Tonight I am safely ensconced in the Hotel Europa in downtown Belfast after crossing the Irish Sea this afternoon but I'll play catch up for a moment. I wanted to tell you about Blair Castle, which was simply divine. Here it is:

And it is amazing. This is only the part that would fit in my camera lens. There are 30 rooms of seven centuries of pictures and furniture and linens and treasures and more antlers than you could possibly ever see in a lifetime (unless you bombed a huge herd of deer or something.  I guess.) Anyhoo, it was just gorgeous and I'll tell you it spoiled me for Edinburgh castle which has NO furnishings and sorry but the crown jewels are somewhat pathetic (like a crown, a necklace, a sword and the Stone of Scone which looks like a hunk of concrete with some iron handles stuck in it. Hello?? I know I know I am such a cretin...) So, Blair Castle is unique in that it is white. Really beautiful and the grounds are amazing, acres and acres of gorgeous mature trees - lots of Larch - flowers, creeks (like below); with ancient origins in celtic times. We're talking 1600's. Cromwell had a go at it then and later on the Jacobites.  Peacocks roam the grounds (look that this stupid show-off male - but don't get me started . . . )

Spent the morning here and then stopped in a cute little town called Pitlochery for a lovely bruchetta with mozarella, basil and tomato for lunch. Lovely.

(May I just say how much blogspot SUCKS with the freaking underlines and colors, etc. Drives me nutz!)

Ok, with that out of my system, I want to show you Edradour Distillery, which I toured after I went to the castle. Blair Athol, where the castle is, has a distillery but it was closed for refurbishment. Well, I came across Edradour out in the middle of nowhere and it's claim to fame is "Scotland's Smallest Distillery". It was so wonderful. Picturesque, friendly, interesting, beautiful, I can't say enough good about it. Leo showed me around. He is just 18 and what a sweetie. So, here are some pics:

Here is where this guy sweeps up the malt left behind, standing in a huge wooden vat inside, and it blows into this trailer to become cattle feed (for those airy coos!)

They also make the most wonderful liqueur from their whiskey and the local cream and no, I did not buy any. I managed to restrain myself but only barely. Jeez, now I wish I had. (Sorry Rita - you would've loved it!)

Here is Leo welcoming guests.

So I had dinner - fiery curry in an Indian restaurant tonight - and now I'm off to bed. Still way behind in my travels on the blog, so maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about Edinburgh, the castle, the shopping and the Haggis, Neeps and Tatties!!

btw, I never followed up on the numbered bagels (license plates on vehicles), the stone tars (towers) and did I tell you about the fain daining? I think I did tell you about the slit rooves, right?

 Slan agat from Lizzie Alone