Golf, Whiskey and Shepherds

St. Andrew's 
Birthplace of golf, and the oldest course in the world. It also is home to a very prestigious University. I think it's our only stop by the ocean, so we made the most of it and spent all our time on the shore 
The beach from the iconic Chariots of Fire scene.
Glenturret is the oldest Scotch whiskey distillery in Scotland. It has the distinction of being the only distillery in the world with a Michelin Star and the only place in Scotland with 2!



Picklochery is know for it's Victorian architecture and it's ice cream. Mom and I were tickled that the shop we picked was called Mackay's. Do you suppose the import their ice cream from Cochrane? I realized when we pulled up, that Janis and I stopped here last year after Loch Ness!



We learned the legend of why the Scottish national flower is a thistle. During a Viking raid, one of the Vikings stepped on a thistle. His cry of pain alerted the clansmen, who defended their territory successfully. After defeating the Vikings, the Scots paid homage to the thistle forevermore!


We then entered Cairngorm National Park (one of two in Scotland). National parks in Scotland are owned by people and communities, not the government. Here we visited a sheep farm and got a demonstration in herding with dogs and hand shearing.  I felt sorry for the sheep, the shepherd let tourists have a go. The poor fellow had a rather embarrassing haircut in the end!


A little lesson in naming places in Scotland:

Glen - valley
Turret - tumbling water 
Ben - mountain 
Firth - estuary 
Coe- place of tears
Lomand - beacon

We spent our night at Highlander Hotel in Newtonmore. It was lovely to be out of te city and have a forest across the road. I could never get tired of the highlands!



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