Hassells in the Highlands

We took a road trip to Glasgow this weekend. Some people actually asked me why I would go there, which made it seem like it might be an unsavory place.  But we found it to be a city. With all that implies. It was busy. It was noisy. There was lots of people and lots of cars and pay public parking lots in high rises. It was a city. But we liked it.  The name of the hotel is way up under the little sign that says 'hotel' We stayed in a place called The Grasshopper Hotel, which was located above the Grand Central train station. I have actually never stayed in a hotel where the sign was so small that it was almost missed and where we had to enter a key code onto a touch pad to let us in.  It was a hotel built on the 6th floor above office space and it was a very nice place to stay. They had cupcakes and homemade ice cream to offer us and a really great cooked breakfast with a lovely staff. We are planning to stay there again when we are there in early January. (Tha

#1 Hole at the Old Course - pinch me - no, don't So, when my boss asked me in January if I would be interested in going to Scotland, my initial thought was “GOLF” – I mean what golfer doesn’t have fantasy thoughts about playing golf in Scotland – the Birthplace of golf?  Ok, I think I just inferred that I am a “Golfer”, for the record, I play golf, but I am not really a golfer – for those of you who have played with me you know I am a poster child for over-swing and swing hard at ball, but not a really good ball striker.  Some of you also know that I can get worked up about playing at a new course and just forget everything I know (which isn’t much) about how to hit the ball and end up playing 10-15 strokes over my norm. Well, not much changed during the first three months of playing here – long holes, wind like I have rarely played in before, and lots of rain soaked ground – peat bogs to be specific.  So those things crawled in my head and have roosted well – meaning I ra

I don't have any photos of speech, so I will just insert a few pictures I have taken around here in the last week. I find reading to be more interesting when there are pictures, don't you?  Taken in Wick But I do have a funny video clip, which I hope to attach at the end. So, if I am successful, you will have that to look forward to.  The Scots have their own way of speaking. You probably already know that.  Yes, they have a Scottish accent, which is fun to listen to, but I really enjoy their expressions as well. Along the Wick River - looks like fall/autumn There seem to be different dialects, or regional differences, depending on where you live in Scotland.  A real Scot can tell you, based on how another Scot speaks, just where in Scotland they are from. I hear the same is true of the English and England. This should not surprise me, since this is similar to the US. You can tell someone is from Boston, New Jersey, New York and Texas, for sure. Alabam

Rugby.  Who's heard of it?  I admit I have h eard of it. I knew it was a ball game played in the UK. But I had no idea how it was played - in fact, have never even seen any part of a rugby game before. Not even when I was a wee child in England. Before this weekend, that is.  And we had the opportunity to watch a game, right here in Thurso ! In fact, practically in our own back yard.  There is a field across the street and down a wee bit where they play rugby and football (soccer, for you Americans). The cover of the program shows an arial view of the field. The weather had been nasty and miserable all week - raining and windy ALL week. Thankfully it cleared up on Saturday just in time for us to walk down the street to the field. There, we found an empty space along the fence and stood. We  had borrowed some fold up chairs from our friends and brought them along to sit on. Ha! No sitting! Not even any bleachers.  Now we know.  Now, here is a