Enjoy the Pleasures of Scottish Mansions

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

As someone whose family came from Scotland, sharing this blog post with you is a special pleasure.

One of the special treats of mansions in Scotland is that they are often, you guessed it, castles!

Even Shakespeare was fascinated by the special qualities of Scotland as he showed in his amazing portrayal of Macbeth.

Here's a little known secret. There's a National Trust for Scotland that plays a similar preservation role that the National Trust does for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Naturally, you can do all of the same things that I outlined in yesterday's blog . . . but the settings will be quite different.

Let me give you some guidance through the NTS web site. To find places to visit go to: http://www.nts.org.uk/web/site/home/visit/places/Places_home.asp?NavId=5020&NavPage=41

Once there, you'll find a map to show you the different regions. Click on the areas you think you want to explore and see what pops up!

Not everything you'll turn up is a castle though! The NTS also has urban mansions such as The Georgian House in Edinburgh and wildlife preserves in the Shetland islands. The NTS is very interested in preserving Scottish culture, and some sites combine museum quality paintings with views of prior living. A special treat can be found at The Hill House, arguably Scotland's finest private residence. This home was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for Walter Blackie, a Glasgow publisher, and features a fine view of the Clyde estuary.

Scotland is also well known for its ruins. Battles often left castles in disrepair. The English later found this so charming that they built ruins onto their estates to capture this romantic element. A good choice for your visit is Strome Castle.

While you are there, be sure to enjoy the amazing Scottish gardens. One of the most interesting is Inverewe Garden on a rocky peninsula overlooking Loch Ewe. Enormous trees emerge from imposing rocks amid some of Scotland's finest scenery.

Don't forget the wonderful bird watching while you travel from mansion to mansion. NTS has many wonderful preserves. I especially recommend the ones on the islands to the north and west.

Of course, you'll want to stay in a Scottish castle. That's very easy to do! Here is a helpful site to make that even easier: http://www.castles.org/Chatelaine/accomm.htm

Perhaps you've heard of a little game where people chase a little white ball. The honorable game of golf had its origins at St. Andrews. No trip to Scotland is complete without seeing some of its famous courses. Perhaps you might also want to have your own adventures on them. If you have not been to Scotland before, I suggest that you have someone help you arrange the golfing part of your trip. That way you'll be sure to see the right courses and enjoy wonderful caddies! I highly recommend a firm I've used, Haversham & Baker. You can read about them at http://www.haversham.com/. They can also arrange amazing mansions to stay in near the courses you want to play!

Could a billionaire do better? I doubt it.

A billionaire would probably find Scotland to be too plain. Where else do people take great pleasure in their oatmeal and haggis! But for those who understand the joys of authenticity, you cannot beat Scotland.

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N.B. As you can tell, I'm experimenting with color. Let me know what you like and what I should change about my use of color.

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Here are some upcoming subjects:

Tomorrow, let's head for Wales for further mansion viewing.

On Thursday, we'll look at how to handle your e-mail to live better than a billionaire.

Friday, you and I will explore how to pick an exciting new area to learn in 2006!

On Saturday, let's take a look at how to take a beautiful, relaxing break from the holiday busyness.

Sunday will be our occasion to think about giving spiritual gifts.

On Monday, I would like to thank Tom for suggesting we look at how to enjoy movies at a theater better than a billionaire. At current prices, few except billionaires will be making this viewing a custom.

If you are new to this blog, be sure to check out the updated table of contents entry that I posted on November 30. The table of contents will help you find earlier entries that may be of interest. I'll update this table of contents every week or so for your convenience.

August 31 was the most frequently read blog entry to date. Be sure to check it out!

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Check out the latest index at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005/11/latest-table-of-contents-to-this-blogs_30.html to pick out your choice.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Be More Successful than a Billionaire at http://bemoresuccessfulthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Create Your Own 2,000 Percent Solutions at
http://2000percentsolutions.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on living better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day, creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell