Scotland

Here's some of the stuff you're likely to find during a visit to Scotland. Haggis: Scottish dish tastes and looks like dark meat oatmeal. It's actually not as bad as, say, blood pudding. Secret of its delicious taste? Sheep guts (heart, liver, lung). Scottish money: It's the same pound sterling denomination as in England, but it's printed with different pictures. Scottish brogue: Not hard to understand unless you're talking to footballers or find yourself in Glasgow.

I've always wanted to see the British Open, but I never had any success in booking accommodations anywhere near where this event was taking place, and my travel agent didn't know of any tours I might take. Do you have information on a tour package that includes the British Open in Scotland this year? There are several tours that will get you to the British Open Golf Championship, which will be held July 16 to 19 at the Muirfield course, in the town of Gullane, about 20 miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Among the many areas in the world where bird watching is a great sport, Scotland's northern highlands hold their own. The nearly treeless highlands make for great bird-watching territory, as visitors can quickly spot skylarks, swallows, martins, ravens and other hill and forest birds as well as birds of prey - golden eagles, peregrine falcons, hawks, buzzards. The sea cliffs to the north are home to puffins, razorbills, oyster catchers and gulls. One way to spy on the hundreds of birds that arrive in late April to mid- July on their way to the northern summer nesting grounds is to check into the Borrobol Lodge, a six-bedroom, wood-paneled sporting lodge in the northern highlands.

GREAT SCOT. The U.S. Department of Transportation has cleared the way for three airlines American, Northwest and British Airways - to fly nonstop from the United States to Abbotsinch Airport, 15 minutes from downtown Glasgow, Scotland, and about 45 minutes from Edinburgh. The move, if matched, as expected, by the British government, should increase American tour packages to Scotland and also relieve some of the congestion at London's overcrowded Heathrow and Gatwick Airports. It could make Abbotsinch a third United Kingdom jumping-off spot for flights on to Europe, Africa and Asia.

Air fares to Europe are cheaper than ever this summer, but don't fret if you still can't manage your dream trip to Scotland. On Saturday, the pageantry and folklore of the Scottish Highlands will take over the Devon Horse Show grounds as the Delco Scottish Games return for the 26th year. More than 30 pipe bands, 150 Highland dancers and 40 clan and family associations will take to the grass this year, said William Reid, president of the Delco Scottish Games Association. The games always have attracted a crowd of about 8,000 people, and Reid offered a simple explanation: "People just love listening to the pipes.

With a grunt, the brawny man lifted the 22-pound wooden rod with an iron ball on its end. Swinging it three times around his head, he let it fly with a guttural "arghhhhhh" that echoed through the South Oval on the Devon Horse Show grounds Saturday. As the "hammer" settled in the arena dust, two women ran out to measure the throw. On his second throw of the three-throw contest, Kurt Pauli of Saxonburg, Pa., 19, had flung the ancient tool more than 66 feet, making him leader in the field of 11 amateurs competing in the centuries-old field event at the 25th Delco Scottish Games.

Germany's Bernhard Langer shot a 3-under-par 67 to take a 3-stroke lead after the third round of the Scottish Open golf tournament. Langer reached the 54-hole mark yesterday with a 14-under total of 196, 4 off the European record by Anders Forsbrand five years ago. Blustery winds pushed up the scores yesterday, one day after England's Paul Curry shot a 60 to beat the course record by 2 strokes. PGA WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Morris Hatalsky increased his lead to 3 strokes with a 5-under-par 66 in the second round of the Anheuser-Busch Classic.

Margaret Taggart Allan, born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1906, died on Nov. 15 at her home in Bryn Mawr. She was 80. In 1930, at the age of 24, she immigrated to the United States after the death of her parents, according to her daughter, Mary Gardner Doran. Mrs. Allan, the third of eight children, came to the United States in search of better job opportunities. She settled on the Main Line, where she worked as a maid to help support a younger sister and four younger brothers in Scotland.

When jazz bagpiper Rufus Harley swung into the traditional version of "Scotland the Brave," 200 Miquon school students, teachers and parents clapped vigorously to the beat. But several measures later, Harley bent the melody and the rhythm, turning the rousing Scottish march into "Scotland the Brave With Blues. " The audience lost the beat but not its fascination with a man who for nearly 30 years has combined the music of two seemingly disparate cultures. "Once you get into culture, you are talking about the marriage of everybody on the planet," said Harley, 54, of Germantown.

Michal Kadlec's 90th-minute penalty kick for the Czech Republic salvaged a controversial 2-2 draw Saturday against Scotland in Glasgow in a 2012 European Championship qualifier. Scotland had led twice, with Kenny Miller scoring just before halftime and setting up Darren Fletcher's 83d-minute strike after Jaroslav Plasil had equalized for the visitors. But Kadlec blasted the spot kick into the net after Jan Rezek went down lightly under a Danny Wilson challenge. There was still time for the Scots to have a penalty appeal of their own turned down when Christophe Berra was instead booked for diving.

