Jon In England: I lit up in a fusion of flash...

Between my lighter and a neon sign,

Yellow and blurred i wanna believe what i heard

Wasn't created in my mind.

¬Midnight Brigade

7/11/10

Woke up and had breakfast at the Columba hotel overlooking the waterfront, checked out, put our bags in the car, and began walking around Oban where the rain was outrageous. Which wouldn't be so bad except that the strong ocean currents kept blowing sideways giving the rain a particular bite and making staying dry became an exercise in futility. Gotta love Scotland in the summertime. Eventually after we had a cup of tea and dry off (somewhat) we head to the tour of the Oban distillery where I wish they would've allowed pictures. The Oban distillery is from 1794 and one of the smallest ones in Scotland many spirits were only available at the distillery itself, though the tour focused on the process of making the 14 year single malt. The only ingredients used are water malted barley and yeast, and there are four key distinct flavors that make Oban scotch unique-a smokiness created by adding peat in the malting process, fresh sea salt here from Oban, orange peel and honey. The tour took us through every step of the process: malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation, and maturing. At the end of the tour we try a few Scotches (one which was pulled straight from a cask), later do some food pairing (ginger particularly brought out the flavors in the 14 yr old single malt), and end with a traditional Scottish toast (Slachie Va!). Then I had some fresh haddock chowder at Ee-Usk overlooking the Oban waterfront before leaving Oban for Glasgow.

After a windy (and slightly nauseating) ride back from the highlands I was dropped off at Glasgow city centre because Will and Latha were driving back to London and I was going to spend a day in Edinburgh. As I find my way to the train station I look around and find it hard to believe that i was just here about 36 hours ago. I board the train and settle in for the fifty minute ride to Edinburgh and as soon as the captain finished making the announcements you could hear Amazing Grace being played on the bagpipes over the speakers. So nice. When I arrived I checked into St Christopher's which was right across the street from the train station (how convenient is that?) and then make my way down the windy streets of Edinburgh. I ended up at the grassmarket area and had dinner at Auld Jock's Pie Shop where (you guessed it) they serve pies. I had a haggis pie and then went to Biddy Mulligan's to watch the World Cup. The place was packed to the brim but the excitement is palpable. So I get as comfortable as I can order a Budweiser (cuz I'm startin' to feel a wee bit homesick). No team really played that well in my opinion but Spain was playing like they wanted it more and I guess deserved to win. QUE VIVA ESPANA!!!!