Tennis Frontier travel adventures

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Billie

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Who doesn't like to travel, explore and see the wonders of the world? I thought it might be a fun way to share our travelling experiences here. I'll start first with my recent visit to the Western part of our southern neighbour, but everybody is welcome to post experiences or photos of their great or not-so-great vacation destination.

Las Vegas

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Billie

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Thanks BB. Make sure you do.:drums:

First time I saw the 90 degree parking in San Fran and how some of the streets can be steep, I was really surprised. Maybe it takes time to get used to, but I am sure I couldn't do it now without a bit of practice. Oh and how much cooler it was from Las Vegas.
 
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Moxie

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Two places I find dramatically beautiful, as much as anything I've ever seen: Big Sur, CA, and the view of the Mediterranean from the Tramontana on the west coast of Mallorca. I love them because you feel like you are on the edge of the world. I'll add Land's End in Cornwall, for that view off into the vast sea and the feeling of being on the edge of the world, though it doesn't have the sentimental attachment for me. A beautiful place to stand at the edge of the world, though.

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Billie

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Great photos of beautiful nature, Moxie.:good:

I like both nature sights and historical buildings/things.
 
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Moxie

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Great photos of beautiful nature, Moxie.:good:

I like both nature sights and historical buildings/things.
They're not just "nature," so much as they are the edge-of-the-world, take-your-breath-away places, at least to me. That's what I find particularly compelling about them. I don't think the world is just natural sights vs.historical/man-made things. I'd divide it differently in terms of dramatic and life-changingly beautiful and, well, all the rest.
 

Moxie

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I just got back from another edge-of-the-world place I love: Big Bend National Park and Terlingua, TX. Big Bend is one of the largest of the US National Parks and the #1 least-visited. Within spitting distance of Mexico, the landscape is stunningly beautiful, you get basically all the stars and meteors, 360 degree sunrises and sunsets, and the locals are bat-shit crazy. We saw 2 tarantulas, a rattlesnake on a hike (scary,) a javelina, and about a million butterflies, to name a few things.

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This is Santa Elena canyon. The full other half is in Mexico.

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This is the River Road. The river is the Rio Grande, called Rio Bravo in Mexico, which defines the border with the US. You can see how you could basically just walk to Mexico, which is on the left side of the picture. It's a gorgeous drive (about one hour,) with a state park on the Texas side. The terrain is rough, but the river is often even narrower and shallower at many parts.

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This is actually a hotel in Terlngua. Rather open-air.
 
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Moxie

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^ That pic of the Santa Elena Canyon is awesome.
Believe me, the Santa Elena Canyon IS awe-inspiring. There is an option to travel through it in a raft, which involves camping overnight. The reverse view of that is nearly as beautiful, if not so dramatic. (OK, but still fairly dramatic.) It is the Wild West, and you barely encounter another human.
 

mrzz

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Just found this thread from the discuss.tennis days... I was about to open a new thread but checked out first for existing ones. Not surprisingly, Billie had created this one, and others already contributed, like the fantastic pics @Moxie posted.

I won't (at least for now) post any pictures, just share some thoughts regarding the days I spent in Barcelona (first time) and Lisbon (third time).

Barcelona is indeed a wonderful city to visit. A bit of everything with the historical (ancient, medieval and contemporary) buildings, good museums, a beautiful sea side, nice food and, in general, polite and warm people. Not exactly cheap but you still spend less than in Italy, France or the UK I guess (as a tourist, even if I am a quite experienced traveler). You can use the public transport easily to move around and enjoy the city's many options. The Museum of Catalan Art is fantastic in my opinion.

Obviously, there are the Gaudi works, which are spread on the city and curious to say the least. I confess that I am not a fan -- I used this trip also to give it a fair chance, but the fans would surely love it, as they can enter places like "La Pedrera" and "Casa Batlló" quite easily. On the "La Sagrada Familia" the interior is interesting (nice work with the stained glass lighting effects), but quite different from what one expects from the outside. Going up the towers is not exactly worth it, you have very short time up there, not a particularly good view of either the building or the city, and you spend much much more time on the long way back through the stairway (you go up by elevator). So, if you are merely sight seeing, I suggest you save your money and just walk around it, not even buying the tickets to go inside the church. if you have interest in Gaudi, then go in but think twice before going up the towers (and spending more money).

