Speaker 1: 0:00

Muddy.

Speaker 2: 0:01

So it turns out we've been pronouncing the name of this area incorrectly, so we have an official Scott with us here. Not from. Muddy, that's right, tell us your name. Richard. Richard. All right, richard, I'm Rory, this is Alexa, and so we've been saying Moray Speyside, I would say. Muddy Speyside. Muddy Speyside yeah.

Speaker 3: 0:26

But you're best asking somebody who's figure I would say if I was coming up to Murray, I'm coming to Murray, all right. No, moray, moray. Yeah. I think it looks like it's Moray with a Y at the end, but I would say Moray, Moray Well that's Chris.

Speaker 2: 0:39

What would you?

Speaker 3: 0:40

say Moray, murray, murray, right, and Speyside, speyside, yeah, yeah, but Murray, I would say Murray, murray, more like his than you do.

Speaker 6: 0:50

Hi, I'm Alexa.

Speaker 2: 0:52

And I'm Rory, and together we are the Romies.

Speaker 6: 0:57

We are married To each other Right.

Speaker 2: 1:00

We are a touring musical duo.

Speaker 6: 1:02

And our music has taken us to all kinds of places all around the world and keeps us always on the go.

Speaker 2: 1:07

So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while running around working to keep all your plates spinning.

Speaker 6: 1:13

And we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle and feed your inner travel bug. Hi everyone, we are so excited to share this episode with you. It is chock full of so many fun adventures. Oh, my goodness, I'm not sure how we're going to get through it in a timely fashion. We're going to do our best. We just want you to buckle up, sit back and enjoy Unless you're just one of those people who work out while you listen to podcasts. In that case, we say faster, faster, faster, push harder. You can do it, you're strong, you're powerful. All that wonderful stuff we have been doing throughout this year.

Speaker 6: 1:50

Our dumb little world trivia questions. Normally we just pull random ones out of the hat, but these are a little specific because, in case you don't have a clue already, we're going to start with these trivia questions and maybe you'll get a clue of what we're going to be talking about in today's episode. So the first trivia question and you're going to have to listen all the way through until the end, because we don't tell the answer until the end Number one is what city is the host of the Fringe, the world's largest arts festival? All right, okay. That's question number one, rory. Question number two go Arts Festival. All right, okay, that's question number one, rory question number two go.

Speaker 2: 2:25

The thistle is the national flower of which country? The thistle, the painful plant.

Speaker 6: 2:39

Okay, Rory, I think on this one we'll cheat. Why don't you go ahead and give the answer?

Speaker 2: 2:44

The answer to the question of the thistle is the national flower. Of which country is Scotland?

Speaker 6: 2:54

Yay, so we are going to be focusing on Scotland today, but specifically in the region of Murray Speaceside. Yes, murray Spaceside.

Speaker 2: 3:06

Many Americans would say Murray Spaceside because of the Murray Eel, of which we are very familiar.

Speaker 6: 3:13

However, the Scots do not say I've never heard of the Murray Eel.

Speaker 2: 3:18

They've never heard of Murray Spaceside. For that matter.

Speaker 6: 3:21

So, Rory, where is Murray Spaceside?

Speaker 2: 3:28

for that matter. So, rory, where is Murray Muddy Spaceside? Muddy Spaceside is in the north of Scotland, located between two international airports, aberdeen and Inverness, and they do say them those way, those ways like that.

Speaker 6: 3:36

Yeah, we're going to get into how they say things just in a little bit.

Speaker 2: 3:40

Yeah, regular rail and bus services operate between inverness and aberdeen with stops in okay, if we're americans. I'll pronounce them this way.

Speaker 6: 3:51

Yeah, this is the american way stops in for us elgin and keith we just made everyone in muddy space side cringe the way we said that. We'll explain why in just a little bit. We want want to thank Visit Muddy Spaceside for sponsoring this episode and making us an amazing itinerary. David and Gemma were amazing to work with. David did so much work prepping, working with us and we thought we would share our awesome itinerary with you, and so we're just going to kind of walk through in the order of the itinerary and tell you about our experiences at each place. Muddy space side is known for its whiskey production and its whiskey trail I mean, there's so many of them that we have to sort of.

Speaker 9: 4:36

I have to just every day just go on the website and refresh.

Speaker 2: 4:39

There's 50 others that are like running towards or whatever, and they're in your region that you cover?

Speaker 9: 4:44

yeah we've got 60 working distilleries, all within a 50 mile radius we've got three distilleries this year celebrating the 200 year anniversary just in our region. It's like generations of family that work within there and own them yeah, so it is, it's very it is. It's fascinating part of our region.

Speaker 6: 5:02

Lots of pride we're so glad we got to meet David and Jim and you're going to hear from them throughout this episode. You can go to the Visit MediSpaceside website for all things whiskey and anything you need for that but our itinerary is off the beaten path. We wanted to find all of the other fun things that you can do and experience outside of what you might typically do if you were just going to go visit MediSpaceside.

Speaker 2: 5:29

We like to do things that typical tourists typical tourists, that's nice don't always do, but those are the things that are so fun when you go visit a place, to get in with the locals and find out what's really up. So we did a little bit of that.

Speaker 11: 5:43

We did a little bit of that.

Speaker 2: 5:45

Thanks to David and Gemma.

Speaker 10: 5:48

We've got Johnston's. I don't know if you've heard of Johnston's Kashmir, so it's a global brand as well. Walker's Shortbread. Yes, so that's here as well.

Speaker 2: 5:57

Seriously. Yes, so that's based here as well. Is there like a factory? That's what we get in the States.

Speaker 10: 6:02

Is it? Yeah, yeah, so that's based here. So you've got the factory here, but you've also got two shops. So you've got one in the town of Abelower and you've also got one in Elgin, which is just 15 minutes from here in the town centre. So that's like a little shop with just shortbread, definitely go there so. Velcol is at 4, maybe Velcol Sorry.

Speaker 6: 6:20

Velcol, is it four?

Speaker 9: 6:22

No, they'll close.

Speaker 8: 6:24

They'll close. Yeah, so this is the accent.

Speaker 10: 6:28

They will close at four she was still speaking English, I know I was still English Bell call.

Speaker 2: 6:34

But also the cathedral or whatever is the Algonquin Cathedral right, that is right, yeah, so the Algonquin Cathedral.

Speaker 9: 6:40

So it was, yeah, it's not the Elgin Cathedral.

