It was time to move on to Aberdeen, and thanks to Erik and Tasha getting our train tickets the day previous, we were able to simply get up, finish packing, eat another fine breakfast and catch a cab toward the station. After a brief wait and picking up some irn bru and pasties for the road (mmm, portable beef pie), we were off, and the two hour ride went by in a flash. The countryside was lovely and the weather was blue sky with occasional clouds so we were set for a great day.
Once at the Aberdeen station, we caught a cab through the city to the airport where our rental car was waiting. Aberdeen does not seem to be nearly as pretty as Edinburgh, but we may have just driven through the industrial outskirts so I’m happy to give it the benefit of the doubt. At the airport it took us some time to get all the rental details sorted, but once we did and got ourselves loaded up for travel, I took the wheel and drove us out of town on the left side of the road for the first time in 12 years. I’d love to say it’s as easy to get back to as riding a bike, but the first hour or so (especially around two-lane city roundabouts) was a pretty white-knuckle affair.
The tension eased soon enough though and the long country roads into Cairngorm National Park were much easier to manage. It was a long and gorgeous drive into the little town of Tomintoul, but from there the stress increased a few notches, since the directions to the cottage were somewhat confusing (to say the least). We ended up driving over the same 5-mile stretch of road at least a half dozen times and stopping in to the pub to ask for directions (to no avail) until we finally tried the right combination of turns to lead us down the path and get us to the long and windy driveway (with two gates, no less) to Lagganvoulin Cottage.
By this point, night was just about falling and we were able to get into the cold cabin, figure out how to turn on the oil and radiator heating (via inscrutable directions) and get unpacked and settled just as darkness set in.
Once established at Lagganvoulin, Tasha and Dad seemed pretty well set for the night, so Erik and I went back down to the pub to get a sense of the local flavor (and a pint). What we found was a warm fire, comfortable pub atmosphere (couches, darts, billiards), and gregarious staff and patrons, all going about their usual business…though I swear the conversation briefly died down and I could hear a faint record scratch in the distance when us yanks walked in.
Erik and I ordered steak pie and roast beef, and he noted (quite correctly) that nearly all British food seems to come with gravy…which is just fine with me. ☺ There were a few beers on tap, but most seemed to be lager so I opted for a Guinness, which was served on two taps: extra cold and “regular”. I ordered the latter thinking it would be the fabled room temperature I’d heard about, but it was quite cold itself. Between that and some ad posters up around the pub (with sayings like “just say no to warm beer”), it seems marketing wants Scots to move away from the traditional serving temperature (much to my chagrin). The quest to taste a warm beer in Scotland continues I suppose…
After a great talk, some fine food and a couple of pints, Erik and I called it a night and headed back to the cottage. I brought Tasha some soup from the pub but Dad wasn’t hungry after our huge breakfast (he’s not usually a breakfast kinda guy), so instead we finished out the night by thumbing through the in-house DVD collection for entertainment, opting for an old gem with George Clooney called ‘Red Surf’. I wouldn’t say I RECOMMEND it, but if you’re with friends and have access to some booze, it could make for a fun evening, as could any of the following titles in the Lagganvoulin collection:
o ‘Dollar for the Dead’ with Emilio Estevez and Howie Long
o ‘Corrupt’ with Harvey Keitel and John Lydon (yes, THAT one)
o ‘Justice’ with James Belushi
o ‘Def by Temptation’ with Kadeem Hardison and Samuel L Jackson
o ‘Tiger Warsaw’ with Patrick Swayze
o ‘Split Decisions’ with Gene Hackman and Jennifer Beals
o ‘The Dark Side of the Sun’ with Brad Pitt
o ‘Hammers Over the Anvil’ with Russell Crowe
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