What's over there?
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”
SCOTLAND – When we arrived in Edinburgh in June we were impressed by how many stone buildings there were all over the city. Not just the castles, but public buildings, private homes, storefronts, monuments and more.
You also see stone walls everywhere in Scotland… along every street and roadway, enclosing individual yards and gardens, and around every field and pasture. Stones, stones and more stones.
Continue reading “Stone buildings are everywhere in Scotland”
NEAR ORKNEY ISLAND, SCOTLAND – Right now I’m traveling with a white-knuckled husband who is gritting his teeth. No, I’m not talking about my driving. We are, in fact, riding in a very comfortable express bus from the Orkney Islands along the mainland coast of Scotland to Inverness, still a 3-hour trip once we are off the ferry.
It is a fantastically beautiful sunny morning. The rugged coastline is exquisitely lit up, with shadows in just the right places. There are sheep and cows posing in the fields, traditional thatched roof barns right next to the road, and all other sorts of daily life things that hold your eyes in wonder.
Continue reading “Scotland’s exquisitely beautiful coastline”
KIRKCALDY, SCOTLAND – Washing dishes with FAIRY liquid.
Yep, that is what we have here in Scotland. FAIRY brand washing up liquid (dish soap to us Americans), “By appointment to Her Majesty the Queen” (It says so right on the label).
And it works great – like magic (I am assuming). I bet it used to have a picture of a fairy right on the label.
It took me a few days to think this through. It was so odd to me to find a commercial product named “FAIRY.” Where is the strength in that?
Continue reading “Fairies and Unicorns in Scotland? Of course!”