Scotland

This morning we rose at 5, had coffee; packed and headed to the tram. Tickets-boo, we we arrived at the airport checked in, thru security and ready to shop in record time. I was smiling.

Travelling with Tom is special; for someone who has made a career of travelling he sure gets uptight at airports. He sometimes forgets he is not a work; so it’s then every man for himself!

A good example was this morning we planned to pick up a couple of items; of course we easily found them and he offered to go to the cash. I, of course kept shopping (just in case)...when I realized that it wasn’t a cashier but a machine I tried to find my way thru to help Tom as I knew machines are not his thing. When I got to him he had a big smile, boarding pass in hand and a bag of our purchases. What really happened, he paid too much and lost the receipt.. Nice try Tom.

It’s true, I’m not all that fond of travelling as a passenger. In London, the bus drops me off right outside the airplane, we all climb the steps and we are there, on the airplane. No shopping, no hiking, for miles, no braving the gauntlet of people who are always in your way. We still have a part to play in security theatre, but that is about all.

Dianne and I loved Scotland. It is true, they are frugal people, but we fit right in because we are too. We found strict adherence to the rules not as important to the Scots as is is to say, a London booking office. One example is our trip on the Jacobite Train (Hogwarts Express). If we had found a cancellation for the return trip at a later time, they would have charged us two one way tickets, The local folks just crossed our names out on the sear map and penciled us in with seats together. Return fare was secured with cash added to our electronic ticket and a comment from the local agent that those Londoners make things so hard.

George Cockburn, a Captain I used to fly with told me that the sound of bagpipes always got him in a fighting mood. He was a Scot and judging by the what we saw at Gellions in Inverness, you can get the Scots fired up good with music and whiskey.

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