Blair Castle and Dewar's World of Whiskey

---

---

Yesterday, I went on a trip with my study abroad program up to Blair Castle (in Blair Atholl) and Dewar's World of Whiskey (in Aberfeldy). Although I didn't get to spend nearly enough time exploring the castle grounds and whiskey isn't quite my thing, I enjoyed the trip, especially because it gave me a much needed break from homework.

A Bumpy Start

When we all boarded the bus, we thought we'd be well on our way to Blair Castle but after getting just outside of Edinburgh, the bus pulled over to the side of the road and my friend (who went on the Loch Lomond trip with me) and I thought, another smoke break? But no, after a little bit, we pulled back onto the road and continued for a while until we pulled over once more. This time, the program coordinator told us that we were getting off of the bus and getting on a new one, leaving us to wonder for a while, what was wrong with our original bus. So, we all got off and went into the new bus. Thankfully, nothing exciting was wrong with the first bus, and it was just missing a microphone that could be used to tell us about the sights that we were passing. We then continued on through some very beautiful scenery.

Blair Castle

Blair Castle is in Blair Atholl in the heart of Scotland. Unlike Edinburgh Castle, this one looks far more comfortable and appealing. According to the people who work there, it was remodeled to make it look more like a mansion than a castle sometime around the Victorian era (I don't remember exactly when) when that style was fashionable. Therefore, both the outside and inside looked much nicer, although it was still very cold inside. After a short introduction to the castle, we were able to walk around the different rooms but had to do so in a very particular order, as we were ushered along by the attendants. Overall, though, the inside had very beautiful paintings and furniture.

Highland Cattle

After exploring the inside of the castle and having a bite to eat, we went outside to look at the castle grounds. The landscape was incredibly beautiful but we didn't have enough time to fully explore the area. Nevertheless, while we were walking around, we found a field full of highland cattle. Ever since I saw pictures of them on postcards, I have been wanting to see a live one because I thought that they looked like an amazing animal. I, therefore, felt obligated to take several pictures and the cattle proved very cooperative. One of them looked very funny as it was shaking its head up and down. At first, we couldn't tell what it was doing, but we eventually realized that it was scratching itself on the branch at its feet.

Dewar's World of Whiskey

We then continued on our way to our next stop, Dewar's World of Whiskey in Aberfeldy. First, we got to look around a display of various things relating to the history of Dewar's whiskey, including various old advertising posters newspaper clippings. There was also a wall full of whiskey bottles, which at first glance, appeared to be full, but after looking closer, we noticed that the bottles had been colored to make it look like they were full. After wandering around the displays for a while, we went on a tour of the distillery and learned how the make their whiskeys and single malts and finally got back on the bus and headed back to Edinburgh.

---

Photos

Bottles, Bottles and More Bottles
(Empty) Bottles at Dewar's World of Whiskey. The glass is colored to make them look full.