From: jack@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Re: Honeymoon in Scotland
Date: 7 Oct 92 17:54:38 GMT
Reply-To: jack@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin)
Organization: COMANDOS Project, Glesga Yoonie

kris@fs2.assist.uci.edu  wrote:
> thigpen@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov (Keith Thigpen) writes:
>> My fiance has mentioned Scotland as a candidate for a honeymoon. Is this 
>> a good candidate? 
>> What kind of attractions / activities are available (August, '93)?
> I can't think of anywhere I would rather go on a honeymoon than to
> Scotland.  It has a magic quality about it that I have found nowhere
> else I have ever been (and I have travelled all over the South Pacific,
> Caribbean, and parts of Europe).  Edinburgh (even though it is a city
> and not in the country) is absolutely enchanting.  In August, they 
> hold a huge festival at Edinburgh Castle which should not be missed.

The castle is one of the few bits of town where the festival *isn't*.
There's a military display, the Tattoo, which happens on the esplanade in
front of it; that's probably what you're thinking of.  But that's a tiny
part of the Festival and quite ignorable if marching bands are not your
thing.  (I have only seen it on TV, despite living 200 yards from the
Castle for a few years).  The bulk of the festival is theatre, music, film,
dance, art exhibitions, street performers...

[ nice description of the cityscape deleted ]

> I found just walking around the city, strolling through beautiful parks
> stopping to do shopping for local goods (you can't go home without a kilt!),
                                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Well, actually you can.  There is a lot more to Scottish culture than this
sort of tourist-tartan stuff, which most of the locals regard as a bad joke.
It has a certain antiquarian interest as the world's first kitsch industry
(dating back to the 19th century), but most visitors to the Festival will
have other concerns.

> visiting various historical sites, and "going pubbing" enough to fascinate
> me for my week there.

> And the people are just as amazing as the country.  They are so warm and
> friendly and make you feel as if you have fallen back into a time when
> things were simpler and less chaotic.

I don't know where you come from, but "warm and friendly" is not a pair of
adjectives often applied to Edinburghers (the stereotype is that they'll
welcome you on a visit with "You'll have had your tea" as an excuse for not
feeding you)... true, it's not as hostile an environment as London, though.

> If you really want to "get away from it all", the Scottish Highlands
> make for a beautiful backdrop with some of the most breathtaking scenery
> I have encountered.  However, there is not much to do there except sit
> back, relax, and enjoy the view.

There's a bit more than that.  Tourist Information offices in Scotland are
very helpful and can suggest all sorts of stuff if you have specific
interests: hillwalking, scuba, whisky distilleries, fishing, religious
ruins, hot-air ballooning, or whatever.  They are one of the three primary
sources of information I would suggest; the others being "The List" (the
Central Scotland what's on magazine) and the Ordnance Survey Landranger
1:50000 maps, when you've made up your mind on an area to go to.  The HMSO
bookshop in Edinburgh (on Lothian Road beside the Usher Hall) is a mine of
useful publications.

-- 
--  Jack Campin    room G092, Computing Science Department, Glasgow University,
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