Hope to get the missing introduction from Jack soon. And here it is!!!
Our second trip of 2018 was to Scotland in May.
An email advertisement from Norwegian Airlines for a $99 fare to Edinburgh through May, 2018 re-stimulated my interest in touring Scotland. I had started a European trip by flying there the previous year, but had planned to spend only one day in its capital, en route to the midlands of England. On top of not devoting any time to tour this beautiful city I had terrible weather, with pouring rain–and my slides showed it. So the thought of going again sounded attractive, especially when my wife Clare indicated she would love to tour the country. Her interest was visiting some castles and reaching the most northerly point accessible by rail, while I was especially enthused about seeing the scenery in the highlands, and on the famous Isle of Skye.
Of interest in working up the itinerary was the fact we would be flying out of Stewart Airport, which is located in the Hudson River Valley of New York, specifically in Orange County, opposite Beacon. As we couldn’t totally agree on the amount of time to stay in Edinburgh we decided to fly back to Stewart separately, with Clare spending the last 48 hours or so of our trip in Edinburgh while I would stop over in Dublin before heading home. I’d fly from Glasgow to Ireland after putting Clare on a train to Edinburgh (see attached itinerary) and we’d meet back at Stewart, where our car would be parked.
It was easy to make hotel reservations on the internet, and after studying rail fares we decided it would be most economical to use Scotrail’s Highla
We awoke quite early on Friday, May 18, as prior to our upcoming trip aboard the 8:34 train from Thurso we wanted to try again to locate Clare’s walking stick. On the previous evening our hotel’s proprietor attempted to reach ScotRail in Wick to inquire if it was still on the train but there was no answer at the station. This morning she tried again, but the best she could do was find someone who suggested we check with the lost and found department at Inverness, as all objects left aboard trains would be sent there. At least Clare had a substitute cane, so after having a fine breakfast and paying our bill, we rolled our bags back to the station and boarded our train upon its arrival. Naturally we asked if the cane was aboard, but none of the crew members had the faintest idea.
Our plan had been to take the train from Thurso to Dingwall and continue on to Kyle of Lochalsh from that station, which is the junction of the two lines. That would have provided us with a two hour 20 minute layover, during lunch time, which would have been ample for us to look around and grab a bite. But when I read the timetable again I realized that we could ride all the way to Inverness and change to the same train there (its origin point), with a layover of only a little over an hour. And that would allow us to confer with the Lost and Found people about how we could retrieve the cane if it were found.
Our train ran on time and this time I saw the Beauly station with my own eyes. After our arrival at Inverness at 12:26, the first thing we did was head over to the Lost and Found, which was actually the Station Master’s office. The clerk manning the window was not particularly sympathetic and after trying the phone for a few moments, indicated that he couldn’t get through to Wick. We grabbed a q
Those repeat the picture already in the text. If those are not displayed, tell me and I will try to post them a second time via Imgur.
Ditto for the following continuation:
Part 4 left off upon our arrival in Portree, Skye’s capital and largest city (if you can call a place with a population of 2,500 a city). Its harbor on Loch Portree is lovely and lined by houses painted in various pastel colors. While everyone was scurrying for lunch, we spotted an ice cream parlor and sated our sweet teeth (tooths?). And then, while looking around the town, we ran into the young couple from Cape Breton Island (as mentioned in one of part 4’s captions), which gave Clare some time to relive her childhood visits.
Again: Those repeat the picture already in the text. If those are not displayed, tell me and I will try to post them a second time via Imgur.
I think the image icons do work if one has a Google account, and MAY result in an image sharper than those imbedded in the text. If the images do not work for anyone, then I will leave them off on future possings, and attempt to delete them on existing postings.
Let me know: If the pictures within the text are not displayed, say so in a posting. If you have a Google account and the icons don’t work, say so in a posting.
No one forces you to read a particular thread, and most readers want me to post this material.
