Postcards from Scotland, London & Rennes FR

Royal Mail 2019
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  3/31-4/1
  We're on our way to Europe for a road trip around Scotland. The itinerary begins in London, where we'll museum and possibly offer our thoughts about Brexit. Towards the end of the week, we fly to Rennes, FR to rendezvous with our friends Mi-Sug and Alain for a weekend. Then it's back to London and on to Edinburgh, where we pick up a car and try to remember how to drive on the left. We're thinking haggis with tatties and neeps served with whiskey looks pretty good.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/1
  Arrived in London - our first visit this millennium! Off to British Museum (yes, we saw the mummies, Rosetta stone ...) to a special Artists' Postcards exhibit. Clever cards included: USPS Priority Mail morphed into Poetry Mail, a trombone carrier, political cards, and even a postcard "composer" tool: Cover postcard, align to lower right; focus on exposed portion. At times the message was tongue in cheek, weird or just plain snarky. All were fun!

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/2
  Today we visited the Tate Modern art museum to see that patched crack on the floor. It's an artwork, Shibboleth, by Columbian artist Doris Salcedo. 'Shibboleth' as we recall from the Bible is a code word separating natives, who can say it, from foreigners, who cannot. The original 2007 installation was a 167 m (548') crack running the length of the Turbine Room. Salcedo says (see video) the art protests the enmity of Europeans to outsiders. The crack was filled. The scar remains.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  Augean Stables?

  4/3
  We toured the Houses of Parliament today. Big Ben was snug in scaffolding. Outside, both sides were protesting with many signs and hollering. The House of Commons was debating a Brexit measure of significance, ending with a 310-310 tie vote, the first since 1993 & key to the problem. The House of Lords was diddling with Oral Questions for the government. Perhaps the least partisan person was a woman in a wheelchair literally in the middle of the road.

  
  
  
La Poste 2019
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  4/5
  We rendezvoused with Alain and Mi-Sug, our Parisan friends, in Rennes, capital of Britany. Rennes's a charming old town with many 1/2-timbered buildings, some more like 3/4ths. It's famous for its crêperies, restaurants specializing in crêpes - savory and sweet - cider and espresso! Locals speak Breton, so street signs are also in FR. The best civic amenity is Thabor Garden with its formal beds and its huge botanical species garden.

  
  
  
La Poste 2019
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  4/7
  Among the top sights in France is the Rennes Saturday Market. Britany is an agricultural region, so the market is huge. Not only is each stall fully stocked and comprehensive, but there are many sellers of the same products. Classic French fruits, vegetables and seafood are local and extremely fresh. More exotic treats are preserved. As travelers, we couldn't stock up and fix a French dinner, so we left it to others. Bon appetit!

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/8
  The Falkirk Wheel connects the Forth & Clyde Canal (Lower) with the Union Canal (Upper) nearly 100' above it, replacing 11 locks. Listen up! Each canal ends in a 'tub'. Boats enter lower tub. Gate shuts. Wheel turns 180 degrees. Boat arrives. Boat exits its tub into other canal. It's unique. Each tub weighs 1800 tons with or w/o boats. Thanks, Archimedes. The perfectly balanced wheel lifts in less than 5 minutes, uses energy equivalent to heating 8 'kettles' for tea.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/9
  How To Feel Like A Total Dummy: Visit Stirling Castle. Take guided tour. Hear Scot/Brit history. The place's been a fort, a castle, both. Fortifications were added; then removed. Repeatedly. Castle buildings, even whole wings, added; removed. Kings & queens came; went. Armies came; went. Religions came; went. France was involved. Huh? Truly, that history is beyond comprehension, but Stirling city's a delight! Charm; lovely people. Cozy pubs, offering a pint of clarity.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/11
  Scotch whiskey's had a big role in our visit. We were welcomed with a wee dram checking into our B&B in Oban. Porridge with whiskey and cream is a breakfast option. The Talisker Distillery tour explained the intense peatiness: It's their only fuel to dry barley. And we enjoyed Drambuie (as a Rusty Nail) at the Broadford Hotel's Gabbro Bar, where John Ross first served his honey and whiskey drink in 1880. The bar maid claimed only one regular drinks whiskey.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/12
  What does Scotland look like? If our route is representative, beautiful, though mostly treeless. Here's a little bit of country.
  Shiel Bridge, West Highlands.
  Loch Snizort Beeg, Skye.
  Portree Harbor, Skye.
  Dunvegan, Skye.
  Eilean Donan Castle West Highlands.
  Near Lochgilphead, West Highlands.
  Beginning of the Highands Central.
  The picture continues to develop.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/13
  The Maeshowe Chambered Cairn is a 4800 yo burial vault near the Standing Stones of Stenness on Orkney's main Is. Built of huge multi-ton stone slabs, it is a central chamber with 3 side burial rooms. Entry is through a low (1 m) ten meters long tunnel to the chamber that's sun-aligned on winter solstice. Undisturbed for 3000+ years, the Vikings broke in in 1153 [Orkneyinga Saga], scratching graffiti and pictures. Double win: Spectacular Stone Age tomb + best runes ever.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  Fuller Story

  4/14
  In WWII the Orkneys were home to 1000+ Italian POWs. They worked to fortify the islands to protect the British Fleet. They asked for a chapel. The CO gave 2 portable buildings for it. Artist Domenico Chiocchetti led the building effort, exploiting the prisoners' skills and found materials. The painting over the alter is based on Barbarino's Madonna of the Olives. The chapel's exquisite interior includes an arched ceiling! The 'completion photo' used a cardboard cutout bell.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/15
  Pompeii shows city life 2K years ago; Skara Brae shows village life 5K years ago. Built on the shore of Orkney's main Is, it was buried in sand until a 19th C storm. A 1920s storm eroded part of site, panicking experts who built a sea wall. SB discoveries show daily life. Each home: central hearth, 'hutch' opposite door to show off prized stuff (sports trophies?), in-floor aquarium for bait, beds, secret hiding places, games. And mysterious stuff.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/16
  Washington has a large ferry fleet; so, too, does Scotland with its many islands. The similarity ends there. Scotland’s large ferries close both ends watertight when underway. They chain down trucks and clip down chairs. Their interiors are fancier and cushier than ours. The small ferries require vehicles to back on. They’re less fancy, less cushy and the chairs are bolted to the floor. The biggest difference: Waiting in line for the next one.

  
  
  
Royal Mail 2019
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  4/17
  We travel the world seeing stuff so you don’t have to. Today: Museum of Jute. Jute’s the Corchorus olitorius stem, a 10’ Indian plant. Don't care? Ha! It’s fascinating! To make a gunny sack to ship coffee, you cut, soak, de-husk, wash, dry, grade, bale & ship the jute to Dundee. Then batch, soften, card, draw, rove, spin, wind, beam, weave & finish as cloth. Sew bag. In Dundee 50K (mostly) women worked in jute factories. Men did child care. A man’s life expectancy was 33 years.

  
  
  

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