Speaker 6: 6:45

Oh, no, cathedral, so it was. It's not the Elgin Cathedral. So visit muddy space. I'd put together about a two and a half day itinerary for us, chock-full of fun and adventure there's so much we didn't get to because two and a half days wasn't nearly enough we so have a bucket list for when we go back, because we definitely want to go back.

Speaker 6: 7:00

We got to experience, though, first the first thing like I don't know how we were going to beat the first thing because we got a tour of a lighthouse. I've never been in a lighthouse before, like we were in the lighthouse, so that was super fun and we got a little history before. And then we had to hike up like I don't know 150 200 stairs, somewhere between like 120 200 stairs something like that between 120 and 2 000 stairs.

Speaker 6: 7:32

Yes, that's what it felt like yeah, this is what we sounded like after we I wish I had five pounds of oil.

Speaker 8: 7:50

I think he wants us to stop at the ladder, yeah.

Speaker 6: 7:54

We had a great tour guide who shared a bunch of stories and I thought it was pretty interesting when he shared about the job of a lighthouse worker.

Speaker 5: 8:01

So it's nice, pretty much a job for life, a lighthouse keeper, as long as you didn't do anything wrong.

Speaker 5: 8:05

We spent the light, let the light go out or missing the time. It's your every calendar behind you, Time off and time on to the minute. Every day of the year you miss that time. You lost your job, lost your house, lost your accommodation, your livelihood and no industrial tribunals there. And we only just noticed the other day, at the centre of the bottom, if it's particularly foggy or low visibility, the extra half hour on each end of the day as well, so it could be an 18 hour shift. You do it. When we picked that little lens up from Fraserburgh, they asked. They were telling us about an incident out on one of the rock stations offshore where the winding cabinet broke and they had to wait six days due to weather for a boat to come out to fix it. So with that incentive, the two keepers stood at the top of the tower every night for six nights, turned it by hand at the right rotational speed, and nobody knew it was not working, apart from them two. Oh nice.

Speaker 6: 8:58

When we got up to the top and we got a little bit more history, then there was another door that took us to another level.

Speaker 2: 9:06

Yeah, I made the mistake of asking him what's that? Oh well, we went up through a hatch, yeah, through a hatch. So we got to go up to where the light actually lives right, and then it spins around and up there was a door in the side of the wall and I made the mistake it was like a small door that you have to crawl through and I made made the mistake of saying where does that go?

Speaker 6: 9:27

And he said well, you're about to see.

Speaker 2: 9:29

About to find out, but I was really proud of myself. He opened the door and it led outside to walk around the top of the lighthouse where basically the balcony around where the light comes out.

Speaker 6: 9:41

Yes.

Speaker 2: 9:42

Yep, so we all piled out there and I was actually brave enough. Yeah, nobody else cared, rory did so good.

Speaker 6: 9:50

I have video of him walking around and like being able to catch his breath and like be you know I was awesome. He was all brave and everything. Yeah, not that he's ever scared of heights or anything.

Speaker 2: 10:04

No, my butt was puckered, but still, it was just so much fun, yeah when we were outside.

Speaker 6: 10:10

We got a much clearer view right because we're not having to look through windows. You can just look out and yeah, beautiful view, yeah everything around us.

Speaker 2: 10:17

Because it's 360 degrees, you can walk all the way around it. So you've got the beach and the ocean, which is so gorgeous. Yes, and you can see way, way away. As a matter of fact, on a clear day, you can see way, way, way a long ways.

Speaker 2: 10:30

On a clear day, you can see the land where it juts out yeah, like miles and miles and miles away yeah, the peninsula of scotland, peninsula of scotland, it's really cool. And then when you walk around the other side, there is a royal air force base and you and people come there just to watch the fighters take off and land and do their maneuvers. It's pretty awesome. Our lighthouse tour guide was a former military man and he started telling us all about it, and then some locals also, when we were talking to them, started telling us all about four squadrons of typhoon fighters on there.

Speaker 5: 11:14

They're probably knocked off for tea and tiffin now fighter jockeys sort of nine to five under the friday geezers, but they do hold 24 hour standby. Quick reaction alert for unidentified incoming aircraft. Two squads of Poseidon plus now the training unit, the tight conversion unit P8 Poseidon's there. That's replaced with a Nimrod, which I was on the anti-submarine you were the. Nimrod pilot. No, I had a driver. We were the clever guys down the back, but they're the anti-submarine guys. But we had 38 Nimrods. They've only got nine P-8s. So submarine tracking is quite labor intensive.

Speaker 5: 11:46

No no, that's why they need help. That's why you've got to cover the American ex-colonials. You stopped flying when the Nimrods stopped.

Speaker 5: 11:54

No, just before you know. You say a big organization won't miss you when they've gone, but within a year they've lost my best man on one of the aircraft and cut the rest up in five years man on one of the aircraft and cut the rest up in five years, but yeah, so we needed help. The Americans work on different budgets than we do. They build that shed just to wash their aircraft when they're visiting. Seriously, seriously. Yeah, there is a taxiway wash but they don't like it because they're so over-manned.

Speaker 5: 12:18

They need somebody with a brush to go and do it. I remember the first time in America I saw the Galaxy and right were right round the other side of the airfield taxiing around and I thought it was a bird on top of the tail fin and by the time we got closer we found this bird was sweeping it down with a brush, seriously.

Speaker 2: 12:33

And that's a big aeroplane. Yeah, it's in the Galaxy.

Speaker 9: 12:37

I don't suppose you saw any planes yesterday at all, did you?

Speaker 2: 12:39

Today. Yeah, the fighters were out.

Speaker 10: 12:42

Yep, they fly all the time yeah.

Speaker 2: 12:44

They were circling around the bay and over the base so we just missed. Like she was telling us, they come right over the fort and do touch-and-go landings, so I got some distant video.

Speaker 9: 12:57

If you're out playing golf on Murray Golf Course, which is the one in Lossie.

Speaker 2: 13:00

I can imagine You're just right here, it's just the it comes over.

Speaker 9: 13:05

It must be about 200 feet, because they're about to land.

Speaker 10: 13:10

Yeah, exactly that would be so amazing.

Speaker 9: 13:15

And loud, but it's special. There's special places here, yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:19

But some of the people staying at the lighthouse said they come like four times a year because the wife likes to watch the planes, so they come here just for that. Yeah, and then on the way to the ruins there were several cars parked near one of the runways just with their cameras and everything. It's waiting. You know, it's a thing.

Speaker 10: 13:38

Oh yeah, and I mean they quite often post like on their social media channels to say, like the Red Arrows will be out today and stuff, so that people all, like you know, gather to see them and stuff yeah so yeah, it's a big thing and I think people are appreciative that we've got that here.

