E is for Edinburgh day 5 of the #A2Zchallenge

 

I remember the first time I visited Edinburgh. Our tour arrived nearby and the young people on the bus decided they'd rather go shopping, uh-huh, shopping rather than see some of the historic sights like St. Paul's Cathedral, Parliament. So when the issue came up in Edinburgh, I said, let me off.  It was around 33 degrees and drizzling... and I could have slept in the street.

I was in Edinburgh. I was strolling up the most famous street in Scotland. At one point I walked into a TINY-- what we would call in the states -- convenience store. It was about as big as my clothes closet. There was a unique umbrella with a cloth strap attached to the point. When I asked the lady behind the register how much it was (it was marked 5 pounds) she said, Oh, I couldna charge you that much for it, you see, it's soiled. I couldn't help but wonder how the same situation might have been handled in America. I hope it would have been the same...

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I still have that umbrella. It reminds me of that day on my own on the Royal Mile. I'll be returning in August and I plan to absorb every little detail. It's been seventeen years and I still remember the experience of that special place.

Scotland felt like home. It still does. I sang in a tavern for an empty bottle of Sheep Dip Scotch. I have it, too.

Is there a place that calls to your soul like that? Like you should have been born there, maybe were in a previous lifetime?

If you're participating in the A-to-zchallenge leave me a comment and I'll bop over to visit you as well. If you're just visiting, come back again. I'm glad you're here.

Y is for York #A2ZChallenge

 

I will be sad not to be visiting York again. There were so many things about the area that made it special. The narrow bustling streets and shops, the friendly shopkeepers. The quaint bar we went into and got quite happy. It was happy hour US time, anyway.

Then the bus took us to Yorkminster cathedral. I wish I could see it again. The windows, the atmosphere were beautiful, but what I remember was how everything stopped when the bells rang. Everyone, everything stopped and became one with the silence. It was stunning. And I couldn't exactly take a picture of that. 

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After visiting the shops and the cathedral a few of us visited the Tavern in Coventry where I sang a few songs for the locals. The bar was fairly lively for it being near midnight. They bribed me with an empty bottle of Sheep Dip Scotch. No lie. It sits in my living room to this day. If you get the chance to see York, don't pass it up. It's quaint and beautiful.

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S is for..... Scotland!!!! #A2Zchallenge

 

Well I've seen that. But on this trip I don't care if I've seen it or not, I'm just glad to be going back.

I have some property in Glencoe I wish I could visit but if not, I'll be happy with Inverness, St. Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Nairns, and ANYWHERE else they want to go. I'll do without sleep to make the most of every day while I'm there. And next time I won't wait eighteen years to go back.

Is there some where that calls to your heart? Is it your hometown? I feel like that as well. I miss D.C. even though it's changed so much since I left home years ago. Maybe it's a place totally unlike where you live. Do you wish you could visit or live there?

Q is for the Queen #A2Zchallenge

 

It's been a dream of mine to get back to Scotland. The first time I had just read the first two novels in the Outlander series and was carrying Voyager with me. Also with me was a summary of what our family had come up with for our Scottish and Irish genealogy, a William Wallace, several Elliotts, and Robert Campbell. Armed with everything scottish (I thought), I begged onto an eleven day senior trip to England and Scotland.

Our first day, we got stuck in St. Louis due to weather so we arrived a day late to London, which meant we had decisions to make -- remember I was with teenagers -- whether to go to St. Paul's Cathedral or go shopping. Not my choice to make but when the choices came again in Edinburgh, I opted for doing the Royal Mile by myself, in the drizzling rain. It was totally, delightfully memorable. Tells you my state of mind.

I love Scotland. It feels like I belong there. I'm absolutely serious. I cried all the way home. Waa-waa. Well, now I get to go back and this time my friend and I are going to take advantage of the airfare and see some of Ireland, since we both have some Irish heritage. Since we're going to both countries we have to figure out what's the best way to do the money. Carry some cash, debit, coins. Are there lots of exchanges like there were in London (as I remember but that was 18 years ago) and do we get our money changed in the states while the dollar is strong or wait?

I thought I might get to see the Queen but apparently she's not at Balmoral during the time we'll be traveling there. Too bad. I'd like to see Her Majesty's Spunkiness.

Have you been to the UK recently? What did you see?

If you're blogging as part of the #A2Zchallenge please leave your link in the comment and I'll return the visit.

Here are a couple of other blogs I've visited that were intriguing and stylistic design too.

Irelandandi
Try a Little Tenderness
A Field Trip Life
Vanilla Blonde
Life in German

G is for Glasgow #A2ZChallenge

 

Kelvingrove, Glasgow I'll be leaving the wilds of Louisiana for the beautiful Isle Scotland on August 24. My girlfriend and I have been dreaming of another trip to Scotland since I visited in 1998 and didn't want to come home.

