For Jen's birthday, we took a 3-day weekend to celebrate in the land of scotch whiskey and haggis. It was actually suppose to be a "surprise" birthday, but our credit card statement blew the surprise - Jen could clearly see “Edinburgh” on one of the line items, a couple of weeks early. Fortunately, it was no big deal since Jen doesn't really like surprises anyhow!
We arrived by train and our first stop was the “Scotch Whiskey Experience” in the centre of Edinburgh. We learned about ow scotch whiskey is made and how the flavours differ between the various regions. The tour allowed us to taste scotches from each of the 5 regions. Jen discovered her (new) favourite whiskey (Glen Scotia) which, of course, is one of the harder scotches to find since it's from the smallest region, Campbeltown. We also discovered that scotch goes really well with chocolate! It's our new favourite "treat" :)
The next day we climbed up to a popular viewpoint called Arthur’s seat. We hoped it was actually where King Arthur ruled from, but no.. turns out it's not :P. The hike is, however, quite beautiful with its 360 degree view of Edinburgh Castle, the city, and surrounding area.
We were really impressed at how well Edinburgh maintains its historical look. We spent a lot of time wandering the old town since it's such a beautiful city to see.
We also experienced some local foods including delicious roasted-pig sandwiches at "Oink" and some local game-meat pies that warned that they may contain "shot" (ie. bullet) residue.
A 40th wouldn't be a real birthday without a nice dinner out! A coworker recommended “The witchery by the castle” - a super nice restaurant with an amazing atmosphere and really good food. Happy Birthday Jen! :)