By the way, the Barcelona Card is good deal for tourists.

I particularly ate much better in small restaurants inside the town, than in the "La Barceloneta" shore restaurants, but it could be a coincidence. Anyway walking around there is a very pleasing experience.

A lot more options, Santa Maria del Mar and the Picasso Museum, which are close to each other, are places I would happily go back, by the way going to the roof of Santa Maria del Mar is very very interesting, so there is where I suggest one should go to see the city from a good spot (or in the roof of the Barcelona Cathedral). In both places you have time and a lot of details to learn.

Much more to do around there and this is no way a comprehensive list, just notes from memory. Oh, and I watched a Paco de Lucia tribute by some fantastic musicians and dancers at the Palau de Musica Catalana that was surely one of a kind... the "guitarra flamenca" sound (as I was quite aware previously) is simply fantastic. You wonder how many hands these people have....

Ok, I leave Portugal and its many many wonders for other posts....
 
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Horsa

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I've never seen this thread before either & I've got a few things to say but I'll say them tomorrow as it's late, I normally do museum trips & guided tours as well as shop, lounge about reading books on beaches, go on boat trips, go to sea-life centres, go to water parks, go to art galleries & go out at night & be entertained & history can be gory so if I say what I have to say now I'll probably have nightmares as I'll have to add the history of places as well as stories, recommendations about where to visit & what to see. I've got some long pieces to add actually. I enjoyed Mrzz's piece above & looking at Moxie's holiday snaps.
 
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Horsa

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Edinburgh

Edinburgh is named after the 1st Scottish King who lived there who was Edwin. It was originally Edwin's Burgh. It's the capital City of Scotland though there are lots of arguments as to whether it should be as capital cities are normally the most central city which would mean Perth or Aberdeen deserved the title or the largest city of a country which would mean Glasgow should be the capital city of Scotland. It has 2 nick-names "Auld Reekie" because at 1 time it was a slum town & stunk & "the Athens of the North" because later on the new town was built & some of the buildings in the new town were inspired by ancient Greek buildings. Most of the rest of the new town was designed by Robert Adam who was part of the Adam family of architects. The old town centres around the Royal mile which stretches from the castle at the top of the hill to the palace of Holyroodhouse at the bottom. Holyrood means Holycross. The castle was built on an extinct volcano. The castle cost £7.50 to go in when I went but it was well worth it because it was fascinating & I got to see the Scottish crown jewels. In the palace of Holyroodhouse it is said that Mary Queen of Scots hired David Rizzio to stab her husband, Henry, Lord Darnley to death.

At the front of 1 of the Kirks (churches) you will see a watch-tower. This was built so friends & families of newly buried corpses could watch over their bodies as dissection of human bodies for medical education purposes had just been allowed & Edinburgh being a University city had people who dug up bodies to sell them to University students. There are 2 famous body-snatchers who are particularly notorious. They are Burke & Hare. Why they're particularly notorious is because they got greedy & couldn't wait for bodies to be buried to supply the demand for them to do this so they killed people for their bodies to sell to medical students.

John Knox brought Protestantism into Scotland. As part of this the covenant was signed in Greyfriar's Kirkyaird (Churchyard). This stated that all churches had to preach the Protestant religion. The details get too gory so I won't carry on. There is however another true story which Greyfriar's Kirkyaird features in & that's the story of Greyfriar's Bobby. It was written down by Eleanor Atkinson & made into a couple of films. I prefer the Disney 1 even at my age but here's the story. An old shepherd called Auld Jock worked for a farmer at Cauldbrae farm. He was laid off because he was ill & couldn't do as much as he used to. The farm had a Skye terrier called Bobby who was kept for the farmer's daughter Elsie. Bobby took more to Auld Jock though. 1 day Auld Jock went to Edinburgh alone on his normal market day & was going to make a new life for himself. Bobby escaped from the farm & found Auld Jock in all Auld Jock's usual haunts including Mr. Traill's dining-rooms where he normally went for his dinner on market-day (which are now a solicitor's). Mr. Traill realised Auld Jock was very ill & tried to get him to go to a Dr. but he wouldn't. He found lodging in a lodging-house off the Cow-market. He died that night. The Land-lady found out when she tried to get him out to let his room & the police found enough money for a burial. Bobby slept on his grave every night although it wasn't permitted & went to Mr. Traill's Dining-room's for his dinner. After Mr. Traill found out Auld Jock was dead, he got the farmer to come back to get his dog but Bobby kept running back. He wanted to keep him but Bobby kept running back. 1 day a policeman caught Bobby at Mr. Traill's without a collar. It was a crime to keep a dog without a license. The policeman got a summons for Mr. Traill to go to court with Bobby to get a license or put Bobby to sleep. A lot of poor children heard about this & scraped together to pay for the license as they used to play with Bobby. They burst into court with this money for the license. The Laird-provost (Lord Mayor) himself was in charge & he gave Bobby a collar & the key to the city of Edinburgh otherwise known as having the freedom of the city so he could go where he wanted & all the children were responsible for him. There is a statue on the Royal Mile of Greyfriar's Bobby.

