Thursday, May 31, 2007
it's the little things
it's always the little things that stand out most and that you end up missing most. For instance warm water. the sinks in the UK have the hot and cold tabs separate from each other which makes washing your hands or freshening you face with warm water extremely difficult; the water is either scalding hot or freezing cold depending which faucet you use. I guess you could plug the sink (providing it has a stopper which a lot don't) and mix your own pool of warm water..but in a public sink or shared hostel bathroom this never really seems to be an option. Or a cloths dryer. Most Brits have a washing machine but no dryer. They hang their cloths out to dry instead. This would make perfect sense and be a sound ecological alternative to the energy sucking cloths dryers that we use in the US, except of course it rains every other day in England, so about half the time you cloths get rained on when you are trying to dry them. A real PITA. What else? oh, the traffic on the left..not really a problem since we were taking public transport or Steve was driving, but try crossing the road...odds are you'll look the wrong way. I actually had several close calls stepping into the road in front of traffic. The offset of course is that the cars are never really moving that fast due to congestion in the cities. It's the little things. Shops close at 6pm sharp and nothing is open on Sunday. Only 4 channels in TV. The slow dribble of the electric showers, awful instant coffee, etc. I think we're a bit spoiled in SoCal, but this is ok with me.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Cotswolds and Londontown
So it's been a while since the last update and I figured I'd try to catch the site up.
After York we continued south into the Cotswold's area. Cotswold's are basically a series of quaint little towns lightly sprinkled across the hilly meadows of south west of England. It's a postcard place: Old stone buildings with grass thatched or slate shingled roofs, country gardens full of lavenders, daisy, and other brightly colored wildflowers, long grassed meadows and shaggy trees all woven together by lazy streams and cobbled country roads.
Cotswold's apparently was the center of the English wool trade some yrs back and was quite wealthy back in the day. While the wool industry has since waned the austerity of the area has remained intact, the manor homes and wool monger shops have since given way to restaurant's, pubs, B&B's, boutique candle shops, antique china dealers, specialty hat and mitt shops and all the other things you'd associate with your old English grandmothers place.
Our particular town was called Bourton on the Water. We stayed two days and relaxed and enjoyed the decent weather. We rode bikes in the country side one day and horses the next. The rest of the time was spend wandering the town centers, eating, sleeping and enjoying.
From the Cotswold's we headed east towards Steve's amazingly well organized flat in London. London was alot flatter and wider than I expected. It is more like LA than than Manhattan. None of the building are particularly tall with no particularly recognizable skyline and it's sprawl has several 'centers'. Still it was an amazing city. We toured all the sites: Buckingham Palace, the Mall, Trafalgar square, Greenwich, Piccadilly, Covent Garden, Soho, St. Paul's, the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum, etc.
It was interesting to see how much the founding fathers had pulled from London when designing and building Washington DC. The concept of the Capital Mall with its government bldgs and free museums for instance seems directly pulled from London mall and its government bldgs and free museums; the Capital bldg looks strikingly similar to St. Paul's; the White house seems a scaled back version of Buckingham Palace and so on.
While Soho, Covent Garden and Piccadilly were very cool, Greenwich actually was my favorite place. We went to the Greenwich observatory where time starts and took turns jumping back and forth between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
All in all it was a great time. On Wed (5-23) we jumped a plain to Bergamo, Italy to meet up with Den and Nano.
After York we continued south into the Cotswold's area. Cotswold's are basically a series of quaint little towns lightly sprinkled across the hilly meadows of south west of England. It's a postcard place: Old stone buildings with grass thatched or slate shingled roofs, country gardens full of lavenders, daisy, and other brightly colored wildflowers, long grassed meadows and shaggy trees all woven together by lazy streams and cobbled country roads.
Cotswold's apparently was the center of the English wool trade some yrs back and was quite wealthy back in the day. While the wool industry has since waned the austerity of the area has remained intact, the manor homes and wool monger shops have since given way to restaurant's, pubs, B&B's, boutique candle shops, antique china dealers, specialty hat and mitt shops and all the other things you'd associate with your old English grandmothers place.
