Back again, God bless the USA
Back from the UK yet again.
Long update perhaps to follow. Photos will be up on facebook and maybe webshots or something soon, maybe tomorrow. But first some highlights, just to keep you interested. :)
1) I went into the ladies' room in a pub in Edinburgh and in the normal quarter dispenser machine was something called a "McCondom." That's right, Scotch whisky flavoured condoms. The best part is possibly that the ad for them didn't have the normal "Condoms are only 97% effective against the prevention of blah-blah-blah" warnings, but did have a warning that said "Caution: Do not use while driving."
2) In keeping with the theme of food carts around England with funny names, (Amanda--"The Honest Sausage" in Greenwich park), we saw a cart in York with the name "Kinky Donuts." I'm thinking/hoping it was something like a funnel cake.
3) We watched the Eurovision song contest in York, and I think it might have been wierder this year than in '03. The Germans went with cowboy-style music, like in Nashville in about 1950. Hats and cacti and everything. And the winners were a death metal band from Finland, complete with monster masks. They looked like orcs.
4) The Fox and Roman has a new dessert. Something called a Sticky Richard, which I'm told is similar/the same as Spotted Dick. Pete thought this was funny because of the obvious shortening of the name Richard. I thought it was funny for other reasons. Speaking of, Shep was still around at the Minster and looks much healthier than when we last saw him.
5) Michelle, York Minster has gluten-free communion wafes. Further proof that this is the greatest city ever.
6) Finally an actual story:
We went to Inverness for a couple of days to explore the Highlands and our B&B sat facing the River Ness, which, as you might have guessed, empties into Loch Ness. Since we were right there, we decided we had to go see the Loch, see if nessie was around, etc. So we got on a city bus and rode a few miles out to Dornadrocit (or however it's spelled) where the Loch Ness Monster exhibition is. We decided that was cheesy and started off walking to Urqhart Castle, which is about 2 miles. Not bad, since it was a pretty nice day. About a mile in it gets seriously cold and windy and starts drizzling rain. No problem, it's Scotland, we were prepared and it just added to the ambiance. So we walked along the road, by fields full of sheep and along the banks of the loch, and it was gorgeous, even in the freezing rain. We finally got to the castle and saw that there was a bus stop out in front. Great news, since the only other stop was back 2 miles in the rain and there was only one more bus out for the day, and we'd have basically had 2 minutes at the castle before we had to start back. So we checked, there was a bus leaving just as the castle was closing, and we were thrilled and went in to wander around castle ruins in the fog. Lovely. At 6 pm the place was closing, the bus was supposed to arrive at 5.59, so we got out to the stop at around 5.45. 5.59 came. 5.59 went. No bus. 20 minutes pass. No bus. Around this time Pete and another guy who was waiting start to investigate the sign more closely, and notice that there's a note written on a piece of paper that's folded over on itself after sitting in the rain for God only knows how long. The note says "The 5.59 service to Inverness is no longer in operation from this stop. The next service will be at 7.35." And at that point, as if we were in a corny but beautifully set scene in a really predictable Romantic Comedy, it started to rain. A lot. And because we were down in the valley near the loch, it was really really cold, and really really windy. And there we sat, for the next hour and a half. Then we paid 10 pounds for bus tickets home and went to the American restaurant in Inverness where they were serving Haggis. Riiiiiiight.
(P.S. Pete actually had Haggis at some point....I tried it and it was actually really good, but the idea of eating a sheep makes me sad. I don't really have a problem with eating meat if it's a cow or a chicken or even a pig, though i don't really like pork, and I don't have a moral problem with fish,I just think they're nasty. But not a sheep.)
Long update perhaps to follow. Photos will be up on facebook and maybe webshots or something soon, maybe tomorrow. But first some highlights, just to keep you interested. :)
1) I went into the ladies' room in a pub in Edinburgh and in the normal quarter dispenser machine was something called a "McCondom." That's right, Scotch whisky flavoured condoms. The best part is possibly that the ad for them didn't have the normal "Condoms are only 97% effective against the prevention of blah-blah-blah" warnings, but did have a warning that said "Caution: Do not use while driving."
2) In keeping with the theme of food carts around England with funny names, (Amanda--"The Honest Sausage" in Greenwich park), we saw a cart in York with the name "Kinky Donuts." I'm thinking/hoping it was something like a funnel cake.
3) We watched the Eurovision song contest in York, and I think it might have been wierder this year than in '03. The Germans went with cowboy-style music, like in Nashville in about 1950. Hats and cacti and everything. And the winners were a death metal band from Finland, complete with monster masks. They looked like orcs.
4) The Fox and Roman has a new dessert. Something called a Sticky Richard, which I'm told is similar/the same as Spotted Dick. Pete thought this was funny because of the obvious shortening of the name Richard. I thought it was funny for other reasons. Speaking of, Shep was still around at the Minster and looks much healthier than when we last saw him.
5) Michelle, York Minster has gluten-free communion wafes. Further proof that this is the greatest city ever.
6) Finally an actual story:
We went to Inverness for a couple of days to explore the Highlands and our B&B sat facing the River Ness, which, as you might have guessed, empties into Loch Ness. Since we were right there, we decided we had to go see the Loch, see if nessie was around, etc. So we got on a city bus and rode a few miles out to Dornadrocit (or however it's spelled) where the Loch Ness Monster exhibition is. We decided that was cheesy and started off walking to Urqhart Castle, which is about 2 miles. Not bad, since it was a pretty nice day. About a mile in it gets seriously cold and windy and starts drizzling rain. No problem, it's Scotland, we were prepared and it just added to the ambiance. So we walked along the road, by fields full of sheep and along the banks of the loch, and it was gorgeous, even in the freezing rain. We finally got to the castle and saw that there was a bus stop out in front. Great news, since the only other stop was back 2 miles in the rain and there was only one more bus out for the day, and we'd have basically had 2 minutes at the castle before we had to start back. So we checked, there was a bus leaving just as the castle was closing, and we were thrilled and went in to wander around castle ruins in the fog. Lovely. At 6 pm the place was closing, the bus was supposed to arrive at 5.59, so we got out to the stop at around 5.45. 5.59 came. 5.59 went. No bus. 20 minutes pass. No bus. Around this time Pete and another guy who was waiting start to investigate the sign more closely, and notice that there's a note written on a piece of paper that's folded over on itself after sitting in the rain for God only knows how long. The note says "The 5.59 service to Inverness is no longer in operation from this stop. The next service will be at 7.35." And at that point, as if we were in a corny but beautifully set scene in a really predictable Romantic Comedy, it started to rain. A lot. And because we were down in the valley near the loch, it was really really cold, and really really windy. And there we sat, for the next hour and a half. Then we paid 10 pounds for bus tickets home and went to the American restaurant in Inverness where they were serving Haggis. Riiiiiiight.
(P.S. Pete actually had Haggis at some point....I tried it and it was actually really good, but the idea of eating a sheep makes me sad. I don't really have a problem with eating meat if it's a cow or a chicken or even a pig, though i don't really like pork, and I don't have a moral problem with fish,I just think they're nasty. But not a sheep.)