Days photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/middles/.
We are in Scotland, a place that reminds us that not only is the US the land of the free and home of the brave, the US is also the land of convenient bathrooms where the light switch is actually in the bathroom.
This is not Scotland. It's still the Lake District. Scotland looks a lot like this, except the stone walls are made of the skulls of Englishmen. I waved my US passport at border control (carefully hiding the UK one) as we crossed the border. Or I would have if such a thing (a border control) existed. The first town across the England-Scotland Border is Gretna Green, commonly known as the "Las Vegas of Scotland", though without the gambling, gratuitous nudity, and anything vaguely modern and/or risque (I'm not entirely joking). Basically, you can marry at 16 without parental consent in Scotland and Gretna Green was the first accessible town over the border (or something like that). People often got married "over an anvil" at the blacksmith's, which sounds much more sophisticated than an Elvis wedding.
This is Glenalmond House in Edinburgh. And that is blue sky behind the house. It is not a mirage. When the locals ask where I am from and they grimace when I say "England", I say: "just kidding, I'm from the US really, just listen to my Southern droll". Incidentally, Edinburgh is not pronounced "Ed-in-borr-o" or "Ed-in-burr-a". Think of the weather and say "Ed-in-brrrr" and you're pretty close.
The B&Bs in England always left us a bottle of water in the room when we arrived. Scotland being Scotland, they considerately left us a bottle of vodka, I think.
This is Gordon eating. Yes Elizabeth, I am indeed still feeding your husband!!! He doesn't have any tea though - he claims he has "had enough" (is that possible?!). As a quasi-pescetarian who doesn't eat raw vegetables, I sacrificed my salad for Gordon too.
While browsing in a music shop (Gordon literally got sucked in at the sight of a bouzouki), I saw the music book above, a book entitled "I can play that" with a picture of Mariah Carey. Yes, a whole book dedicated to leaning to play tunes that no-one ever should be allowed to play in public.
This is Adam Smith, best known for his starring alongside The Queen of England on the (English) twenty pound note. Adam Smith was Scottish (hence he is stuck in Edinburgh's Royal Mile). Why he is on English tender is a mystery. Perhaps someone should have a referendum to sort this out?
Aha, here we are at the gates of Edinburgh Castle. We will go in it another day.
This is the National Museum of Scotland. It is very large, free, and full of all things Scotland-historical. Who knew Scotland had its own history? I should remember to tell our Queen what Scotland is up to. Can you see Gordon in the photo?
This is a giant piece of amethyst. I accidentally thought I was in the gift shop and asked them how much it was. They wouldn't sell it to me. It would have made a good item to have a geologist stand next to for the photograph. However, I have to confess that I had at this point temporarily lost Gordon in the very large, free, and Scotland-historical museum. To be fair, he was well-fed at the time. And I even managed to find him again shortly after the museum closed.
This is Edinburgh at night. The photo is taken from the observation deck of the museum. The observation deck was actually closed to the public (no stair access, and the lift (i.e., elevator) did not allow access to the 7th floor... which is really the 8th floor in American English), and so it was genuinely a complete surprise and mystery how I ended up on the 7th floor. While being totally surprised and mystified, I thought should at least grab one quick nighttime shot.
We are in Scotland, a place that reminds us that not only is the US the land of the free and home of the brave, the US is also the land of convenient bathrooms where the light switch is actually in the bathroom.
This is Glenalmond House in Edinburgh. And that is blue sky behind the house. It is not a mirage. When the locals ask where I am from and they grimace when I say "England", I say: "just kidding, I'm from the US really, just listen to my Southern droll". Incidentally, Edinburgh is not pronounced "Ed-in-borr-o" or "Ed-in-burr-a". Think of the weather and say "Ed-in-brrrr" and you're pretty close.
The B&Bs in England always left us a bottle of water in the room when we arrived. Scotland being Scotland, they considerately left us a bottle of vodka, I think.
This is Gordon eating. Yes Elizabeth, I am indeed still feeding your husband!!! He doesn't have any tea though - he claims he has "had enough" (is that possible?!). As a quasi-pescetarian who doesn't eat raw vegetables, I sacrificed my salad for Gordon too.
While browsing in a music shop (Gordon literally got sucked in at the sight of a bouzouki), I saw the music book above, a book entitled "I can play that" with a picture of Mariah Carey. Yes, a whole book dedicated to leaning to play tunes that no-one ever should be allowed to play in public.
This is Adam Smith, best known for his starring alongside The Queen of England on the (English) twenty pound note. Adam Smith was Scottish (hence he is stuck in Edinburgh's Royal Mile). Why he is on English tender is a mystery. Perhaps someone should have a referendum to sort this out?
Aha, here we are at the gates of Edinburgh Castle. We will go in it another day.
This is the National Museum of Scotland. It is very large, free, and full of all things Scotland-historical. Who knew Scotland had its own history? I should remember to tell our Queen what Scotland is up to. Can you see Gordon in the photo?
This is a giant piece of amethyst. I accidentally thought I was in the gift shop and asked them how much it was. They wouldn't sell it to me. It would have made a good item to have a geologist stand next to for the photograph. However, I have to confess that I had at this point temporarily lost Gordon in the very large, free, and Scotland-historical museum. To be fair, he was well-fed at the time. And I even managed to find him again shortly after the museum closed.
This is Edinburgh at night. The photo is taken from the observation deck of the museum. The observation deck was actually closed to the public (no stair access, and the lift (i.e., elevator) did not allow access to the 7th floor... which is really the 8th floor in American English), and so it was genuinely a complete surprise and mystery how I ended up on the 7th floor. While being totally surprised and mystified, I thought should at least grab one quick nighttime shot.
Thank you so much for capturing this trip in photos. It was wonderful to see and read about Gordon having such fun. And to see his sweet face one last time.
ReplyDeleteAnn Minner