Glasgow GTG January 2011 - Page 10

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:13 AM

The journey ro Ardrossan was great.
I finally got to see some of Scotland - it was dark when I arrived and would be dark when I left.
Limey was an excellent tour guide, and I mooned out of the windows all the way there, glorying in seeing the sea for the first time in a year.

Reaching Ardrossan Harbour station you are greeting by a forest of ship's masts. An unusual view from a station platform. On the other side the mainland, bristling with wind turbines.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:30 AM

And so onto the boat.
It wasn't the usual boat for the route, it was a replacement. The Clansman usually operates in the Highlands and Islands, so all the signs were primarily in Gaellic. I loved it, it felt proper-foreign.

I left Limey in the bar with a coffee, as it's no more exciting to her than me getting the number 4 bus into town. And I scampered about taking photos of mundane things for your viewing pleasure.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:31 AM

A recruiting poster, sez Limey.
Could have been a command to kill all Sassenachs for all I could tell.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:32 AM

Ah you know me and menus...

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:33 AM

Beer!

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:34 AM

Goodbye mainland, hello Arran.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:38 AM

And approximately an hour after boarding, here we are on Arran's main strip.
Limey's charming husband met us and accompanied us around the island - it was a pleasure to meet him. Like Limey he's musical, intelligent and quietly confident.

We went for a snack in the local department store - which looks a little like a baby aircraft hanger, with a mezzanine floor empty except as overspill for the cafeteria. I had a perfectly delicious cheese & ham toasty - Arran has some high class cheddar and I'm glad to have sampled it. Also we had to charge up my camera as some numpty managed not to do this overnight in the hotel or even on the boat, where there was an empty plug socket easily accessible.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:49 AM

At this point I have to take a breather and explain about the lack of photos to follow.
No doubt you will be grateful to hear the thread is coming to an end, but I was enjoined by more than one Dwellar to take plenty of pics - and so I did. Over a hundred for a two night stay - not bad, eh?

But Arran was not to offer up its charms to my lens.
This was partly due to the late start I requested. Getting the earlier train would have involved getting up at about 06.30 and I simply couldn't tie that in with having a good holiday. So because of the time of year we lost the light very soon after arriving, and also we were on a tight schedule which didn't lend itself to stopping and taking photos. And finally the weather - had it been a clear day the conditions might have been more photo-friendly.

I'm only adding this because otherwise it might seem that there was nothing worth seeing on Arran. Given the mundane things I had already been photographing it would give you a completely false impression. Arran is beautiful, even moody and stark in the very dead of winter, and I could easily take 100 more photos of the island alone - and plenty of video of the rollercoaster roads. And I hope to, by making a longer visit during the summer. I'd especially like to ride the huge buses along the narrow roads, where the sea is within spitting distance. Salt spray distance at least.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:54 AM

More of Arran while the light held.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 07:56 AM

All the above were taken from the same spot - Lochranza Castle, a 14th century ruin.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 08:09 AM

Limey explained that Scotland is split into the craggy and breathtaking Highlands and the rolling and pastoral Lowlands by a geological fault. The same fault runs across Arran, making it Scotland in miniature, and a wonderfully diverse landscape within a thirty mile length. Honestly, I have never seen so many different vistas in such a short distance - it's like a theme park, every corner you turn a different view with a different mood. Except this is real and natural and people live here.

We took the coast road clockwise from the harbour.
We drove through many strung out little villages, some no more than hamlets. The general building is low-level, single storey, many white painted or stone built with slate roofs. There are long stretches of coast-hugging road with no habitation in sight. And few of the villages have facilities, certainly to the North of the Island. Limey pointed out the tiny village schools - something they are lucky to still have compared to England. But precious few shops or pubs.

The road climbed up into the craggy landscape to the North taking up us away from the sea and into what felt like mountains to this Bucks-reared Southerner. They were amazing, like another world compared to the coast. Snow topped peaks, rushing burns, the whole countryside roughened by the shaggy pelt of dead vegetation it wears in winter.

And deer!
Lots of them after Limey showed me how to identify the shape of a head-down-grazing doe. We saw at least one stag. Gardens often have deer fences - not great to look at, but the gardens beyond are splendidly manicured.

