The LONG Way Around the World: Somersault, Big Fat Phil, and Voldemort

Harry Potter Bridge:
We headed south along a windy (not the breezy version of windy) road along Loch Ness in search of our first HP site, the viaduct that the Hogwarts Express crosses in two of the movies. It's at a town called Glenfinnen. The well informed HP nuts know exactly how to time the visit with a train crossing. As we were merely reasonably informed, we sat along the hillside growing increasingly more chilled for about two hours. Twas time well spent. I whipped out a quick sketch, and just before we were about to toss in the towel, there it came, a steam train emerged in the distance and made the famous arched turn in our direction. In case you're wondering, it shows up at 3:15pm, not 1:15pm.

Another AirBnB winner:
I've mentioned it before, and I will say it resoundingly again, Airbnb has been exceptional for our trip. It's definitely not for everyone. If you're risk averse and prefer consistency in beds, showers, toilets, closets, access, etc, etc, this service may not be for you. But with risk, comes reward. Our place last night was a big gamble, and we were rewarded handsomely. Our only regret, we were only there for one night.

When we booked our stay, we were looking for a quick place to lay our heads about halfway to Edinburgh. The place ended up being a centuries old hunting lodge in the middle of the Scottish Highlands in a village called Strathmashie. The indications that this was going to be memorable came on our way there when our host texted that he made a reservation for dinner at a nearby pub to make sure we had enough to eat that night. (I won't say much about the pub, except that it was excellent, I had my first haggis, which was delicious, and they had a Lady Gaga marathon going on the TV)

We pulled in to the place in the middle of nowhere and were greeted by a tall fella named Chris. Imagine a 6'-4" surfer version of Gene Wilder (Willy Wonky) with the frizzy hair, but instead of a top hat, he was wearing a well worn green hat with the word DAFFY'S across the front. After a quick greeting, he took us around back, which opened up to a lush paddock of grass, surrounded by a field of purple wild flowers, and then an expansive ranchland encased in a mountain ridge. The sense of openness was liberating. Moments later, his dog emerges from the wild flowers with a giant branch perfectly balanced in his mouth. "This is Somersault." Then we look over to the left and standing there, statue-like, in the graveled parking area were two horses, Blue (for his charcoal blue eyes), and Penny. Chris says, "They're quite friendly, just don't stand behind them."

Our place was the three smaller gables in a row.

Blue in front, Penny behind

Zane is both fascinated and freaked out by horses.

Somersault playing fetch with Bryce. When he first emerged, that stick was twice as long. It broke during one of the throws.

Chris asks, in his soft spoken, beach bum tone, "Are you vegetarians?" We respond no, at which point he goes on to say, "We also have three pigs: Sausage, Pork Chop, and Big Fat Phil." Their names portend their future. It's a hunting lodge afterall, and they don't buy meat at the store. We go on to say that we are on a Harry Potter trek, and he smiles and says, "I've got a chicken named Voldemort. It's a mean sucker and chases around around my pigs, horses, and dog. Oh, and at 10-ish tonight, you can see our owl named Salty. He lives in that bird house we installed on that tree there, and at 10, he flies out to the fields and catches mice, then returns and eats them during the day."

Pork Chop, Sausage, and Big Fat Phil in the rear.

Later that evening he dropped by our upper story flat toting a bucket of pellets, and was apparently off to feed his pigs. "Your kids want to come watch?" It was like Christmas morning when I offered it up to the kids. Before I knew it, they we sprinting out the door to watch this normally mundane activity for country folk, but riveting for us folk. When we returned, we realized we locked ourselves out and expected Chris must have an extra set of keys. He shrugs, says "uh oh", and tries to call his wife (as apparently only she knows where they have the extra keys, not him). No luck. Option 2...he runs inside, grabs his 10 year old son, and an extension ladder. The boy with an attitude of an angel, and the sweetest Scottish accent says, "Hi, I'm Louie. How's your day going?" He scampers up the ladder, jimmys the window and crawls in. Chris turns to me and says, "this sort of thing happens a lot."

Louie, the grease-man.

Now, before you begin to think Chris and his family are a bunch of country bumpkins, after further conversations, we come to find out that he is a master distiller of gin. His gin, called Daffy's (recall the hat?), recently won the World’s Best Martini Challenge 2017 held in London. He has also been called upon Scotch distillers to help improve their processes. We put it to the test at dinner, ordered a couple Gin and Tonics. Before even adding the tonic, both Nicole and I were amazed at how good his Gin is on the rocks. He runs his operations out of the hunting lodge and is going to convert it to a full fledged distillery in the coming years. So keep an eye out for Daffy's.

Final note, we are definitely country mice, not city mice (as Nicole would say). The increase in happiness is palpable when we get outside of cities.

Autumn sitting in the throne room. Complete with fireplace.

A view from the top of the ridge at an old ruins. Destination from my morning run. Our place is the tiny white speck in the upper left.

Keep an eye out for Daffy's. Not in US stores.... yet.

From Strathmashie to Edinburgh, in Pictures....

Another great Scotch. Highest distillery in Scotland. On the way to Edinburgh

Stopped at a Pub built in the 1600s

This the Falkirk Wheel. Built to lift and lower canal boats about 100 ft. Eliminates 11 traditional locks that took all day. Now it takes 8 minutes. Brilliantly simple, and a marvel of engineering. Loved it.