Our particular town was called Bourton on the Water. We stayed two days and relaxed and enjoyed the decent weather. We rode bikes in the country side one day and horses the next. The rest of the time was spend wandering the town centers, eating, sleeping and enjoying.
From the Cotswold's we headed east towards Steve's amazingly well organized flat in London. London was alot flatter and wider than I expected. It is more like LA than than Manhattan. None of the building are particularly tall with no particularly recognizable skyline and it's sprawl has several 'centers'. Still it was an amazing city. We toured all the sites: Buckingham Palace, the Mall, Trafalgar square, Greenwich, Piccadilly, Covent Garden, Soho, St. Paul's, the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum, etc.
It was interesting to see how much the founding fathers had pulled from London when designing and building Washington DC. The concept of the Capital Mall with its government bldgs and free museums for instance seems directly pulled from London mall and its government bldgs and free museums; the Capital bldg looks strikingly similar to St. Paul's; the White house seems a scaled back version of Buckingham Palace and so on.
While Soho, Covent Garden and Piccadilly were very cool, Greenwich actually was my favorite place. We went to the Greenwich observatory where time starts and took turns jumping back and forth between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
All in all it was a great time. On Wed (5-23) we jumped a plain to Bergamo, Italy to meet up with Den and Nano.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Old York
Went to the original town on York on Tuesday. It's a old walled roman city with lots of old narrow streets in the north England; 
it is also home to York Minster Abbey. All in all it was a very cool and historical place.
So after struggling at it for several minutes we all made it up. Then the light bulb went off.. "wait a second, this hill is really slippery...maybe we can slide down~!" so we did..it was awesome actually, just jumped at the top and land on you butt and within a second you're rocketing down the hill, sliding on the wet grass, it was like a water slide sans water. Up again and down again. Steve and I must have done 15 runs before we realized the girls had wandered off. So, wet and grass stained we ran after them.
next day we went back into town and visited the Abbey and got to climb the tower. here's some pics:
View from top of the main tower some 260 spiral steps up (makes you dizzy climbing actually since you're always turning the same direction)
it is also home to York Minster Abbey. All in all it was a very cool and historical place.First night in town we got ourselves a B&B and then went out to a pub (it's becoming our thing). After a few pints the bars were closing so we made for home..along the way we passed Cliffords tower. We decided to race up the to top of the grassy mound..which as you can tell from the photo is actually quite steep. And, when you consider the several pints in us and the long, wet grass on the hill it was actually quite hard to make any progress up at all..you had to grab wet clumps of grass in your hands and kick your feet into the side the hill to take one step. 
So after struggling at it for several minutes we all made it up. Then the light bulb went off.. "wait a second, this hill is really slippery...maybe we can slide down~!" so we did..it was awesome actually, just jumped at the top and land on you butt and within a second you're rocketing down the hill, sliding on the wet grass, it was like a water slide sans water. Up again and down again. Steve and I must have done 15 runs before we realized the girls had wandered off. So, wet and grass stained we ran after them.
next day we went back into town and visited the Abbey and got to climb the tower. here's some pics:
Outside the abbey.
Inside the Abbey. This place is massive and incredibly ornate.
Inside the Abbey. This place is massive and incredibly ornate.
View from top of the main tower some 260 spiral steps up (makes you dizzy climbing actually since you're always turning the same direction)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
in the country
poked around lake district for a day. very quaint and pleasant.
Lake District is must if your 60+, or if your traveling with strollers. surprisingly the terrain here has naturally formed in a way that turned out to be quite accommodating to a very easy and pleasant outdoor experience (gentle hills, wandering walks, babbling brooks, shady trees, soft grass, etc.)
actually, we didn't really utilize the area to its fullest extent, apparently there are many many miles of hill hikes that you can do, but you need camping equipment since these walks are quite extended and can take several days.
we still had fun though. there was sheep for example...
and a lake that we walked around.
and lots of other photo ops:
Lake District is must if your 60+, or if your traveling with strollers. surprisingly the terrain here has naturally formed in a way that turned out to be quite accommodating to a very easy and pleasant outdoor experience (gentle hills, wandering walks, babbling brooks, shady trees, soft grass, etc.)
