Any Scotsmen around?

[hyphenate]

A couple more non-political questions I wanted to ask. I miss Scotland.

[edbermac]

1. Part of my heritage...I'd like to go there sometime...

Was in London on the cheap in 92, just didn't have the bucks to travel north...

[hyphenate]

3. That's when I was there last myself

My mom and I went. We spent three weeks short 1 day there, and did it relatively inexpensively. I think I calculated it out to be about $4600 for the both of us, for that whole time. That was ALL expenses. We stayed in B&Bs most of the time, though one city we stayed in a hostel, and in London, we stayed at a small okay hotel which wasn't fancy at all. We had a Britrail pass for each of us for pretty much the whole time, and we spent a couple of days even in Ireland. Wide tour: London, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Inverness, Glasgow, Windermere, Dun Laoghaire, Cheltenham, Salisbury and then back to London before going home. It was a bit of a hectic schedule, but it wasn't bad overall. We got to see a lot, though not as much as we would have liked. A couple of places we didn't get to that I wanted to: Culloden Moor, Stonehenge, Avebury, Bath, Blackpool, Glastonbury Tor, Oxford--but overall, we saw as much as you can with the time we had and the budget we were on.

The one regret I had was carrying too much luggage. I will never do that again. Between maps, guide books, brochures from various places, plus my own miscellaneous encumbrances, we were exhausted from carrying all that crap. Next time, it's a small camera, one small notebook, and copies of brochure pages I can toss before traveling.

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. Check with Wat Tyler.

He's definitely Hibernian. But a Canuck now.

FSC

[sweetheart]

4. Highland weather report

Sunset is about 4pm right now, and there are gale force winds in the
north highlands. The windows of the house are bulging in from the
wind force. Fortunately, the house is solid stone, or it too might be
a bit wobbly. A 5 meter section of 2x4 went airborne in the wind force...

Here by the coast, its relatively warm, about 50 degrees, forgetting
that the wind will behead you.. :-) The ground is boggy with water
and many folks have this week off to recover from the new years drinking
bash.

The sheep i saw earlier were taking shelter behind knolls and by the
burns (streams)... sheep smell the weather... just watch them to know
when the big blows are comming.

The sea is rough, about 6-10 foot breakers shashing the cliffs,
definitely not a day to be out at sea. I checked the boats, to make
sure they're tied down for the gale, and had to shore up a gate that
was swinging broken free from its fixing.

Probably, you'd rather be visiting a scottish pub right about now, but
certainly the outdoor part is not that appealing. :-)

[Kipper58]

5. Scot living in Scotland here!

Ask me anything - I live in Aberdeen

[SweetLeftFoot]

7. Edinburgh

Moan the Hibees!

[auntAgonist]

20. Born and raised in Edinburgh!!!

living in USA via Canada !!!

[Stunster]

21. "Ah'm a mental Tim masel"

Glasgow born and bred, but proud member of the Los Angeles Celtic Supporters Club.

Been in California most of the last 16 years.

[ailsagirl]

6. Scotland is the most beautiful place around

My ancestors were Scots-- it's in my blood.

I'd move there in a heartbeat... if I could afford it!!

[WritersBlock]

8. Hence the username?

Just curious. :)

Not sure you'd want to be in Scotland today - 100 mph winds forecast in places. It's cold & miserable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/scotland/4163745.stm

[sweetheart]

10. 100 at least

i just had to tie down "the slates"!!! I've a pallette of roofing
slates near the house and the wind is flicking these heavy pieces of
caithness flagstone down the hill and breaking them.... Its not
really cold if you don't count wind chill, but geezzz this wind
is realllly impressive.

[ailsagirl]

11. Well, that is miserable weather-- but it's so beautiful there.

It was like coming home.

And, yes, hence the username.

:)

[WritersBlock]

15. Hope you saw this :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=191x1413

[McKenzie]

9. aye ahm aroon' noo an' again

it's been a gey sair fecht the last filie tho; ahm scunnered wi' the weet an' cauld withir oor the past filie. Oh aye, an yon bamstick Blair's been girnin' aboot Gogs Broon an' the ithir wye aroon'. Twa gowks. Mony o' Blair's feil policies are jist a damned scunner. (translation service - yes, I'm around now and again...it has been very taxing for the last while though; I'm fed up with the wet and cold weather over the last while. Oh yes, and that idiot Blair has been moaning about Gordon Brown and the other way around. Two fools. Many of Blair's stupid policies are just a pain in the ass.)

