Vacation Plans -- United Kingdom

What can I say? It tasted pretty good.

And the proof of the pudding is definitely in the eating.
I must say I like haggis, if it be served with the traditional mashed neeps & tatties.
But, haute cuisine it ain't.

Now for something different, principally for Piff, but anyone else can go there too. My brother sent me this link today, to a b&b he recommended, which looks very nice. We will definitely check it out:

http://www.aboutscotland.com/moray/heathhouse.html

The Heathhouse looks very nice, good for walking if you're going to stay a while. I assume you know the Findhorn story?

We enjoyed, btw, seeing the Clava Cairns which are nearby. Really wanted to see Cawdor but my guys said we didn't have enough time.

Sounds great McTag, and very reasonably priced. Have a good time in bonny Scotland!

I've been to Fort William (aluminium smelter) Inverness (paper mill) Nigg Bay (rig construction) and Dounrey (plutonium factory) but no further north. Oh and Wick which really got on my ...

Did you know Wick is north of bits of Alaska?

Looking at my globe, I found that complete "Gross" is north of bits of Alaska - while "Britannien" is as south as Mongolia!

No, you've got your globe upside down. Either that or its a very cheap globe, or the wrong planet.

You'll see ... and wonder!

When I visited Edingburgh some years ago, they served haggis during our "cultural dinner and show." I honestly do not remember the taste, but I tend to forget bad things in my life very quickly, and I'm not saying it was bad. Maybe just not a 'memorable' event. LOL

Well, I looked at my globe and there are some southern bits, Important Southern Bits!, of Alaska that seems south of Wick. Of course, the most northern parts of Alaska, like Point Barrow where I spent a summer, is north of the mainland parts of Norway, Sweden & Finland.

CI -- Hmmmm. "tend to forget bad things quickly?" LOL

Piffka, It's a self-preservation mechanism in my brain. I have so many bad things happen that without this security block, I'd be a blubbering, insane, idiot. I'm close enough to that now!

There's a air fare special from San Francisco to London for about $250 r/t good from November through March. The BIG question is anybody else game?

Wow. Which airline? (I can't do this, but oh-boy, it would be fun.)

It's on US Airways.

c.i. - why don't you send Diane a pm. She was berating the Bostonians on the Kitchenpete in Mass thread about their failing to get themselves together to meet KP! She was ready to go to London, if Walter would! Then you pressure Walter! (not much needed, I think!)

I hope to be back in Europe towards the end of next year, but I don't think London will be in the mix. Anyone for the Champagne region of France, or northern Italy??

My timing will be really restrictive, because the only time I'll be able to go is during the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays. That's when the Grand Jury will be taking a break, and I don't want to miss the committee and full grand jury meetings until my service is finished next June. I'm also postponing my trip to Antarctica until December of next year, because I want to take the approximately 28 day tour from Rio, down to the Falklands, Argentina, and Antarctica.

Point Barrow! That looks to be the most northerly place in the United States. Did you dip a toe in the Beaufort sea?

Of course I did, though we just called it the Arctic Ocean. The Top of the World Hotel where I worked as the evening clerk was directly on the beach, so I had a lovely view every day. (It was still light when I got off work at 11pm.)

Top of the World Hotel

The desk where I worked was just to the right in this photo.



The first thing I noticed when I got off the airplane that June was the stench of whale and seal parts, lying around in most everybody's yards. The whole summer was QUITE an experience, especially for someone such as I with a sensitive nose and unused to violence.

One of the little boys who used to be thrown high in the air during the blanket toss & idolized Mr.P (who was a tour guide for the daily run of tourists all summer long) was the same boy, about ten years later, who was fine after being under water in the Arctic Ocean for over 20 minutes. When it's that cold, apparently some folks can manage to survive not breathing, I forget just why.

While looking for something extremely different (no secret at all: some weather charts), I came (again, forgot that I'd stored it) along a site, with some features especially for you, Piffka and McTag:

360° Panorama views of Scotland

(c.i. will perhaps find this webcam - from that site as well - most interesting: Big Eye)

Vielen Dank
Maennerabend heute...bald geht es los!
Tschues

Prost!