actually, we didn't really utilize the area to its fullest extent, apparently there are many many miles of hill hikes that you can do, but you need camping equipment since these walks are quite extended and can take several days.
we still had fun though. there was sheep for example...
and a lake that we walked around.
and lots of other photo ops:
Rosslyn & Hadrians Wall
Like I had said earlier the sun had come out so we stopped at Rosslyn Chapel and explored the area a bit. Recently popularized by Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code', Rosslyn was the scene of some Knight's Templar activity back in the day. The medival architecture and cabalistic detail of the interior was neat, unfortunately, it was being reconstructed or preserved or something and the entire outside was covered in scaffolding so I left without a solid pciture (mental or otherwise) of what Roasslyn, the building, actually looks like.We poked around here for a bit, snapped some photos and decided to hike across the hillside in the direction of the Rosslyn Castle ruins we spied in the distance. Feeling adventurous we decided to take the road less travelled and hike along an animal path (sheep most likely). So after about a half hour of slipping and sliding along the muddy hillside we came upon the ruins. Helen and Ginger were the first to discover the remains as Steve and I were off busily chasing butterflies or digging up ferns.
Only after circumnavigating the remains did we realize the up top was actually a house that was being lived in and a nice gravel paved road 
leading back towards Rosslyn..given a second chance though I think we'd still have chosen our path.
leading back towards Rosslyn..given a second chance though I think we'd still have chosen our path.Anyway, having spent a couple of hours enjoying the sun we got back in the car and get out of this barbarian land, or so the Romans called Scotland. We were making our way south, heading towards Carlisle just north of the Lake District and we realized that along the way we were going to be heading past Hadrians wall, the northernmost border of the Roman empire, so we decided to swing by and a peak.
Hadrian's wall marked the northernmost border of the Roman empire. Emperor Hadrian commissioned the wall to be build in ~122AD to keep the northern barbarian tribes out (a.k.a. the Scots and the Picts). What's impressive about Hadrian's wall is not it's size or its girth (no laughing ladies) although it is about 60 miles long and was some 15 feet high in places with assorted forts and turrets placed along the way. 
What is impressive is that in ~122 AD when pretty much everyone else in the world is making walls out of wood, mud, or by stacking stones the Romans had mastered concrete..and I'm not talking about some crappy early precursor either, but a real modern, waterproof concrete. Apparently they had figured out a way to use the volcanic ash from Mt. Etna mixed with lye to make everything set nicely. On top of this, what's equally or more impressive is that the Romans had apparently imported I don't know how many tons of this volcanic ash all the way from Italy to Northern England to build this wall. The logistics of it alone are impressive.
What is impressive is that in ~122 AD when pretty much everyone else in the world is making walls out of wood, mud, or by stacking stones the Romans had mastered concrete..and I'm not talking about some crappy early precursor either, but a real modern, waterproof concrete. Apparently they had figured out a way to use the volcanic ash from Mt. Etna mixed with lye to make everything set nicely. On top of this, what's equally or more impressive is that the Romans had apparently imported I don't know how many tons of this volcanic ash all the way from Italy to Northern England to build this wall. The logistics of it alone are impressive. ps: if you're still giggling over the 'size and girth' comment from above I guess you could say that what Hadrian's wall lacks in size it makes up for in technique. ;P
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
English Weather
After our cold and grey stay in Edinburgh we decided to head south for some hopefully warmer weather. We packed up and got in the car.
10 miles out of town and it had suddenly turned into a beautiful day...or at least the sun had come out. Pardon the digression but I have to comment on British weather here: First off, the UK is actually pretty friken far north..Inverness, in northern Scotland, is actually about the same latitude as Juneau Alaska and London is about the same latitude as Seattle/Vancouver area. Its the gulf stream apparently that circulates warmish water past the Isles and keeps them from freezing. Without the gulf stream much of the British Isles would be covered in glaciers, which is apparently how they formed in the first place.