Speaker 2: 13:50

It's quite special to have it Absolutely yes, take advantage of that.

Speaker 11: 13:55

On exercise. I think they're practicing because they come down and they're usually in groups of three and they circle, come down to land back again. Yes, oh yeah, right, so at the back of the hut here they're just so low. Come in, it's great. Lots of people are wowed by them. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 14:30

One of the coolest things for me was when we pulled up to the lighthouse, like we had the GPS taking us to get there. We pulled up and we started getting out and then guess what Alexa said to me. What did you say?

Speaker 6: 14:47

That's my cue, yeah, that's your cue Rory, go get your luggage.

Speaker 2: 14:52

Yeah, why don't you go ahead and get the luggage out of the car? And he's like but we're going to go on a tour.

Speaker 6: 14:58

We're just going on a tour, why would I get my luggage?

Speaker 2: 15:00

Yeah, and she said because we're staying at the lighthouse tonight.

Speaker 6: 15:06

how cool is that we got to sleep in a lighthouse building so cool thank you visit muddy space side, for even like making us aware of the whole experience yep, as a matter of fact, they, they rent them out and so people can.

Speaker 2: 15:20

People regularly stay there. It's the covesa is, is that how they say it? Covese, covese, covesea, that's my Finnish coming out the covese lighthouse cottage Of course we're probably saying covese wrong too. Yeah, probably so, yeah, probably so.

Speaker 6: 15:35

It's just a super neat experience. We didn't sleep directly right in the lighthouse, we slept at the lighthouse.

Speaker 8: 15:41

Yeah, lighthouse building.

Speaker 6: 15:43

There are separate quarters and where we slept we step out of our door and there's the lighthouse.

Speaker 2: 15:50

And the sunset from up there is absolutely spectacular, that's a good word, Rory. Spectacular. Yeah, that's fabulous and spectacular, spectacular that was good.

Speaker 6: 16:00

Anyway, we highly recommend staying at the Cve sea lighthouse cottage, because why would you not? You can stay at a lighthouse why would you? Amazing. So once we had our tour, we actually then, like, went into our lodging and we put on all of the layers of clothing that we owned and brought with us. So this was the kind of towards the end of our tour.

Speaker 6: 16:26

We'd been in Europe for two months and, because we had gone to Europe in July, we had a like summer clothes right warm yep, so we knew that it'd be a little more chilly in Scotland, so and it was so we had some layers and we just put all of them on.

Speaker 2: 16:42

Chilly and rainy oftentimes.

Speaker 6: 16:45

But it was still wonderful. So we layered up, and then we braved the weather and went down to the beach.

Speaker 2: 16:51

Yeah, the beach is just a short walk. I mean the lighthouse is up on a hill. And then the hill ends and there's the beach. So we took the little trail down to the beach.

Speaker 6: 17:01

It was so cool. It was like a private beach. It is a gorgeous beach both ways yeah, gorgeous, the sunset was amazing hidden caves, yeah, so we went in the caves, we walked the beach it was. It was a beautiful, beautiful beach, but it was really interesting. I look over into the water and there are three women in bathing suits three insane women just like not not wet suits, people bathing suits, the water and they were in the water and their whole bodies were in the water the air was cold, the wind.

Speaker 2: 17:37

Did I tell you I had?

Speaker 6: 17:38

60 layers on and they are in bathing suits in the water, and people do this yeah, even crazy people do this, like jemma, so I've been going for sea dips.

Speaker 10: 17:49

I go for sea dips after work seriously yeah, even in this weather yep, I went. I haven't actually been this week, but I was about three times last week, and then, once you're in about five minutes, you then go.

Speaker 10: 17:58

Oh, this is okay five minutes to get to, okay, yeah and then you can start swimming and moving around, but until then you're kind yeah, and then you can start swimming and moving around, but until then you're kind of like, but then you can start swimming, and then you're like this is fine, this is great. And then you come out and you're all energized and revitalized and you get a great night's sleep. Really.

Speaker 9: 18:14

People help you sleep. Oh yeah, you come out and you feel really tired, but you're like I could also go and do things go and do things. That's a lot of work for your body to understand. What about the people on New Year's that go out and do it? So in December, yeah, no, no way, I'm a seasonal swimmer.

Speaker 10: 18:28

My partner keeps trying to get me to do it. He's like we need to keep doing it every week and I'm like no way. I'm like I will do it to the end of September, maybe into October.

Speaker 9: 18:53

But I'm not doing.

Speaker 10: 18:53

it's potentially snowing Wear like Santa hats and stuff.

Speaker 2: 18:56

Santa hats, so it's a thing.

Speaker 6: 18:59

So that was Gemma.

Speaker 2: 19:00

Gemma and.

Speaker 6: 19:01

David of Visit Mary Spearside.

Speaker 2: 19:03

Yes, the infamous David and Gemma and David of Visit Murray Spearside. Yes, the infamous David and Gemma.

Speaker 6: 19:05

Who set up this whole? Thing?

Speaker 2: 19:06

And that was the insane Gemma, who swims in the cold water like those women we saw.

Speaker 10: 19:10

Absolutely. I mean, los Amigos is a really pretty town, it's beautiful. It's called the Jewel of Murray. Yeah, it's beautiful, yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:19

The water on both sides.

Speaker 10: 19:21

No, it's just kind of on one side. Okay, the sides. No, it's just kind of on one side.

Speaker 2: 19:24

The way we kept turning. I was getting turned around. I was like wait, that's we just, yeah.

Speaker 10: 19:27

So there's like the beach, and then you come round and then you've got the harbour and then you go like the other side of the beach as well, where you've been at the lighthouse. So you've got the two beaches, west Beach and East. Beach. Big beaches, big beaches yeah, sand dunes are sadly on the East Beach. They're sadly dying Are they really yeah, which is a shame, but quite an interesting fact is that it's actually old railway carriages that are underneath that have built up the sand dunes.

Speaker 12: 19:52

Yeah.

Speaker 10: 19:53

So they actually filled them with the old railway carriages.

Speaker 9: 19:55

Come on, yeah Wow.

Speaker 10: 19:58

That was how the sand dunes were initially made in the first place, so I'm wondering if we're going gonna see a real cottage sometime soon.

Speaker 6: 20:04

Yeah, I was gonna say Maybe Along the water you can find a ton of different restaurants. We ate at the Salt Cellar, which is like inside this super cool like cave thing.

Speaker 2: 20:15

Yeah, nice, really cool, like stone and brick cave sort of a thing. It was really cool.

