Glad to be of assistance. :-) I took a quick look at your LJ and added you, if that's OK.
I was amused by your recent post about Netflix, specifically by all the Globe Trekkers--if those are to your taste, you might get on with my housemates (redactrice and shy_kat who just got back from three weeks in Australia and are looking forward to becoming vagabonds and roaming through Europe.
What caused you to find your connection to Scotland? Have you travled there much? Do you have a favourite place or palces? Just curious. :-)
My connection to Scotland? I can't even remember when I wasn't fascinated with the place. With the whole of the UK, but Scotland in particular. I'm a Stewart and have, since childhood, fancied myself distant kin to one Mary, Queen of Scots. ;) Just like when, as a child, I learned that my grandmother's maiden name was Luther and that we're believed to be able to trace our roots back to Martin Luther and as a young child the only Martin Luther that I'd ever heard of was Martin Luther King, Jr. and it makes perfect sense to tell all my friends that I'm related to Martin Luther King, Jr. - even though I'm are a blond haired blue eyed child born 4 years after his death. ;)
But seriously. I've never been... Only in my mind or through photos or travel programs or books. Maybe it's odd to say I feel connected to a place I've never been. Even just clicking through the photos of your trip (I've bookmarked the website for that bed & breakfast you photographed, also ... very reasonable prices!) my heart just sings, looking at the countryside, seeing the buildings, feeling the pull of the history.
One day I'll get there. And once there, I don't know that I'll be able to leave.
Glad you liked the photos; there are more on the way--I just haven't taken the time to get them up yet.
It's a beautiful country, in so many ways. It's got its problems, but what country doesn't? It's no secret to say that I'd love to live there myself. We'll seee--in the meantime, there's always visits :-)
BTW, which B&B? Barcaldine House? or the very Pink Guest House? or the Glen Mhor Hotel? The first and last I can highly recommend. The second we just looked at as we strolled along the quay.
The Barcaldine House is the one that caught my eye. I looked up their website and added another stop to my mental vacation plan. I didn't notice the others. I'll have to click back through the photos and find them.
I meant to ask, though ... what cathedral was that in your Day One photos?
Barcaldine House was very nice: gracious and comfortable at the same time. Someone was having their wedding there just after we were there (the wedding party was arriving the day we left); I think it would be a lovely place for that. If you go there, make sure to visit the Scottish Sea-Life & Marine Sanctuary nearby.
The cathedral is Glasgow Cathedral, notable for being the only cathedral the Presbyterians didn't ravage during the Reformation. I've not been inside, which I would love to (we were there on a Sunday and services were ongoing).
I'm still not sure what the first unknown church was; UC#2 I discovered on my second pass through Glasgow is St Aloysius Roman Catholic Church (http://www.aloysius-glasgow.org/)
How many times have you been? And what was your itinerary this most recent trip? And how long ago was it? (questions, questions!) Do you have photos up anywhere else on the net?
I almost went, late last spring but the career I was in at the time was not fond of the idea of me being gone for 15 days, at least, and then all kinds of other baloney happened which made it impossible. Now I'm about to embark on grad school and have since quit the offensive job which means I won't be going for at least the next year and a half. Unless I win the lottery, of course. :)
Have you always set your own itinerary? Or have you gone as part of a tour package?
I'm sure I'll come up with more questions for next time... ;)
How many times have I been to Scotland? Once in 1985 with some friends when I was studying in London; I *think* it was a long weekend--we got to Edinburgh and Inverness. Once in 2002 for a week and a half with my (then) wife: Edinburgh, Stirling, Glen Coe, Dunkeld, Perth (she stayed a bit longer and got to St. Andrews too). Once this May with my (then) GF for a week (Glasgow, Oban/Barcaldine, Roy Bridge, Portree, Inverness, Helensburgh/Cove). Once this September by myself for a week (Glasgow and various locations on Skye and Raasay).
The first trip we had some sort of transport package, but we just wandered around and did whatever we felt like. The second time, Chris did all the planning (she LOVES planning). The last two times, I did all the planning.
I'm in a total quandry right now. I'm trying to find out if I can get a visa to live and work in the UK. If I do, I'll be dropping out of a job that pays me better than anything I've ever had (and way more than I could earn there) and which in some ways is one I've been chasing since I left college. But it would be to live in the UK! (And there's a good chance I could get it back if I absolutely hated life over there and wanted to come back. Massive hassle finding a place to live there, finding a job (even with the visa/work permit), getting my three cats there (though if I get the right shots and get them chipped they don't have to stay in quarantine. And if the only place I can find work is in the south of England (very possible) do I take that and just figure I'm an ocean closer to Scotland, or do I hold out for some sort of job "oop Nahth"?
But I won't know for maybe six months or more if I can get the visa, and in the meantime my life is partly on hold. I'm dating (I've been partnerless for most of the last two years), but no one wants to get involved with someone who may be moving abroad. I'm partway through a master's program, but the degree will be totally pointless if I move because it's applicable to work I can't do there. And every time I think about planning another trip, I think "But shouldn't I be saving that money instead?" *sigh* Yeah, I know, I'm sure it seems like a quandry most folks would love to find themselves in. But it's still tricky.
Thank you so much for such a thorough reply. I haven't had a chance yet to sit down and read through what you've linked, but its exciting to see your passion - and for my dreamy self, nice, too, to speak with someone who has been several times and can comment on places with real experience.
It will be interesting in the coming months to read what happens, if the visa comes through, what choices you will make.
