A couple of years ago our châtelaine, Nicole, her cousin, our friend Belinda and I hopped on a plane for a girls' trip to Scotland. Recently I came across my photos of the trip. And sifting through them, I was reminded of this: the Scots have a twinkle in their eye. Quirky customs and a cheeky sense of humor are in full display. See the photo of the weather forecasting station above, for the perfect example, which we spotted on a fence in a scotch distillery we visited.
The Scots are friendly, funny, no-nonsense sorts of folks. And I guess you need a sense of humor to live in a place with weather that we might politely call, frickin' freezing. We had the good fortune to have sunny, 70 degree days during most of our visit, but we were repeatedly told that we were lucky to have arrived during the "three days of Scottish summer." And walking along the North Sea in Saint Andrews was about as bone chilling as a June day can get.
Really, though, Scotland should be on your bucket list. It’s a wild and gorgeous country. And, as I hope my photos will show you, the Scots aim to make you smile.
The name of this restaurant says it all, and simply.
"True Scotsman" is the term used for a Scot wearing a kilt with nothing under it. And kilts are everywhere...
...Including on this apron for the ladies. Note the sign says, "Men's version also available." Wonder what that looks like?
A fanciful garden gnome
I will take a pass on the" fish tea" (though, as it turns out, it means fish and chips with a pot of tea and buttered bread so you can make a 'chip butty', which is a fish sandwich).
LOL
We stood on this very spot on the Loch Ness, and looked (in vain) for Nessie
We spotted this cow on a street in Edinburgh. But where was the other half?
It was right around the corner, on Cowgate street.
The decor in a Scottish castle, oh my.
Whimsy in a bakery shop window.
They have some funny looking cows. That's Nicole keeping one of the friendly and hairy Highland cows at bay.
A see-through building on the North Sea.
They take their baked potatoes very seriously.
Haggis is defined as "a Scottish dish consisting of a sheep's or calf's offal mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning and boiled in a bag made from the animal's stomach". You've got to wonder about a country that would bake this up in a pie.
A Scottish dog, with lion-sized delusions of grandeur.
A peacock joined us at the table next to us at lunch.
In the COMMENTS:Julie, that sounds like the perfect French day. And Carolyn, too, has a very poetic description of market day in Beaune. Susan J, I’ve never been to Mexico but it sounds like I need to visit. Paula, I love the description, “la douceur de la vie”. To Parisbreakfast, it’s true the American chains are stealthily invading France, but they are (so far) not nearly so numerous as in the States, and even fewer are in the French countryside. Tom, I’ve also found it to be true that there are lots of social gatherings in the countryside—and they can be quite long, the French love to bavarder! Nathalie, bonjour à vous, Tino et Titi.
