Maggie's Farm

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Saturday, June 3. 2017

Godforsaken places

They sent us a packing list for our upcoming hiking expedition in the Outer Hebrides, between Scotland and Iceland, where it is chilly with some rain almost daily in June. Wilderness Scotland.  Hiking poles? You betcha. It's rocky hills and marshy dells for 6-7 hour daily marches. If the daily reward is a little whiskey, I am game.


Mrs. BD has a thing about remote islands. Always has. And I am a pretty good sport even though generally I am more content working than traveling: Happy wife, happy life.


Few people live out there anymore. Those with any sense came to America generations ago. So did Trump's mother, who was a poor girl from Stornoway 

Posted by Bird Dog in Travelogues and Travel Ideas at 13:55 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

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No slacking on those lectionaries now, bd. Blessed are the leisure jetsetters for they shall see great sights.
#1 Ten on 2017-06-04 02:44 (Reply)
Remote islands, avoid Pacific atolls. I was just checking out Funafuti in wiki, having just reached it with ham radio and wondering where it was.
#2 rhhardin (Link) on 2017-06-04 08:06 (Reply)
There is nothing Godforsaken about the Hebrides. If anything they are especially blessed by God. Wonderful people, fantastic rich history and breathtaking scenery. I'm always stuck by the relative empty spaces where you might not see another person all day. Being from Florida were happy with the cool, drizzly weather and fragrant turf fires in the evening.

These days the single malt is pretty much fake. Mostly distilled in Edinburgh or even England then shipped back to the distillers for sale to tourist. The peat flavor now comes out of a lab rather than from peat smoke. Finally, if you have to bring whiskey home with you wait until you get to Heathrow and buy it from one of the shops there. It's cheaper, duty free and the airlines don't charge for it.
#3 Frp on 2017-06-04 09:36 (Reply)
Might I be somewhat pedantic and note that the only whiskey you'll find in Scotland will be the Irish or bourbon kind.

Scotch is always spelled whisky.
#4 JJM on 2017-06-04 17:21 (Reply)
thanks for correcting
#4.1 Bird Dog on 2017-06-05 07:14 (Reply)
I see JJM has already flagged the critical flaw in your message. When in Scotland (and environs) you will sip whisky, not whiskey. And, contrary to Frp's warning, I'm pretty sure all the pricier Islay malts are peaty from the source. Regrettably, the duty-free at Heathrow doesn't see fit to market the very best of the Islays - I've never yet seen Lagavulin and Caol Ila among the offerings.
#5 future landfill on 2017-06-04 22:23 (Reply)
THE WILDERNESS SCOTLAND LINK DO NOT RENDER.
PLEASE FIX.
#6 Sun Zeneise on 2017-06-06 16:06 (Reply)

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