Looks like you have those in perfect priority order! Greenwich is a Mr. Piffka request and I would say, all of the above except for the Jubilee Line station which I hadn't heard about. Now we'll want to see THAT as well! I particularly (and I blush to say this) want to stand on the meridian -- I have no idea why, but I also wanted to stand on that spot in the NE corner of Arizona where you're on four states at once. I've also jumped over the Mississippi at its headwaters. Just silly!
We went on the Thames-Link a couple of years ago and enjoyed seeing the sights from the river. If we're afloat, we're probably enjoying it. Here's a nice ship to go on, all sails flying!
Well, piffka, I did (most parts of) that 'Greenwich in February, around the A2K meeting then.
And my wife and I will do it in three weeks again!!!
OK, if Mr Piffka is a fan of matters nautical and maritime, look out for the little shop at the corner of the Observatory Park where they sell all manner of stuff for the gentleman's den- brassbound and boxed chronometers and compasses and this and that, model ships, maritime prints, flags & pennants, charts, telescopes as used by Hornblower or Nelson (?), etc, etc. But hide his credit card first.
Secondly, and Walter and Thinkzinc are not included in this quiz-
where does the name Cutty Sark come from, and what does it mean?
McT
McTag provided the best advise; hide his credit cards before you walk into any of those shops at the museum. $$$$$$ Cutty Sark is interesting enough if you've never been.
c.i.
Mc Tag I know - but i won't let on - I read Tam o'Shanter too!
Margo -- wish you could, too. I never did hear about your vacation in Sweden. Was the Midsommer's Festival super? I read (while wishing I could go) that Orkney has a huge Viking-style midsummer festival. All that great stuff up there, just waiting to be visited!
Walter -- I hope you have a great time. It must have been good if you're going back so soon. Did you not see it all the first time or is this for your wife's benefit? (Wouldn't she rather go to Kew?)
McTag -- The charts & pennants would be of particular interest to Mr.P... will have to clue him in. Thanks!
Cutty Sark? You know, I knew this once, I'm sure I did, but darn it, my mind is blank (a frequent occurence). I was just reading about Lairg (I think it was Lairg) and John Linton was born there, a favored son.
Well, since I've been to London a couple of times, to England/Scotland even more (mostly centuries back although), well, it's my wife's first visit.
(I could tell something about Cutty Sark - but since this is one of McTag's favourite themes ... :wink: )
Centuries? Perhaps in the previous millennium?
I suggest you take your wife to Kew Gardens - a delight for most ladies and there was good coffee at the Orangerie. Hope she has a great time.
We call a boat that has a deck all the way around the wheelhouse or cabin, a cuddy cabin... could that be related to Cutty Sark?
It's Cutty Sark the mash.
Hi Piffka,
Your new itenerary(sp?) looks very good, and far less tiring. Also leaves you plenty to visit on your
next again trip!!
You are so organised already! Weel done, Cutty Sark!
I'm off on my holidays tomorrow, and don't even have any day trips planned yet!! Back in a fortnight
Here's a teaser on the Martime Museum. Sorry about the side view. c.i.
Thanks, ThinkZinc! Have a nice holiday.
CI -- That is a teaser... a teeny teaser. Is there a spot where I can see these in a slightly larger version? Sideways, I can deal with, if I must!
Okay, 'Cutty Sark', half of you knew the answer, and there's no way the others could guess; it's an unusual name. Scottish in origin, for in the 19thC many Scots were involved in mercantile trade, shipowners, and shipbuilders.
This ship, a tea clipper, was built I think at Dumbarton on the Clyde. Piffka's picture shows a tea clipper in full sail.
Cutty Sark (a name meaning 'short shirt' or brief chemise or a seventeenth century mini) was a character in the poem Tam o' Shanter by Robert Burns. Cutting to the chase, literally, she and her fellow witches chased Tam on his horse Meg when he disturbed them at their devillish business. Cutty Sark only caught the horse's tail, as Tam escaped by crossing a running stream. The witches could not follow.
If you look at the ship's figurehead, you will see the witch still clutching the horse's tail.
Hmmm, I'm used to figureheads that are lovely mermaids with huge bazooms. I will be sure and look for that figurehead when we're at Greenwich. What a cool story! I love to read about witches, they seem to play such an important part in the affairs of old Scotland.
When we were in Scotland last time we heard about a witch who lived near the ancestral forest and I later found the story in Gaelic (which I haven't been able to fully translate) about that witch and Mr.P's ancestor. And then on a dark and lonely road in the highlands we were flagged down by a... well, a very old, wise woman who seemed very strange, but nice. Bright as a bug. You can bet we were especially good to her.
<Lots of info is to be found on the
Cutty Sark homepage
The Wanderings Of Nannie's Cutty Sark are retold nearly as nice as MacTag did by "The World Burns Club" (a webside, which some more information than only that!)
Pifka, Here's a better teaser. c.i.
