Bits and pieces from our visit to Stirling Castle in Scotland.
Lucky to get (like every day!) forward seats in our bus. They are reserved for disabled tourists but there are never any and we board last so they are available! Pleasant ride to Greenock, the name means "sunny place" Forty-five thousand people, the economy developed on sugar from the Caribbean. This thanks to the 1707 union treaty, grow by trading with British colonies in America avoid French and Spanish pirates further south.
James Watt from here
Britain's oldest dry docks, now build submarine for Australia. Only 2.5% of the people now speak Gaelic. Scotland issues its own own banknote GBP but sometimes it is not accepted abroad
We hear a story about the local kelpie, a horse/human figure that haunts the lakes of Scotland...
In the evening chat with Axel, our waiter from the Philippines. She's been on this ship for 2 years, before that 9 years on Queen Mary 2, that was her home. Once she had a serious problem with one eye lost sight. Cunard paid all treatment for two years during which he could not work. then took her back on Queen Victoria.
What better way to spend a rainy day in Dublin than in the whisky museum?
Notes from a guided tour.
Uisce is the Irish word for water
beatha means of life
book of Kel 1405 first record of the word whiskey, it was then made by monks.
Was the original purpose communion, instead of wine?
Used as perfume, originally from Iran came with with moors to Spain
must be aged at least 3 years by law
Angel share lost to evaporation is about 20% per year, therefore old whiskey expensive: you pay for lost whiskey!
the more you lose to angels the faster whiskey ages
Shibeen illegal distillery in Ireland
Pogee? unaged whisky
malting, germinating by soaking in warm water 3 days, starch changes into sugar
Stop the process by drying with hot air or burning peat to make smoky flavor get grist.
Yeast to transform grist to alcohol, about 12pc beer is the result
Whiskey is distilled beer in a nutshell
In Ireland cìit is allowed to make whiskey at home but not sell or even give away because fear of methanol.
... and also because of tax revenues suffered!
There 8192 illegal stills in Ireland in 1834 , more than ten times more than in Scotland
Triple distillation in Ireland makes for smoother alcohol.
Stills made of copper
Add sulfites as in wine to stabilize
Toasting barrels just 20 seconds or so to get flavor caramel and vanilla from America oak barrels, only use barrels once.
Also continuous still, can get as much alcohol in one week as normal in nine months. Started in 1937 with continuous stills.
Learned to blend now 18 stills up from only 2 before they turned to continuous, more to open soon
no spitting in whisky tasting! must get ending with swallowing
can dilute however, only reason to swirl is to look fancy! no use...
Tasting today:
1. glendalough single grain see photo, double barrel
Smooth
2. powers gold label
malted and raw barley together
started because maltée barley was taxed more traditional
aged in bourbon barrels only
round long
3.the Irishman power reserve
70 pc single malt
spicy
4. Tullamore 12 yo
youngest whisky in bottle is 12yo.
60pc single grain 20pc single malt
smoothness because sulfites lose burn over time.
Just next to the whiskey museum is the famous Peterson pipe shop, I cannot not go in, and after a good chat with the salespeople who give me a good discount I end up buying two pipes to add to my collection.
End the day with a walk around town looking at some typical architecture.
Took some time to get ashore as they had to check Lifang's passport. As a UK resident and married to an EU national she does not need, and does not have, a Schengen visa, which the cruise staff should know... So we had to wait for a chubby Irish official to board the ship and check the documents of all non-EU passengers and she, of course, smiled and said all is OK and we can go ashore...
Cork is the 2nd largest natural harbor in the world after Sydney, it has a huge 5m tide which requires skill to operate in. The river is navigable 12 miles up to the city of Cork. It was a poor town for a long time, lots of emigrants going from here to the USA.
Now it is doing very well. Ford established its first factory outside the USA here, but now it is Apple Computers which is the largest employer.
20,000 students at university and 25 million euro golf course bought by Chinese investors!
Only 15pc of population speak Irish as main language but all must study in school
Cork means marsh in Gaelic
Main road called Patrick, was a canal, now lamp posts like ship masts
Lots of billboards in every street for and against the upcoming abortion referendum
Again on a Cunard ship. As the saying goes, there are mostly newly weds or nearly deads. More of the latter this time, though we definitely belong to the former category.
It is drizzling and quite cold for May at about 10 degrees, hopefully it will change but this is a cruise of the British Isles after all, not the Caribbean isles.
Chat with our Polish maître D, Rafael talk we discuss how Poland has changed and my upcoming book on cold War Poland when I spent several months there.
We are lucky, we get to sit by ourselves at a large and comfortable table. On a cruise it is the safest option, better than being stuck with incompatible diners, but one misses the chance to meet now interesting people. As we did last time, when we made the acquaintance of Peter and Elisabeth. We are still in touch and plan to cruise together again soon.