Who needs encryptation programmes lol?!

Seriously, please come and visit us. We've stopped eating babies and we promise we won't make you eat haggis (they are now a protected species anyway)Go to Sutherland and Wester Ross and chill out. World class trout fishing there if you are an angler like myself, great for bicycle/motorcycle touring. If you have time get a charter boat out to the St Kilda archipelago (spelling?). I spent a week diving there and it was one of the most pleasurable things I've ever done; I had gannets diving past me around Boreray, the sea cliffs on Hirta are the highest in western Europe (I think!) and if you go onto Dun during darkness in May you'll see Storm Petrels. Iona Abbey is another wonderfully serene place to visit.

[ailsagirl]

12. Wasn't Blair born in Scotland?

Seems to me I read that somewhere.

No matter!!

I tried haggis-- it was OK. I preferred the salmon, though!!

I loved the Highlands-- loved Edinburgh (it's still "Athens of the North" as far as I'm concerned).

Lovely, lovely place with wonderful people.

[McKenzie]

13. don't know about his country of birth but

he went to school in Edinburgh I believe. I'm going there on Friday.

The salmon are lovely but best to stick with wild fish. More expensive but infinitely better. Haven't caught one for ages!

Come back sometime.

regards

McKenzie

[ailsagirl]

16. Come back? You bet!! I wouldn't miss it.

I loved Stornaway (sp?). They spoke Gaelic there and I noticed that all the signs were in English/Gaelic.

I hope the Gaelic language remains-- I'd hate to see it (like Welsh) go by the wayside.

How is the job situation there? I'd love to move...

[McKenzie]

17. Can't comment on what sort of skills

are required for certain, but medical, biotech, construction, teaching and engineering are likely areas of interest.

Quality of life can be excellent, there is a vibrant cultural base and the wilds of Sutherland and Wester Ross would put the zap on a city-dweller's head... (see link below) I often trout fish from a boat up there with the mountain, Suilven, as the backdrop.

If you want pointers to places to visit try and get a boat out to St Kilda (I've scuba-dived out there) and you must see Iona Abbey. The A9 between Perth and Inverness is one of the loveliest routes to drive anywhere and journey from Fort William to Mallaig (Road to the Isles) is lovely; stop at Glenfinnan and gaze down Loch Shiel. Islay has some early Christian monuments including bluestone Celtic crosses of the Iona school. If you are a hill walker the high level ridge walks are...inner calm kicks in...aaaah...the Beinn Bhan ridge above Applecross affords views over the Western Isles.

Here is a nice link to aerial pics of Scotland>>>

http://www.alanmoar.flyer.co.uk/

Islay>>>

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~steve/islay/photos/

Road to the Isles>>>

http://www.road-to-the-isles.org.uk/

Iona>>>

http://www.iona.org.uk/

St Kilda>>>

http://www.kilda.org.uk/

BeinnBhan>>>

http://www.nafirchlis.co.uk/applecro.htm

ps Stornoway was partly under water this morning!

[sweetheart]

18. avoiding farmed salmon

The scottish executive has doled out big dosh to salmon farming and
perhaps it was not the wisest of investments. I got turned off permanently
when passing a salmon farm on the west cost near Lochinver. There are
"BIOHAZARD" signs all around the operation... aah!! biohazard! The
fish kill the ocean bottom, are pumped with chemicals to live in such
close proximity to each other, and they kill the wild population....

Then that recent series of news stories of PCB's in teh salmon that
was hushed up by the salmon farming industry, saying that the omega3
oils compensated for eating PCB's!!! hmmmm...

Wild fish indeed! :-)

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/areanw.html

[SweetLeftFoot]

14. Yeah

Blair went to Fettes. Also spent two years in Adelaide.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

19. No,

but I would kind of like to live there at some point, at least for a few years, because I'm a great fan of Scottish country dancing.