Scotland 1995 Journal (Part 2)
Aug. 21st, 1995 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperAdded as a backdated entry to Livejournal 5/13/03; herein is the second day of our Scotland visit, mostly featuring riding on the Waverly.
Monday, August 21, 1995: Riding on the Waverly, or, Hey, I Didn't Know Jellyfish Were Freshwater Critters
We woke up quite early this morning, to sounds of lots of traffic as Glasgow woke up for the first day of the week. It was cooler than it had been the previous day, which was good, since our hotel didn't seem to believe in air-conditioning its rooms. It was before 7am when I first remembered asking Dar for the time; while she showered and such, I dozed, and eventually got up to have the tea Dar made for me.
The morning BBC news mentioned that the top two local bands, Blur and Oasis, are having quite the rivalry in singles sales. Speculation was rampant as to whether the furor over the two bands releasing singles on the same day is a sign of rejuvenation of the singles market (a market which is practically dead in the States; in the UK, they still have singles released several weeks before the albums), or just a sign of media hype. :) It was noted, though, that the two bands were due to perform in London very soon, "only yards away from one another."
We also saw news reports about British Olympic athletes training in the US, and about ongoing efforts to rescue bears from the "dancing bears" trade in Turkey.
My shoulders and neck were sore, the former because of carrying a purse for the first time in a while - I'd brought the green purse which I'd had custom-made, thinking to show it off for WorldCon, but I quickly found that I preferred using the waistpouch I'd gotten into the habit of using since I'd bought it last May. And the latter was because the pillows on our bed were very thin, and there were only two of them - Dar and I like lots of pillows. :) I switched my important objects like my wallet and passport back to the waist-pouch, and Dar got her camera, and off we went. After a light breakfast (toast: good; ham: good; sausage: mediocre), we went to the Waverly.
The Waverly bills itself as the last of the sea-going paddle cruisers, and as I mentioned above, reminds me of the Belle of Louisville - except that its paddles are on the side, it's not as tall, and there is no calliope. We were to cruise south from Glasgow to Ayr (a small river port) and the Ailsa Craig, an island out in the North Sea, halfway to Ireland. On the shores of the Clyde, we saw several shipyards (some of which were Norwegian), some nice architecture, a small lighthouse, a bunch of seagulls (a different breed than the ones here at home; they have a different cry), some lovely whitish-pink swans, and some jellyfish, lots of jellyfish, down in the water.
I had a blackcurrant soda, which was tasty, and decided to avoid the more familiar sodas, since I figured they wouldn't taste right to me. I also had some tasty chocolate-covered biscuits, and Dar had some very tasty sour-cream-and-onion crisps (potato chips).
The rest of the trip went well. It basically involved a few stops along the Clyde at Troon, Ayr, and one other place whose name escapes me to pick up passengers; there was a lot of water to look at, a lot of jellyfish, a lot of gulls, and some other, larger birds which I couldn't identify (although "cormorants" came to mind for some reason). Once I saw some black-and-white birds which Dar identified as puffins.
The Ailsa Craig, around which the Waverly was to cruise before heading back, is an island halfway to Ireland, an hour out on the Waverly from Aeyr. It is about half a mile long, and about 1,000 feet high at the summit. It reminded me of Alcatraz in California, except that it was lumpier of shape (save for the jagged, crystalline-shaped grante cliffs on some sides), and of course has no prison on top. Like Alcatraz, though, the Craig has been set up as a wildlife preserve. It serves as the nesting site for about 350 different breeds of bird; we saw one side that was so thickly covered with fluttering birds that it looked to me like shredded papier-mache.
The guide describing the island over the boat's P.A. system mentioned that the Waverly used to blow its whistle when rounding the Craig - presumably to rouse the birds into noise - but now wasn't allowed due to environmental regulations. We were also told that a poet (either Keats or Yeats, I'm not sure which) was inspired to compose verse upon seeing the Craig - item one of Things I Need to Look Up Because of My Scotland Trip.
We snacked a lot on the boat, sampling some of the local candies and cakes and cookies and soda. We found a particular kind of cookie a lot like the Pim's Orange cookies we like to have every week at gaming; I liked the wrapper on these, which proclaimed that they were cakes with a chocolate coating and, quote, "a smashing orangey bit."
We bought a couple of postcards and filled one out to send home, which required a 35p stamp. Dar kept the other to have a picture of the boat. And I bought a souvenir spoon for my grandmother, reminded by Dar that said grandmother collects souvenir spoons.
We took on the largest group of passengers at Ayr, and while we were sailing to and from the Craig, I spent some time people-watching. I saw several women of varying ages in floral prints; I spotted a red-headed child and a middle-aged woman in plaid shorts, which made me think of tartans. I didn't see too many people in either blue jeans (though I did see one woman all in black and her pants were black jeans), or tennis shoes, as I might have at home. Several passengers were elderly men and women, possibly retired. And even here were signs of American marketing influences: I saw a small boy with a Lion King sweatshirt.