Thank you so much for such a thorough reply. I haven't had a chance yet to sit down and read through what you've linked, but its exciting to see your passion - and for my dreamy self, nice, too, to speak with someone who has been several times and can comment on places with real experience.
You're welcome! It's nice to meet other people with a similar love of a place so far from "home".
It will be interesting in the coming months to read what happens, if the visa comes through, what choices you will make.
LOL! Yes, at this point I'm not even sure I know what I'll do it I actually get it.
Yes! Juliet. She's one of three, and an English Bulldog, to boot (as pictured above in small puppy form). There's a better photo of her (Juliet)and one of the others, Ellis, in a couple relatively recent entries of mine. (And way too many photos of the pup.) And the two kitties I see on your replies? Yours?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 02:54 am (UTC)I, too, am a displaced Scot that has somehow managed to be born and raised in the US. Someday I'll find my way home... This link may be the start. ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 03:47 am (UTC)I was amused by your recent post about Netflix, specifically by all the Globe Trekkers--if those are to your taste, you might get on with my housemates (
What caused you to find your connection to Scotland? Have you travled there much? Do you have a favourite place or palces? Just curious. :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 01:48 pm (UTC)My connection to Scotland? I can't even remember when I wasn't fascinated with the place. With the whole of the UK, but Scotland in particular. I'm a Stewart and have, since childhood, fancied myself distant kin to one Mary, Queen of Scots. ;) Just like when, as a child, I learned that my grandmother's maiden name was Luther and that we're believed to be able to trace our roots back to Martin Luther and as a young child the only Martin Luther that I'd ever heard of was Martin Luther King, Jr. and it makes perfect sense to tell all my friends that I'm related to Martin Luther King, Jr. - even though I'm are a blond haired blue eyed child born 4 years after his death. ;)
But seriously. I've never been... Only in my mind or through photos or travel programs or books. Maybe it's odd to say I feel connected to a place I've never been. Even just clicking through the photos of your trip (I've bookmarked the website for that bed & breakfast you photographed, also ... very reasonable prices!) my heart just sings, looking at the countryside, seeing the buildings, feeling the pull of the history.
One day I'll get there. And once there, I don't know that I'll be able to leave.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 02:24 pm (UTC)It's a beautiful country, in so many ways. It's got its problems, but what country doesn't? It's no secret to say that I'd love to live there myself. We'll seee--in the meantime, there's always visits :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 02:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 06:04 pm (UTC)I meant to ask, though ... what cathedral was that in your Day One photos?
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 06:38 pm (UTC)The cathedral is Glasgow Cathedral, notable for being the only cathedral the Presbyterians didn't ravage during the Reformation. I've not been inside, which I would love to (we were there on a Sunday and services were ongoing).
I'm still not sure what the first unknown church was; UC#2 I discovered on my second pass through Glasgow is St Aloysius Roman Catholic Church (http://www.aloysius-glasgow.org/)
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 07:44 pm (UTC)I almost went, late last spring but the career I was in at the time was not fond of the idea of me being gone for 15 days, at least, and then all kinds of other baloney happened which made it impossible. Now I'm about to embark on grad school and have since quit the offensive job which means I won't be going for at least the next year and a half. Unless I win the lottery, of course. :)
Have you always set your own itinerary? Or have you gone as part of a tour package?
I'm sure I'll come up with more questions for next time... ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 11:58 pm (UTC)Full itinerary for the latest trip you can find at
http://www.livejournal.com/users/winterbadger/311900.html#cutid1
http://www.livejournal.com/users/winterbadger/322381.html#cutid1
I think you've seen the only photos I have up so far, here
http://pics.livejournal.com/winterbadger/gallery/00004a56
and here
http://public.fotki.com/winterbadger/scotland/
The first trip we had some sort of transport package, but we just wandered around and did whatever we felt like. The second time, Chris did all the planning (she LOVES planning). The last two times, I did all the planning.
I'm in a total quandry right now. I'm trying to find out if I can get a visa to live and work in the UK. If I do, I'll be dropping out of a job that pays me better than anything I've ever had (and way more than I could earn there) and which in some ways is one I've been chasing since I left college. But it would be to live in the UK! (And there's a good chance I could get it back if I absolutely hated life over there and wanted to come back. Massive hassle finding a place to live there, finding a job (even with the visa/work permit), getting my three cats there (though if I get the right shots and get them chipped they don't have to stay in quarantine. And if the only place I can find work is in the south of England (very possible) do I take that and just figure I'm an ocean closer to Scotland, or do I hold out for some sort of job "oop Nahth"?
But I won't know for maybe six months or more if I can get the visa, and in the meantime my life is partly on hold. I'm dating (I've been partnerless for most of the last two years), but no one wants to get involved with someone who may be moving abroad. I'm partway through a master's program, but the degree will be totally pointless if I move because it's applicable to work I can't do there. And every time I think about planning another trip, I think "But shouldn't I be saving that money instead?" *sigh* Yeah, I know, I'm sure it seems like a quandry most folks would love to find themselves in. But it's still tricky.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-15 04:00 pm (UTC)It will be interesting in the coming months to read what happens, if the visa comes through, what choices you will make.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-15 04:24 pm (UTC)You're welcome! It's nice to meet other people with a similar love of a place so far from "home".
It will be interesting in the coming months to read what happens, if the visa comes through, what choices you will make.
LOL! Yes, at this point I'm not even sure I know what I'll do it I actually get it.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 08:11 pm (UTC)There are some pics of the cats on my Fotki page (http://public.fotki.com/winterbadger/) and more coming.