Possible Scotland Trip!

[auld argonian]

OOOOH BOY!

So...I don't have any trouble selling my wife on going to Scotland...we've been to London twice and that's as far as we got...never ventured out into th rest of the UK. She wants to see Scotland as much as I do based on all of the TV she's watched.

So guess who came in the other day to pitch their Most Wonderful Country as a potential destination for the annual meeting that my wife's organization holds every year...go on...guess...

This is a conference of Architectural Historians and there's a decent sized contingent in the UK so it would be a great chance for as many of them as possible to attend since they wouldn't have the expense of having to fly over to North America. These meetings have been held mostly in the US but my wife has managed to get them to think internationally a few times...well, that means that she got them to go to Canada three times in the past ten years...but that is, believe me, something of an accomplishment in itself.

So the possibilities are Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The nice part is that no decision can be made until the facilities are visited and their suitability is confirmed. Thus: the FAM trip. FAM for familiarization. We'll have to pay for the "nonworking" family members who go but, hey...any excuse!

So...looks like we is goin' ta Scotland...can't wait to see what the details are so I can figure out how to fit in a couple of side trips so's I can have a quick wee dram with some of the Xsmarksers in the UK. I wouldn't try to drive but I am a serious railroad fan and I guess that the rail system in the UK would probably make that quite do-able.

Ahhh...annual meetings!

Best

AA

[Tattoo Bradley]

That's great! I'm jealous.

[Livingston]

AA, I'm sorry to hear about your enforced travel. If there is anything I can do to assist you with this, such as travel for you, please let me know as soon as possible. I'll even submit myself to the horrors of matching P1M dram by dram if needed.

[Splash_4]

Way to work the system to go see the old country! The only part of Scotland I have been to is Edinburgh, so let's hear a report when your finished!

[David Dalglish]

Hope you make it sir

[Tartan Hiker]

Excellent AA!!!
14 Days and counting for my trip to Scotland!

[cessna152towser]

Among the top conference centres in Scotland are Peebles Hydro; Gleneagles Hotel and Prestonfield House.
Peebles Hydro is only 30 miles from here but not on a railway route.
Gleneagles has a railway station where the hotel minibus will collect you (an hour by train from Glasgow or Edinburgh)
Prestonfield House is on the outskirts of Edinburgh and has the bonus that the staff wear black kilts.

[Hamish]

Prestonfield House is on the outskirts of Edinburgh and has the bonus that the staff wear black kilts.

Supplied, I believe, by "21st Century Kilts"!

[auld argonian]

Well, it's not like we're leaving next week...this is in the planning stages but it would be nice for the organization, which is international, to get out of the States for a change.

And please note: it's my wife that will be working, not me. I usually get enlisted as photo documentation guy on these trips but I'm strictly un-official....but, once again...any excuse!

Retro: the Scots in my family are/were Lattas. Lots of Lattas in Ayrshire and on the Isle of Arran but it appears that my forebearers went to Northern Ireland as part of the Plantation and the first one to cross the Atlantic was Young William (as opposed to Auld William...this is weird because there's something like 350 years between them...not like this guy was "junior" or anything) who married a woman named Elizabeth Jane Taylor and split Londonderry in 1750 to settle in New Jersey. Lots of lore about the marriage being opposed by one or both sets of parents and EJT being the daughter of either a minister or a rabbi (I personally love the rabbi possibility) and Young William getting written off by his dad, James. Apparently the move looked good to several of his brothers because they showed up in the succeeding ten years and the whole bunch slid down to Pennsylvania to do that Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness thing.

Fortunately for me, one of the descendants who was an attorney in Denver around the 1930's spent a great deal of his time and money researching the genealogy...thus making it pretty easy for those of us here and now to access the information.

Best

AA

[Rufus]

I really recommend using the trains in Scotland, as they're a great stress-free way to travel the country. I even left my iPod on the train in Stirling, and the conductor personally brought it back to me from Edinburgh.

ScotRail

The rover passes are a great deal, as they include some buses and ferries with the price. I got off a little better with a student discount, but they're still not too expensive considering what you get.

Enjoy the trip!