Mortal Kocktail! Pinball in Scotland

Today I lived my dream of playing pinball in Scotland!  Well my actual dream is to just play pinball, but I did it in Scotland today. The population of Edinburgh is approximately 550K and there are 13 documented pinball machines in the city. That makes the pinball machine per capita here in Edinburgh 1 machine for every 42,307, not good, but way better than London. 

Our pinball location of choice today is Mortal Kocktail, a video game themed bar. Mortal Kocktail is in a narrow alley in old town Edinburgh. It claimed to open at noon on Saturday but that was a lie. We got there right at noon. And it was still dark so we took a walk yo look for a cash machine and after failing to get cash we turned at about 12:20 and it was just opening.   

We hung out at the bar while the bartender turned on the pinball machines and pulled the chairs off the tables. I ordered a beer and Donna got a cider and we were sold 20 pound coins, which was nice. 

They had 6 machines were crammed into a place for 5. They were head to head with no room between. 

The games were 3 for 2 pounds here too, just like in London. They had Addams Family, Jurassic Park (Data East), Playboy (Stern), Game of Thrones (LE), Ghostbusters (Pro), and Uncanny X-Men (Pro). The machines mostly played well.

The arcade side had a handful of games as well. 

The beer selection was good and the vibe at noon was cool. A few others wondered in for beers after us. If you are in the area, check it out. 

Glenkinchie Flavour & Cask Experience

Today we rode a couple local busses for about an hour and 20 minutes and ended up at The Glenkinchie distillery. We had a cask and tasting tour booked and it ended up being a private tour (a noon tour on a Thursday on the first day of spring isn't in high demand I guess).  

The bus trip took us though beautiful countryside. It wasn't the fastest way to get there but it was enjoyable. 

Johnny Walker has been using Glenkinchie Scotch in their blends for over 100 years and now they are owned by the parent company of Johnny Walker like many of the distilleries in the area. 

we got to see a scale model of the distilling process. This model actually distilled whiskey during some fair in the 20s IIRC.  

Donna inspects the mill of the malted barley. We have been on many distillery and brewery tours and learn a few things each time. Today we learned that how finely the barley is milled affects the final product. 

This is where the fermentation happens.

The other thing we learned is that the yeast continues to change the flavor profile even after it is dead. Here, our guide Pascal, discusses the flavor profiles that happen as the yeast breaks down after it's death. 

The ageing barrels aren't stored here but they did have a few for display purposes as well as these four for us. Pascal uncorked them and allowed is to smell them. He talked about how Scotch can use all kinds of barrels and they each impart a different flavor. Next we were given a chance to thieve our own dram of whiskey!

At the end of our tour we were able to taste a selection of their whiskeys and a Johnny Walker.

It was a super tour. 

On a Train to Edinburgh

Today we checked out of our Hotel in the Kensington area of London and are heading to Edinburgh via LUMO or LNER. We booked LNER but ended up on a LUMO train. 

We caught the tube to Kings Cross Station. The station is very cool looking and large. There is a Harry Potter store here and you have to wait in line to get in. You can take a photo at Platform 9 3/4.  

Our train leaves at 10:15am and arrives in Edinburgh at 2:35pm. Our trip is about 4h15m and driving would take 7h45m. We are currently cruising along at 123 mph. 

Its novel to take a train and actually have it be faster and cheaper than driving. I think our tickets one way were about $45 each. 

During our trip we got a welcomed visit from the passenger sitting in front of us. They let us pat their head and scratch their neck. 

During our journey we experienced some delays due to something getting caught in the overhead power lines. When we arrived in Newcastle, we were about 32 minutes late, which by US standards is great, but here in England, if the train is 30 - 59 minutes late you get 50% of your fare back and if it is an hour or more late you get 100% of your fare back. We were going to Edinburgh so if the train could make back a bit of time we would be late but wouldn't get any of our fare back. It turns out they didn't make up time and we were 36 minutes late. When we got to the hotel I went through the process of applying for our refund. 

Even with the delay we averaged 81 MPH over the 395 mile journey. 

Edinburgh Station!  Our time in Edinburgh starts now. 

Pinball in London

London is home to 9.1 million people and around 57 pinball machines. That's one machine for every 178,431 people. That isn't a very good ratio. There is a pinball club with 76 machines just outside of London but still, that isn't very many for the size of this city.

Today we went to Chief Coffee, a coffee shop with 9 pinball machines in their basement. 

Their coffee was great and they even gave us a cash back option so we got pound coins without needing to go to am ATM. Games were 1 for a pound or 3 for two pounds. We went with the 3 for 2 option and spent the morning drinking coffee and playing pinball. 

They had a great selection of machines available;

King Kong Premium 

Godzilla Pro

James Bond 007 Premium 

Elvira House of Horrors Premium 

Theater of Magic 

Cactus Canyon OG

Monster Bash OG

Medieval Madness OG

Ghostbusters Pro

It was a great place to play and if you are in the area,. you should check it out. Also, London, step up your Pinball game!  

Donna is Art

Today Donna participated in an art display at the Tate Modern. She did this for 60 seconds.