My Scotish Excursion Thread

[patient1]

Some of you have been asking about where I've been & what I was up too, so I'll explain to everyone here, & hopefully post pictures ,if I can learn to trim them & reduce the resolution of them until they are acceptable.


First, AIRPORT SECURITY. While I was disgusted with the shabbiness of it in the US International Airports I used in August, I found it vastly improved.

They asked important questions when we checked in.
I spotted an unattended box in the main terminal. There was a security officer at his station, so it was easily reported, and he dealt with it immediately.

As we proceded to the wing that had the gates we had to go through security. It was well staffed , plus there was an armed soldier on hand. No one was allowed through without a boarding pass. BIG IMPROVEMENT. There was a sniffer dog working the wing and some other security on patrol, too. It was reasonable & efficient from my perspective.

The return trip relied more on paperwork security procedures than equipment & personnel. There was not enough time planned for this, which resulted in compounding delays.

When we finally did return & enter our original airport of depature , I noticed customs was better armed & staffed than what I considered normal, so that part went reasonably smooth, also.

 

[patient1]

WE STAYED IN GLASGOW

I enjoyed the country, the climate , and the people.


My impressions in order, as we rode the bus from the airport to the town hall :

There are a lot of old, run down buildings here.

There is a lot of commercial / light industrial space available.

Now I see what Killer Muffin's thread about plastic shopping bags in Ireland is all about (

maybe these blew in from Ireland, too. )

I've never seen so much restoration/remodeling being undertaken.

I still think the Scots have a sexy dialect, but understanding it is going to be way harder than I imagined:

 

[Cheyenne]

First, AIRPORT SECURITY. While I was disgusted with the shabbiness of it in the US International Airports I used in August, I found it vastly improved.

I'd managed to avoid flying since September 11th until my Florida trip. While the security lines were long at the airports, they moved along very efficiently.

I can't walk in half an hour before my flight anymore and still be on time for the plane, but I feel more comfortable now that it appears airports are actually trying to DO something.

 

[bluespoke]

Re: WE STAYED IN GLASGOW

I enjoyed the country, the climate , and the people.


My impressions in order, as we rode the bus from the airport to the town hall :

There are a lot of old, run down buildings here.

There is a lot of commercial / light industrial space available.

Now I see what Killer Muffin's thread about plastic shopping bags in Ireland is all about (

maybe these blew in from Ireland, too. )

I've never seen so much restoration/remodeling being undertaken.

I still think the Scots have a sexy dialect, but understanding it is going to be way harder than I imagined:

Glad to see the citizens of the city of my birth welcomed you.

You have a problem with the dialect, so do I and I was born there!

 

[patient1]

The people were nice. The ones in the tourist industry were reasonably easy to understand, at least if you asked them to repeat themselves.

I really saw no reason for the reputation of deep pockets & short arms. The only frugality I saw was with the language.

At the end of the first day ,I remember going in a store and being thrilled that I could read all the signs on the shelves

The rules seemed to be :

Avoid long vowels, this allows you to talk without opening your teeth.

Drop at least one syllable from the end of each word.

If the word has only one syllable, drop the consonant at the end.

Example overheard in the hotel pub, pronounced without the use of long vowel sounds " I do(n't) gi(ve) a fu(ck) whe(the)r y(ou) pa o(r) no(t)!"

Having tutored English as a second language, I can see that they have rounded most of the corners off of the language. You might say that it's more evolved. Of course there is the matter of the Gaelic vocabulary, too.

 

[freescorfr]

Of course there is the matter of the Gaelic vocabulary, too.

Do you watch the gaelic news on Telly? Or the gaelic soap?

Incomprehensible to 99% of scots.

Come on give us the next episode. Where did you have your fist shag?

 

[Andreina]

i live two hours away from Glasgow....... LOL

how did you like lil wee Scotland then?



Halo

 

[patient1]

I need to go to the store. I'll work on this as soon a I return.

 

[patient1]

When I was in the hotel room I was usually watching BBC news.

I did watch the All Blacks come from behind to beat the Aussies in Rugby.


I watched a show with Richard Branson and many others discussing the pros & cons of Britain going to the Euro, sovereignty issues, central banks & interest rates. How what was appropriate as an interest for London was bad for Glasgow, etc.

I might have told them that capital follows productivity. So does prosperity. Argentina learned that tying their country's currency to the dollar hurt them when they couldn't match our productivity. We have problems with economic differences between regions, too. Ultimately, though, prosperity follows productivity, individually, regionally , & nationally.

 

[patient1]

It seemed that the news was pre-occuopied with a vote on fox hunting and some member of parliment that had a share in an illegally-run hog farm.

So did they finalize those issues or shelve them?

 

[patient1]

football

The Pub at my hotel had an outright ban on team colors.

(I always buy chocolate with liquor in it when I'm in Europe. I've been eating some all day, about a piece/hour. I think I'll get another. Rum & dark chocolayte taste so good together )