Ode to things Scottish that I love

Highland Cows

How can you not love a hairy cow? John kept asking, "can you see there, buddy?". We even found a children's book called Hamish the Highland Cow Gets a Haircut.

Admittedly, I became a bit obsessed with seeing more Highland cows forcing John to follow tiny out-of-the-way roads through villages searching each field we passed. We even pulled up to a zoo, but while they did have polar bears and penguins, they did not have Highland cows. They told us to look in the field after the gas station in the next town.

Closes

Alleyways are called closes, and there are tons of them throughout Edinburgh. I think "close" captures the spatial experience so much more- talking about the tall walls being so close on both sides, how close you come to people passing, etc. Most of these closes are only 3 to 5 feet wide, and go the full 6 to 8 stories of the adjoining buildings. You understand where JK Rowling got the idea for Diagon Alley.

Irn Bru

Scotland's beloved soda matches Coca Cola in sales here, helped by Irn Bru's controversial ad campaigns (see this website for some pretty funny ones www.irn-bru.co.uk/advert/up-irns/html). John found it disgusting, but it reminded me of the Aruban soda, Cora, and I loved it. Granted, it still hasn't phased out the use of dangerous colorants and it doesn't list caffeine but apparently has it, and I think it has actual iron in it, so you probably shouldn't start drinking it every day....

Sticky toffee pudding

I cannot believe I have lived for so long without knowing that sticky toffee pudding exists. Why do we not have this amazing dessert in the States? If you've never had it, imagine a piece of cake that's been warmed up, caramel poured on top, and served with a scoop of ice cream. Like really? How do we not have this? Fortunately it's a British thing, so hopefully I can get it in the Cotswalds this fall.

We are trying haggis tonight, but while we are eating it at an organic, locally-sourced restaurant, I'm still not sure it's going to make it on this list.