isle of arran/scottish cowboys?
i've had quite an eventful/amusing few days. it began on friday when my class had planned a "class night out" at this place in the southern part of the city called "the grand ole opry" (yes like the one in the states). i walked over there with two other americans, it took about 40 minutes because apparently there is only one way to cross the river on foot and its out to the east and the opry is in the south-west.
we had no idea what to expect, one person in the class had been really excited about going and was saying stuff about western re-enactments and the like. when we arrived we found a large room full of senior citizens and the mentally disabled, dressed as cowboys, listlessly line dancing to a creepy scottish country band. above the stage were the american and confederate flags.
on top of this oddness, we were the only people from our class there. we were a little early so we waited, but after an hour and a half in this completely surreal bar/concert hall, we figured no one else was going to show up.
either this was an elabroate trick on us americans, involving both tutors (professors) and all our classmates, or somehow everyone but us decided to not go after planning all of it.
there was no mention of it this morning in class, and i think its best it stays that way despite its hilarity.
early on saturday morning i left for the isle of arran with the same two americans mentioned before and an australian.
damn, this is a beautiful country.
i was in awe of what i was seeing at times, and it's not often i'm in awe of anything.
the weather was real nice, i was in the 60s and sunny (except in the northern part of the island) so we were very lucky.
on the boat some guy was explaining to me that arran is called "scotland in miniature" because the southern part of the island is like the low lands and the northern part is like the highlands. he was right.
there are steep mountains and hills in the north, where it is much colder. there are rolling hills and green pastures in the south.
the picture on the post is of the tallest mountain on the island called goatfell.
we hiked around a bit, visited a couple castles and a brewery, there were sheep everywhere.
i have a few more pictures on my flickr thing, maybe you can access it by clicking on the picture on this post? give it a try. i'll figure it out sometime.
we had no idea what to expect, one person in the class had been really excited about going and was saying stuff about western re-enactments and the like. when we arrived we found a large room full of senior citizens and the mentally disabled, dressed as cowboys, listlessly line dancing to a creepy scottish country band. above the stage were the american and confederate flags.
on top of this oddness, we were the only people from our class there. we were a little early so we waited, but after an hour and a half in this completely surreal bar/concert hall, we figured no one else was going to show up.
either this was an elabroate trick on us americans, involving both tutors (professors) and all our classmates, or somehow everyone but us decided to not go after planning all of it.
there was no mention of it this morning in class, and i think its best it stays that way despite its hilarity.
early on saturday morning i left for the isle of arran with the same two americans mentioned before and an australian.
damn, this is a beautiful country.
i was in awe of what i was seeing at times, and it's not often i'm in awe of anything.
the weather was real nice, i was in the 60s and sunny (except in the northern part of the island) so we were very lucky.
on the boat some guy was explaining to me that arran is called "scotland in miniature" because the southern part of the island is like the low lands and the northern part is like the highlands. he was right.
there are steep mountains and hills in the north, where it is much colder. there are rolling hills and green pastures in the south.
the picture on the post is of the tallest mountain on the island called goatfell.
we hiked around a bit, visited a couple castles and a brewery, there were sheep everywhere.
i have a few more pictures on my flickr thing, maybe you can access it by clicking on the picture on this post? give it a try. i'll figure it out sometime.
posted by nathan at 4:12 PM
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