Scotland!

1500 June 11, 2006:
Down day today. After the long drive from London yesterday and the go-go-go schedule of the class trip, we agreed to take today at a leisurely pace.
There are also no new pictures. Yesterday I was busy driving, and today, I realized the camera’s battery was dead. When we head to Oban tomorrow, the its battery and mine should be recharged, and I’ll take more pictures.
We did take part of the walking tour suggested by the Lonely Planet guide, however. It took us through some of the nicer pedestrian districts and up to the cathedral. It’s a great gothic church and it appears to have survived the reformation relatively unscathed. Unfortunately, today was Sunday, so we couldn’t go in until after the services were over for the day. Doubly unfortunately, having walked all that way up there once today, I don’t particularly feel like doing it again.
Maybe on the next trip. Nope, too early to be thinking about another trip. I’ll need a couple years and a couple grand before that rolls around.
Still, though Glasgow is still a bit rough around the edges, it’s starting to grow on me. There are some very nice squares and buildings, and it seems that there are some new businesses and recent construction in the area.
Speaking of rough around the edges, the hotel we’re staying at is the Hotel Corus near the Central Station. It’s a bit down at the heels, but comfortable. The main problem is that the lifts are seriously dodgy. They shake, rattle and bang on their way up and down.
Making matters worse, this morning there were several coach groups checking out and the lifts were full and taking forever to answer a call-button. A bunch of older German (and other) tourists were stuck packing their bags down the stairs from the 7^th floor. The girl at reception got a right earful from one of them about it.
Anyhow, the drive yesterday was very nice, once I got the hang of driving on the left again. The car is a diesel Volvo XC70 which drives like a charm. It’s smooth, powerful and responsive. I want one.
We drove up the M6/A74/M74, which runs along the west side of the country. We ran along the eastern edge of the Lake District, through some beautiful mountainous countryside. I’m kind of sorry that the return trip is going to the east, even though I know that we’ll be driving through the beautiful Yorkshire and Lincoln countryside.
We also passed through Gretna Green, shotgun-wedding capitol of Great Britain back in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. It lies just inside the Scottish border, and Scottish law allowed for quickie weddings that just weren’t possible in England. One of the girls in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility got married there, causing a great scandal. I can’t recall who! Jan will be so disappointed.
Tomorrow, we head to the incomparably beautiful and bucolic Isle of Mull. It should be another fine drive past Loch Lomond and Loch Awe, before we take the 45-minute ferry ride to the island. Then there’s about a 35-mile drive through to our hotel in Bunessan.