Scotland, Day 16: Breakfast at The Pantry, Drams at Bow Bar, the World of Harry Potter at Museum Context, MinaLima, Exploring Dunbars Close, Drinks at Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Queens Street), Anniversary Dinner at the Scran and Scallie

September 12, 2025

To start the day we trekked a ways over The Pantry for breakfast (just between Old Town and Stockbridge).

Nearby, Royal Circus: a collection of circular, joined houses (with their own private gardens).

Cutting edge technology. See what I did there? It’s funny because… oh, nevermind.

Walking our way towards the Royal Mile.

Briefly passing by Ensign Ewart (previously). Alas, it was too crowded for us to pop in.

Along Victoria Street, we stopped in at the Bow Bar for a drink and some lunch.

A nice selection of whisky.

As a kind of callback to our second day in Scotland (Glencoe), we both decided on drams from Lady of the Glen.

Liz had a 11 Year Bunnahabhain (aged in an Oloroso Butt). I had a 13 Year Longmorn (aged in a Refill Butt, finished in a 1st fill PX Hogshead).

While we were sitting with our drams, there were two women next to us – and one of them remarked that she also loved Darlingside (I was wearing their t-shirt). Small world!

Outside, the buildings looking colorful despite the rain.

Waiting in line at Museum Context.

There was a young woman whose sole job was to keep a count of all the people coming in/out. I’m guessing this was for safety and to manage crowd capacity. There was a decent line, outside.

While I’ve read a good number of the books, I’m not a huge fan. That said, there is a part of me that wanted to collect every single one of these wands. Because they just look so cool.

Staircase up to two other floors.

I understand that it’s a very popular franchise. But at a certain point, some of the merchandising just gets a little ridiculous.

To be clear, I did end up purchasing the Chocolate Frog Candy Glass Jar. But I kept it contained, and only got three of them.

Back outside, mingling with the Muggles.

A statue of Dr. George Rae, Edinburgh’s Plague Doctor. Note: this was a recently installed statue by the company that provides tours of Mary King’s Close.

Liz researched and found MinaLima. Designers Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima worked together on the Harry Potter film series, and eventually opened their own design studio in 2009.

A brief stop for lunch. The meal was unremarkable, but this spot reminded me a lot of the many galleries in Paris.

Stopping in at Cadenhead, to browse.

One fun thing I learned (but didn’t get to taste): Cadenhead has a bottling that was apparently finished in a Vermouth cask. Which sounded really interesting and really terrible, in equal measure.

A bit more of a walk led us to Dunbar’s Close.

This was a lovely, secluded little garden. While there were a few others in the area, we very much felt like we had this place to ourselves.

Outside the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Queen Street location.

At the entrance, waiting to be seated.

I have to say – this was a big moment for us. The last time we were here, we were not familiar with independent bottlers, and hadn’t tried any Society bottles. Our experience here was really something – we loved it so much, we were nearly convinced to become members right then and there.

For me, this was my introduction to cask strength and independent bottlers. And I remember just being floored at how much we liked each dram.

So to be back here, after four years… as official members. And as people who have tasted more than their fair share of Society whisky… it felt nice.

Upstairs, in the members area (the rest of the space is actually more impressive).

Liz, looking lovely in front of a collection of older bottles/samples.

One great thing about the Society outturns – the silly names that are given to each bottle. Unfortunately for us in the US, the naming ends up different due to our strict laws around consumable items. That is – a product needs to actually contain the thing, if it’s mentioned in a title.

So a bottled named “Chocolate at High Noon in the Desert,” if sold in the US, would actually have to contain some chocolate. Boo.

Some more fun names.

On our walk to dinner (we did a lot of walking today), we were back where we started this morning. Just a bit further, past where we had breakfast.

Today is our wedding anniversary. It’s been four years since we last ate at the Scran and Scallie… but Liz still raves about the fish she had that night.

So it was fitting for us to have our big dinner here, tonight.

A fun little thing. As we were celebrating our anniversary, we asked our server if there was anyone else also celebrating an anniversary. As it turned out, we learned there was a wedding party at the front of the restaurant.

We decided to pay for their dessert, as a kind of surprise. As we were finishing up, our server asked if we wanted to meet the wedding party, as the couple was grateful for the gesture.

Liz and I thought about it briefly, and then declined and decided to duck out. It was more about the moment, and less about us, is what it felt like.

Still – I couldn’t help myself. And tried to sneak a quick photo of the group, once we were outside.

And as a final note: it’s been four years since we had an Anniversary dinner in Scotland. And every year since then, on this day, I’ve thought about Ian and Susan. And I do very much hope they are both doing well, and also celebrating… wherever they are tonight.