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Welcome Ambassador Larry Wilmot of Inverness, Scotland! Larry and his family are also huge Disney fans (his trip reports are a thing of beauty...), and he's been kind enough to haul the beans around Scotland for us. Thanks, Larry!
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Good morning and welcome to the Old Course at Saint Andrews, renowned throughout the world as the Home of Golf! I'm sure about now all of you golfers out there are drooling on your keyboards, and rightfully so. Ain't it beautiful?! I'm not a golfer, but I'm very impressed! St Andrews Links is the largest golfing complex in Europe, with 5 18-hole courses. |
Golf has been played on the links at St Andrews since around 1400 A.D. Golf was becoming popular in the middle ages, as the game was banned in 1457 by King James II of Scotland who felt it was distracting young men from their archery practice. This ban was repeated by succeeding monarchs until James IV threw in the towel and in 1502 became a golfer himself.
| In 1764 the Old Course consisted of 22 holes, 11 out and 11 back, with golfers playing to the same hole going out and in, except for the 11th and 22nd holes. The golfers decided that the first four holes, and therefore also the last four holes, were too short and that they should be made into two holes instead of four. This reduced the number of holes in the round from 22 to 18, and that is how today's standard round of golf was created.
Here are the beans at the Swilcan Bridge. The beans had a great time at Saint Andrews, and hardly missed not having a windmill or clown's mouth to putt through. |
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Next, we head for some steeplechasing in Perth. Set in the stunning surroundings of Scone Palace, Perth is the UK's most northerly racecourse and has been voted best small racecourse in the Scotland and the North of England five times in the last decade. |
But this isn't some backroom gambling joint; this is, above all else, racing with class. Check this out: Perth is a place to welcome your guests and friends for highland hospitality at its best, with quality managed facilities, and catering to suit the occasion. A day at Perth is as much a social occasion as anything else, and whether you want to arrive in your Sunday best or a pair of denims, drink champagne or beer, our friendly staff will do their best to give you the time of your life. Ah, the good life is at hand. There's even a heliport here in case you want to fly your chopper in for the day's races.
| As for our final picture from Perth, you can see that the beans obeyed all health regulations, and gingerly wiped their reinforced aluminum feet. It's a good thing that the beans are vegetarian... |  |