Speaker 6: 20:22

Other restaurants that have been recommended are the Golf View Hotel, the Muddy Golf Club, Catch 79, Fountain Juice Bar, the Stottfield Hotel.

Speaker 2: 20:32

There are plenty of options to choose from places to eat, and when we got out of the car, guess what we saw? We parked right next to Gelato. Yeah, that they make right there in the building.

Speaker 6: 20:44

And next to that was another ice cream place, and next to that there was another ice cream place. So you can get lots, plenty of ice cream and gelato on the water oh yeah and so we actually ate dessert first before, of course, and the restaurants face the waterfront and you can walk along and just enjoy the beautiful scenery yeah, the nice beaches there and the marina is just right there soak it all in the coastal experience.

Speaker 2: 21:13

It's absolutely beautiful and the lady the harbor master. I spoke with her at lossy mouth and she said that lots of people will winter their boats here. If they're traveling up the coast, the weather changes, they have slots they can rent for the winter and things like that, that's. That's cool for travelers to know that things are available like that, you know, in the area it's just all the good feels right there at the coast in lossy mouth all the good feet.

Speaker 2: 21:36

Dinner and dessert right there along the waterfront was a wonderful way to end our first half day there in Lossiemouth.

Speaker 6: 21:45

Then the next day we had even more adventures, even more adventures. So between the locals we met through the lighthouse tour and then our adventures for this second day.

Speaker 2: 21:58

The next morning even.

Speaker 6: 21:59

We got some tutoring on how to pronounce all the places that we were going to go, so we're going to share that with you so you can be as educated as we now are.

Speaker 2: 22:11

Yeah, because they were doing some educating of us. Main cities in Scotland. Seasons no cities.

Speaker 6: 22:18

Cities.

Speaker 3: 22:18

Yeah, one of the two biggest in central Scotland. Okay, what are they called? They?

Speaker 2: 22:24

called. Well, first of all, what's a setting city? We don't know what that is a city? Exactly city city get lost in translation already. Okay, there are two big cities, yeah in central scotland in central scotland.

Speaker 3: 22:42

So you guys glasgow, glasgow and then um we have aberdeen and edinburgh In central Scotland, glasgow, glasgow.

Speaker 6: 22:45

And then we have Aberdeen and Edinburgh. So, there we go, edinburgh, edinburgh, edinburgh.

Speaker 2: 22:58

It's spelled E-M-B-R-A. Edinburgh, edinburgh. I say Edinburgh and then Glasgow.

Speaker 3: 23:04

But I think there was a historian in Scotland's National Museum and he says Edinburgh, see, because it is Edinburgh, it's for the tourists.

Speaker 2: 23:14

That's how you say it. I love the accents. The accents are awesome.

Speaker 9: 23:17

Yeah, that's interesting as well, because we've obviously got quite different accents, and I'm from Forrest, which is two minutes along that way, and Gemma's like 45 minutes towards Aberdeen.

Speaker 10: 23:28

So we've got like total different accents.

Speaker 9: 23:30

Yeah do you make?

Speaker 8: 23:33

fun of each other because of that.

Speaker 9: 23:34

Well, you make fun of me, so she's the one who talks funny you don't talk funny, just she does I think I would be considered posh Scottish oh nice but when you're from Keith, you just sound like Keith, I think I would be, considered posh Scottish, oh nice.

Speaker 10: 23:49

But when you're from Keith, you just sound like Keith. I know I put on my posh accent for work.

Speaker 1: 23:53

This isn't how I normally speak when I'm in the office. I'm like what.

Speaker 10: 23:56

I don't even care what that says, that's how I would speak.

Speaker 6: 24:00

Translation is what. I don't even know what this is.

Speaker 9: 24:04

But you're Keith, so where Gemma's from, Keith is known as the home of the Scots tongue. Yeah, Scots tongue, Scots language.

Speaker 10: 24:12

Yeah, I own it. That's me Scots toon, as you'd call it, because that's where we speak, the Scots language. And Scots language is basically just its own language. So it's like a dialect of I wouldn't even say it's a dialect of English, because it's not. It's completely its own language. But if you google Scots language, you'll get like more information on it. But that is how we kind of speak around here. So it's things like fit you in the day, so that means what are you doing today? Or fit like is how are you? Or far you gone is where are you going.

Speaker 8: 24:48

So that's like the Scots language yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, say the castle again, duffus castle. How do you pronounce Elgin, elgin, elgin. And how do you pronounce Murray, speyside, murray yeah, yeah, murray Speyside, you got that one. Okay. And then where else are we going? Forest, you would name a place.

Speaker 11: 25:09

Forest. No, the forest you've got Okay. The usual one that people get wrong is Craigellachie Okay, say it again. Craigellachie, craigellachie. That's one that people get wrong and that, and that's more, the whiskey part of it.

Speaker 2: 25:24

Well obviously pronouncing it Doofus. I thought there's no way that can be right, definitely no.

Speaker 11: 25:28

Doofuses here. No Duffus, duffus Castle.

Speaker 6: 25:32

So, as you now know, we visited first the Duffus Castle.

Speaker 2: 25:40

As she was quick to correct me there was nothing called Doofus.

Speaker 6: 25:42

So, Rory, what did you think of Duffus Castle? What are your impressions?

Speaker 2: 25:51

My impression. It was really cool. I'm a big fan of history, love history and walking through there. It's really great to imagine that you're back in time and what was life like? You know, as you're walking up to it, walking through it, thinking this is how these people lived.

Speaker 6: 26:01

Now, duffus Castle is castle ruins, so it's not one of those that is currently lived in or are all furnished up. This is castle remains and ruins.

Speaker 2: 26:10

Yeah, it was really, it was originally made out of wood and they built a big thing of dirt to build yeah, a big dirt mound to build the wooden castle on top of. But they decided, for defense, it would be better to use stone. So they built this really heavy stone castle in place of the wood one. The problem is there's their dirt mound wouldn't support it and after after many years, the walls began falling down the hill, so the castle was eventually so it's like the three little pigs that built their house on sand yeah, kind of like that, so that.

Speaker 2: 26:41

So the castle was eventually abandoned.

Speaker 6: 26:44

Abandoned, yeah but even abandoned and in ruins. It was gorgeous and the grounds were absolutely gorgeous and I got to meet someone who was from the area and she shared a story with me like, my mom stayed here during the war.

Speaker 1: 27:00

She was about eight or nine at the time and she stayed in a house on a hill that looped out onto the sea and she used to watch all the airplanes going out during the war and then she used to count them coming back again, and it's very sad because obviously sometimes there was a lot less planes came back than my town.

