Four Seasons in One Day

Our hotel in Kenmore is supposedly the oldest hotel in Scotland. Robbie Burns wrote a poem on the wall above the fireplace and it is preserved there under plexiglass. I didn't get to stay in the hotel proper but in a building across the road. This was probably my worst room of the tour. The carpets were dodgy and you could hear lots of noise coming from the other rooms.

We went to the charming village of Dunkeld which was the birthplace of Alexander Mackenzie (2nd Prime Minister of Canada). I took a picture of his house ( at least I hope it was his house). There used to be a bronze plaque by the door but apparently they took it down for cleaning or repairs. I could also be pulling your leg.

This truly was the day of four distinct seasons. I stood in front of the church in Dunkeld and took pictures of it in the rain. I went into the church for five minutes, I came outside to blinding sunshine. I then retook pictures of the exterior of the church.

We then spent about 45 minutes walking through a beautifully forested area to view the Black Lynn Falls. In that brief time, it was sunny, it rained, it was sunny and rainy at the same time, it was rainy, then it was sunny with gentle hail. It was a hoot!

Our final activity of the day was lunch and a tour at a whisky distillery. Was it wrong of me to have wine with my lunch at a distillery? Yes! Man, I have learned an awful lot about the production of booze on my time off. I hope that I can fit this into the curriculum somehow!

Interesting tidbit: The foam at the top of the big vat of fermenting barley,yeast and water is called the barm. It is stinky and releases a lot of CO2. If you stick your head into the vat, you get very dizzy and lightheaded. This is where the term "barmy" comes from to describe someone who is a bit crazy.Read more