Highland Games

Spending the days in the countryside of Scotland is a great education. The population of Scotland is apparently 1/10th that of the rest of the UK so Scotland is not nearly as populated or developed. While Scotland is part of the UK, we never encountered traffic cameras until we crossed the boarder. I'm convinced it's England's way of getting more money out of the Scots :) Traffic cameras are sneakily placed every thirty miles or so. Regardless, most people drive 80 MPH plus on the freeways. We recieved a few hand gestures at 70 because we were holding up traffic. We couldn't even keep up with a couple locals we tried to follow the other night. We can only guess they were hitting speeds around 110. You see, it's advantageous to follow the locals. They know where to slow down for the traffic cameras. While on our whisky/scotch tour this weekend we stayed in two very small towns. It was fun to meet some of the real locals and get a flavor for real Scottish life. We heard a bit about England. None of it flattering. We met a very large bar owner who took ownership of the one cool bar in this small town only that very night. We were his first customers and he was so thrilled with us he gave us free bags of crisps on the way out the door that night - as many as we could handle. In fact, he and his two buddies at the bar spent a great deal of the night turned around watching our table and giggling. Since we were four of eight people in the bar we figured they were just amused with the American tourists. Come to find out, what they really found amusing was my and Marin's ability to handle our beer. Pint after pint we ordered. That's typical in America, no? Well apparently here in Scotland women typically order half pints - pints are just a bit too manly. Marin and I just giggled, ordered another pint and made for a good story those boys can tell their friends on Monday.