Speaker 6: 27:21

Yeah, I found it so interesting and such a deep, rich story that she was able to come back and visit something so important to her family history and roots. So, rory, as we leave and as we kind of walk the grounds of the duffus castle, right next to it is the Kula Coffee Hut.

Speaker 2: 27:47

Mm-hmm, a little coffee hut that has well coffee. Thank you so much, bye.

Speaker 2: 27:55

Hello, our friend, hello, what can I get you? But not only coffee. They also have tea, which you got, yes, and they have food items. They have sweet food items. It was my first time to see in person this is big, because we watch a lot of British TV and we've heard it said so many times a Jammy Dodger, first time I'd ever seen one. It's basically two cookies with jelly between them, right, that's how we'd see it as an American. So we had to get, of course, we had to taste the Jammy Dodger.

Speaker 6: 28:26

Of course.

Speaker 2: 28:27

And for my breakfast, because that's the safe gluten-free vegan thing that actually tastes good, unlike what she's trying to imply is that my breakfast wasn't as yummy, but it was way better than the old Jammy Dodger in my opinion, see, because she also introduced us to two very Scottish things that we had yet to try.

Speaker 11: 28:49

You have to come to Scotland and try iron brew. It's more Scottish than Scotland.

Speaker 2: 28:57

Original and best. And you said it's like juice.

Speaker 11: 29:00

And you like this with haggis?

Speaker 8: 29:02

Yeah, it's aio oh no, she just likes it haggis is good, haggis is good okay, she's just saying if you're going to be scottish, you have to do haggis and you have to do iron brew if you come to scotland you have to try iron brew all right, we'll have to try our brew basically just like is it orange flavored, or is just the can orange?

Speaker 11: 29:26

No, it is orange, it's a soft drink with sugar and sweeteners. They nickname it ginger. Okay, like it kind of sent about Glasgow, it's nicknamed ginger, so it's like a redhead, not like the spice ginger. Yeah, mmm. Okay.

Speaker 2: 29:52

All right, so are you going to have a pork and haggis? Oh okay, this is our breakfast and it's it's referred to me lunch in an hour and a half so you it's refrigerated, so it's not warm, right, it's refrigerated, so cold haggis haggis roll breakfast at least it's mixed with pork yeah, well, so it's, it'll be, I'm sure, better than straight.

Speaker 8: 30:09

I'm sure there are pork parts in haggis you're such a brave man now, did you eat just the bread, or did you get some haggis in there? Okay see proof. Okay, z proof. Want more proof? No, you're gonna throw it up now. No, I'll show it to you.

Speaker 7: 30:32

Mmm, seasoned well, it's salty, that's good.

Speaker 8: 30:38

Everybody eats haggis.

Speaker 7: 30:43

Tastes good.

Speaker 8: 30:44

Yeah.

Speaker 7: 30:45

Yeah.

Speaker 8: 30:46

Is it like super good, or is it just like it's okay? No, I can see it's good. Like if it's hot.

Speaker 2: 30:52

It makes me think if I lived here, this could sort of be like a not boudin, but kind of that same vibe, because, as a, like I said, it's well seasoned, not spicy, it's just well seasoned, it's good.

Speaker 7: 31:04

So if I need a snack, I just grab a little haggis roll.

Speaker 12: 31:11

Haggis? How do they say it? I don't know, haggis.

Speaker 8: 31:16

This is a jammy Dodger. This is a jammy Dodger, so this is gluten-free and vegan.

Speaker 2: 31:23

We've heard the name so many times and it's gotta taste so much better than haggis, for sure no, try it together. On our way from Kula coffee to our next stop, which was burghead, we cracked open the old iron brew.

Speaker 8: 31:38

Yeah, that's bubblegum total totes bubblegum.

Speaker 2: 31:44

I feel like I'm a boy, a little boy, and I just went to the drive-thru with my mom at the bank and they gave me a little twist up, you know the old bubble gum with the twisty package that you pull it and it opens whatever. You know the individual pieces, man sugar pieces, man Sugar.

Speaker 8: 32:11

We're approaching the coast again at Burghead. So we were at the coast at Lossiemouth and now we're approaching the coast at Burghead. It's probably not Burghead, it's probably not. I'm sure we say everything wrong.

Speaker 6: 32:20

Our first stop in the Burghead area was the Burghead Pictish Fort, and Well, our guide was very cool and very Scottish, oh yeah.

Speaker 7: 32:30

It used to be a Coast Guard. Lookout, okay, coast Guard lookout, there was a shed in the top wood and we used to do bird by their watches there in the winter, and then the Headland took it over and opened this up and then pulled the bit out the front here. This is the old piece and that's the new bit okay and then the 10 number since has been taken off and that's how it used to be okay I just speak in that gentleman.

Speaker 7: 32:59

Everybody's a different idea about the picks. There's nobody who can put their fingers on them. If you read this bit, the lost people have heard of it, that's what they call them, because they have no idea where they came from, they think. But I spoke to a gentleman in here one time and he thought they came from East Germany and I said why? What are you thinking of? Because the horses. If you see another stone one, they've all got horses.

Speaker 5: 33:25

Well, in New Lland, that's where they go.

Speaker 7: 33:27

My dad goes, but the Vikings came here. They were definitely here.

Speaker 8: 33:31

Okay, okay.

Speaker 7: 33:34

Because Macbeth, the proper Macbeth, neither one on the play. Okay, he came for cross the water here and his stepbrother was a Viking chief in Orkney and they had a place here. Okay, and his stepbrother was a Viking chief who knows me, and they're a place here. Okay, but I think the pigs are bolted. I think they bolted and nobody I've met can be 100% safe where they came from. There's nothing doing it right in Seymour.

Speaker 6: 34:02

And he told us about the current archaeological digs that are going on around the area.

Speaker 2: 34:06

Oh, right, there at Burkhead.

Speaker 7: 34:08

And I've been digging out here for the last 70,. I'm 77,. I've been digging here since I was this size, wow and so far I've only found a ring.

Speaker 8: 34:17

A ring. That's it. A wee bits and pieces, nothing.

Speaker 7: 34:21

Yeah, now they dug up here last year, okay okay, and they found where the original wall had been. Hey, and that's where that heather's growing up, that rubbish there, and the first thing found the original wall. So I don't know what they're looking for over here.

Speaker 6: 34:40

It must be the same thing but there that's an archaeological dig going on right there, yeah there's one there and there's one doing here okay and there's two doing the bottom wow and you can walk up to the roof of the fort and get a 360 degree lookout. I thought it was super fun to be able to look out and have water on both sides of land and like it just was a really neat view from the roof area and what is there to look at?

