Kirk's England and Scotland 2004

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UK Vacation 2004 Diary
Kirk:

June 21-22: Long flight - spoke to woman from Ghana - kids at Stanford, friends and relations on both coasts - Ghana sounds fairly nice - Ghana had brief flirt with socialism but didn't help much - free market helping - little civil strife - took about 2 hours from Heathrow to cottage - totally lost; difficult driving - small roads with parked cars all over them - cottage nice - country area - went to pub for dinner and drinks - quiz night - did badly but got concillation prize for answering question about when we "immigrants" got to Heathrow - got home at about 11PM - very long two days but only slept until about 5AM (time shift I guess) - can't get the damn mobile phone working to call (service comes up okay).

June 23: Winchmore Hill is nice when you get here but the road is hell! Hedgerows on both sides and mostly only one car wide (8 foot hedgerows) - went to see family friend Peter and his wife at Stonehenge - ended up taking us four hours instead of two - same old thing we got lost and lost and lost! Also, we have found that both of us drive too close to the left side (we hit bushes occasionally and jump curbs once and awhile; mostly we scare the passengers, particularly on the left side). Peter and his wife took us to lunch at a pub in Salisbury and we saw the cathedral there and then Stonehenge - the cathedral was very beautiful, inspiring and monumental - Stonehenge was okay but not as impressive as we might have thought - took us about four hours to drive back as we got turned around a lot - my cell phone isn't working - I need to take it to a mobile (phone) place to find out what I am doing wrong - woke up early (5:30AM) this morning even though we were out late - coins are confusing - have used plastic some - got 400 pounds at an airport ATM - tomorrow London - will drive close and get a TRAIN!

June 24: Westminster Abbey - Chapel of ST. Michael by L.F. Roubilic, 1761, Joseph Nightingale TUGN - Fighting the Figure of Death - went on the train and underground to London - changed trains at Baker Street - trains similar to BART but older, noisier and more lurching - "Mind the Gap" is a real warning - sometimes large gaps between train and platform - saw the Tower of London and castle as well as an old wall and memorial from Roman times - Thames boat ride to Westminster - saw the cathedral and houses of Parliament - friendly bobbies at gates around Parliament but guys with automatic weapons just inside - very impressive buildings - in Westminster Abbey the monuments to the dead are crowding out the living - some great and some even hideous - went by St. Paul's Cathedral but it was closed and was not as interesting - saw Globe theater from the river - would like to see it - Mobile not fixed yet - better driving and mass transit a Godsend.

June 25 - no joy in England - they lost on penalties to Portugal - guys were howling at the pub when we went by there - sounded mean! (Oh yes, the pub round the corner four doors away is called "The Potter's Arms" - across the street is "The Plough", which was very quiet during the football game - it is more of a classy cocktail type place - we turn to come up here at "The Magpies" pub on A355 - by the Potter's Arms (across the street is a large cut grass area running down the hill - this is "the commons" or "the green" I would guess - the 24th was blustery and showery. Went to High Wycombe and spent most of the day there - we did some shopping - it was a cute town or small city - there was a sort of open air market at the town center - beautiful fruit - a guy selling meat from a truck - a couple of malls - weather was about perfect - got cell phone (mobile) sorted out and called mom at about 2PM our time - I didn't realize that my math was wrong and it was 6AM there - Lainey called her friends near Carlisle and Gretna Green - I called back to apologise to to mom - a BIG bill probably - went to Little Chalfont (where we went yesterday to get the train to London) - we had very good Chinese food at a great restaurant - we also went to a small convenience store for some supplies - Lola laughs at the detergent that is called "washing up liquid" - they often have signs that say "way out", not "exit", although they use "exit" too - we have gotten a little better at getting around (at least in this area) - have not thought much of English pub or fast food - too much meat and potatoes - particularly potatoes - and doesn't seem to be cooked as I would like - High Wycombe I ate fish and chips at a Wimpy's - Suzanne had mentioned them from her being here in the 1970s - okay fast food - played "carwash" on the muzak - my anxiety has been very controlled and not much of a problem - English seem to do service quite well - O2 cell phone store guy was really nice - worked on my problem about 15 minutes and charged nothing!

June 26: Left our first cottage near London - drove a long day up to Carlisle - we met Harker and his friend Tom, who are Lainey's friends from the Internet - later she met Joe (the primary person she has chatted with) - we went up to Gretna Green (to what turned out to be a Days Inn there) - we had dinner and slept while Lainey had fun with her friends - none of them drive yet so a parent brought them home - she didn't want to leave - we are now in Scotland - weather has been wet but Lainey's friends say this is a good day - one of her friends (Harker) looks to go to Cambridge! Lainey says the town is deserted from 6PM to 9PM; after 9PM everyone comes back out in their best threads and goes clubbing, etc. - food (pubs and motorways mostly) hasn't been very good - just meat and potatoes stuff - driving takes a lot of concentration and is tiring.

June 27: Got up and went to Glasgow - as usual some "cockups" - lost on small country roads not wide enough - behind slow trucks for miles - saw Hadrian's Wall - not too much left but more impressive than I thought it would be - saw it near Lanercost Priory - we also saw the priory and church yard - we went on up toward Melrose Abbey and stopped at a very good pub/restaurant/inn for lunch (I had a Plowman's Lunch with pate) - the place was out in the middle of nowhere - weather is mostly good - a bit 'o rain but not much - very beautiful country like something out of a Flemish painting - large contented cows - lots of sheep - very very GREEN - had ice cream in Melrose - need 300 pounds to pay for lodging in Glasgow - ended up with only 285 pounds - will get the rest today - we are "spent"! Hope the bus to town center doesn't cost much - hoping to do more public transport and less driving - got passes from Scottish Trust for all major historical sites yesterday.

