Big Jim's Visit to Scotland

[Sylvia]

Just received this in my personal box from Big Jim

I was in Scotland from Aug 2nd until Aug 10th. It is a beautiful country, warm and friendly people, and great food! Travelled to several cities and historic sites. The Glenlivit distillery was great, with a wee dram of a sample at the end of the tour. Glasgow and Endinburg were fantastic, as was St. Andrews, lots of architecturally beautiful buildings. The castle is a must see as well as the parade and show that is put on from 9pm till 1030 during the celebration they have this time of year. I loved eating at the pubs and eating the everyday food the locals have. That is what I love about going to another country, savor the local flavors, I can get KFC and Pizza Hut here. Sheppard's Pie, Scotch Eggs, Toad in the Hole, Bubble and Squeek, Haggis, to name a few are great dining experiances. August is cool in Scotland, so layer your clothing as it will start out chilly, warm up, then end chilly. 60s during the day, sometimes up to the low 70s, will rain occasionally, and 50s, sometimes 40s at night. Perfect touring weather. Wish I could go back on a regular basis as it is one country I will long remember as one of the best countries I have visited.
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Jim seems to have had a great time, haste ye back Big Jim

Sylvia446

[Sylvia]

Hi Jim,

I gather by your follow up emails that you like proper Scottish Porridge. My Edinburgh site is unlocked now, so if you want to add anything to the site I would be delighted to hear your views of our capital. I haven't been all the way into Edinburgh for a couple of months, but I believe the new tram car system that is being installed is causing havoc. A lot of businesses are moving out to the outskirts as the chaos is causing big losses on top of an already difficult financial time. It may be selfish of me but my tropical fish supplier who was in Leith Walk is in the process of moving to Tranent - about 4 miles from my front door. Great!

Loved the meatloaf recipe, you wouldn't get a lot of that when you were in Scotland. You should share it with all our readers.

Thanks for taking the time to update us all. Don't be a stranger to the message boards.

Sylvia446

[suehorne5892]

Hi Jim - how wonderful that you got to visit Scotland!! Can you share more about the foods and the tour? Can you share some pictures? I am envious of your trip...I would love to go as well and would especially love to meet our "Sylvia446"

[bigjim1]

Sylvia, let me know how to get to the Edinburgh site. I was impressed with Edinburgh, even more so than Glasgow. The architecture of all the buildings that have been preserved is fantastic. The variety of shops, pubs, and restaurants makes it a world class city. Didn't use the tram car system, after Globus dropped us off for our free-time, we just walked everywhere. I don't know how the businesses are doing the rest of the year, but during this time of all the events in Edinburgh, with all the tourist and visitors, I hope they did very well.

[bigjim1]

The tour I took was with a company called Globus. Have used them before, a few years ago when we went to England. Had a very good experiance with them then and they did not let us down this time either. We flew from the States to Glasgow, then toured to the Isle of Skye, from there to Inverness, which reminds me, one of the places we visited was the Glenlivit distillery, great tour with a sample at the end, Perth, St. Andrews, where we hit a few golf balls, Edinburgh then back to Glasgow to fly out. We saw a cotton and woolen textile mill, several palaces, including Scone Palace, Balmoral Castle. Among the other places was Mary Queen of Scots bathouse, the castle she was kept prisoner in on an island, Hollyrood Castle, Edingburgh Castle, and of course toured the cities themselves. We ate at the hotels we stayed at for breakfast and supper. Lunch was on the road or at a tour stop that we bought ourselves. The accomodations were first rate as well as the food. A typical breakfast was buffet style and was usually composed of oatmeal, scrambled eggs, haggis, various sausages, fried potatoes, baked tomatoes, sliced meats and cheeses, cold cereals, coffee, hot tea, milk, juices, toast, scones, muffins, cooked mushrooms, and I am sure I missed something. And numerous choices for supper, we had the Scottish salmon every chance we got, it was usually prepared in different ways and was always fresh, moist, and delicious! As for the photos, they are all on 35mm film. Guess I could figure out a way to scan them and attach them to an email. The hightlight photos that is, unless you want all 168 of them, LOL!

[whisperingpass]

Wow your trip to Scotland is making me want to go there more than ever now. I just love the fact that I am of Scottish Ancestory and have strong roots in both Scotland and Ireland. I love the food and make it alot at home allready but have no idea how authentic it really is. My parents went to Scotland and did do the distillery tour you mentioned and I benifitted in a 40 pounder of my personal fav Scotch.
I grew up on the West Coast of British Columbia and Vancouver Island and the climate is not much different between the two. I can't wait to get my visa/passport and hit the sky and land over there. I do have a friends daughter in Edinbourgh and would love to have tea with Sylvia. Hawaii can wait now.
Lynn

[bigjim1]

Hey Y'all, as far as traditional Scottish recipes, Sylvia can look these over and let us know if they are close enough to authentic to try. This is the website that suppose to have traditional/authentic recipes, www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_index.htm. There are some I would like to try and see if they taste like what I had there. I know some of the ingredients I may not be able to get and will have to substitute, but hopefully they will be close.

