One Hell of a Trip

I upset a few folks when I cuss in the title. ....They just don't know me I guess? And that the " Cuss Porch" was a real place. And many of you visited it....On a regular basis.

If you ever have the opportunity in your life.

Visit Scotland.

I'm not talking about Edinburgh.....Or that "White Trash" toilet Glasgow.....We never were south of St. Andrews this past trip. ( Fife for those playing at home)

Oh, go to Edinburgh, it is the traditional "major" and historic city, but we stayed this time in the Highlands. But we've been to Edinburgh before...

Wow, just wow.

It was a combination of Arkansas mountains, Colorado mountains, Northern Idaho mountains at various times.

It is gorgeous. No other word, gorgeous.

There is so much there, so much to see. It is simply amazing.

Castles, historical battle sites, sea coasts, mountains, small towns that look like they came out of Victorian Britain( they did)...and really, really cool islands off the Western coast.

The food is so close to what we eat. Yes, they serve haggis for breakfast, you can get haggis burgers, they even stuff it into chicken breasts. ( Haggis: a Scottish dish consisting of a sheep's or calf's offal mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning and boiled in a bag, traditionally one made from the animal's stomach. Offal...is liver, sweetbreads, heart, lung)

I will fight you for haggis. And haggis is illegal in America. (You can't import at food made with sheep lung to America.)

Haggis is tasty. I ate it almost every morning with my " Full Scottish Breakfast." ( grease fried eggs, bacon, sausages, black pudding, haggis, Heinz beans, tomato, potato tattie, heavy buttered toast....It is a salute to cholesterol....It is great.)
( Black Pudding? Black pudding is a type of blood sausage originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made from pork blood, with pork fat or beef suet, and a cereal, usually oatmeal, oat groats or barley groats.)

I will also fight you for black pudding. 

It is a wonder my 62 year old body did not say " enough" and I just killed over....I would have died happy.

You eat at pubs. British pubs are what Chili's, Appleby's, TGI Friday's, etc, etc are based upon. Except, pubs are generally locally owned. Each has a different flair.

But most food on the menu was what you would recognize.....fish and chips( fried fish and fried potatoes), a chicken or beef pot pie, steaks, burgers, pasta, a curry( it is Britain)

Yes, I drank tea like I was British for breakfast, Deb had coffee.

And I may or may not have had a pint or two while eating my evening meals. ( Try the local brews. I found an ale from the Orkney Islands I loved.)

We visited whisky distilleries. They are all over Scotland. You can't drive 10 miles with finding one on the eastern section of the country. Might have taken a dram or two...Or not....

We visited St Andrew's University and the Cathedral ruins in that city. St Andrew's University was only founded in 1413.

We were amazed at the amount of Chinese in Scotland. On the Isle of Skye, we ate supper one evening at a " specialty" restaurant with only 12 tables. 5 of the tables were all Chinese. We had Langostino for supper that night, might have been the best evening meal.

If you go anyplace, rent a car. yes you drive on the left, but you adapt quickly. The wheel is on the right side of the car.  Yes, we had a BMW sports car. Yes, hell for the old Govteach to get in and out of, but was just what the roads in Scotland needed. Most curved roads in the world, and the BMW hugged the curves like no one's business. As Bryant Long said, " BMW's are made to be driven." Yes they are....

Scotland, especially in the west, is full of one lane roads. You had cut-outs to pull over to let people pass.  It was scary, especially when there was a 500 foot drop to your left when you pulled over, and an 18 wheeler was going by you...I planned to see Jesus at many points.

If you go, travel to Glen Coe ( Not to be confused with Glynco, the US Marshal's training site)  gorgeous drive, ending in the city of Ft. William. Mountains, mountains, you'll swear you are in the Rockies.

Do, the Isle of Mull. I loved Mull, even priced real estate there.  Most diverse landscape ever. If you got to Mull, take a ferry to Iona, see Fingal's Cave. ( Yes, Miss Vicki, we played Fingal's Cave at Vidor)

Could we understand the Scots? Yes, I could. even those with the thick, thick accent. And sadly, I hammed it up and the East Texas accent came out when I talked to them...You can take the boy outta  East Texas, but you can't take the East Texas outta the boy. 

Scotland? Love it. If EVER have the chance, go....

Our next trip?

Jew World....AKA Israel, Holy Land.....My wife needs to make her pilgrimage, crusade,  to Jerusalem.( I still think when Jesus returns, he's coming to East Texas first....Some nit-wit will write me an ugly note for that statement)....She's taken me to the UK 3 times in the last 5 years....

It's her turn. ( That said, she LOVED Scotland, she has ancestry roots there too.)

More later.....