Edinburgh is especially good at tattoo & festival time which is in August. During festival time there are people acting, singing, dancing, telling jokes & doing magic in the town. Edinburgh Tattoo is fantastic to watch live. I've been twice. They don't show everyone singing the national anthem, old Scottish unofficial national anthem, new Scottish unofficial national anthem & Auld Lang Syne on T.V. I'd definitely recommend it.


I just thought some people might be interested in knowing that Sean Connery started off his working life as an Edinburgh dustman.
 
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Horsa

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Just found this thread from the discuss.tennis days... I was about to open a new thread but checked out first for existing ones. Not surprisingly, Billie had created this one, and others already contributed, like the fantastic pics @Moxie posted.

I won't (at least for now) post any pictures, just share some thoughts regarding the days I spent in Barcelona (first time) and Lisbon (third time).

Barcelona is indeed a wonderful city to visit. A bit of everything with the historical (ancient, medieval and contemporary) buildings, good museums, a beautiful sea side, nice food and, in general, polite and warm people. Not exactly cheap but you still spend less than in Italy, France or the UK I guess (as a tourist, even if I am a quite experienced traveler). You can use the public transport easily to move around and enjoy the city's many options. The Museum of Catalan Art is fantastic in my opinion.

Obviously, there are the Gaudi works, which are spread on the city and curious to say the least. I confess that I am not a fan -- I used this trip also to give it a fair chance, but the fans would surely love it, as they can enter places like "La Pedrera" and "Casa Batlló" quite easily. On the "La Sagrada Familia" the interior is interesting (nice work with the stained glass lighting effects), but quite different from what one expects from the outside. Going up the towers is not exactly worth it, you have very short time up there, not a particularly good view of either the building or the city, and you spend much much more time on the long way back through the stairway (you go up by elevator). So, if you are merely sight seeing, I suggest you save your money and just walk around it, not even buying the tickets to go inside the church. if you have interest in Gaudi, then go in but think twice before going up the towers (and spending more money).

By the way, the Barcelona Card is good deal for tourists.

I particularly ate much better in small restaurants inside the town, than in the "La Barceloneta" shore restaurants, but it could be a coincidence. Anyway walking around there is a very pleasing experience.

A lot more options, Santa Maria del Mar and the Picasso Museum, which are close to each other, are places I would happily go back, by the way going to the roof of Santa Maria del Mar is very very interesting, so there is where I suggest one should go to see the city from a good spot (or in the roof of the Barcelona Cathedral). In both places you have time and a lot of details to learn.

Much more to do around there and this is no way a comprehensive list, just notes from memory. Oh, and I watched a Paco de Lucia tribute by some fantastic musicians and dancers at the Palau de Musica Catalana that was surely one of a kind... the "guitarra flamenca" sound (as I was quite aware previously) is simply fantastic. You wonder how many hands these people have....

Ok, I leave Portugal and its many many wonders for other posts....

It sounds like you had a good time. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I've watched flamenco dancers too. The guitarists are amazing as are the dancers.
 

