Stirling Castle and Whiskey!

Here are two places that one must visit if one is in Scotland - Stirling Castle and a Whiskey Distillery. So that's what we did - joined another day tour to visit both. We spent the morning at the castle - it was very impressive and its walls remarkably thick. There were wonderful views of the countryside from the battlements, some interesting nooks and crannies in the castle, a lovely airy chapel and some beautiful wood carvings inside the museum.

We had lunch in a nondescript little town, the highlight of which was the butcher shop that had some amazing pies which we were able to purchase for dinner - the steak pie was the most delicious!  

The tour was supposed to include Loch Lomond but it happened to be raining when we were there and the driver guide dropped us off at a point on the huge lake that was not very scenic, rain or shine. I have included here a photo of Loch Lomond that we took when we were on the way back from the Isle of Skye. Still, it was just another large lake that I can't get too excited about other than that it was glorified in song. I suppose one has to stay here and have some interaction with it before one can truly experience it - it's just not a one-stop wonder. 

We visited the Glengoyne Whiskey Distillery and saw how whiskey was made. It was an interesting tour. It was quite amazing to see how relatively "simple" the process for making this expensive spirit was compared to winemaking - no grapes to grow, no fields to irrigate and no praying for good weather!  Apparently, a barrel of 50 year old whiskey sells for 12-20,000 GBP! But I did enjoy the 12 year old shot that came with the tour ticket.  :-)

Practical tip:
- pay the extra 3 GBP for the two dram tour at the Whiskey Distillery; you get to try the 18 year old whiskey which I'm sure is worth it.
- feel free to skip Loch Lomond if you were just going to stop and take a photo - you could be on any lake if you don't have time to spend a few days to experience it.

Stirling Castle

The very green countryside as seen from the battlements

Can't resist this perfect twin-trunk tree

Impressive thick walls

A surprise! Modern floating stairs inside one of the buildings!

Variations of the unicorn (Royal Coat of Arms used by the Kings of Scotland and now Scotland's "national animal") inside the castle...

The amazing wood ceiling of the Great Hall

The beautiful airy chapel

Love these windows!

Wood carvings inside the museum

Scenery as we drove through the Trossachs - what looked like a castle is actually a luxury hotel

One corner of Loch Lomond on a fine day

Cute Highland cows

The Whiskey Distillery - we were only allowed to take a photo from the outside. All phones had to be turned off when we were inside on the tour as they were afraid a spark could set off an explosion

The cellar with the barrels, each with a date

Lovely garden at the distillery - there is a waterfall at the end from where the water came for the distilling