Anyway, Edinburgh, which is located on a bay type thing called the Firth of Forth, is subject to pretty fickle weather..it can change within minutes..which as you can imagine makes it really hard to plan your outfit..the trick being to remember to pack extra layers and rain coats in your day bag. Basically the weather here is similar to the San Francisco bay area in that in SF it can be cold, windy and overcast and a mere 10 miles away on the other side of the bay it can be 15 degrees warmer and sunny. Such was our day, cold then then warmish.
Feeling revived by the sudden splashes of sunlight on our faces we decided to stop, get out, and explore a bit. As luck would have it we were right near Rosslyn Chapel...but that'll be the next entry...for now, more on the weather.
Coming from SoCal we take the warmth and the sun for granted..in just a weeks time in the UK we had learned that you take advantage of every minute of sunlight and warmth that you can since it could be days again until you see the sun again. And this is a strange phenomena in itself..not seeing the sun. In Scotland it had been so overcast that you really could not make out where the sun was..the sky was a uniformly grey glowing blanket with some darker and lighter splotches mixed in..like a can of grey paint that hadn't been mixed properly. Not being able to see the sun has some strange side effects; particularly, you can't really tell what time of day it is by the height of the sun nor can you tell which way is east or west by the sun's position.
There's actually another story here: When Helen and I first arrive in Dublin several weeks back the weather was similar, and having just arrived at 10am local time after a 14 hour flight we tried our best to explore the city a bit..we didn't last long and ended up falling asleep in our hotel around 3 in the afternoon. We woke around 8:30 to find the sky a similar shade of grey to when we had gone to sleep. We knew it was 8:30 and we felt rested but we couldn't tell if it was 8:30 that same night or 8:30 the next morning..maybe it was the jet lag but I blame not being able to see the sun as well..we actually had to call down to the front desk to get the day. kinda weird and discombobulating.
Anyway, I don't know how the English do it..technically this is their spring time and according to the locals, "it's not bad out".
I think the Beatles put it best: Here comes the Sun, long live the Sun King.
10 miles out of town and it had suddenly turned into a beautiful day...or at least the sun had come out. Pardon the digression but I have to comment on British weather here: First off, the UK is actually pretty friken far north..Inverness, in northern Scotland, is actually about the same latitude as Juneau Alaska and London is about the same latitude as Seattle/Vancouver area. Its the gulf stream apparently that circulates warmish water past the Isles and keeps them from freezing. Without the gulf stream much of the British Isles would be covered in glaciers, which is apparently how they formed in the first place.
Anyway, Edinburgh, which is located on a bay type thing called the Firth of Forth, is subject to pretty fickle weather..it can change within minutes..which as you can imagine makes it really hard to plan your outfit..the trick being to remember to pack extra layers and rain coats in your day bag. Basically the weather here is similar to the San Francisco bay area in that in SF it can be cold, windy and overcast and a mere 10 miles away on the other side of the bay it can be 15 degrees warmer and sunny. Such was our day, cold then then warmish.
Feeling revived by the sudden splashes of sunlight on our faces we decided to stop, get out, and explore a bit. As luck would have it we were right near Rosslyn Chapel...but that'll be the next entry...for now, more on the weather.
Coming from SoCal we take the warmth and the sun for granted..in just a weeks time in the UK we had learned that you take advantage of every minute of sunlight and warmth that you can since it could be days again until you see the sun again. And this is a strange phenomena in itself..not seeing the sun. In Scotland it had been so overcast that you really could not make out where the sun was..the sky was a uniformly grey glowing blanket with some darker and lighter splotches mixed in..like a can of grey paint that hadn't been mixed properly. Not being able to see the sun has some strange side effects; particularly, you can't really tell what time of day it is by the height of the sun nor can you tell which way is east or west by the sun's position.
There's actually another story here: When Helen and I first arrive in Dublin several weeks back the weather was similar, and having just arrived at 10am local time after a 14 hour flight we tried our best to explore the city a bit..we didn't last long and ended up falling asleep in our hotel around 3 in the afternoon. We woke around 8:30 to find the sky a similar shade of grey to when we had gone to sleep. We knew it was 8:30 and we felt rested but we couldn't tell if it was 8:30 that same night or 8:30 the next morning..maybe it was the jet lag but I blame not being able to see the sun as well..we actually had to call down to the front desk to get the day. kinda weird and discombobulating.
