The Royal Mile and other Outlander hotspots

May 23: It was a late start today. We all met up at Holyrood Palace only to find it was closed for the Queen. Well, isn't that just the piss in my Cornflakes. How dare she mess up our vacation! Oh well. As my grandfather used to say, "you can wish in one hand, shit in the other, and see which one fills up first."

We got to see Boyd's White Horse, Carubber's Close, Canongate Kirkyard, and ate a PB&J sandwich right where Claire would've sat at the fountain (we didn't litter though). It was really great to walk around Edinburgh, see the lay of the land, and then apply it to our vast Outlander imaginings. We walked down to World's End, had a pint, and saw the trap door behind the bar. Scot asked the bartender if they had any hidden Chinamen down there... to which she gave a confused "no."

Right: Boyd's/Canongate

I can just see Colum and Angus waiting for Jamie and Claire. I doubt they had such fine weather though.

Below: World's End group photo

After a quick lunch we had a few moments to stroll around the Mile. I scouted tattoo shops while the others met up for a pint.

Scott and John were gracious volunteers for a pre-ghost tour show. They where punished for speaking publicly against the king. One lost an ear and the other his tongue. Both were good sports about it. The tour took us underground to the places where Jamie and his smuggling friends would've hidden their contraband. I'd post pictures but they really didn't come out all that well.

Back to Ensign Ewarts for a few pints before dinner. Conveniently located across the street was a cute little store called Ness. Great clothes and purses. We (the ladies) all bought something. Dinner was French cuisine at Petit Paris-good wine, good food, and great company. Yet another bittersweet moment-our last hoo-rah as a group. Sam and Scot did such a great job finding all these places throughout Scotland that fit the descriptions in the books. Their attention to detail is much appreciated, and we are glad our hosts put the time and effort into it. It showed!

(Above: John and Scot @ Ensign Ewarts, discussing music I'm sure; sign in the ladies room to ward off drunkards) (Below: Last group pic @ Petit Paris; Scot & Sam-our amazing tour guides)

So we, the six founding members of the "Grain Tour 2010," strolled off in search of more ale. We ended up at the same place John and I'd found Brenda & Jenn the night before. Everyone is exhausted and a little depressed about ending our trip. I've really enjoyed my time with Brenda and Jenn, and hopefully this won't be the last we see of each other. But all good things must come to an end....whoever started that line was an asshole. I don't want good things to end :(

May 24: Tattoos and shopping! I got to Studio XIII Gallery at 10:15-right on time for my appointment. David (Italian artist who did my tattoo) got there shortly after and sketched up my design based on the one I'd left the day before. It was perfect. John, Erin, and Scott went shopping while I got inked. After I was done, we all went across the street to World's End for ales...what else? They didn't name it the "Grain Tour" for nothing. (Pics:before, during, and after)

Our goodbye was tearful, but plans were made for Scotland themed parties in the future involving Scotch whisky and looking through pictures...and probably a game of "That's what she said."

Craig na dun, Ardsmuir, Edradour, Lallybroch, Edinburgh Castle

May 21: Well, the morning after dawned on the six of us, who may or may not still be slightly drunk. After an elaborate breakfast, we packed up the van and took group pictures in front of the castle. What a night-even though somewhat blurry, it's one we won't be forgetting anytime soon.

Clava Cairns was eerie. You see these rock mounds that are thousands of years old, and were designed to coincide with the winter solstice-more accurately than modern technology too. All us girls got a picture "going through" the stones before we went off to our next destination....

Ardsmuir, or Ruthven Barracks in real life, like so many other structures we've seen so far, had no roof. If you had no roof, you paid no taxes. Guarding the "prison" were two Highland Cows (pronounced hee-lan coo). Very docile animals, in fact-one was eating while lying down. It's fairly close to what we all were feeling. But, we marched on...back to Pitlochry.

Our first stop-Edradour Distillery, the smallest one in Scotland. We'd already heard of it at our whisky tasting back in February though. The tour was 40 minutes long but felt like hours in the warm sunny weather. A quick stop through the gift shop and I acquired two bottles of single malt (Bowmore and Bruichladdich-both 19 years) to take home.

We hiked back on a beautiful trail to our B&B (Gerry and Janice again) and changed clothes for dinner. All of us are exhausted, and settled for the first place we came to. Dinner and ales consumed, we headed back to the B&B for showers, naps, and emails. Scot entertained us with more stories before bed. I have no idea what time I fell asleep, but it was after 11 pm-still light out by the way.

May 22: Our "Lallybroch" was a private estate built in the early 1600s-1720s. Because it was a private home, we weren't able to take pictures. It's really close to Diana Gabaldon's description. The church on the estate was built in the 1500s, and they still have services occasionally. There were memorials inside, and some of their family way back fought with Robert the Bruce.

We ate lunch in a cafe in Edinburgh, then dropped off our luggage at our respective B&B's (each "couple" stayed at a different one). Erin and Scott came to get us when they got settled in, and we all walked to the castle. I was a little underwhelmed-in my mind I'd pictured the interior restored to what it would've looked like in it's hayday. It was still beautiful. We all paid money for those stupid headsets that we ended up not using much. Oh well. Lots of pictures were taken and souvenirs bought. My favorite part was the Cavalry room (of course it would be horse related).

Dinner was frozen pizza and a wonderful ale (Caledonia) at Ensign Ewart pub. Great place-we went there a lot while in Edinburgh. We had a few drinks, and stopped off at the Hard Rock Cafe for t-shirts for the kids and us. Erin hadn't been feeling well all day, so we split up to go home. On our way back, we ran into Jenn and Brenda who were sitting outside a pub having drinks. Never one to pass on good company and alcohol, we sat down to join them. At this point in the tour, it's hard to believe we'll be going home soon, and may never see these two in person again-a bittersweet thought.