Horsa

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Benidorm

I went to Benidorm a couple of times. The 1st time I stayed at Hotel Barceló pueblo in the new town & we went on a boat trip to peacock island which is a nature reserve belonging to the birds & there's a picnic area & café. In with the price of the boat trip there is another boat trip in a glass-bottomed boat around the island so you can see all the fish. We went in July & saw signs in all the shop windows saying "Rebajas" which means sale as I explained to my parents. We also went to Mundomar which means SeaWorld & is a sea-life centre which has sea-lion & dolphin shows. It also has lemurs & parrots though & you can see the parrots do shows. The parrot show is very good. There's a parrot that plays basketball with a parrot friend, 1 that rides a bicycle, 1 that plays hoopla with a parrot friend, a cockatoo that gets in & out of a deck-chair when asked & 1 that can add up unless the answer to the question asked is 7. It doesn't like 7 for some reason & gives the answer 6 or 8 instead. Clever parrots! (I wish I could get away with that when the answer is 13 or has 13 on the end of the answer as I'm triskaidecophobic). We then went to Aqualandia which is a water-park next door. I went on the big slide but didn't appear to be moving so pushed myself with my elbows & got told off but didn't understand what was being said as I didn't learn that part of Spanish & didn't let them know I was English. I had fun at the Waterpark. The beaches in Benidorm are very clean & there's often someone making sculptures out of sand & there's a foot-shower on the beach & wood for you to walk on when you've showered your feet. We went to a medieval night in Alfaz del pi which means avenue of the pines & looks different to other Spanish words because it was conquered by Moors so has some Morroccan influence in the name or maybe because I never saw it in writing & just heard it & used my knowledge of Spanish pronunciation to write it as in z, ce & ci sound like s in some parts of the Spanish speaking world & like th in others & I is pronounce like e as in be. The medieval night was good. You went in & had your photo taken by the cont y contessa d'Alfaz. Then you followed the queue to your seats & sat down before telling the waiters whether you wanted to drink water, beer or sangria. I opted for sangria. Then you had a 3 course meal while watching jousting tournaments & shouting for your team. You had either been seated on the green side or the red side & had to shout for whatever colour you'd been seated on. You didn't have cutlery as they didn't have knives, forks & spoons in the time they depicted. 1st course was vegetable soup & a roll. You dipped your bread in the soup then picked the bowl up & drank any soup that was left. You then had to pick chicken, roast potatoes & lamb chops off a trolley that was coming round. For dessert it was an ice-cream cone. That was the least authentic part of the night. After you'd watched it you had to go out through the back where people were dressed as ghosts jumping out at you trying to scare you. 1 night there was a keyboard player playing outside our hotel. I took my drink out & started singing "sailing" as that's what he was playing & he got me up behind the keyboard singing it. He asked if I knew the next song he was playing but I didn't & told him so. He said it was such a shame as he didn't normally get vocalists & he couldn't sing himself. I was thrown in the deep end on that holiday as I was given the job as interpreter because my parents wouldn't learn the language so I had to order everything then they got talking to a Spanish man on his own & I had to translate for everyone including telling my parents where he worked, etc. Dad got told off by the cleaners for walking all over their newly scrubbed floor. I got him off the hook by saying "Oyga, por favor! Lo siento!" which means "Excuse me, please! I'm sorry!". They soon made friends & we were even wished "Buen viaje!" on our last day which means "Good journey!".

I went to Cala Finestrat which is in Benidorm Old Town with my Sister. We stayed in Hotel Magic Monika this time which is part of the Magic chain of hotels & is famous for it's all-inclusive packages which are brilliant because they allow you to get a bus between all it's hotels & to have a drink at it's other hotels just by showing your all-inclusive card which you've got to have a photograph for, they run the medieval night so it comes free at these hotels as does the bus, you also get free breakfast, lunch & dinner, access to the snack-bar anytime if you're not back in time for meals, packed lunch for when you go out if you order it the night before & free drinks. The snag was we got an early morning flight going & a late night flight coming back to give us more time in resort & our rooms & all-inclusive cards weren't ready for us when we got there so we had to have our cases locked in a locker-room & go across the road to the pub. I shouted "Camarero, dos boccadillos de jamon y dos te con leche por favor." which means "Waiter! 2 ham sandwiches & 2 teas with milk, please". My Sister said "What does that mean?" so I told her & the waiter said "I'm English too." so I thought I spoke Spanish when I didn't need to. I did it again when we were lost after getting off the bus going to Mundomar. I asked someone "Donde esta Mundomar, por favor?" which means "Where is Mundomar, please?. My Sister asked me what I said. I told her & the person I asked said "I'm English too" & directed us. We got lost coming back but found our way to Hotel Villa del Mar which means Hotel Villa of the sea & is another Magic hotel so we went in, asked what time there was a bus to Hotel Magic Monica & as we had to wait 1/2 an hour showed our cards & got a drink while waiting for the bus. We went to the market which is good. 1 of the nights we got flamenco dancers in our hotel. They were very good.
 
