Experiencing Scotch Whisky

Being married means doing things the other person wants to do from time to time. Last week, Matt escorted me to a Harry Potter-themed Ball. I'm pretty sure it wasn't on the top of his list of things he really wanted to do, but he went and he had a good time. And because of that, I had a blast.

So, in the interest of fairness and loving-wifely-duty. I took Matt here:

The Scotch Whisky Experience is really close to Edinburgh Castle, and it is geared quite a bit to tourists. In honor of St. Andrew's day, though, they allowed "locals" to take their Silver Tour for free (so long as they pre-booked a space in advance). I got an email saying as much and thought it would be a nice treat for Matthew, especially during his final week of this first semester. I thought I might as well check it out too, seeing that it was free and all. Also, since we live in Scotland and since I generally like boozey things, I figure I ought to know how the national drink is made.

Little did I know, that you get to go on a ride! Seriously! The tour begins with a ride through the whisky making process, starting with rain and ending with the stuff in the glass. We took it all in aboard large whisky barrels on a moving belt (think Haunted mansion in Disneyland)

And funny enough, our ride ended up with us in the tasting room... where we were schooled (quite literally, there was a presentation with slides and everything) on the distinct Scotch-making regions of Scotland and their main characteristics. The Lowlands, with their mildest flavors and hints of citrus; the Highlands with tones of heather and vanilla; Speyside, the fruitiest of them all; and Islay (pronounced eye-luh) with the manliest flavors of smoke and peat.  (While I can appreciate the blazingly obvious differences between some of them, for the most part, they all just taste like incredibly strong alcohol to me...)

I went for a taste of the Speyside pour. Matt braved the Islay...

We took our drams into a meandering room, where each wall, from floor to ceiling housed the world's largest whisky collection. It is permanently on loan to the Scotch Whisky Experience from it's owner. I forget just how many individual bottles there are, but it is a ridiculous amount. There are no repeats. None of them have ever been opened. And there are loads.

That's right, loads!

And some of them are quite old. The oldest dating back to 1897.

The place must be interested in superlatives, because it also has the world's largest bottle of single malt Scotch whisky in the world.

And the tour dutifully ends at the whisky bar, instead of in a gift shop (although they have one of those too). Matt had another dram (well, two, if you count the one I tried to drink). The staff is very knowledgable and talked him through their vast selection. I find that just about everyone in Scotland is willing to talk at least a little about Scotch!

But don't say cheers as you raise your dram, say Slainte Mhath... which isn't pronounced at all like it looks. It comes out sounding a lot more like slan-ja-va.

PS- As soon as we were done with our tour and extra credit drinking, I forced Matt to the restaurant in the basement. It actually has lovely arched windows and overlooks the hill above the Grassmarket. My delicious cup of lentil and carrot soup and sandwich were especially appreciated, since we skipped both breakfast and lunch before hitting the whisky. Perhaps, that's the real Scotch Whisky Experience!)

Some things I've seen

Snow Ball 2012

As I walked home from work last night, I passed the large and modern Omni Movie Theatre. It has a few steps in front of it, and at the base of the steps is a metal strip, that is about 3 or 4 inches wide and 15 or 20 feet long. It has holes in it, so I figure it functions as some sort of drain. Fascinating, right? I promise, I have a point. Anyway, as I am walking home last night, during a break in the snow/rain that had fallen off-and-on throughout the day, I pass the theatre and notice that a man is purposefully sliding on this metal strip just for kicks, like a outdoor and icy version of Tom Cruise's famous move in Risky Business. I can't help but watch this guy and I see that he is well into his 50s. He is nicely dress, in fact part of the reason he's getting so much distance on his slides is because he is wearing fancy dress shoes-- probably some slick-soled thing made in Italy and deliberately not intended for such Northernly activities as walking in slush and ice. I watch him the whole time it takes me to walk past the theatre, which is about a minute, and I'm smiling the whole time, because without knowing anything else about him I know that I like his style. He's not too old to have a silly good time.

And neither are we!

So, because we are not too old to be silly (and enjoy things that might be intended for a younger demographic) and because Matt is Best Husband of the Year... we attended Snow Ball, 2012. What is Snow Ball 2012, you ask? It's an amazing night of music, dancing, eating, drinking, giving, laughing, singing, and general rocking out. Oh, and it's all about Harry Potter. Everything. The decor, the food, the music-- especially the music! 