They also have golden eagles, red squirrels, seals and basking sharks. But it would have been terribly greedy to expect those too.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 08:16 AM

Back on the coast road we visited what Limey believed to be a very ugly village, with a very ugly hotel. Now I know ugly, and it seemed fine to me

We stopped off so I could pee in a public toilet in Blackwaterfoot. Tip - don't go into one of those automated booths with a cape on. The ends will droop onto the wet floor (sanitised, certainly, but still wet) and when you try to hitch them about in the small space they will try to drop into the open toilet still full of your wee as it has an automated flush once you leave it.

By this time we really were in twilight.
We drove past the local village pub, now a restaurant, with nowhere for the locals to go in their muddy boots and calloused hands to drink and carouse. I promised that when I win the Euromillions I will buy them out and run the place at a loss in order to provide a much needed centre for the community.

Although saying that, they have plans afoot to create a social club which will effectively do the same thing - although not the ousting of the denizens of the restaurant. Power to their collective elbows I say.

Sundae · 01-13-2011, 08:22 AM

And so to Chez Limey.
I was denied the view, but she has posted it before. It just would have been good to see it firsthand.

I was introduced to the cats (see Post Your Pet) and the cornsnake - Mortimer I think.
Limey's house looks reasonably modern outside but is the definition of a cosy cottage inside. I won't go into any detail as she is entitled to privacy, suffice to say I was made welcome and felt very comfortable there. I was cooked tea and then driven via more rollercoaster roads back to the ferry in the pouring rain.

And there ends the adventure really.
I had a really great time and cannot thank Limey and dana enough for their company, their enthusiasm, their generosity and hospitality. I have a stack of bright scenes to wear against my heart in the long cold.

Undertoad · 01-13-2011, 08:35 AM

Most Excellent!

glatt · 01-13-2011, 08:48 AM

I think I'd like Arran. It's beautiful.

01-13-2011, 07:13 AM	#136
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	The journey ro Ardrossan was great. I finally got to see some of Scotland - it was dark when I arrived and would be dark when I left. Limey was an excellent tour guide, and I mooned out of the windows all the way there, glorying in seeing the sea for the first time in a year. Reaching Ardrossan Harbour station you are greeting by a forest of ship's masts. An unusual view from a station platform. On the other side the mainland, bristling with wind turbines. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

01-13-2011, 07:30 AM	#137
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	And so onto the boat. It wasn't the usual boat for the route, it was a replacement. The Clansman usually operates in the Highlands and Islands, so all the signs were primarily in Gaellic. I loved it, it felt proper-foreign. I left Limey in the bar with a coffee, as it's no more exciting to her than me getting the number 4 bus into town. And I scampered about taking photos of mundane things for your viewing pleasure. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

01-13-2011, 07:31 AM	#138
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	A recruiting poster, sez Limey. Could have been a command to kill all Sassenachs for all I could tell. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

01-13-2011, 07:32 AM	#139
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Ah you know me and menus... Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

01-13-2011, 07:33 AM	#140
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Beer! Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

01-13-2011, 07:34 AM	#141
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Goodbye mainland, hello Arran. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

01-13-2011, 07:38 AM	#142
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	And approximately an hour after boarding, here we are on Arran's main strip. Limey's charming husband met us and accompanied us around the island - it was a pleasure to meet him. Like Limey he's musical, intelligent and quietly confident. We went for a snack in the local department store - which looks a little like a baby aircraft hanger, with a mezzanine floor empty except as overspill for the cafeteria. I had a perfectly delicious cheese & ham toasty - Arran has some high class cheddar and I'm glad to have sampled it. Also we had to charge up my camera as some numpty managed not to do this overnight in the hotel or even on the boat, where there was an empty plug socket easily accessible. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

01-13-2011, 07:49 AM	#143
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	At this point I have to take a breather and explain about the lack of photos to follow. No doubt you will be grateful to hear the thread is coming to an end, but I was enjoined by more than one Dwellar to take plenty of pics - and so I did. Over a hundred for a two night stay - not bad, eh? But Arran was not to offer up its charms to my lens. This was partly due to the late start I requested. Getting the earlier train would have involved getting up at about 06.30 and I simply couldn't tie that in with having a good holiday. So because of the time of year we lost the light very soon after arriving, and also we were on a tight schedule which didn't lend itself to stopping and taking photos. And finally the weather - had it been a clear day the conditions might have been more photo-friendly. I'm only adding this because otherwise it might seem that there was nothing worth seeing on Arran. Given the mundane things I had already been photographing it would give you a completely false impression. Arran is beautiful, even moody and stark in the very dead of winter, and I could easily take 100 more photos of the island alone - and plenty of video of the rollercoaster roads. And I hope to, by making a longer visit during the summer. I'd especially like to ride the huge buses along the narrow roads, where the sea is within spitting distance. Salt spray distance at least. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac Last edited by Sundae; 01-13-2011 at 09:42 AM.

