Loch Lomond and the Future!

"be happy while you're living,

for you're a long time dead"

- old Scottish proverb

Ok, lots to update so let's start with Scotland!

Loch Lomond-Glasgow

Loch in Scotland means lake, so accordingly, the course where Felipe played hugged this beautiful lake about 30 minutes away from Glasgow. Sharp hills/mountains surrounded the lake on all directions with patches of trees and bright green pastures where hundreds of sheep and some cattle (ganado) grazed constantly. The water in the lake was crystal clear with an occasional little island here and there. In one word, the place was gorgeous, very tranquile and easy-going. Lots of camping sites and little boats (and others not that small $$$). We stayed in some log cabins actually, very cozy (acogedor). The course was equally stunning, by far the most beautiful I have seen on this trip. Sooooo green and majestic. I would love to get the chance someday to play in it. The weather helped us out too. Overall, the United Kingdom is NOT well known for their superb weather conditions, but except for Thursday and maybe parts of Friday, the whole week had the sun bathing us most of the time. I'm telling you, it's hard to put into words how beautiful that place is.

The tournament didn't go very well for us. We missed the cut so we didn't play on the weekend. The good thing about it is that I got the chance to get out of the golf scene and get to hang out in Glasgow! and of course it was WAAAY better than "normal" because I have a friend who lives there, Ilona. She played for my university in Arkansas when I was also a player so it was great to see her again after so many years!! We went bar hoping Friday night and I had my share of scotches (hell, I'm in Scotland!!). We ended the night dancing at a nightclub. Except for one of the bars that was set up as a theater to watch sporting events and movies, all the rest and the nightclub were pretty small. I guess it's because there is not a lot of people in Scotland maybe?! I asked SEVERAL people if they knew Scotland's population and nobody knew! not even an approximation! funny.. I think at least.

I took the train from Loch Lomond to Glasgow that Friday, about a 45 minute ride. My brain re-opened on that trip. For 2 or 3 weeks I've been immersed in the golf tournaments without really going out to know places and as I rode the train and saw the landscapes and farms and sheep and cows and the river with a boat graveyard, it dawned on me... I love travelling. I always had the thought as I travelled that I needed to take notes of the places I visited, landscapes I saw, even if it was a split second looking out of the train window to a nice pasture.. so that in the future, whenever I came back to that place I was going to be able to remember it and talk about it. Well, that's pretty idiotic... as I saw the boat graveyard I realized I am trying to imprint those images in my brain to have them NOW... I probably will never visit again most of the places I am going to. I am living the experience now and not preparing for the future experiences. I am doing what I love to do, travel and golf, now and it's awesome.

I don't know why I am talking about this here, but I felt like it, so sorry if I bored you with my philosphical moment... hahahahahaha

Saturday Ilona showed Felipe, Loreto, Pato (a friend/psychologist travelling on tour), and me around Glasgow. We went to have lunch and of course I wanted an authentic Scottish meal!! so we had "Haggis, Neeps & Tatties" with Irn Bru and some scottish beer. OK.. translation: Haggis is the meat; neeps is Turnip (vegetable, algo asi como rabano); tatties is mashed potatoes (pure de papas); Irn Bru is just a soft drink (bebida). You mix the haggis, neeps and tatties and eat it... SOOOOOO good! Of course I started asking questions; what is actually the "haggis"? it was ground beef for sure, but what was in it? it tasted different. Ilona didn't know for sure so we googled it. Get this, haggis is a mixture of: sheep stomach, sheep liver, sheep heart, sheep lung, beef suet, onion, salt&pepper, and oatmeal..... hmmmmmm.... and what the hell is beef suet??? google again had the answer: dry protective fat of the sheep's kidney.

YUMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Might sound disgusting, but hey! it was good!!!! In fact I am craving some now as I write about it!!
I also tried a Scottish steak... really really good. But I stay with my haggis, neeps and tatties the next time I go back to Scotland.

The Future!

Well people, it seems I will continue doing this adventure for a little bit longer! My original deal with Felipe ended last week in Scotland, but he offered me to continue as his caddie for the rest of the year... so I am officially extending my travels around Europe and maybe (hopefully) the world for a while!! The next tournaments I will be going for sure are:

Aug 14-17 SAS Masters, Stockholm, SWEDEN
Aug 21-24 KLM Open, Zanvoort, NETHERLANDS
Sept 4-7 Omega European Masters, Crans-sur-Sierre, SWITZERLAND
Sept 11-14 Mercedes Benz Championship, Cologne, GERMANY
Oct 16-19 Portugal Masters, Vilamoura, PORTUGAL
Oct 23-26 Castello Masters, Castellon, SPAIN
Oct 30-Nov 2 Volvo Masters, Valderrama, SPAIN

Now I am at THE OPEN championship in Southport, about to attend as a spectator to my first ever major. The next post will be about the experience with links golf!!!

keep in touch people!

Mo

ps. for some reason I couldn't upload pictures this time. I owe you!