Speaker 2: 35:07

you say well yes, they. Well, I said it oh whales. They get whales in here, whales at the well, yes, at the Pictish Fort and well and well, excuse me, not whale. Well, yeah, when we drove up and parked to go up to the Pictish Fort, and Well, the Burkhead Pictish Fort, and Well, there were some people parked out there with binoculars and cameras and we thought, hmm, I wonder what that's about.

Speaker 6: 35:33

So once we went into the fort they had not only on the roof can you just look around, but they also have a section with binoculars that they provide you.

Speaker 2: 35:45

It's just a really neat place to look out for the marine life, yeah, to learn all about the marine life in the area. And then, as we were leaving, we walked down the hill.

Speaker 6: 35:52

Back to our car.

Speaker 2: 35:53

Boy, my English. Since I've been to Scotland it's gotten worse. We walked down the hill to our car and the people were still there with their cameras and stuff like that, and so one of the guys we we started chatting him up. He was super nice and he told us what they were all doing down there.

Speaker 4: 36:07

Well, it's been basking shots here for a couple of days, oh, okay, yeah, no, there's been basking shots out here. What is that? Um, the long, the long mouthed shots. Oh, basking sharks yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah okay yeah, yeah, they've been out here for a couple of days. I ain't seen any today. Are you from the area?

Speaker 2: 36:26

uh, yeah yes, the uh harbour master at lossy mouth. Yeah, told us. Sometimes you guys have whales even yeah, yeah yeah, wow, and dolphins are here are they dolphins come here, yeah, yeah, and seals, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4: 36:39

Yeah, we've had two out here today. They don don't so much jump out, but they pop their legs up. Yeah, they do that. They have to be quick. Yeah, they probably stay up for a minute or two. That'll be cool. Is that orcas sometimes? You can often see them around here, yeah, wow that is so cool.

Speaker 2: 36:58

Well, good luck. Yeah, thank you. And then, as we were leaving, he yelled at us and ran back over to the car and said hey, look over there, a seal just poked its head above the water.

Speaker 6: 37:09

So I didn't see it at first, but I eventually saw a seal pop his head up, so we both got to see a seal before we headed out to our next destination.

Speaker 2: 37:17

Yeah, it was super cool of him to come and grab us and show us that.

Speaker 6: 37:21

So we got in our car and then headed to the Cable Cafe. Grab us and show us that. So we got in our car and then headed to the Cable Cafe. It's a newer, small cafe and their specialties are more like coffee and little snackies.

Speaker 2: 37:33

Yeah, snack items.

Speaker 6: 37:35

So they had like the sausage rolls and things like that. And then they also had these muffins, and she said that the Speculoos muffins were to die for. So we got one of those and we got you something with meat, so you could, you know, have your meat fix again.

Speaker 6: 37:49

And that fueled us up for our next adventure, which was to head to the Bergie house and Arboretum. We started out at the Arboretum and we got a personal tour from the Arboretum's curator, hamish. He was awesome. He's in his 80s, he is full of energy. He is so passionate about trees and greenery and taking care of his land. And hamish himself, for me, was a highlight just getting to meet him. He was so amazing, full of life. He knows all the scientific names for all of the things.

Speaker 2: 38:25

Yeah, and sometimes he knows all the scientific names but not the common names.

Speaker 6: 38:30

He has to sit and think about that.

Speaker 2: 38:31

What would?

Speaker 6: 38:32

Common Joe call it.

Speaker 2: 38:33

Yeah, what would I call that? And he'd look at me and he'd say the scientific name and I would say, no, not the Latin. What do normal people call this tree?

Speaker 6: 38:41

So his mind was super sharp. But he's also just so active, getting out of the cart, opening gates, running around like planting trees. He's just so active and so inspiring and you know he's investing in all of these trees. They're very young trees relative to what they're gonna be and he doesn't feel like he's wasting his time right, yeah, he's looking for generations.

Speaker 6: 39:05

Future generations. They are going to be enjoying this and he is so thrilled and happy about that. He knows he's investing in the future and he's so passionate about it. His energy and his excitement are super contagious. So here is Hamish and his arboretum.

Speaker 12: 39:21

And the story of the arboretum was it's always been policy woodlands for the big house, but it was started as an Arboretum in about 2008. So all the rare trees that you're looking at are fairly small and they are. 98% of them are grown from seed which I collect around different parts of Europe or America or whatever.

Speaker 12: 39:48

Oh, how fun, but I've never been to China or Japan yet, which is where I'd love to go. We start off here and just inside the gate we have that tree there, the tall. That's it. You've got it in the picture. That is a thing called Metasequoia, which is the Chinese redwood, and we've got we've now got pretty much all the redwoods. We've got Cryptomera japonica, which is the Japanese one, and we've got the two Americans ones, zempervirens and Giganticum. So we've got a big collection of trees here now, but nothing like what they have at the big arboretums at Kew or Westonbert and these places. But we're making a start. We've only been at it for 11, 12 years or something.

Speaker 2: 40:37

Wow, it's gigantic. In 600 years, people will be coming to see your tree Exactly.

Speaker 12: 40:43

And we've got a long avenue of them, not in the arboretum've got a long avenue of them not in the operation, but I planted an avenue of half a kilometer. We have I don't think it's about over 100 giganticums in in that avenue. That would be amazing. Well, it will be in a hundred years time have you been to see them in california?

Speaker 2: 41:00

no, I haven't.

Speaker 12: 41:00

No, no, it's absolutely stunning. But a little story about that one there Metasequoia, that was thought to be extinct in the world until about 1926, round about there. And one of the British explorers went out to China and he found one of those trees in a village in China and it had a seat all the way around it, so the deer and the bears and things hadn't been able to damage it too much and from that one tree you can find that all over Britain now, but not in large quantities. But when the Chinese were told about this there was one rich Chinese gentleman who thought it was pretty cool, so he wanted to plant an avenue. Like I do my giganticums, I've done 500 meters, he'd 160 kilometers. I think it must be one of the longest avenues ever created. They're all, with Metasequoia, longest avenues ever created and they're all with Metasequoia.

Speaker 12: 42:07

Wow, that's hardly an avenue, a long avenue. Yeah, we will go on then now. Yes, sounds good. Those larch trees, for example. They were given to me by a friend and he collected those as seed in Tibet. Wow, so, um, you got the word out. Yeah, um, we're quite serious about it. Yeah, that's really cool.

Speaker 6: 42:41

Now, who are these people up here?

