Topic awaiting preservation: Greetings from Scotland!

Thought I'd pop in for a bit and say hello! The trip started off pretty crazy, weather in Newark shut down the airport for 2 hours, keeping us in Raleigh until 7 pm - at which point we'd missed our direct flight to Glasgow... by 10 minutes, I might add... My sister from Boston, who was to meet us in Newark, says 18 people missed the flight due to weather, and they wouldn't hold it. So we went to the ticket counter, and got re-routed to Amsterdam (which would have been nice, if that layover had been more than a couple of hours...) from there, we caught a flight to Glasgow. But we were traveling for 24 hours.
Once we made it to Glasgow, we met up with a very personable taxi driver, who offered to take us for a driving tour of the city for just £20. (the keybords here have £ signs! tee-hee!) Since we didn't have much time there, we took him up on the offer. Glasgow's a beautiful city, but you couldn't pay me to drive there! From there we took the train to Oban on the west coast, ferried to the island of Mull, took the bumpiest Land Rover ride across the island to another, shorter ferry to the Island of Iona, which was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I highly recommend a holiday there if you ever get the opportunity. After 3 wonderful, relaxing days there, we are in Edinburgh tonight. A bit of a culture shock, but I think I'll feel better about it in the morning. For one thing, we're in a tiny hotel, with only double beds... Good thing I'm traveling with family, or I'd be pretty upset about that... It's probably not the first time I've had to share a bed with one of my sisters.
I'm taking plenty of photographs, and hope to get them developed shortly after I get home. I can't wait to show you guys some of the wonderful things I've seen here... We're talking about taking in the Edinburgh Dungeon, or maybe the Ghost Walk tour here tomorrow evening... Edinburgh is a world away from Iona...
I wish I had a digital camera, so I could actually give you guys a post card, but alas, you'll have to wait a few weeks...
Maybe I'll get a chance to check back in a couple of days...


Cell 617

aye thats Newark for you. Theres a Newark near me in the UK and its long been accepted that the name is actually an anagram. . .

I love Scotland, used to drive up there every couple of weeks to see my girlfriend. The scenery and pace of life is so different from anything else i've evrey known. I was lucky enough to be up there during hogmany. Princes street in Edinburgh is the only place to be on new years eve.

don't forget to visit a tartan shop to see if they've got your clans tartan. looking forward to seeing the pictures


~We're not here for long, we're here for fun~

Scotland look beautiful on postcards, that's everything I know about it. Your trip sound quite like an adventure though. Take some good photos for us ! And bring us an original whiskey bottle ! Or try to visit the Loch Ness

Have good hollidays Bodhi

PS : I'm leaving too for three weeks, so see you later pals

I might as well have been on vacation I've been so absent from here lately. I'm so glad to hear you're having a great time over there, bodhi23. It sounds absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to see some of the pics when you get back

. . : slicePuzzle

Well, we've made it through Edinburgh to Lindisfarne in England, and now we're in Durham. Edinburgh is a whirlwind of city life, and I can well agree that their New Year's celebration is wild. Nothin' but crazy drunk Scots up there... We were waiting for the rest of our party for a Pub crawl on the Grassmarket, and apparently, someone was having a Stag party. A stark naked man walked up the street, casual as you please. He did start to run when someone brought out their camera. Apparently, he didn't want any evidence! Dang... I almost had one for ya Lacuna!
We also took the Ghosts & Ghouls walking tour of the vaults beneath the city. Apparently, things were pretty nasty in Edinburgh in the 13th and 14th centuries... Lots of grisly death and poverty, and people dying in strange ways... It was kind of creepy, pretty cool, but we didn't see any ghosts. They've not figured out how to make them appear on cue when there's a tour!
Lindisfarne was a welcome breather from the bustle of the city. We didn't even stop while we were in Edinburgh. You could walk 3 blocks, and change altitude 5 times... my legs are starting to curse me about now.
But in Lindisfarne, we could rest. The island commerce is completed governed by the tides. The island is only an island at high tide. The rest of the day, it's connected to the mainland of England by a causeway. So when the tide is out, the shops are open and people come over for the day, but when the tide is getting ready to come in, everybody scrambles for the mainland. And the island folk shut down their shops for the rest of the day... Forced relaxation... It was necessary.
Now we're in Durham city, on the downward leg of the trip. We've a day and a half here, and then we head back to Glasgow, and then home again...
I sure do hope the photos come out! I've got some great shots. The weather since we've been here has been absolutely fantastic - hot, for the UK, I understand. But we've had no rain since we left Iona. As far as I can tell from the locals, that's simply amazing. It's been a great trip, but I'm just about ready to come home now.


Cell 617