Dream of a place, one you always wanted to visit. Dream of possibilities, discoveries, unexpected adventures and of supremely comfortable accommodations. I dream of Scotland, and a place called Gleneagles. (Yes, that Gleneagles, where Bush, Blair and other world leaders met at the G8 Conference last July though, sadly, they had no time for the sporting life or jaunts into the Highlands in pursuit of hidden lochs and castles.)

Nestled in the foothills of the Highlands, The Gleneagles Hotel rises, French mansard-roofed and multi-chimneyed, from its green parkland. It opened its doors in 1924, and has grown many additions, but never wavered from its commitment to excellence. Rooms are sharply up-to-date and sublimely restful, taking their colors from the view out every window. Four restaurants, including one that's run by Michelin-starred chef Andrew Fairlie, offer the best of local produce‹mountain lamb, game off the moor and salmon from the nearby River Tay.

Golf is the name of the game here. The King's and Queen's Courses at Gleneagles actually opened before the hotel was finished. This being Scotland, that's not surprising. And this being Scotland, the fairways are exquisitely embedded in the rolling countryside. There are also a nine-hole course and the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary Course with five tees on every hole for golfers of every handicap. This challenging course will be the site of the 2014 Ryder Cup competition. Almost every other sporting activity is offered at Gleneagles, including swimming, tennis, riding, archery, clay target shooting, fishing, falconry and off-road driving. Instruction is available in all of these. In one of two arenas, you can brush up on your horsemanship, with lessons in every aspect, from Western riding to sidesaddle to jumping or even carriage driving! Or simply take one of those sleek, responsive horses for a ride into the wild, beautiful country where Braveheart was filmed.

Off-road driving on speciallybuilt courses with running streams and steep slopes is not for sissies. Nevertheless, when you're out in the wilds, you may see a pint-sized Land Rover driven by a determined 8-year-old come dashing out of the woods - though the instructor with him always has a remote control hidden in his pocket.

In fact, families with children often come to Gleneagles, where there are golf lessons and scaled down clubs for children as young as three. There are ponies at the stable, baby seats on bikes and even falconry instruction for children so inclined.

When I stayed at the hotel last spring, I chose two diversions that I had never expected to experience. At The Gleneagles Shooting School, I was taught the disciplines of target shooting‹safety, gun mounting, sweeping through the target and pulling the trigger. My reward was three great rushes of adrenalin when three of my clays (out of 25 released) exploded into dust.

My other choice was falconry and I found myself tramping across the Perthshire Moor, accompanied by William Duncan, Head Falconer at Gleneagles School of Falconry. The idea of falconing is daunting at first, but I'd seen children doing it. They had been charmed by Duncan and their birds, and they had hunted with delight. So I learned how to hold the leather jesses that were strapped to the bird's feet, how to cast him off and offer him his perch again on my heavily gloved fist.

We soon became a hunting team, my bird and me‹though with his superior vision and speed, he did all the work. We knew he'd found his prey when he suddenly swooped down from a high tree branch and we heard a squawking commotion and a rush of wings. Hurrying to the source, we found only a small pile of soft, white feathers and four long striped ones‹and both birds long gone.

"It was a grouse," said William. "And it got away."

I was both disappointed and relieved. Still, it was exhilarating to feel the bird's talons on my wrist‹and to feel an enchantment born of reliving the faraway past when hunting was a simple necessity and falconry was a sport of kings.

Easily accessible and only an hour away from either Edinburgh or Glasgow, both of them exciting cities, Gleneagles is anything but remote. I flew bmi to Edinburgh and rented a car for touring the magical Scottish countryside, visiting St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf, which is about 35 miles due east of Gleneagles. At the same distance westward, are the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. Venerable castles dot the nearby landscape. I saw Scone Palace where the ancient kings of Scotland were crowned, much besieged Stirling Castle which dominated Scottish history for centuries and Glamis, pointy-towered like a Loire chateau, the childhood home of the late queen mother and also the setting for Shakespeare's "Macbeth."

On your return to the hotel from touring, golf or falconing, you'll hear the twilight bagpiper before you see him. He strolls across the lawn each evening to herald the end of the day and the slow Scottish descent into night. It will be time to repair for tea and scones or a golden single malt Scotch at the always welcoming Bar at Gleneagles, a supremely civilized setting in the Scottish wilds.

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For more information: www.Gleneagles.com

Phone: 866-463-8734

Bmi: www.flybmi.com. Phone: 800-788-0555 (For a good deal on extra comfort, ask for Premium Economy Class.

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