The Ball was held at Teviot Row House (which I have mentioned on this blog before) and the room was festive with tartan, lights and all sorts of house banners...

We drank bubbly drinks and ate cake... sugary goodness in the form of Hogwarts, Hagrid's hut and the the Black Lake (complete with Giant Squid tentacles).

One of the opening acts, Siriusly Hazza P, was cute and girly and rock-a-riffic... (OK, I apologize for that word). their last song was for Fawks, and the MC of the night, the man who put the whole thing together, donned phoenix feathers (and a kilt) and pantomimed the great bird.


And in case you're wondering, that in the background, is the Scottish flag, with the Hogwarts crest in the middle...

And a secret guest graced the stage before the main act... half of Draco and the Malfoys (and The Remus Lupins). He was totally geeky-cute-to-the-max. And he played "My Dad is Rich, You're Dad is Dead", which we all know is a modern-day classic. (and yes, that is the Elder Wand waving about in the foreground!)

Wands at the ready...

...for Harry and the Potters! Brothers, Potter aficionados, and  founders of Wizard Rock!

And they really do rock out. I didn't take much video (too busy dancing about) but I had to capture this one... Wizard's Chess is a little on the tame side compared to some of their other tunes, but its super cute  and it's about Christmas!
(Watch here, or if you want a bigger screen, choose to view it on YouTube. For some reason, Blogger won't let me show it any larger.)

Paul DeGeorge, Harry from Harry and the Potters, took some time before (and after) the show to have a little chat with me and Matt. I told him that we saw them play in Los Angeles years ago...twice.

Here's younger brother Joe DeGeorge (also Harry, from Harry and the Potters) rocking out (*note the metal fingers in the foreground. yeah.)

The guy from Draco and the Malfoys played drums for Harry and the Potters (I think he has also toured with the Violent Femmes... )

Blurry pictures of over-the-head and behind-the-back rocking.

And toward the end of the night, in some impromptu show of togetherness, everyone in the audience held hands and swayed back and forth to the music. That's the thing about Potter fans... there is always a ton of love at these things ( I know... it sounds cheesy) but overall, I think the Potter books attract a kind of person who believes in the main theme of the book: That love is the greatest magic of all.

awwww.

ch-ch-ch-changes!

So, right as Matt and I hit the 3-months-in-Edinburgh mark, and we starting to feel all settled in and cozy about things, life decided to throw us a few curve-balls. Fortunately for us, they've been good ones!

The biggest change in the last week or so has been my new found employment. I am one lucky duck, because I think I landed myself a dream job! I've been getting a wee bit spooked about disclosing too much online, so I won't give out specific details (just yet) but I will say this: One of the main appeals of moving to Edinburgh, for me at least, is it's rich literary scene. And now I get paid to be a part of it. Whoo hoo!!!

Only 5 days on the job and I've already met so many of Edinburgh's book-loving community, including local and international authors, people from Book Week Scotland, people form Unesco City of Literature, people from the National Library of Scotland, book bloggers, editors, vendors and plenty of your everyday-avid-readers (Collectively, I call them the Literati... ;)

Irish author Kevin Barry reads from his new book of short stories to a packed house

But... while I love what I'm doing, it has been an adjustment. I've been spoiled by being able to set (and break) my own schedule for quite some time now, and getting up and out of the house (and trying to maintain a certain level of presentability) has been a little challenging. And, it doesn't help that temperatures have dropped significantly lately...

Which is the other change we're trying to get used to. It's COLD! Granted, there hasn't been one truly warm day since we've arrived, not by California standards anyway. But we adjusted quickly to the consistently average highs and lows and knew what to wear for optimum snugginess for any given activity. Then, about a week ago, the game changed. And it did it without too much visual difference. It still looks the same outside, but far chillier. In fact, walking home with a bag or two of groceries will leave your hands stingingly frigid long after you've returned to the warmth of the indoors.  Do that once, and you learn to never leave the house without gloves. Also, the sidewalks have been subtly dotted with layers of invisible ice. So far, no slips or falls, but I have taken up walking like an 80 year-old lady through some parts of old town. Slowly and gingerly wins this race! Matt and I keep waiting for it to snow, and often start thrilling conversations with one another with "it's cold enough to snow!" and "it's a wonder that it's not snowing!"

And, going hand in hand with this weather shift, is the final change we've been forced to accommodate... the holiday season is upon us! Fairy lights, and Christmas trees,  festive moods and many many opportunities to share a mug (or two) of mulled wine abound. Last night, Matt and I quickly scoped out the Edinburgh Christmas Markets. It was too Christmas-y for words!

a few snippets from our initial visit to the Christmas market

Christmas is King here...  I guess it is in the States too, but we at least attempt to include other religious holidays into the mix. (I don't know if Kwanza exists here...) I have not noticed whole lot of acknowledgment to Hanukkah (although there may be a giant menorah put on display in St. Andrew's Square later this month... but I am not certain). But we're all set in our household, as we'll be using Nessie to pay homage to the festival of lights!

Got this cute-as-a-button menorah online. I couldn't resist! I mean, its a menorah shaped like the Loch Ness monster. That in and of itself is a miracle. And while I couldn't muster up a dreidel, we have an extra-large supply of gelt! Maybe this year, Matt and I will try to win each other's chocolate coins with a spirited game of poker instead...

And we are still on the fence about getting a Christmas tree. We had one for the first time last year and we really enjoyed it- the decorating, the gazing at its twinkling pretties each night before bed... but they are a bit of an investment here. The trees themselves come with a pretty steep price tag, but the lights! My goodness, who is pricing these strands of lights?! It would cost at least $100 to get the tree properly aglow.

But... I did just get that new job, so... !!

Camera play on Arthur's Seat

Oh, Happy Day! I just got some good news, and Matt and I just have a wonderfully fun and productive weekend- full of dining with friends, sipping Prosecco, kitty cuddles, impulse response sweeps, hiking up Arthur's Seat, family Skype dates, brunching at French bistros, grocery shopping, and laser tag (a few of those activities only involved one of us, I'll let you sort out which).

 So all is happy and wonderful here! And I'm about to go take in some Christmas pretties about the city (they are already starting to decorate!) and pick up my reserved copy of The Casual Vacancy from the central library... so the day is going to get even better!

But before I go, I want to share a few pictures from our hike up Arthur's Seat. We took soooo many, and I'll post far more than I ought to here (my brother always suggests that I 'edit' more and only post the very best, but I can't choose! I want to show them all!) Yesterday was so clear and crisp and the views were amazing... and it was the perfect time to play around with all the different settings on my camera. (I was going to write a bit about the geology and history of Arthur's Seat, but instead you can just look at the pictures. If you're interested, I've included a few links at the end that share all you need to know about the dormant volcano in the middle of Edinburgh.)

On the way to Arthur's seat... 

...we passed under the most vibrant trees!

seriously charming trees...

 and we passed by your average 12th century abbey 

and Royal Palace... you know, just a normal day in Edinburgh.

Until we finally arrived at the foot of our destination! Arthur's Seat.

A quick stop before our climb ;)

and up we go!

It's steep and rocky!

and a little other worldly! (and I found an awesome "foliage" setting on my camera. I took about 15 pictures of these plants)

including several close ups...

others were inspired to paint lovely vistas

and we kept climbing up and up ("why'd you use the flash?")

until, we reached the top

we got a unique view of the castle

And Matt said, you go over there and I'll stay here and take your picture. So that's what we did. 

After the climb, I was warm enough to take off my jacket! And I sat there a bit, just hanging out with the birds.

...high above my city!

Then I said to Matt, You jump and I'll take some pictures where it looks like you are flying above the city. The first one turned out...OK

The second was a bit better...

But the third one... it was unbeatable! 

Then I started using the miniature setting and snapped this strange little gem

but it's hard to make that setting work when there are people in the shot.

So I went back to my regular setting. I think this should be Matt's new Facebook profile picture and I told him so.

I went up to two girls and said, would you mind taking a picture of us? And they didn't mind. 

Back to mini!!!

Oooh! Then I told Matt to put out his hand and make it seem like he was holding up the Castle. I wish I could make the Castle stand out more... (When am I going to learn Photoshop?!) But look at that fancy edge blur I did in iPhoto! 

Heading down. We saw the Palace from above.

And Matt helped me get through some muddy patches.

Then he said, let me have the camera, and I gave it to him, and he took this picture. And then he said, you should make this your next Facebook profile picture. And I just might.

Then I asked him to try to take a picture of the two of us. He took 3. This was the best one. 

See? It was such a fun day! I'm guessing that only blood relatives made it through all these pictures (and their incredibly exciting explanations). But, if you got this far through the post, you definitely earned those links I promised. So go here and here to read about all about Arthur's Seat.