Anyway, I don't know how the English do it..technically this is their spring time and according to the locals, "it's not bad out".
I think the Beatles put it best: Here comes the Sun, long live the Sun King.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Castles suck!
Ok, they don't really suck its just that we're on castle overload right about now..seen 3 or so in the last day and a half..they're everywhere. Of note were Edinburgh and Sterling castles. Edinbugh Castle is really dominating on the city skyline (try to post pics later) and Sterling is the site of William Wallace's (a.k.a braveheart) famous victory over the English so these were neat to see. here are some pics:
Edinburgh Castle
Sterling Castle
It's friken cold though..and by cold I mean a damp and windy 50 degrees. Helen and I didn't really prepare for this sort of weather, we did bring a thermal layer and wind breaker but they barely keep the cold out..and then of course is the laundry issue..it's been cold for about 7 days straight now and with only one warm outfit we are starting to stink a bit...well, I am at least, Helen seems to manage not to rot as bad as me..she claims it's all the dairy I eat. anyway.
Ginger and Steve have joined us and we've secured a guest house near old town Edinburgh. Last night we went to a neighborhood pub and had some pints with the locals..it was a bizarre night, here's the scene:
Local scottish pub filled with scrappy middle aged scotsmen dressed in drag mixed with strange older women wearing wigs and Grease outfits (ala Pink Ladies) who looked like the men in drag and selling raffle tickets (apparently all this for a charity fund raising event). As we enter the bar, the locals turned and leared towards like the zombies in a George Romero film.. it was only later that we discovered that unlike Romero's zombies, they were not after our brains.. but our pearly whites.
Finding a cozy corner with our backs to the wall and warm carpet under our feet we decided to stay for some pints. A couple of pints into the evening and someone puts on the Grease soundtrack. After listening to it play through about 3 times back to back they brought out the karaoke machine. This is a sight in itself..drunk Scottish drag queens belting out Sinatra in thick, slurred Scottish accents.
So as the sky grew progressively darker in its shades of grey we slid deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. Fearing the worst we moved on to shots of slippery nipples, kilt lifters and sambuca, the only 3 shots the barmaid knew how to make (2 technically since you don't actually 'make' a sambuca shot). As the alcohol seeped into our blood and into our brains we slowly began to make out individual words and then slowly complete sentences from the locals. We had learned Scottish! So we decided to engage in some light conversation. It was at this point, face to face with the drunk Scottish drag queens, that we reallized it was our pearly whites that had caught their eye when we first entered. That 'myth' about poor British dental hygine is apparently true. Half of these poor souls had several teeth missing, crooked snaggly teeth, bad dentures, brownish plaque or some combination thereof. All very nice people, but it was all we could do to avoid staring at their gaping maws while we talked over 'Blair's resignation', 'Scotish seperatism', 'how good Mike looks in drag' and 'whether or not Ginger is interested in marrying one of Old Jack's seven sons'.
The raffle comes and we end up winning several bottls of wine (just what we need). We pick at the scraps of food at the buffet and decide we've had enough...it's time for bed.
Anyway, that was last night..I think we're in for a slighly quieter night tonight with falafels, tea and BBC2.
here's the proof:
Steve and 'Honey'
Edinburgh Castle
Sterling Castle
It's friken cold though..and by cold I mean a damp and windy 50 degrees. Helen and I didn't really prepare for this sort of weather, we did bring a thermal layer and wind breaker but they barely keep the cold out..and then of course is the laundry issue..it's been cold for about 7 days straight now and with only one warm outfit we are starting to stink a bit...well, I am at least, Helen seems to manage not to rot as bad as me..she claims it's all the dairy I eat. anyway.