We wound up disembarking at Ayr - sooner than we expected, perhaps because this was the Waverly's final trip around the Craig for the season, before it starts its season of cruises down around England. At Ayr were waiting a pair of coaches (buses) hired to take the last of the passengers back to their starting points; these buses looked more or less like the local equivalent of the Greyhound.
Dar regretted not having more film as we rode back to Glasgow. We saw a bit of the streets and shops of Ayr before we got out on the road to Glasgow, at which point we started seeing a lot of cows, a few horses, and lots and lots of sheep. Dar was very amused to note as we left Ayr that part of our route was called the High Road, with the obligatory Low Road not far off. As we rode on, Dar noted the next chapter in Confusing Road Signs: a sequence of three signs, with three, then two, then one diagonal marks on them and no other text. We spotted smoke coming out of a tall building; Dar hoped it wasn't the university dorm where Janne was staying, or any other for the WorldCon crowd.
Back in Glasgow we were dropped off by the river, and very shortly were back at the hotel. We discovered that Niall (Starchaser) had left a message, confirming that the number I had used to call him was correct. I tried to call him back, but got his answering machine - phone tag happens in Scotland, too.
While we were considering our plans for dinner and the next day, though, we did get a call - this one from Euan Robertson, Blythe's player on Two Moons. He'd learned where we were from Janne Torklep (Dawn's player,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
janne), and Dar and I took turns having a pleasant chat. Euan confirmed that the local measurements of distance were indeed in miles, and noted that the money system was decimalized back around 1970 or so (providing a vast improvement over a system in which 20 shillings made a pound, and 21 shillings made a guinea!). He also said that the 1973 50p pieces with the interlocked circle of hands on them were minted to commemorate Britain's joining of the European Community.
Talking with Euan, we made our plans to go to Edinburgh (pronounced "Edinboro") for the ongoing Festival there, and arranged to call him around 5:30pm the following afternoon. By the time we got off the phone it was nearly ten, and the hotel was no longer serving dinner in the restaurant, so we went just outside to a place called the Baby Grande.
This restaurant was mostly occupied by its bar, but they were indeed still serving food, so Dar and I went for it. We wanted to try the chicken and strawberry stir fry, but they were out of strawberries, so we got bangers (sausage), mash (mashed potatoes, which were not nearly as mashed as I would usually expect), and onions instead, which was all reasonably good. I think we raised our waitress's eyebrows by ordering only one plate, but it along with an order of garlic bread (also quite tasty) was more than enough food to feed the two of us.
Monday, August 21, 1995: Riding on the Waverly, or, Hey, I Didn't Know Jellyfish Were Freshwater Critters
We woke up quite early this morning, to sounds of lots of traffic as Glasgow woke up for the first day of the week. It was cooler than it had been the previous day, which was good, since our hotel didn't seem to believe in air-conditioning its rooms. It was before 7am when I first remembered asking Dar for the time; while she showered and such, I dozed, and eventually got up to have the tea Dar made for me.
The morning BBC news mentioned that the top two local bands, Blur and Oasis, are having quite the rivalry in singles sales. Speculation was rampant as to whether the furor over the two bands releasing singles on the same day is a sign of rejuvenation of the singles market (a market which is practically dead in the States; in the UK, they still have singles released several weeks before the albums), or just a sign of media hype. :) It was noted, though, that the two bands were due to perform in London very soon, "only yards away from one another."
We also saw news reports about British Olympic athletes training in the US, and about ongoing efforts to rescue bears from the "dancing bears" trade in Turkey.
My shoulders and neck were sore, the former because of carrying a purse for the first time in a while - I'd brought the green purse which I'd had custom-made, thinking to show it off for WorldCon, but I quickly found that I preferred using the waistpouch I'd gotten into the habit of using since I'd bought it last May. And the latter was because the pillows on our bed were very thin, and there were only two of them - Dar and I like lots of pillows. :) I switched my important objects like my wallet and passport back to the waist-pouch, and Dar got her camera, and off we went. After a light breakfast (toast: good; ham: good; sausage: mediocre), we went to the Waverly.
The Waverly bills itself as the last of the sea-going paddle cruisers, and as I mentioned above, reminds me of the Belle of Louisville - except that its paddles are on the side, it's not as tall, and there is no calliope. We were to cruise south from Glasgow to Ayr (a small river port) and the Ailsa Craig, an island out in the North Sea, halfway to Ireland. On the shores of the Clyde, we saw several shipyards (some of which were Norwegian), some nice architecture, a small lighthouse, a bunch of seagulls (a different breed than the ones here at home; they have a different cry), some lovely whitish-pink swans, and some jellyfish, lots of jellyfish, down in the water.
I had a blackcurrant soda, which was tasty, and decided to avoid the more familiar sodas, since I figured they wouldn't taste right to me. I also had some tasty chocolate-covered biscuits, and Dar had some very tasty sour-cream-and-onion crisps (potato chips).