Politicians get interns from friends, relatives, donors and constituents, but there's one guy they don't want to get an intern from: Joe Francis. The "Girls Gone Wild" founder is reportedly offering a four-week internship in the office of Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor as part of the prize package for the winner of "The Search for the Hottest Girl in America. " Francis says he purchased the internship at an online charity auction for a Los Angeles synagogue. Pryor says he's asked the FBI to investigate who auctioned off the internship.

The ball strike rang pure. A player of my, um, caliber knows that sweet "thwack" because I hear it but a handful of times every round. Sure enough, I found the last of my Top-Flite XLs soaring against a brilliant blue Scottish sky high above the Coffins, a cluster of mean-spirited pot bunkers on the par 4, 388-yard 13th hole at the Old Course St. Andrews Links. In the distance, colorful hang gliders zigzagged over the North Sea in schizophrenic gales that have driven golfers mad for more than 600 years.

Cameron pledges to preserve U.K. LONDON - Heading to Scotland for talks on an independence referendum, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday that he would fight "head, heart and soul" to prevent the breakup of the United Kingdom. Cameron was scheduled to hold his first meeting on the issue with Scotland's leader Alex Salmond, whose separatist party has long campaigned for the nation to leave its neighbors behind for the first time in more than 300 years. Salmond is seeking to hold an independence referendum in September 2014, hoping that a separation from London would be completed with a May 2016 election for the Scottish Parliament.

LONDON - They traded jokes, chuckled, and talked shop about a hacker plot called "Project Mayhem. " But at the heart of the conference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard was a strategy aimed at bringing down the hacking collective known as Anonymous, which has launched embarrassing attacks across the Internet. Unfortunately for the cyber sleuths, the hackers were listening, too - and now so is the rest of the world. Anonymous published the roughly 15-minute-long recording of the call to the Internet early Friday, gloating in a Twitter message that "the FBI might be curious how we're able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now. " The FBI said that the information "was intended for law enforcement officers only and was illegally obtained" but that no FBI systems were breached.

LONDON - Scotland's leader presented his proposal for a ballot on independence - and his ideas include letting 16- and 17-year-olds cast ballots in a vote that could see the breakup of Britain within four years. First Minister Alex Salmond announced the Scottish government's preferred options for the vote on whether to sever ties from Britain, which it plans to hold in the fall of 2014. A "yes" vote would lead to independence taking effect with a May 2016 election for the Scottish Parliament.

LONDON - Breaking up is supposed to be hard to do - but Britain's government confirmed Tuesday it would happily offer Scotland the powers it needs to sever centuries-old ties to England. Prime Minister David Cameron's government said it would sweep away legal hurdles to let the Scots vote on whether their land should become independent for the first time since the 18th-century Act of Union, which united Scotland with England to create Great Britain. But in return, Cameron - who opposes any breakup of the United Kingdom, which also includes Wales and Northern Ireland - is urging Scotland to make its intentions clear "sooner rather than later.

One day after he defended a family trip to Scotland as a legitimate political expense, U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D., N.J.) said he would repay his campaign and redirect the money to homeless veterans. But Andrews said he would not reimburse his campaign coffers for other events where personal and political have mingled. In 2009, he spent $33,000 for a party to celebrate his inauguration to the 111th Congress and his daughter Jacquelyn's Sweet Sixteen party, according to campaign-finance reports.

AGNES McCRAY LYNN had a sure-fire cure for just about any ailment that afflicted her family - a shot of Scotch whisky in hot water with honey and lemon. "It worked," said her son, Walter F. Lynn. Well, after all, Agnes was a Scot and Scotch whisky has been a part of Scottish life since time immemorial. In fact, if you were at one of Agnes' parties and you wanted another drink, you had better be able to say in Scottish, "It's a braw, bricht, moonlcht nicht tonicht. (It's a broad bright moonlit night tonight)

Michal Kadlec's 90th-minute penalty kick for the Czech Republic salvaged a controversial 2-2 draw Saturday against Scotland in Glasgow in a 2012 European Championship qualifier. Scotland had led twice, with Kenny Miller scoring just before halftime and setting up Darren Fletcher's 83d-minute strike after Jaroslav Plasil had equalized for the visitors. But Kadlec blasted the spot kick into the net after Jan Rezek went down lightly under a Danny Wilson challenge. There was still time for the Scots to have a penalty appeal of their own turned down when Christophe Berra was instead booked for diving.

Bulgaria vs. England 2:15 p.m. Friday  (ESPN Deportes/ ESPN3.com) Now that the international club transfer window has closed, attention turns mostly to national teams for the next few days. This is the best of the weekend's 2012 European Championship qualifying matches. Spain vs. Chile 2:30 p.m. Friday  (Fox Soccer Channel)   Barcelona's newest star, Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez, will face off against Spanish teammates Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and David Villa in this friendly match in Geneva, Switzerland.