Ginger and Steve have joined us and we've secured a guest house near old town Edinburgh. Last night we went to a neighborhood pub and had some pints with the locals..it was a bizarre night, here's the scene:
Local scottish pub filled with scrappy middle aged scotsmen dressed in drag mixed with strange older women wearing wigs and Grease outfits (ala Pink Ladies) who looked like the men in drag and selling raffle tickets (apparently all this for a charity fund raising event). As we enter the bar, the locals turned and leared towards like the zombies in a George Romero film.. it was only later that we discovered that unlike Romero's zombies, they were not after our brains.. but our pearly whites.
Finding a cozy corner with our backs to the wall and warm carpet under our feet we decided to stay for some pints. A couple of pints into the evening and someone puts on the Grease soundtrack. After listening to it play through about 3 times back to back they brought out the karaoke machine. This is a sight in itself..drunk Scottish drag queens belting out Sinatra in thick, slurred Scottish accents.
So as the sky grew progressively darker in its shades of grey we slid deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. Fearing the worst we moved on to shots of slippery nipples, kilt lifters and sambuca, the only 3 shots the barmaid knew how to make (2 technically since you don't actually 'make' a sambuca shot). As the alcohol seeped into our blood and into our brains we slowly began to make out individual words and then slowly complete sentences from the locals. We had learned Scottish! So we decided to engage in some light conversation. It was at this point, face to face with the drunk Scottish drag queens, that we reallized it was our pearly whites that had caught their eye when we first entered. That 'myth' about poor British dental hygine is apparently true. Half of these poor souls had several teeth missing, crooked snaggly teeth, bad dentures, brownish plaque or some combination thereof. All very nice people, but it was all we could do to avoid staring at their gaping maws while we talked over 'Blair's resignation', 'Scotish seperatism', 'how good Mike looks in drag' and 'whether or not Ginger is interested in marrying one of Old Jack's seven sons'.
The raffle comes and we end up winning several bottls of wine (just what we need). We pick at the scraps of food at the buffet and decide we've had enough...it's time for bed.
Anyway, that was last night..I think we're in for a slighly quieter night tonight with falafels, tea and BBC2.
here's the proof:
Steve and 'Honey'
a close up up shot..(sorry)
Ginger with Old Jack
Ryan and 'Penny'
way too happy for winning some cheap wine
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Stage left..
We met Steve about a year ago at our friends Riad's wedding reception. He's been out from London a couple of times since and each time we've hung out with him it's been very cool. So naturally we were excited to hear that he was going to join up with us Friday night in Edinbugh and travel back down to Londontown with us. Enter Steve. And within minutes of his arriving Steve, who is handsome and charming by trade, quickly works his magic and pulls some of Scotland's finest.
It turns out that Edinburgh is a popular destination for Stag and Hen parties (read: bachelor/bachelorette) and in this case 18th birthday parties as well (equivalent to our 21st birthday due to the drinking age being 18 in the UK).
Apparently the tradition is to dress up in goofy outfits and get drunk. Which when you consider Scotish daily life (kilts, bagpipes, and beer) seems par for course.
Anyway, in addition to the bunnies shown here we saw a Rugby team theme, a 'goofy hats and toy guns' theme, a Star Wars theme, and other assorted goofery.
What's best about this picture is the large girl in the front left with the take away basket of chips.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Church
went to St Giles Church for a service today..impressive church lots of buttressed ells and stained glass
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Edinburgh
We've arrived in Edinburgh... WOW! What an impressive city.... lots of gothic architecture stacked upon more Gothic architecture. All the stones are black and brooding with age.. very majestic yet ominous. The city seems pretty diverse and edgy, very different from Glasgow and the north... and of course, Helen noticed lots of great shopping. Too bad we're watching our budget! 
We're staying at a hostel... kinda shabby, but will do for now.
We're off to check out the bar scene. We've had enough folk music so far so we're eager to see what the kids are listening to here.
Cheers
A Picture Tour
Irish Police (Guarda) Motorcycles
Irish Bus Station (Bus Eireann) our preferred mode of transport... err, maybe not preferred, but primary mode at least
Irish Country side and old Train station.. Ireland really is this green
Dingle (An Daengian) - great little town on the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry (recommend this)
An Irish parade celebrating our arrival..or maybe they were celebrating Mayday..