In the early nineties, we got hooked on the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. We both have lots of Scottish and some Irish background, doesn't everyone? There's have a great great great? grandfather William Wallace and a mess of Elliotts, an infamous border raider clan. And the Campbells are represented in the Storm Lake series in Campbell Green with Mystic Campbell. "To say I love everything Scottish," to quote Tempe in Storm Crazy, "would be like saying Katrina dumped a bit of rain on New Orleans."

One of the most exciting parts of my trip will happen on my first day in Glasgow – I'll get to meet two dear friends, Michael J Malone and Bill Kirton who also happen to be writers - crime writers. I get a blissful kick just thinking about it. Sometimes the Internet is too cool to fathom, isn't it? 


I've yet to meet a couple of my other writer friends from Canada but one day... the great thing about conferences and regional events is the opportunities to network with friends that you've only met online.


Have you met special friends on the Internet that you have never met? 


If you're blogging with the A toZ Challenge leave a comment and I'll check yours out too.

Scottish Hunks and Ear Candy

Okay, I'll admit it's a cheap ploy to get some traffic since I haven't met him, but just listen to that beautiful voice... (Michael's probably blushing if he reads this, not one to tout his own horn. )

I first heard about Michael Malone's blog, May Contain Nuts, from Thea on our Scottish loop. Not only is Michael a Scot, asset number one (don't you love being cheapened, Michael?), but a crime writer and poet. He's produced two poetry books, In The Raw and Running Threads along with CD of his and some fellow poets.

Here is a YouTube Michael posted yesterday of one of his poems. If you like clever repartee, funny stories and candid opinions, you need to follow May Contain Nuts.

And now without further ado...




American women have had a love affair with Scottish accents for a long time but especially since Jamie said to Claire,

"I prayed all the way up that hill, yesterday. Not for you to stay; I didna think that would be right. I prayed I'd be strong enough to send ye away. I said, Lord, if I never had that kind of courage before let me have it now. Let me me brave enough not to fall on my knees and beg her to stay."

and

"I want to hold you hard to me and kiss you and never let you go. I want to take you to my bed and use you like a whore til I forget that I exist. And I want to put my head in your lap and weep like a child."

Oh. My. God. Now all we need is for Michael to read the quotes off this fantastic Jamieisms YouTube. Michael have you ever read Outlander? You must. When I visited Scotland in 1998 I was on the third book of Gabaldon's now seven book series. I was struck by the accurate way she portrayed the history of the area. Or at least that's the impression I got from the people I met.

Here is the Jamieisms YouTube.

Locate TV

I love this site. Often, I hear about a show (like X Factor or the series on BBC on Scotland History) and wonder if it's on our Dish Network. I found Locate TV which offers searches by movies, tv shows, people, sports, reminders via email, new season peeks.


I set my reminders for Dresden Files, if it ever comes back on reruns, InFocus Visions, and Redskins and Saints on NFL. One place for everything! So sweet!

BBC offerings

Click here to view the video of the Battle of Mons Graupius and how Alba was born. The beginnings of Scotland.

Wow, I love this site. I was looking for maps to use for the workshop I'm taking on Scottish Otherworld - you know, Faeries, Witches - a map to locate both historical and mystical sites. The instructor of our Scottish Lowlands workshop sent a post about the BBC's Scottish history series which is apparently not available in the U.S. Bummer! But I can go to a bookstore coffee shop - something I abhor (yeah, right) and download episodes, walking tours, podcasts. I know what I'm going to be doing most of August and September.

Well, I'm wrong. Since the series last aired in January 09 I can't download episodes. And it doesn't look like the DVD of the series is available. What a disappointment. Still, lots of great information and visual material here including the zoomable Scottish map on the Reformation and Civil War page!

If you know of a good link for an online pronunciation guide to the Scottish language and for names of towns and people, please let me know. Hopefully, this workshop will put the icing on my world building cake.

Update: Annnnd, if you're not from the U.S. you can't view the video. Too bad. I was so looking forward to it. Maybe they'll produce it on DVD.

May Contain Nuts

One of the writers on our Scottish loop ran across this fantastic blog, May Contain Nuts. A Scottish poet and writer by the name of Michael Malone from Ayr, Scotland. I asked, where is Ayr? Here's the map. (I'm having trouble finding a bigger one.) Ayrshire is the parish in Scotland on the southwestern coast.


Nothing is sacred on his blog - parenting, travel, boobs...


As I've mentioned before, I love everything about Scotland. If it hadn't been for my husband, and it was touch and go then, I probably wouldn't hae come home from my trip there. I even got to sing the tavern closed in exchange for a bottle of Sheep Dip Scotch which sits on my sofa table to this day.

Ooops, slipped. Ach, but I loved Edinburgh, could hae slept in the streets in the drizzling rain.

The scenery looks beautiful.

So if you'd like to experience a little of Scotland, the language, the culture, visit Michael's blog and if you like fishing - looks like a great place for trout or salmon fishing.

If you'd like a taste of Michael's poetry, go here.
Enjoy!