[Sylvia]

Hi Jim

I particularly like that site and have recommended it - Lots of great stories and historic items as well as authentic recipes. I am delighted to hear all your news. There are one or three items that are sometimes served at breakfast - Black Pudding (this can be a hit or a miss, depends on how it is made and by whom), tattie scones, kippers, Arbroath Smokies and last but not least our famous Heather honey, made by bees that are hived amongst the heather. I am surprised you were able to do any sight seeing after a breakfast that size?!? The "are you coming to Edinburgh soon" is on this board, about half a dozen headings down. Was there a favourite eating place in Edinburgh?

Sylvia446

[bigjim1]

Hey Y'all,

well Sylvia you can tell Sue or anyone else who would like to visit Scotland, that there is a contest to win a trip there. This is the link, nwa.eprize.net/fairwayflyaway08/index.tbapp?page=noflash

Had the black pudding, I think they referred to it as blood pudding. What is the difference between the tattie scones and the ones just called scones? Already eat kippers, if that is the kippered fish. And there were various sausages served on different days so I don't know if I had the ones you mentioned. Ohh, the Heather honey, truely a gift from heaven! Our late Bernie and Cole would have loved it. And I didn't eat all that stuff at one sitting, would have different things each day till I made the complete round of all the variety of foods. And I think the Wichery restaurant, I may not have spelled that correctly, was outstanding.

Big Jim

[bigjim1]

Hey Y'all,

I really don't know if I have a favorite food that I tried while I was in Scotland. Gonna try some of the recipes and order some of the food items I can get online. There were so many to choose from while I was there that there are several I want to try again as they all were so good. I even liked the haggis and don't understand why it get's such a bad rap. I look at it basically as a homemade sausage using oatmeal as a binder and cooked in a natural casing. There are always foods that I like to make here and fix for company so they can try a taste of the countries that I have been fortunate to visit. And I do go back and at least once a month make a meal of a particular country's food so that I will "stay in touch" and remember what a good time I had.

Big Jim

[suehorne5892]

Hi Jim and Sylvia and NL! I am in agreement about celebrities being a bad mix with politics. As we are in the middle of a presidential election we are getting an avalance of celebs and their opinions. All I want to know is what their grandma cooked and where is the recipe!! All the Scots that I have ever met have also been so super friendly! I am enthralled with the mountains and the castles that I see online. The castles just take my breath away - I am starting my "trip to Scotland" savings account!

[Sylvia]

Hi All,

We had a mother and daughter here from California and all the mother wanted to see was Castles. I could tell the the daughter 19 was castled out. We managed to get some young folks to take her to Edinburgh's night life, never did find out whether she enjoyed it, but the American accent went down well amongst the chookters (slang for country folks).

I do hope you are all safe and well protected from all the tornadoes, storms etc that seem to be in an angry mood off Florida.

Sylvia446

[bigjim1]

Hey Sue and Sylvia,

Yes, give me those old recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. When your grandma then your mom is gone, that is the only link you have back to them. And those recipes can bring back some great memories. I firmly believe that only when someone is forgotten, have they truly died. So save all you can Sue for your trip, you won't be dissappointed. Between the countryside scenery, the old buildings in town, the castles and palaces are wonderful to see. Hate to say what my favorite was. But younger people can burn out on that quickly. They have been around long enough to know what to appreciate and savior. And a lot of Scots got a kick out of my Southern accent. We are safe and sound, hope Sue is, haven't heard differently. Got some more possible bad weather with Hanna, once she makes up her mind what she wants to do. The middle of Sept. is the height of hurricane season, so it will slowly start winding down from there. The season last 6 months, from June 1st. to Nov. 31st. All of y'all take care.

Big Jim.

[suehorne5892]

Hi Jim - we are fine here in NC - major rains this past week - leftovers from Hurricane Fay - been worried about the impact of Hurricane Gustav on all of you down in the FL-LA area. I was laughing at your comment about "Southern" accent - I have worried about that quite a bit in my daydreaming of visiting Scotland - "would they understand me - would I understand them?"...I want to visit the castles and Arthur's seat - I want to see Firth of Ford - and Tattoo!! The pagentry of Tattoo is so impressive on the websites...I am reading up on the websites on different castles and watching webcams that I can find. I was thrilled with the websites that Sylvia posted. ---Just saw the weather update on Hanna - looks like she will be heading towards the Carolina's....here we go again......stay safe and dry. Going to look at more Scotland websites while I can .....

[bigjim1]

Hey Sue,
Thankfully after Fay, Gustav is spareing Florida, except maybe the extreme panhandle area around Alabama. Thankfully the Scots I met had no trouble understanding me nor I them. Before you firm up your travel plans, I think the Tattoo is only done during the Edinburgh festival the first part of August. And Hanna, as it is now, may pass fairly close to us Friday, but that keeps changing everyday, it is now a Cat 1. Will say a prayer for you that y'all are spared. And yes those are some great websites Sylvia sent, I keep looking to bring back great memories and to plan a future trip to see what I missed the first time.

Jim, Jax Fl.