Whisky

The Isle of Islay was all about whisky. (And no, "whisky" isn't spelled incorrectly, even though Blogger is underlining it with a red line for me. Whisky is spelled without an 'e' when it comes from Scotland and with an 'e' when it comes from Ireland or the US.) It just so happens that Islay produces DSH's favorite kind of whisky and there are eight different distilleries on the island (an island, btw, so small that only about 3,500 people live there). Although I like whisky, Islay whiskies are too peaty and/or smoky and/or medicinal for me, so I was glad to play DD and just take pictures everywhere we went.


Actually, my first shot of the day made me very happy. Why? Well, only because I got a picture of something I really, really wanted to get a picture of while in Scotland.

It's a Highland cow! And they're not at all like the shy sheep that run away from you. This guy and about five of his friends came right over to the fence we were standing at to say hi. I think they probably thought we had food for them (we didn't), but at least we got some pictures out of it.


So of those eight distilleries, we went to six of them over two days, some of them twice. They all have a very distinct look about them and it's one that I happen to find very photograph-able (uh, easy to photograph may be a better word choice? lol). The walls of the buildings are whitewashed and the distillery is always on water. We got a great weather day, too, so I ended up with lots of shots with bold color - whitewashed buildings, lush green grass, and crystal blue water. Here's just a taste of what I mean:

Being on Islay was fun, but we were really looking forward to seeing Skye - we'd heard it was one of the most beautiful places on the planet. If only we'd known how intense the trip would've been, we could have prepared a bit better...