Speaker 12: 42:42

These are wolfers, these are wolfers, these are wolfers, so wolfers.

Speaker 8: 42:45

These are wolfers Two.

Speaker 12: 42:46

Americans and American. We've got one American, okay. Yeah, we've got three quarries in the Arboretum. Wow, and they're all geologically different. Where the waterfall was, that's a sandstone quarry. Okay, this one here is what they call a conglomerate quarry and the next one is a windstone quarry. Now, I had a professor of geology from Aberdeen University out about five, six years ago and she was amazed that we had three such different types of rock in such a small congested area. It's only 200 meters between each. Qually, wow. And that sandstone is probably the oldest one. The conglomerate is, they think, glacial and the whinstone is volcanic.

Speaker 12: 43:42

The blossom season. In Japan they have a national holiday for the blossom. Well, this is not all going to be cherry blossom, but this avenue here is all blossom, but it's apples, pears, cherry and a wild cherry, so it will all be blossom, yeah, but not nothing. Two of flowers. These two of flowers, you get a lot of them in england, but not not many in scotland. So why I'm doing this is because we've got this micro climate here and you can grow a lot of trees that you won't be able to grow elsewhere in scotland.

Speaker 6: 44:22

And if you can grow a lot of trees, then you won't be able to grow it elsewhere in Scotland We'll take a quick departure from our golf cart tour and have Gemma kind of dive into this microclimate concept real quick.

Speaker 2: 44:37

Much snow. Someone was telling us there's sort of a microclimate in this area compared to we do so.

Speaker 10: 44:42

We always tend to be like one degree warmer. It's only a degree, but then, like the highlands of Aberdeenshire, like we're always like that slightly bit warmer. We also actually get less rainfall than the rest of the places. We still get quite a lot of rain, but we don't get as much as the other places, and it's like the southerly wind that comes off of Lossie Mouth, so apparently it comes from like basically your side of the world and it comes round and comes into like from Lossie and then that's why the base is based there so the base is actually based there, but there's something to do with when the planes take off yeah, of course they have to take off into the wind yeah, so yeah, it's quite interesting.

Speaker 6: 45:17

Hamish mentioned that the Bergey Arboretum is part of the Bergey house and the Bergey house is a huge estate that Hamish actually grew up in, and so it's super neat that we get to meet like the OG guy, right.

Speaker 2: 45:33

His ancestral home. If you will, it's really cool. Hundreds and hundreds of acres.

Speaker 6: 45:38

He no longer lives there. He's passed it down to his sons and they have now made it available to the public for folks to rent for. Family events or groups can stay there and enjoy the property. We got a private tour.

Speaker 2: 45:53

From the farm and estate manager herself Vary. Welcome to Berkey House. Come on in.

Speaker 11: 46:09

Welcome to Berkey House. Come on in.

Speaker 2: 46:16

So this is all the original house on your right, and then we'll go left first. So this is into one of the new wings.

Speaker 6: 46:20

Okay, so that wall hanging of four gongs yes Would that have been tea time and all that exactly, yes, wow, this house keeps going amazing okay, so akali is traditional school dancing.

Speaker 11: 46:36

Oh my god so if we have weddings, we get married in here. If we have yogurt, to use this room as a party room. We had a group of guests last time and had a lot of teenage children, so they set a table in here and it turned into their poker room.

Speaker 4: 46:56

So multi-purpose, whatever your imagination can come up with. Yep, yep, use this room.

Speaker 6: 47:03

After our awesome tour of the Bergie house, we were escorted to our lodging for the evening.

Speaker 2: 47:09

Yeah, we didn't stay in the Bergie house itself.

Speaker 6: 47:12

We stayed in the Bergie Woodland Lodges.

Speaker 2: 47:14

Yeah, totally cool, super fun.

Speaker 6: 47:16

They're new with all the modern amenities.

Speaker 2: 47:19

Including a hot tub.

Speaker 6: 47:21

Which was already heated and ready for us to just dive on in and enjoy.

Speaker 2: 47:25

Yeah so it was so great we enjoyed the hot tub before our dinner excursion that night which took us to the crown and anchor inn in findhorn it basically sits right on the water across.

Speaker 2: 47:37

It was so cool. When the tide goes out, all the boats are sitting on dry ground in so many places in scotland. It's really interesting. So we arrived there are all these pleasure craft and most of them are sitting on dry ground in so many places in Scotland. It's really interesting. So we arrived there are all these pleasure craft and most of them are sitting on dry ground. Well, very wet ground but the tide had gone out, but it was beautiful setting for dinner that night.

Speaker 6: 47:56

What's really fun is that they have a lot of vegan and gluten-free options, so if you eat weird, like me, there are, they can accommodate you. And for me, and for me, yeah, yeah, and and actually we found that through our whole experience I was like they even have vegan haggis on menus and you know things like that possible um? Mac and cheese was on pretty much every menu I think um yeah, every day mac and cheese is a big thing in Scotland.

Speaker 2: 48:20

it's not just on the menu, it's. It's like a main course on all the menus, right, really impressive menu as a main course on all the menus, right, really impressive.

Speaker 6: 48:26

It's on the menu as a main course.

Speaker 2: 48:26

My kind of place.

Speaker 6: 48:27

Right, so between the two of us. Our whole time in Scotland we had mac and cheese every night, every day, every day at some point. Oh yeah, and we found that the Scottish food portions are super big. Yeah, oh, yeah Like super big portions.

Speaker 2: 48:41

Did not finish.

Speaker 6: 48:42

So if you like to eat a lot, then Scotland is a really good place for you to come. That's a really good choice.

Speaker 2: 48:49

They have very large portions If you like to eat a lot and you really like mac and cheese. Yeah, no, actually the food there was really good.

Speaker 6: 48:56

The food was really good and of course I got my whole like vegan options and stuff for dinner.

Speaker 2: 49:05

Mine was delicious, of course. Well, and I was excited about the seafood options that night at the crown and anchor, and there's a dish I'd been seeing on all the menus in the area with a really funny name and you know, since rory is our resident cajun, who is the guy who's like, willing to just try everything give it to mike hey rory likes it.

Speaker 2: 49:23

It the dish is called Cullen Skink. I mean it doesn't. I mean, okay, it sounds really strange. It makes me think of skunk and stink combined. Right, that's skink. That is so skanky, skinky, cullen. But let me tell you, it's like a chowder, but made with fish. A really good chowder, really good chowder. A non-stinky sk.

Speaker 6: 49:45

really good chowder, really good chowder. A non-stinky skanky chowder, yeah no the name.

