oh, thanks!

[winterbadger]

A friend of mine "helpfully" passed on this link to a US Airways promotion for cheap fares to Scotland. My reply included the observation that maybe I can get a discount by editing United's copy for them!

* There is only one Stone of Destiny, not several.

* The Jacobite (which runs over the route filmed for the Harry Potter movies) goes *across* the Glenfinnan Viaduct. If it ran *through* the arches, it would have to have a very snaky track (given that the arches run in a line under the viaduct...)

* If you could see Nessie from the top of Ben Nevis, it would be rather remarkable, as Loch Ness is about 30 miles away from Ben Nevis, and the top of the mountain is usually shrouded in cloud.

Gahhhh!

Comments

[wolfette]

At least they don't list Manchester as being a Scottish city - apparently it sells itself in the US as "gateway to Scotland" because some US airlines fly into Manchester as hub and you get connections from there, which leads some people to think that Manchester *is* in Scotland.

[winterbadger]

Ha! Does that make Liverpool "the Gateway to the Isle of Man"? ;-)

[wolfette]

probably ;-)

No kidding, I had a long and rather heated *discussion* with a woman in a Canadian airport once when she insisted she was going to Scotland. In this case the flight touched down at Glasgow and then went *on* to Manchester, but she wasn't getting off at Glasgow "because that's not in Scotland - Manchester is the gateway to Scotland, so if the flight goes there first, Glasgow can't be in Scotland".

Her husband was doing the "head-desk" movement and apologising to everyone else in the departure lounge. He said he'd already tried to explain it to her but - despite the fact he was from Scotland originally - she didn't believe him either. :-)

Oh and btw - she was Canadian, so you can be assured that it's not just USAians who can be thick about foreign countries from time to time :-)

[winterbadger]

Oh dear.... :-)

[pisica.livejournal.com]

When I got completely screwed over by Continental Airlines a year and a half ago, the woman at the Virgin Airlines desk kept trying to get me to agree to take a flight to Manchester. Um, no, sweetheart, not unless you're planning to fly with me and then drive me the rest of the way....

Oh, WB - it's US Airways, not United. I only mention this because I credit United with a good chunk of my Anglophilia and I weep to see them credited with stupidity. Back in the 1980s they ran commercials promoting their London routes, showing all the usual British things (Beefeaters, girls in school uniforms, etc.) with a gorgeous [possibly Gielgud] voiceover of the John of Gaunt speech from Richard II [this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this ENGLAND].

Also, completely OT, but you might be interested in the blog of - ha! I'd copied his name but then moved on so when I tried to paste, it came out as 'a British person'. - mikecosgrave. He does historian gaming stuff and is a very cool guy. :)

[winterbadger]

Thanks for the correction; entry fixed.

And thanks for the tip--he looks quite cool--I will add!

[wolfette]

I've got a feeling I know Mike. His name is familiar.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

But is the Stone of Destiny that piece of red rock? Now that's the question.

[winterbadger]

:-)

No, in fact that was one of the few things they got right. It is a real place in Scotland--the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

[peaceful-fox.livejournal.com]

* There is only one Stone of Destiny, not several.

I hope they haven't dropped it from a high place, or something. ;-) Pebbles of Destiny wouldn't have the same impact. :-D

I've only seen it in England. I should visit it at its rightful home someday.

[winterbadger]

It was, actually, accidentally broken into two bits when it was liberated in the 1950s. It was repaired, though, and is generally discussed as if it were still one stone. :-)

Of course, it all depends on whether or not one buys the story that the Stone that was returned after it was recaptured was the *real* Stone of Destiny. There thems as says the stone that was brought back was a *copy*, and that the true Stone of Destiny is hidden in a cave near Lochdubh... ;-)

[wolfette]

and there are them who say that Edward never got the right stone in the first place - that the Abbot of Scone fobbed him off with the privy cover stone! (certainly there are stories that say that the real Stone is black granite with carvings - the one we know now is Scottish sandstone)

[winterbadger]

"Pebbles of Destiny" eh? Was it one of those that David hit Goliath with? That had some impact...

:-)