Michael, the proprietor, who let us pick our choice of room.  I went for the larger room, as it had already been paid for on hotels.com.

Michael gave us some maps, and we headed out for a quick walk, or what was supposed to be a quick walk!

We passed a sign advertising next week's Spurtle contest where Porridge will be made and  judged.  Apparently it is a HUGE festival that requires booking a year in advance!  I realized how lucky we are to be here this weekend and not next.

We had no problem locating the famous Carrbridge Bridge.

which is a beautiful structure built in 1717.

We walked along the river, and ended up popping out near a field where horses were grazing.

And, just when we thought that we were nearly back at the B&B, we came to a spot where the trail split into three parts.  Let me just say that  "eenie-meenie-miney-moe"  didn't come up with the right choice, and we soon found ourselves opening a gate into someone's backyard.

Lucikly, the owner was gracious enough to let us trod through his property and out to the road, where we managed to get back in plenty of time for our reserved dinner time.

We settled into the lounge, next to a roaring fire, where we were asked to pick our dinner selections and to enjoy a drink while our meal was being prepared.

We were then escorted to the dining room when it was ready, and back to the lounge afterwards!

I could get used to this type of living,  which is probably why it is a good thing that we are only staying here one night. 

 I don't want to risk being spoiled!