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hazelchazWednesday morning in Inverness. Part 1 of 4 parts.
In the morning, Kieron cooked us breakfast to order. There were never more than five people at the breakfast table any morning. We met people from Spain, Italy, and New Zealand on various mornings. Getting what we want was no problem -- Lynn got her scrambled eggs, I got sausage and bacon and eggs, and we all got toast and cereal and orange juice. Real orange juice.
We learned Kieron was English, he'd moved to Scotland to run the B&B. So we didn't have the strong brogue to content with, accent-wise.
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library_lynn wanted to go to the library, and I was bushed. I suggested that maybe I could take a day of downtime, and Lynn could explore Inverness on her own. I worked on my LJ postings (like I'm doing now, in our London walk-in closet hotel room) and alternately dozed, up in our room, while she went exploring.
She found a used bookstore, but it wasn't open yet. She went to the library. The place was laid out a little differently because of the shorter bookshelves and it being an older building. (At many of our recently-built libraries, the reference desk is positioned to maximize how much of the library you can see when you sit there, so the librarians can spot when someone looks like they need help. Or if they're up to something. Here it seemed like it would be easy to be overlooked.)
They used the Dewey Decimal system, so it wasn't that hard to find things. The most astonishing thing was the sheer number and variety of community information leaflets, pamphlets and flyers, much more than what you'd find at a typical library in California. The sort of things you'd find at a pharmacy, employment office, or welfare office; there was information on rheumatoid arthritis, and pain management, taking care of your baby, applying for assistance, and many other topics. They had reprints of old ordnance survey maps for sale. They had more classic novels in the 800 section ("Literature" in the Dewey Decimal System) that would be shelved under Fiction or Classics in one of our libraries. So if you're looking for Jane Austen, you'd need to check there, too.
Then Lynn went to Ottakar's Bookstore, in the Eastgate Mall. Looked at the Scottish section and the Fiction section, and asked if they could recommend something to read who was Scottish that she might not be able to get in the States. They were incredibly helpful. The clerk brought her two or three books each for three authors, and sat her down at a table so she could look at them all she wanted. She chose "Diry Friends" She also looked at a book translated from the Gaelic about a man and his life in Scotland, an autobiography; and another book about a lawyer. But because she has so many books, and not enough time to read them all, she just bought the one book and a couple of postcards. ("I over-postcarded that day.")
She browsed the mall a bit, did a little window shopping, tried on some hats and looked for a bakery to bring me back a treat. She went to the Victorian Arcade; she thought it would be very expensive and hoity-toity, but most of the stuff was affordable. She bought more postcards, because she wanted postcards that would show where we'd been. Inverness, in this case... some "Scotland" and "Highlands" cards but mostly Inverness.
After the library, she came back to get me for lunch. There was a little place in our street called "Delicious." It's run by a friend of Kieron, but isn't open late. We stopped there for some sandwiches on thick brown chunky bread, and Highland-made ice cream. The little cup of ice cream came with a folding plastic spoon! It worked, as long as you didn't apply too much force to it.
library_lynn went off exploring again after lunch, and I sat in the park along the River Ness (in front of Waterfront, in fact). When I'd finished a day's worth of adventures I went back to our room, posted it and took a nap. I spent most of the day writing or napping.
Timebinding note: experienced last week in Scotland, written on Monday in London, posted Tuesday night in California
In the morning, Kieron cooked us breakfast to order. There were never more than five people at the breakfast table any morning. We met people from Spain, Italy, and New Zealand on various mornings. Getting what we want was no problem -- Lynn got her scrambled eggs, I got sausage and bacon and eggs, and we all got toast and cereal and orange juice. Real orange juice.
We learned Kieron was English, he'd moved to Scotland to run the B&B. So we didn't have the strong brogue to content with, accent-wise.
library_lynn wanted to go to the library, and I was bushed. I suggested that maybe I could take a day of downtime, and Lynn could explore Inverness on her own. I worked on my LJ postings (like I'm doing now, in our London She found a used bookstore, but it wasn't open yet. She went to the library. The place was laid out a little differently because of the shorter bookshelves and it being an older building. (At many of our recently-built libraries, the reference desk is positioned to maximize how much of the library you can see when you sit there, so the librarians can spot when someone looks like they need help. Or if they're up to something. Here it seemed like it would be easy to be overlooked.)
They used the Dewey Decimal system, so it wasn't that hard to find things. The most astonishing thing was the sheer number and variety of community information leaflets, pamphlets and flyers, much more than what you'd find at a typical library in California. The sort of things you'd find at a pharmacy, employment office, or welfare office; there was information on rheumatoid arthritis, and pain management, taking care of your baby, applying for assistance, and many other topics. They had reprints of old ordnance survey maps for sale. They had more classic novels in the 800 section ("Literature" in the Dewey Decimal System) that would be shelved under Fiction or Classics in one of our libraries. So if you're looking for Jane Austen, you'd need to check there, too.
Then Lynn went to Ottakar's Bookstore, in the Eastgate Mall. Looked at the Scottish section and the Fiction section, and asked if they could recommend something to read who was Scottish that she might not be able to get in the States. They were incredibly helpful. The clerk brought her two or three books each for three authors, and sat her down at a table so she could look at them all she wanted. She chose "Diry Friends" She also looked at a book translated from the Gaelic about a man and his life in Scotland, an autobiography; and another book about a lawyer. But because she has so many books, and not enough time to read them all, she just bought the one book and a couple of postcards. ("I over-postcarded that day.")
She browsed the mall a bit, did a little window shopping, tried on some hats and looked for a bakery to bring me back a treat. She went to the Victorian Arcade; she thought it would be very expensive and hoity-toity, but most of the stuff was affordable. She bought more postcards, because she wanted postcards that would show where we'd been. Inverness, in this case... some "Scotland" and "Highlands" cards but mostly Inverness.
After the library, she came back to get me for lunch. There was a little place in our street called "Delicious." It's run by a friend of Kieron, but isn't open late. We stopped there for some sandwiches on thick brown chunky bread, and Highland-made ice cream. The little cup of ice cream came with a folding plastic spoon! It worked, as long as you didn't apply too much force to it.
library_lynn went off exploring again after lunch, and I sat in the park along the River Ness (in front of Waterfront, in fact). When I'd finished a day's worth of adventures I went back to our room, posted it and took a nap. I spent most of the day writing or napping.Timebinding note: experienced last week in Scotland, written on Monday in London, posted Tuesday night in California
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no subject
Date: 2005-08-17 09:39 am (UTC)So, are you back? Has anyone mentioned to you yet the LOSCON32 website is still a problem? Could you contact Scott ASAP?
I loved your travel report....long, but informative. I rather lived the worldcon through your blog.
Thanks.
Loscon
Date: 2005-08-17 11:33 am (UTC)