01-13-2011, 07:54 AM	#144
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	More of Arran while the light held. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

01-13-2011, 07:56 AM	#145
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	All the above were taken from the same spot - Lochranza Castle, a 14th century ruin. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac Last edited by Sundae; 01-13-2011 at 09:43 AM.

01-13-2011, 08:09 AM	#146
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Limey explained that Scotland is split into the craggy and breathtaking Highlands and the rolling and pastoral Lowlands by a geological fault. The same fault runs across Arran, making it Scotland in miniature, and a wonderfully diverse landscape within a thirty mile length. Honestly, I have never seen so many different vistas in such a short distance - it's like a theme park, every corner you turn a different view with a different mood. Except this is real and natural and people live here. We took the coast road clockwise from the harbour. We drove through many strung out little villages, some no more than hamlets. The general building is low-level, single storey, many white painted or stone built with slate roofs. There are long stretches of coast-hugging road with no habitation in sight. And few of the villages have facilities, certainly to the North of the Island. Limey pointed out the tiny village schools - something they are lucky to still have compared to England. But precious few shops or pubs. The road climbed up into the craggy landscape to the North taking up us away from the sea and into what felt like mountains to this Bucks-reared Southerner. They were amazing, like another world compared to the coast. Snow topped peaks, rushing burns, the whole countryside roughened by the shaggy pelt of dead vegetation it wears in winter. And deer! Lots of them after Limey showed me how to identify the shape of a head-down-grazing doe. We saw at least one stag. Gardens often have deer fences - not great to look at, but the gardens beyond are splendidly manicured. They also have golden eagles, red squirrels, seals and basking sharks. But it would have been terribly greedy to expect those too. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac Last edited by Sundae; 01-13-2011 at 09:45 AM.

01-13-2011, 08:16 AM	#147
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Back on the coast road we visited what Limey believed to be a very ugly village, with a very ugly hotel. Now I know ugly, and it seemed fine to me We stopped off so I could pee in a public toilet in Blackwaterfoot. Tip - don't go into one of those automated booths with a cape on. The ends will droop onto the wet floor (sanitised, certainly, but still wet) and when you try to hitch them about in the small space they will try to drop into the open toilet still full of your wee as it has an automated flush once you leave it. By this time we really were in twilight. We drove past the local village pub, now a restaurant, with nowhere for the locals to go in their muddy boots and calloused hands to drink and carouse. I promised that when I win the Euromillions I will buy them out and run the place at a loss in order to provide a much needed centre for the community. Although saying that, they have plans afoot to create a social club which will effectively do the same thing - although not the ousting of the denizens of the restaurant. Power to their collective elbows I say. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac Last edited by Sundae; 01-13-2011 at 09:46 AM.

01-13-2011, 08:22 AM	#148
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	And so to Chez Limey. I was denied the view, but she has posted it before. It just would have been good to see it firsthand. I was introduced to the cats (see Post Your Pet) and the cornsnake - Mortimer I think. Limey's house looks reasonably modern outside but is the definition of a cosy cottage inside. I won't go into any detail as she is entitled to privacy, suffice to say I was made welcome and felt very comfortable there. I was cooked tea and then driven via more rollercoaster roads back to the ferry in the pouring rain. And there ends the adventure really. I had a really great time and cannot thank Limey and dana enough for their company, their enthusiasm, their generosity and hospitality. I have a stack of bright scenes to wear against my heart in the long cold. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac Last edited by Sundae; 01-13-2011 at 09:46 AM.

01-13-2011, 08:35 AM	#149
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Most Excellent!

01-13-2011, 08:48 AM	#150
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I think I'd like Arran. It's beautiful.

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