A hearty Irish Pub meal (Guinness, Meat and Potatoes!!)
and an Irish rainbow on our last day...
City scenes from around Inverness (great town!!!)
Cawdor Castle
And Helen sporting a Scottish rainbow (remarkably similar to Irish rainbows)
more later..
Irish Bus Station (Bus Eireann) our preferred mode of transport... err, maybe not preferred, but primary mode at least
Irish Country side and old Train station.. Ireland really is this green
Dingle (An Daengian) - great little town on the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry (recommend this)
An Irish parade celebrating our arrival..or maybe they were celebrating Mayday..
A hearty Irish Pub meal (Guinness, Meat and Potatoes!!)
and an Irish rainbow on our last day...
City scenes from around Inverness (great town!!!)
Cawdor Castle
And Helen sporting a Scottish rainbow (remarkably similar to Irish rainbows)
more later..
Highlander
So we flew into Glasgow on Tuesday and took the train to Inverness same day. We've been poking around the Scottish highlands now for a couple of days and we love it even though the weather is rainy. There are sheep farms and castle relics everywhere...churches too..loads of churches..for instance Inverness must have 15 or so churches..and I don't mean little tiny churches in some random corner of town..I mean large impressive gothic cathedral style churches..sometimes several in a row on the same street.
We also saw the battlefields of Culloden. This is the place where the last battle was fought on British soil.. some say it was fought between the Scots and English, or that it was a civil war between the highlanders and the lowlanders... others say it was a religious war between the roman catholics and episcopalians vs the protestants... I think. Regardless, it was neat to see. There are stones placed on the fields to remember the various clans who died there. There were flowers placed there as well... as the anniversary of the battle was on 4/16..
Today we'll be heading to Loch Ness to try to spot the monster (fingers crossed)..after that we're heading into Edinburgh to meet up with Ginger and Steve for some more fun.
Some observations so far:
Ireland-
- clean and safe
- people are cordial but not as friendly as advertised; they are also very conservative
- seems to desperately be trying to recreate itself culturally as the Gaelic country of Europe and remove itself from the shadow of the UK
- buses are clean and on time
- stay away from Tralee (waste of time!)
Scotland so far-
- friendly people
- already experienced some conflicts between the highlanders vs the lowlanders, or to put it another way, between the pro UK unionists and the nationalists/separatists... they were men in the same bar... snaring at each other because they were each more loyal and patriotic than the other
- gorgeous countryside... some of the prettiest flowers we've seen so far.. it's amazing how such a gray and overcast climate can produce some of the boldest and most brilliantly colored flowers
More to follow...
We also saw the battlefields of Culloden. This is the place where the last battle was fought on British soil.. some say it was fought between the Scots and English, or that it was a civil war between the highlanders and the lowlanders... others say it was a religious war between the roman catholics and episcopalians vs the protestants... I think. Regardless, it was neat to see. There are stones placed on the fields to remember the various clans who died there. There were flowers placed there as well... as the anniversary of the battle was on 4/16..
Today we'll be heading to Loch Ness to try to spot the monster (fingers crossed)..after that we're heading into Edinburgh to meet up with Ginger and Steve for some more fun.
Some observations so far:
Ireland-
- clean and safe
- people are cordial but not as friendly as advertised; they are also very conservative
- seems to desperately be trying to recreate itself culturally as the Gaelic country of Europe and remove itself from the shadow of the UK
- buses are clean and on time
- stay away from Tralee (waste of time!)
Scotland so far-
- friendly people
- already experienced some conflicts between the highlanders vs the lowlanders, or to put it another way, between the pro UK unionists and the nationalists/separatists... they were men in the same bar... snaring at each other because they were each more loyal and patriotic than the other
- gorgeous countryside... some of the prettiest flowers we've seen so far.. it's amazing how such a gray and overcast climate can produce some of the boldest and most brilliantly colored flowers
More to follow...
Monday, May 7, 2007
New Friends
Ireland apparently is a small country. We met Carmine, from Naples, Italy, in Cork but ran into him 3 separate times since... all in different cities.
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