Things to know when visiting Scotland

Everyone in Scotland owns a dog, and they walk them all the time, no matter the weather.

They don't have restrooms in the UK. They have toilets. It felt odd asking where the toilet was (a bit impolite), but I'm not sure they'd have understood had I asked for the restroom.

Do not confuse the "To Let" signs with the "Toilet" signs. Your bladder may never forgive you, although your brain wants to fill in the missing "i" more often than not.

"Give way" signs = our "Stop" signs, not our "Yield" signs.

They have speed cameras. Radar checks your speed, and if you are speeding, the camera takes a photo of your license plate. I suspect you get a ticket in the mail a few days later.

The whole of London, and I suspect most of England, is under CCTV surveillance 24/7. The ACLU would have a field day with that here.

Scottish food has gotten a bad rap. We found the food to be excellent, as were the ales and wine.

Visit a bakery every day. They are full of wonderful things!

On a dual carriageway or motorway, the right lane is the fast lane.

Cookies are called biscuits, so don't go asking for biscuits and gravy or they'll think you're daft. They have cookies called "digestives". I have yet to understand why they're called that (Charlie?). They're like a shortbread cookie with or without chocolate coating. I liked them. No one else did. They were great with tea.

Potato chips are called crisps and come in all sorts of flavors like lamb and mint, steak and onions, prawn cocktail, and salt and vinegar. It's hard to find plain old potato chips. We never could find chips in a large bag like we have here. They were always sold in large bags of small bags, usually with a variety of flavors in one bag. I really liked the prawn cocktail and steak and onion flavors.

The checkers in the grocery stores are seated, not standing like they are here. I told them our checkers would be jealous.

The Bank of Scotland does not charge a fee for using the ATM to get cash with your debit card. At another one I used (can't recall which one) I was charged $10 to withdraw 50 pounds. I didn't find that out until I got home and looked at my bank account. :(

"To go" is called "take away".