About Scotland
Scotland is a wild, untamed and beautiful country. After you have visited Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, The Inner Hebrides, Aberdeen and Aviemore, there shouldn’t be much of Scotland that you haven’t experienced.Edinburgh is full of extraordinary architectural heritage and cultural vigour. A few of the many attractions to visit while in Edinburgh are the Edinburgh Castle, its foundations date back as far as 850 BC, and the oldest surviving section dates from 1130. The Royal Mile, Calton Hill, New Town, The National Gallery of Scotland, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and the Edinburgh Festival. Glasgow is located 48km away from Edinburgh and has a lot to offer. Some attractions include Sauchiehall St, Glasgow Cathedral, St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life & Art, Provand's Lordship, Merchant City, The Tenement and the Burrell Collection, housed in the Pollok Country Park 5km south of the city. St Andrews is a beautiful coastal town. It houses medieval ruins, a huge golfing scene, windy coastal scenery and a university. Once the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland, today golfing is the town's religion. Be sure to take a look at the world's most famous golf course, the Old Course. There is also a ruined castle that sits above the bay. The Inner Hebrides are located off the western coast of Scotland. Jura lies near the coast of Strathclyde, it has some magnificent mountains. Islay is south and is best known for its smoky, single-malt whisky. While in Islay visit The Museum of Islay, the Kildaton Cross and the Castle ruins. Taransay is further north and is an unspoilt place of cliffs, rocky coastlines and sandy bays. Mull is one of the most popular islands, with superb mountain scenery, castles, a railwayand a fishing port. Tiree, located south-west, is a l beautiful island with, sandy beaches and one of the best sunshine records in Britain. Aberdeen is where almost everything is built of granite - even the roads. When soaked with sun and rain, the silvery stone has a fairy-tale shine to it. Aberdeen is the service port for one of the world's largest offshore oilfields. It has a fish market, a maritime museum , Castlegate, Provost Skene's House and the Aberdeen Art Gallery. The Highland resort town of Aviemore is the hiking and skiing paradise of the Cairngorm Mountains. It Lies on the only arctic plateau in Britain, it attracts rare animals such as pine marten, wildcat, red squirrel, osprey and deer. River Spey is popular for fishing for salmon. The Rothiemurchus Estate and Glenmore Forest Park preserves acres of pine and spruce. You can take guided walks and trails and there is a range of water sports available.
|
Culture
Scotland has contributed a lot to the world of Science. It was the Scots who invented bitumen, waterproofing, the telephone, the television and radar. Scots have been pioneers in anatomy, antiseptics and the development of penicillin. Probably the most famous icon of Scottish traditional culture is the Highland bagpipe. Tartans and kilts are other Scottish icons. Religion has played a big part in the history of Scotland. than it has in any other part of Britain. There is still a lot of bitterness between the Scottish Protestants and the Catholics. Gaelic used to be spoken all over Scotland, now only about 66,000 people speak Gaelic. Lallans (an English dialect with French and Scandinavian influences) has been spoken in the Lowlands for centuries. Efforts are being made to stop its decline, and there are numerous Gaelic words that linger in everyday speech, this makes Scottish English stand out to foreigners. Scotland's chefs have an envious range of fresh ingredients at their disposal including meat, seafood and vegetables. Some legendary Scottish meals include porridge, shortbread, haggis, Scotch broth and deep-fried Mars bar. Whisky is the country's biggest export.
|