So here is the next installment:
Subject: 6 - Trip to Scotland and a Brief Interlude in Dublin–Glasgow Part 1
Monday, May 21. The Z Hotel was rather interesting–and seemed to be designed to attract Millennials, or at least younger generations than ours. The building had been a printing plant, but was beautifully repurposed and reconstructed into a striking facility with excellent industrial-style decorations and very fast elevators–the totality best described as “urban-chic.” There were small tables in the lobby, which were used to serve a continental breakfast buffet (not complimentary) in the morning, but also for a free reception from about 17:00 to 20:00, with all sorts of consumables I don’t particularly like (but Clare does), specifically wine, cheese, canapes, salads, etc.–but it did hold one attraction for me–unlimited free chocolate bark. I had to handle it with care however, as it tends to melt in one’s hands.
I made one major mistake when I chose the Z, I reserved a budget room that contained no windows. I had never felt claustrophobic before, but both Clare and I were a bit uncomfortable–we won’t do that again. The room itself wasn’t too small, but there were no closets, instead plenty of hooks and coat hangars, and we had to put our bags on the floor (there was sufficient clearance to slide them under the bed if we wanted to). The bath
Instead of being so defensive and hostile about a well-intentioned suggestion by JBS, why not examine what was said: “cleaner.” Your last post gets cut off on the right side, probably because of Kalmbach formatting software. Previous posts were missing photos. If you simply post the link with a description of content, folks can look at it more easily.
Tuesday, May 22 was our second day in Glasgow. Clare accomplished further sightseeing (including tracking down some additional Mackintosh sites), plus visits to other museums and to the Cathedral, while I devoted the day to electric railway pursuits. I should mention that this was my second trip to Glasgow, the first having come during the summer of 1960, while there were still a half dozen or so tram routes still in operation. I was blessed with good weather and had a ball, as in addition to the streetcars, I enjoyed the Glasgow Subway and especially appreciated the suburban railway system, which was just completing electrification. Very attractive blue British Railways eMUs were running in test service, while regular operations consisted of steam-hauled compartment cars, chugging through the deep Queen Street Lower Level station (cough, cough, cough, click, click, click, . . .)
I had originally planned to renew my acquaintance with the circular subway line and then ride some eMU trains today, but when I asked my friend John Hayward, a retired railwayman living just outside of London, which lines he would recommend, he also informed me that there was an operating tramway museum in the area. Thus I revised my plans and made visiting that heritage operation my primary focus. Operated by tram enthusiasts organized as the Summerlee Transport Group, it is housed within the grounds of the Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, about 10 miles east of Glasgow, and about a 10-minute wa
Tuesday, May 22 was our second day in Glasgow. Clare accomplished further sightseeing (including tracking down some additional Mackintosh sites), plus visits to other museums and to the Cathedral, while I devoted the day to electric railway pursuits. I should mention that this was my second trip to Glasgow, the first having come during the summer of 1960, while there were still a half dozen or so tram routes still in operation. I was blessed with good weather and had a ball, as in addition to the streetcars, I enjoyed the Glasgow Subway and especially appreciated the suburban railway system, which was just completing electrification. Very attractive blue British Railways eMUs were running in test service, while regular operations consisted of steam-hauled compartment cars, chugging through the deep Queen Street Lower Level station (cough, cough, cough, click, click, click, . . .)
I had originally planned to renew my acquaintance with the circular subway line and then ride some eMU trains today, but when I asked my friend John Hayward, a retired railwayman living just outside of London, which lines he would recommend, he also informed me that there was an operating tramway museum in the area. Thus I revised my plans and made visiting that heritage operation my primary focus. Operated by tram enthusiasts organized as the Summerlee Transport Group, it is housed within the grounds of the Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, about 10 miles east of Glasgow, and about a 10-minute wa
In the past two days I’ve received a number of comments regarding my posts about Glasgow, including particularly interesting ones from Rich Taylor, Richard Horne, Andrew Beech and Martin Heyneck.
First, Rich Taylor, who resides here in New Jersey, discovered these two photos from the internet illustrating the electric operation of freight (goods) on the streets of Glasgow.
We woke up early on Wednesday, May 23, our last [half] day in Glasgow. We
would check out of the Z (leaving our luggage with the desk clerk), do som> last minute sightseeing, and eventually go our separate ways for the last
days of our journey. We visited the Council Chambers (built in 1889) and
