I am back to talking about one of my biggest passions, travel. In the last blog I shared five more countries in Europe I loved visiting. Let’s go deeper with the first country – Scotland. Now I know some of you are thinking Scotland is not a country. I’m going to say the same thing here that I did in the last one, do not tell the Scots that when you visit their country. For heaven’s sake do not call the Scots English.
Reason #1 – Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. Kim and I just spent some time there and had an amazing adventure exploring all over Edinburgh. I’m going to shoot another video where I go into much greater detail about why I love Edinburgh. For this blog, I’ll simply say Edinburgh has amazing architecture, wonderful sites like the castle you see below, and plenty of pubs. There are many things to see and do here. For most European countries the best way to start your adventure is in the capital city. That’s certainly true for Scotland.
Reason #2 – Scottish Culture
Scotland has a very distinctive culture that the people are proud of. They should be. In the picture below you see a few examples such as tartans. We call it plaid in the US. There are also kilts as well as bagpipes. They have unique foods like haggis along with a lot of other cultural distinctions. To quote the great comedian, Mike Myers, “It’s either Scottish or it’s crap”.
Reason #3 – whisky
You have to live under a rock if you’ve never heard of Scotch. It is made exclusively in Scotland. The best way to sample and learn about it is to go to Scotland yourself. Like me, you’ll realize there are all kinds of different tastes and distilleries. There is something for everyone. In Scottish culture, it’s an insult if you do not sample before buying a bottle. My kind of people. Let’s all agree there’s no better way to end the day than with a little whisky.
Reason #4 – Sites in Scotland
There is so much to see and do all over this wonderful country. If you like castles go to Scotland. It has some great ones. Do you play golf? The Scotts invented the game. Visit St Andrews and play a round of golf there for a life-changing experience. All you Harry Potter book and movie fans get to Scotland. They have special-themed tours to show you those locations. If you’re a fan of the TV series Outlander – get to Scotland. Once again they have special tours that’ll show you where it was filmed. And let’s not forget the Loch Ness Monster. It lives in Scotland.
Reason #5 – Natural beauty
During college, I had the opportunity to spend several weeks in Scotland going all around. There is so much natural beauty all over this country. Scotland is well known for its green rolling hills, and lakes as well as many islands that people can explore. It has several great places to go hiking or walk around and take it all in. There’s a reason so many TV shows and movies are filmed in Scotland – it’s beautiful.
One thing I do not like about this country
Let’s be honest it’s not all sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns in Scotland. There are things I don’t like about it. I will share one thing I don’t like about Scotland. This one is super easy – the weather sucks. It rains a lot. The reason things are so green is everything gets watered consistently. You will rarely have a full day that is all sunshine in this country. Even the Scots will tell you that. Of course, they also say there’s no such thing as bad weather in Scotland only inappropriate clothing. Which is true. I took what I thought was a suitable rain jacket with me to Scotland when Kim and I went. It could not match up to the Scottish weather. Here is a helpful hint – if you didn’t bring the appropriate clothing go shopping while you’re there. I got a killer deal on a nice Barbour raincoat in Edinburgh.
Three of my favorite things in Scotland
- Favorite city – Edinburgh. In the next blog, I’ll explain more about the capital city.
- Favorite site – Sterling Castle. This is one of the places that the Scots defeated the English on the field of battle.
- People – Scots are awesome.
I am Doug Keating and this is my letter to my sons.