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Horsa

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Malta

1 of the best places I've been to is Malta. We stayed in St. Paul's Bay. 98% of the population in Malta are devout Catholics. The only thing for people to do on Sunday if they aren't church-goers is go to Valletta flea market which is very good & very cheap even for antiques. We went to the blue lagoon too & went in a nearby café for our dinner. Mother had salad & me & Dad had roast salmon & chips. I love salmon. It's my favourite fish. There is a bus every 5/10/15 minutes which cost less than 2 lire in Malta. We went to Mellieha Bay which is 1 of the only sandy beaches on the island. There is a café on the beach & I had lasagne & latte there for my dinner. There was also a man coming rotheyund selling nougat & bananas on the beach. I bought nougat. The next day we went to Valletta which is the capital of Malta. We went to the archaeology museum which was fascinating & had a horse & coach ride around Malta. The buses are that slow in Malta that the horse ran faster than the bus. It's also obvious when you see the state of some of the vehicles that they don't have M.O.T.'s. The next day we went to Mdina which was the Roman capital city of Malta. It's a walled city. The name Mdina means the silent city though it definitely wasn't very silent when I went there. As it was built in Roman times the roads are very narrow as they were only meant for horse-drawn vehicles so if a car comes everyone shouts car & steps on the pavement as soon as possible. Mdina is full of churches & museums. You get a discount if you pay ticket price for all museums at once. I got more of a discount because although I told them 13 times I wasn't a student they wouldn't have it so I gave in as a bad job & got in for the student price. I had a fascinating time. I had to borrow a wrap to go over my shoulders so I could go in the churches as you have to have your shoulders & knees covered to show respect & my top had cut-out parts where my shoulders were. You also have to sit down & pretend to say a prayer or sing a hymn or psalm or read the Bible too as a make of respect. I pretended to say a prayer as I'm an atheist. I'm glad I went in the churches though as the ceiling art is breath-taking. You just have to look up when you go into Maltese churches because the paintings on the ceilings are absolutely stunning. I could go on & talk about the war & Malta's military history but I don't like gory details.
 
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Horsa

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Glasgow

Glasgow is a lovely place with something for almost everyone. If you like history there are plenty of museums. If you like art there are lots of art galleries. If you like a drink there are plenty of pubs & if you like shopping there is a huge city centre with 7 shopping centres & if you go on the weekend there is a huge market called the barras which sells almost everything dirt cheap. You get a quick glimpse of the Barras in this song which I find funny. I loved Glasgow as I like history, art, a drink & going shopping. I've been to Glasgow many times. Argyll Street encircles Glasgow. When I stayed there for a week we stayed in a Hotel on Argyll Street. We looked around the City Centre. Glasgow is like London in that it has an underground which is a cheap way of getting to some parts of Glasgow. The 1st time we went to Glasgow the transport museum was in Kelvingrove & we had to go through 1 of the universities to get there. The place was called Kelvingrove because it is situated in a grove near the lesser-known Glaswegian River, the Kelvin. There are 4 universities in Glasgow. When I asked where the transport museum was the person I asked told Mother & Dad but nearly sent me to nursing class. I ended up arguing for 1/2 an hour about why I wasn't in nursing class. Also at the other side of the university was an art gallery with the painting "Whistler's Mother" but that was closed at the time due to refurbishment. Joseph Lister, who discovered antiseptic surgery was a student at that university. The transport museum was very good & it was very interesting especially with Glasgow being famous for ship-building at 1 time. The county Glasgow is in is Strathclyde which means on the Clyde due to the fact that Glasgow is on the River Clyde & the ship-building industry centred around the River Clyde & a lot of Glasgow's ships originally set sail from the Clyde. Glasgow transport museum has since moved to a location beside the Clyde. Charles Rennie Mackintosh who was a famous jewellery designer came from Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. The main Square in Glasgow is called George Square which was going to be called King George Square but the British King it was going to be called after went mad. There is a statue of Sir Walter Scott in Glasgow. When you're going between Glasgow & Edinburgh on the M8 there is a building that looks like the Sydney Opera House. I've been to the main art gallery in Glasgow many times. I've also been to the people's palace which is a social history museum dedicated to the people of Glasgow. It's fascinating there. The Glaswegian version of this song goes "I belong tae Glesga, dear old Glesga toon but there's something the matter wi' Glesga for it's spinning roond & roond. I'm only a common old working chap as anyone here can see but when I have a couple of drinks on a Saturday Glesga belongs tae me." Slainthe mhath is cheers if you go drinking. I've been on 2 guided tours of Glasgow which are fascinating. You need to spend a full fortnight in Glasgow as well as go on 3 guided tours to really get to know Glasgow because there is just so much there.
 