Speaker 2: 49:50

It turns out we learned that it is actually a dish that is native to the area. It's from the area, so you know I've gotta try it Right and it was awesome. I ordered the starter size and it was enough for a meal.

Speaker 6: 50:02

Because you know you're in Scotland.

Speaker 2: 50:04

Yeah Right, a meal, of course, of course.

Speaker 6: 50:09

Because we have to try as much as we can.

Speaker 2: 50:11

Yeah that's right. And of course the meal came with chips, you know.

Speaker 6: 50:15

And, of course, mac and cheese and fries.

Speaker 2: 50:16

Yeah, mac and cheese, sure Chips meaning.

Speaker 6: 50:18

That I had. I had mac and cheese too.

Speaker 8: 50:19

Fries, for you know us Americans Came with fries, oh right, right Chips and Muddy Speyside you've got to have the Cullen Skink.

Speaker 2: 50:31

It's really good. I highly highly recommend it Right there at the Crown and Anchor in Fendhorn and, of course, after dinner back to our private Bergie Woodland Lodge.

Speaker 6: 50:42

And the hot tub. Yeah, All right, y'all. We have so much more to share with you. We have one more day that was jam-packed full, but we are going to wrap up our first two days on this episode and we are going to share day three with you, on part two. And thanks to Visit Morispaceside for sponsoring this episode and for introducing us to so many new wonderful experiences. Thanks for joining us on this episode and for introducing us to so many new wonderful experiences. Thanks for joining us on this episode and we'll see you on the next one. We hope we've inspired you this episode.

Speaker 6: 51:30

So join us next time, please subscribe to rate and share our podcast with your friends or you know whomever? And please like and follow us on Instagram, youtube and Facebook.

Speaker 2: 51:39

We're also on X and on all social platforms. We are at TheRomies that's T-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S, and our main hub is our website.

Speaker 6: 51:51

At wwwtheromyscom, that's right, that's D-H-E. R-o-a-m. I-e-s dot com. We'll be there until next time.

Speaker 2: 52:00

Yeah, thanks for listening no-transcript no-transcript it was my favorite food day. Yeah, it was.

Speaker 6: 1:33:27

Like every meal was.

Speaker 2: 1:33:27

all the food was good, right, didn't we, Rory? It was my favorite food day.

Speaker 6: 1:33:29

Yeah, it was Like every meal was all the food was good, right, that we had, but like this day especially, just had some magic to it, I think. Yeah. And to top it off with your very, very, very favorite, the Old Mill Inn. Yeah, my favorite meal it was the Old Mill Inn had really good food they care highly about their food and the Scottish would think that they had smaller portions, but we kind of felt like they were just right.

Speaker 2: 1:33:54

It was plenty. Yeah, it was plenty. I got the venison steak. Amazing, they get their own venison, they prepare it their own way, they age it and all this kind of stuff all right there in house. It was fabulous, just I mean, you could cut it with a fork almost and I had this really unique dish and they were so accommodating.

Speaker 6: 1:34:15

it was already kind of a vegetarian dish, but they still also, like, tailored it to some of my weird taste and left, you know, customized it and it was so, so Everything was just pristine and I want to say like fancy.

Speaker 2: 1:34:35

And it was a little bit more of a fancy restaurant than the other ones we had been to.

Speaker 6: 1:34:40

Right, it still kind of has like a pub vibe, but like an elegant pub. It's not uptight yeah it's not uptight.

Speaker 2: 1:34:47

You go in and it's a little more of an elegant atmosphere and you have great food. So if you're looking for a quiet night, right and sort of it's, and they put it into an old pub. So if you're looking for a quiet night in a more of an elegant pub atmosphere.

Speaker 6: 1:35:01

Right, oh, and we had dessert. Oh y'all like we were Scottish again, Apparently, you know there was no haggis involved with the dessert. There was no haggis with the dessert, but apparently it's super Scottish to have this sticky toffee, I think is what they called it. Yeah, sticky toffee pudding or something, and so they do a gluten-free version, which generally makes it more moist, depending on your approach to gluten-free cooking, which theirs is spot on.

Speaker 6: 1:35:30

Man, they've thought about everything they do. I even liked it better than the chocolate that we also tried, and I love chocolate and the chocolate was amazing and so, like the sticky toffee was even, in our opinion, both even better, and we just felt so proud that, again, we were so scottish yeah, they work their recipes until they have them exactly like.

Speaker 2: 1:35:50

Yes, they take a lot of pride in their menu.

Speaker 6: 1:35:53

Yeah for sure, and that was such a great ending to have such a nice meal on a very last night in muddy space side. We had to catch a train to england the next morning. Uh, we stayed again at the bergy woodlandodges and enjoyed the hot tub one more time.

Speaker 2: 1:36:09

Yeah, it's great it's out in the countryside, it's quiet, such peaceful sleep. Plus, you know, like you said, they got the hot tub.

Speaker 6: 1:36:18

Yeah, so we hope you enjoyed hearing about our itinerary as much as we enjoyed experiencing it and when you book your next trip to scotland you must visit muddy space side, and so we are going to have all of the contact info that you need on our show notes for all of these things that we talked about. But you definitely want to visit muddyspacesidecom, so it is m-o-r-a-y-s-p-e-y-s-i-d-ecom for us americans it looks like wwwmorayspacesidecom and again.

Speaker 6: 1:37:06

We will have all of that in the show notes. So please visit the show notes so that you can go to all of the social links for each of the places we visited before we go, we have to answer our travel trivia questions.

Speaker 2: 1:37:19

We already answered the one which is the thistle is the national flower of which country? The answer to that was scotland, but we have yet to answer yours, which is what city is the host of the Fringe, the world's largest arts festival? The world's largest arts festival? That's a big one. The answer Edinburgh, or, as we say, edinburgh, and as it sounds like you hear them say Edinburgh, edinburgh, edinburgh, edinburgh.

Speaker 6: 1:37:52

We hope that we have inspired you to go visit Scotland. Experience something brand new, go off the beaten path.

Speaker 2: 1:37:59

You will not regret it. And, like we said, there is so much we didn't get to do, so much more to see and experience and do there.

Speaker 6: 1:38:08

We got our bucket list for next time.

Speaker 2: 1:38:09

Make sure you book your trip. As a matter of fact, right now you should go to MuddySpacesidecom and get started planning and booking your adventure in Muddy Spaceside, muddy Spaceside, muddy Spaceside, muddy Muddy, muddy, muddy Spaceside, muddy Spaceside, muddy Murray. Murray. Murray, murray, murray, murray, murray, murray, murray, Murray, murray Murray.