What in god's name does the dog have in its mouth?

Scotland

Having completed a week in Ireland which saw us drive south from Dublin, along the east coast and up the west coast we felt that we had had enough. Ireland is really charming but seemed to be lacking 'Irishness'.

Over the last 10 years the country had been riding high on goodwill and property speculation and has now hit the wall harder than most. With local and European parliament elections coming up the roadsides are covered in election posters and the airwaves are filled with commentators lamenting the state of the economy. Throughout the countryside we pass large suburban style homes that seem to be vacation homes for expats or Europeans. Since they are miles from any sort of industry or city they certainly aren't for the working class.

Of course everywhere in Ireland there are old monasteries and churches. Old walls and narrow lane ways but it somehow seems like we are still in Europe.

We flew from Dublin to Glasgow, rented a car and explored Scotland. Now here was some serious character. From the castles dotting the landscape to the single malt sold in the pubs it was really what I imagined. Up in the highlands there was still some snow on the hills (they call them mountains but by BC standards they are just big hills) and vast landscapes with nothing but grass. In the lowlands the hills are filled with sheep but the rolling nature of the landscape makes it anything but boring. At least here some of the roads are over 10 feet wide so the driving is not too bad. (For me at least - Lana's fingerprints are now embedded in the dashboard of the rental car).

I even visited the distillery of the best whiskey on the planet - the Macallan. Not as well known as some of the other single malts even the distillery is somewhat hidden in the hills. The other ones like Glenliviet have big signs on the road but you have to look for the home of Macallan. I couldn't even get on a tour since they only take 10 at a time but at least they gave me some whiskey. (the 10 year old from the sherry oak casks - if you are interested). Now at least I am content with my life - no other mountains to climb now.

Edinburgh was great but the lack of hotel rooms (due to the rugby championships) limited our time there. We mostly stayed in B&B's and have gotten used to massive Scottish breakfasts with eggs, sausage, toast, cereal and slabs of bacon. One night we stayed in a farm B&B since we couldn't find any other spot near Edinburgh. Turned out to be the best place that we stayed the whole trip.

Big fluffy beds, our own bathroom, green landscapes out of an 18th century painting and even a friendly Labrador retriever to come and lay its head on your lap. I spent part of the afternoon watching another guest trying to fly fish the small pond next the house while the cattle mooed in the nearby fields. Guess he didn't want to try for the salmon in the small river below.

Guess you can tell that we really liked Scotland.

Oh and the dog. I was in the house with the owner and we saw the dog happily trotting by with what appeared to be the leg of a calf. The owner's face went white and he dashed out the door. Guess there were some cows calving in the next field and one of them was still born. Nothing like the country life.