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Horsa

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The Highlands of Scotland/Hielands of Caledonia

I've been to the Hielands of Caledonia many times. The 1st time I went I stayed in a Hotel overlooking both Ben Lomond & Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond is supposed to be the largest area of freshwater in Scotland. Loch Lomond is part of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. There was Hieland Ceilidh entertainment on all week & the song "Loch Lomond" was on the repertoire all week. It is supposed to be about a man who has done something wrong to the English who the Scots were at War with at the time. The words "you take the high road & I'll take the low road & I'll be in Scotland afore ye but me & my true love will never meet again on the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond" is supposed to mean "you come to Scotland from England on earth & I'll come from Hell from England & I'll get to Scotland before you but me & my true love will never meet again on the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond. The full words of the song are below & I'll share the song in video format too.

Loch Lomond

By yon bonnie banks & by yon bonnie braes
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond.
Where me & my true love were ever want to gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.

Chorus
O' ye tak' the hie road
& I'll tak' the low road
& I'll be in Scotland afore ye.
But me & my true love'll never meet again on the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.

'Twas there that we parted on yon shady Glen
By the steep, steep sides o' Ben Lomond,
Wherein purple hues the Hieland hills we viewed
Wi' the sun coming up in the gloaming.

Repeat chorus

There the wee birdies sing
& the wild flowers ring
& in sunshine the waters are gleaming.
but the broken hairt it kens nae second spring so reserved we must be while we're greeting.

N.B. greeting in Scots means crying.



I also went on a cruise on Loch Lomond.

I also went to Fort William on the West Highland railway line which is 1 of the most if not the most scenic railway journeys in the world. We passed Rannoch Moor to get to Fort William where the Battle of Rannoch Moor took place. Fort William is where Britain's Highest Mountain, Ben Nevis stands at 4,406 ft. Every year there is the Ben Nevis race that starts from the other end of Fort William goes through the town & all the way up Ben Nevis before going back down Ben Nevis & to the other side of the town. It often rains in Fort William, though when we stayed the week it was bright & sunny. Fort William is a nice town. We came back on the coach passing through Glencoe which was the site of the massacre of the McDonalds of Glencoe by the Campbell's on 13//2/1692.



We also went to Dunoon & Inveraray which are beautiful towns.

We've been to Mallaig & Oban too which are 2 beautiful little villages where you can see Mull, Skye & Iona by the road. I tried Oban's smoked salmon which was gorgeous.

We also went to Dornoch which is a beautiful town & Tain which is a very small village. We went to Inverness too which is a lovely shopping town near the River Ness not to be mistaken for the nearby Loch Ness which is the deepest Loch in Scotland & where some people claimed to have spotted a monster.

We've also been to Callander which is a beautiful town & Luss as well as Balloch which is near Loch Lomond like the place I mentioned before. Luss was often shown on an old T.V. programme called "Take the High Road" as well as Helensburgh.

We also went to Pitlochry which is a nice, small town. In some parts of Pitlochry you can see salmon jumping in summer. There is a factory & shop in Pitlochry where you can see jewellery being made from heather. We went to nearby Blair Atholl & went in the castle. It's my favourite castle. https://blair-castle.co.uk/

We went to Braemar where the Highland games takes place each year but we just went shopping. Braemar inspired Andy Stewart to write this song.



We also went to Perth which is a beautiful city with something for everyone, shops, art galleries, museums & pubs.
 
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