What's over there?
As Melanie and I traveled around the U.K. over the last two and a half months, many people, after we tell them we’ve sold everything and are traveling the world, have said things like:
“That is so cool!”
“I wish I could do that.”
Most people have had quite positive reactions.
But occasionally someone will ask, “Don’t you miss your home?”
Continue reading “Don’t you miss your home?”
UNITED KINGDOM – Back home in Washington state, one of my favorite beers has been “Scotch Ale” from Bellingham’s Boundary Bay Brewery. Another favorite (which seems to be no longer available) was Jenny’s Scotch Ale from the Skagit River Brewery in Mount Vernon. Both are quite sweet, with just enough hops to add body, but not so much that they cross over into “bitter beer” territory.
So when Melanie and I set out to visit Scotland, I looked forward to drinking a lot of similar brews. After all, where else would one expect to find real Scotch ale?
Continue reading “Desperately seeking ‘real’ Scotch ale”
UNITED KINGDOM – We’ve been traveling around the United Kingdom for just over two months now, and I have to say…
And thank God for decimal-denominated money.
Luckily for us, we haven’t had to deal with guineas, crowns, shillings, farthings or any other extinct denominations of British money. Continue reading “Pounds, pence, meaty money and more”
We were treated to an outdoor performance by the Kirkwall Pipe Band during our July visit to Orkney Island.
The pipers were good, but the drummers had some impressive moves of their own.
Check out our new video on YouTube.
Are you impressed too?
SCOTLAND – One of my most curious first impressions of Scotland was the so-called “Full Scottish Breakfast.”
The ‘full Scottish’ includes such typical morning fare as smoked bacon (mostly meat, unlike American bacon where it’s mostly fat), a savory link sausage, a fried egg (just one) and toast (white or brown).
Uniquely Scottish additions to the menu include a wedge of potato scone (more like a potato pancake than the scone I’m familiar with in the States), a slice of black pudding (another type of sausage – very salty – made from pork fat or beef suet, pork blood and oatmeal or barley), sautéed mushrooms, a couple of grilled tomato halves, and finally…
Continue reading “Baked beans for breakfast… and other quirks of Scottish cuisine”