Blogs from Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 487

Hi all, Hope everyone had a good holiday. Ours continues. It’s nice not to have to go back to work. Had a great time in Halifax and Toronto with Mike’s family. Thanks to Ben and Jen for putting us up. It’s been a steady stream of Charlotte’s family and friends upon arrival in Glasgow. Everyone’s been quite concerned about our plans for Thailand since the tsunami hit. It’s certainly been on our minds as well. Every day seems a little worse making it harder for everyone. We’ve been thinking very hard about doing some volunteer work. Looking for ways to help out. So, for the moment, the plan remains unchanged. Thursday we’ll drive from Glasgow down to Brighton. Looking forward to a good curry and a pub night there. We fly out to Bangkok on Saturday ... read more

Sheraton’s executive lounge provides breakfast. Since this is Sunday we find our way to St. John’s cathedral and observe their service. It’s a choral matins service. Best described, this service is a singing rendition of old-time catholic aphorisms. Edinburgh’s royal mile starts at the base of Edinburgh castle. It proceeds east for a mile ending at the Holyrood palace. (Full mile: 1059-1159) “Kings have been born, crowned and died here, battles have been fought in its streets and from its castle walls. Here was the home of Scotland’s parliament, until the Union; here now is the symbolic home of Scotland’s kirk; the home of her legal system. Above all, it is the heart of the Scottish nation.” Here is what we observed this afternoon while walking the mile.(Start of mile:1059-1060) There are many little shops. Scottish ... read more

Awaking we get our first ocean view’s. It’s a magnificent view. Mom heads to the spa and I head outdoors to take photographs. The wind is blowing at 35mph and light rain is falling. The sting of the blowing rain makes it a tough shooting environment. I walk the golf course, up along the beach, and visit the light house and halfway house before heading back. (754-962) Only about a dozen golfers have ventured out to play. I met up with a couple at the pool who are from Aberdeen, Scotland.... read more

When the ARU announced the Wallabies autumn tour dates of Europe, I was convinced I would make it to all three (later changed to four) matches, including France, Scotland & England. Although I didn’t get my act together to make it to France, I managed to gather a group to go see the Aussies play Scotland. Surprisingly although our group consisted of seven people, only three were actually Aussies (and no Scots!). The tour essentially started (for me) on the Thursday lunchtime (Thurs 18th November 2004), when I made the forty minute trek from Aldgate to Notting Hill Gate, the home of P.P. Travel (the Party Professionals - although affectionately known to Jess as Piss Poor Travel). P.P. Travel organised the trip (match tickets & accommodation) for us and I needed to pick up our tickets ... read more

Edinburgh. Met Iain M. Banks as planned, handed him over a copy of the Headspace movie and told him to stay in touch, which was a lot better than the day before when we got thrown out of the book festival because we honed in on Stephanie Turner, the so-called 'Press Officer' who was mostly out to lunch, even when doing her job, (stephanie@edbookfest.co.uk), and lets not forget about the pasty looking youth serving books who told me to 'hang on just a second' before calling security because I'd pointed my cam at him. Muttering something about; "invading my privacy", he comes back with a security guy who has more than a passing resemblance to 'Jaws' from the James Bond movies. Jaws, not so politely, asks me to switch my cam off, which I'd already done ... read more