June 28: I walked around the area before Lola and Lainey got going - went to Victoria Park here in Whiteinch - it was an absolutely stunning park - I asked directions to a bank in the town center - "a wee way past the end of the park" - seemed more than a wee way - I went to the Bank of Scotland and used my cash card to get 200 pounds (15 pounds of which is the remainder for the landlord) - ran back along Dumbarton Road because I thought Lola would think something happened to me - had to stand in the bank line a long time - before going to the civic center etc. we ate brunch at cafe near Whiteinch (maybe Broomhill area) of Glasgow and left two Book Crossing books: "Angels and Demons" as well as "Concrete Blonde" - got going late and rode the bus to the civic center (George's Park) - monuments to Sir Walter Raleigh and Gladstone among others I have not heard of - like a spring day - even romance in the air - couples lounging around on the grass kissing and so forth - kids doing tricks on skateboards - saw a total of about four guys wearing kilts - we toured the Glasgow city hall - beautiful building dedicated to Queen Victoria - the guy who gave the tour was quite funny - building was built circa 1893 - Victorian version of double glazed windows - mostly to keep out street noise - first building to be electrified in Europe - council chamber holds about 27 (?) representatives, about 85-90% of which are Labor, about one or two Tories and a few fringe parties like the Scottish Socialists - we went on a bus tour of the city and may go again - tickets we got for city bus and tour last 24 hours - we ate dinner at a very good (somewhat expensive) placed called "78", near George Square - we stopped at a Safeway on the way home to get some supplies - got back home at 9 or 9:30PM.

June 29: Did shopping and sightseeing in Glasgow today - bus to town center - 2 pounds 30 pence each for the day - tour bus tickets were still good today - saw Glasgow cathedral and St. Mungo religious museum - saw People's Palace and winter garden - more spectacular buildings and the Peoples' Palace was good because it showed how residents lived in the past - took a quiz and found that I was less pro-death penalty than the average Glasgow resident for specific criminal murder scenarios - buses are funky but get you there - rode into town on the enclosed top of a double decker bus - population of this town has gone down since 1900 - most shops close at 5 or 6PM - you have to ask for your bill at most restaurants - "off license" signs on convenience stores means they sell alcoholic beverages - the news today was that a Glasgow soldier had been killed in Iraq - purchased the latest Harry Potter book at a Borders here - about every one we have talked to is nice and fairly easy to understand - the pubs are the only places open after 6PM - weather is off and on rainy but never bitter cold or drenching - I can see how you could get used to it and locals make jokes about it.

June 30: To Edinburgh on the train - trains are very nice and smooth - had to spend 20 pence to use the loo at the station - Edinburgh is beautiful - we saw some of the castle and other sites of interest - usual off and on rain - the queen had a garden party that day at Hollyrood Palace - as a result the tour bus was forced to take detours - the afternoon traffic was madness - it was worth it, though - we got to see all the swells returning from the queen's whoop-de-doo - ladies in dresses and funny hats and guys in kilts - they didn't seem like what I expected - dressed nicely but off the rack nice - many of them waved, smiled, and made jokes with the kids on the top level of the bus - ate at a Chinese buffet (about 40 pounds total! including my pint of Guinness) - left "The Ghost of King Leopold" on the train - again we had to walk about 5 city blocks to get to our bus home - called mom from Edinburgh and talked (too long) - everything fine - two guys on the bus had obviously spent too much time at the pub - unsteady footing on the bus - when we got here we saw a guy fall twice (right on his butt after getting off the bus) - he was (too) good humored though.

July 1: Took the bus to the train again and went to Stirling - beautiful town - Wallace monument and the town itself were best - Forth river runs through and out to the Firth of Forth at Edinburgh - did some shopping - great small record (CD) store - got card - toured the town in a bus - guessed at where the McKinlay home was but didn't see it - little time, and early day before leaving - talked to an older lady at Stirling Castle - her son had lived in a house owned by his boss (Wrigley?) on Pyramid Place above the Hollywood Bowl - said Fred Astaire lived at the end of Pyramid at one time - at the train station on the way back had a pint of Scottish lager and fish and chips - Lola and Lainey had burgers - bus crowded on way back at about 7PM, filled car with gas - will try to take earlier flight (9:35) from Glasgow because our connection could be a problem - still have a few pounds to spend - Lola needs to send post cards - billboard showing a guy's eye view down at his own pot belly, caption "wouldn't it be nice to see the full monty"!

PS - Nice dog on tour bus in Stirling or Edinburgh with tag reading "Harley"

Some notable ways the UK differs from the US:
 lots of non-mixing sink fixtures
 very few or no water fountains
 lower drinking age (variable according to area)
 narrow streets
 narrow streets with cars parked all over them
 pump first, pay later petrol (gas) stations
 food on trains, subways
 military type time
 few mail (post) boxes
 very lush and green
 lots of parks and green areas
 smoking in public buildings and restaurants
 ladies or gents or toilet, not restroom, mens room, ladies room
 roundabouts and few traffic lights, in the south at least
 eating out diet probably worse than here

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