The rest of the trip went well. It basically involved a few stops along the Clyde at Troon, Ayr, and one other place whose name escapes me to pick up passengers; there was a lot of water to look at, a lot of jellyfish, a lot of gulls, and some other, larger birds which I couldn't identify (although "cormorants" came to mind for some reason). Once I saw some black-and-white birds which Dar identified as puffins.
The Ailsa Craig, around which the Waverly was to cruise before heading back, is an island halfway to Ireland, an hour out on the Waverly from Aeyr. It is about half a mile long, and about 1,000 feet high at the summit. It reminded me of Alcatraz in California, except that it was lumpier of shape (save for the jagged, crystalline-shaped grante cliffs on some sides), and of course has no prison on top. Like Alcatraz, though, the Craig has been set up as a wildlife preserve. It serves as the nesting site for about 350 different breeds of bird; we saw one side that was so thickly covered with fluttering birds that it looked to me like shredded papier-mache.
The guide describing the island over the boat's P.A. system mentioned that the Waverly used to blow its whistle when rounding the Craig - presumably to rouse the birds into noise - but now wasn't allowed due to environmental regulations. We were also told that a poet (either Keats or Yeats, I'm not sure which) was inspired to compose verse upon seeing the Craig - item one of Things I Need to Look Up Because of My Scotland Trip.
We snacked a lot on the boat, sampling some of the local candies and cakes and cookies and soda. We found a particular kind of cookie a lot like the Pim's Orange cookies we like to have every week at gaming; I liked the wrapper on these, which proclaimed that they were cakes with a chocolate coating and, quote, "a smashing orangey bit."
We bought a couple of postcards and filled one out to send home, which required a 35p stamp. Dar kept the other to have a picture of the boat. And I bought a souvenir spoon for my grandmother, reminded by Dar that said grandmother collects souvenir spoons.
We took on the largest group of passengers at Ayr, and while we were sailing to and from the Craig, I spent some time people-watching. I saw several women of varying ages in floral prints; I spotted a red-headed child and a middle-aged woman in plaid shorts, which made me think of tartans. I didn't see too many people in either blue jeans (though I did see one woman all in black and her pants were black jeans), or tennis shoes, as I might have at home. Several passengers were elderly men and women, possibly retired. And even here were signs of American marketing influences: I saw a small boy with a Lion King sweatshirt.
We wound up disembarking at Ayr - sooner than we expected, perhaps because this was the Waverly's final trip around the Craig for the season, before it starts its season of cruises down around England. At Ayr were waiting a pair of coaches (buses) hired to take the last of the passengers back to their starting points; these buses looked more or less like the local equivalent of the Greyhound.
Dar regretted not having more film as we rode back to Glasgow. We saw a bit of the streets and shops of Ayr before we got out on the road to Glasgow, at which point we started seeing a lot of cows, a few horses, and lots and lots of sheep. Dar was very amused to note as we left Ayr that part of our route was called the High Road, with the obligatory Low Road not far off. As we rode on, Dar noted the next chapter in Confusing Road Signs: a sequence of three signs, with three, then two, then one diagonal marks on them and no other text. We spotted smoke coming out of a tall building; Dar hoped it wasn't the university dorm where Janne was staying, or any other for the WorldCon crowd.
Back in Glasgow we were dropped off by the river, and very shortly were back at the hotel. We discovered that Niall (Starchaser) had left a message, confirming that the number I had used to call him was correct. I tried to call him back, but got his answering machine - phone tag happens in Scotland, too.
While we were considering our plans for dinner and the next day, though, we did get a call - this one from Euan Robertson, Blythe's player on Two Moons. He'd learned where we were from Janne Torklep (Dawn's player,
janne), and Dar and I took turns having a pleasant chat. Euan confirmed that the local measurements of distance were indeed in miles, and noted that the money system was decimalized back around 1970 or so (providing a vast improvement over a system in which 20 shillings made a pound, and 21 shillings made a guinea!). He also said that the 1973 50p pieces with the interlocked circle of hands on them were minted to commemorate Britain's joining of the European Community. Talking with Euan, we made our plans to go to Edinburgh (pronounced "Edinboro") for the ongoing Festival there, and arranged to call him around 5:30pm the following afternoon. By the time we got off the phone it was nearly ten, and the hotel was no longer serving dinner in the restaurant, so we went just outside to a place called the Baby Grande.
This restaurant was mostly occupied by its bar, but they were indeed still serving food, so Dar and I went for it. We wanted to try the chicken and strawberry stir fry, but they were out of strawberries, so we got bangers (sausage), mash (mashed potatoes, which were not nearly as mashed as I would usually expect), and onions instead, which was all reasonably good. I think we raised our waitress's eyebrows by ordering only one plate, but it along with an order of garlic bread (also quite tasty) was more than enough food to feed the two of us.