We flew from Santa Barbara to Edinburgh over Thanksgiving by way of Seattle and London. Our son…read morelives in Edinburgh and the last 2 times we have visited him, British Airways has lost our luggage. One time, we didn't get it back until 3 weeks later, just a few days before our departure. The luggage sitch in EDI is an utter nightmare, and has been the subject of numerous travel articles I've read.
So, this trip, I was ready for it and had bought and tucked some Apple AirTags into our check-in bags.
I noticed when we departed Seattle that it looked like hubby's luggage was still in Seattle, while mine was clearly on the plane. I mentioned it to him, but he wasn't concerned, saying the app was not updating or some such other techno BS.
Hours later, over the polar cap, I noticed his bag was still in Seattle, while mine was in the plane and suggested again that his bag was "lost" in Seattle. Nah, he replied. The software wasn't working properly.
Now, hubby is a senior software developer and he spent a good chunk of his career as an Apple developer. So, this guy was telling me that the tech wasn't working on an Apple product? Ha!
So, I wagered a friendly bet and we shook on it. If his luggage was on the plane and not lost in Seattle, I would treat him to whatever he wanted to do in Edinburgh. But, if his luggage was lost in Seattle as I believed and the AirTag indicated, then he would owe me a whisky tour of Edinburgh, something I've always wanted to do.
Hours later we landed in London and could clearly see my bag was with us and his was in Seattle, but the BA desk could not confirm that and hubby stuck to his guns that the software wasn't working properly. Meanwhile, I was planning my whisky tour!
Well, you can guess the next part. One short flight to Edinburgh and we arrived on a cold, wet night and guess whose bag didn't make it? And guess who won her whisky tour bet?!!!
I'm not really much for organized tours, so I decided to create my own whisky tour and it was fabulous! Here's how it worked...
Having had a major foot surgery about 6 months before the trip, I would periodically have some foot pain, what with all the cobblestones and hills in Edinburgh. Whenever that happened, we would stop into a pub and ask the bartender to give me a double shot of his or her favorite, smoothest peaty scotch whisky, along with some sparkling water. I ignored the smirks I got over the sparkling water, which a Scot would NEVER put in their whisky, and I wound up drinking some wonderful whisky that way and learned a lot about them from the bartenders!
At one stop, the bartender met with my request by serving me Raasay, which was hands down the best scotch whisky I had on my self-directed whisky tour!. The Raasay is produced and distilled on the Isle of Raasay. It is a single malt, lightly peated scotch whiskey, balanced with rich, dark fruity flavors.
A few days before we left Scotland, I began the search for where I could buy the Raasay batch RO2.1 to take home with me. I tried a few places, but they either didn't carry Raasay or didn't have the same batch.
That is, until I walked into Royal Mile Whiskies. Not only did they carry the Raasay, but they had the right batch. They also offered me another similar whisky to sample that they thought I might like, and I did, so I bought that one too!
It was an easy transaction and they beautifully packed up my whisky purchases in bubble bags to fit safely in my luggage all the way back to CA! Also, I noticed the price I paid was the same as Raasay has on their website and was not more expensive just because I bought it on the Royal Mile.
I got home with unbroken whisky in my luggage and have enjoyed the heck out of it. Next time I'm back in Edinburgh, I'll be stopping in for more Raasay and whisky recommendations from the knowledgeable and very accommodating staff.
It remains to be seen if hubby will wager an AirTag bet with me again, but here's hoping!