Scotland Vacation

[Rupe]

My wife's dream trip is to go to Scotland and it's a place that I've always wanted to visit as well...we both have some Scottish heritage (She's 1/2, I'm only 1/8). I've begun to look at some options but everything that I'm coming up with seems too "tourist-y"...we would prefer checking out the countryside and finding some pubs and restaraunts that are more "local" than they are aimed at tourists. About the only tourest type activity she would be interested in is seeing some of the castles, especially Kilchurn on Loch Awe (her ancestors are Clan Campbell...the castle's builder prior to being occupied by Clan MacGregor).

Any help/ideas/tips that any of you could offer up would be greatly appreciated. I do golf but it wouldn't be a priority for me to play while there. Thanks!!!

[Musician78]

I would suggest landing at a different airport than the one you are leaving from.... My wife and I went to Ireland last year. We landed in Shannon and over the next week or so gradually drove our way to Dublin. We saw a LOT of the country side that way and still were able to see some of the touristy things.

[Spivonious]

Can't offer any tips, but Glasgow is an awesome city and there are castles everywhere. I flew direct Newark to Glasgow...took about 8 hours. The airport there is nice and small, so it's easier to get your bearings than landing somewhere like London.

I like the suggestion of landing/departing at different airports. You may find it cheaper to get a roundtrip to one airport but do a short local flight to get back to the airport at the end of your trip. We did this on our honeymoon and it let us visit more places. We flew into London, then at the end of the trip we flew from Munich back to London, stayed the night, and then did London->Newark the next morning.

[RacerX]

Just be careful if you run into these guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amWP8FpLrtw

[Musician78]

They will FUCK you up.

[Rupe]

Just be careful if you run into these guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amWP8FpLrtw

Terrifying!!! :ROTF:

[Dred]

Rupe, just so you know, even though most people will be wearing track suits, dont take the place to be as healthy as it would seem at a glance.

Try and keep away from the little kids with baseball caps who are constantly texting on their phones because they forgot how to speak (probably texting themselves at this point), in dirty tracksuit bottoms and cheap runners with jewelry that turns green when it rains, hanging outside such community centres as Tescos, Lidl and Spar, because these fuckers will pull a knife on ya at one point or another.

Musician78, ya landed at Shannon eh? Not quite what you'd call a terminal, eh?

What sites did you visit?

[Rsmacker]

No, you are far more likely to meet these kinds of people:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KijhnkRxTFM

Try a visit to such delightful Scottish places as Govan, Cambuslang and Cumbernauld. They are as close to the Middle Ages as you can get. And, as an American, you will be totally safe, the natives will care for you, perhaps even letting you spend the night in their hovels.
Don't forget to tell them that Scotland is your favourite part of England, and what a shame it is that they haven't yet mastered the language.

Oh, and that your favourite Scotch people are Wee Jimmy Krankie, Rab C Nesbitt and Russ Abbot's C.U. Jimmy. *Not forgetting JCF's very own MartinBarre (in fact, PM him, he'll chauffeur you round Scotchland, let you stay in his cave, and take you for a pint of heavy or two. Probably)*

[MartinBarre]

I'd suggest not coming to Glasgow after what you said about Deicide, cos al hunt ye down ya bam!

Seriously, what's the Monty Python thing got to do with Scotland? That was a bunch of English guys, taking the piss out the French. Where does Scotland come in?

[MartinBarre]

Rupe, just so you know, even though most people will be wearing track suits, dont take the place to be as healthy as it would seem at a glance.

Try and keep away from the little kids with baseball caps who are constantly texting on their phones because they forgot how to speak (probably texting themselves at this point), in dirty tracksuit bottoms and cheap runners with jewelry that turns green when it rains, hanging outside such community centres as Tescos, Lidl and Spar, because these fuckers will pull a knife on ya at one point or another.

Dred's right. Keep away from those people - they're not hard to spot. They'll all be wearing green and white hooped t shirts.

[Musician78]

Seriously, what's the Monty Python thing got to do with Scotland? That was a bunch of English guys, taking the piss out the French. Where does Scotland come in?

Ah you know how us ignorant Americans are... England, Scotland, France.... it's all the same.....

[MartinBarre]

No, you are far more likely to meet these kinds of people:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KijhnkRxTFM

Try a visit to such delightful Scottish places as Govan, Cambuslang and Cumbernauld. They are as close to the Middle Ages as you can get. And, as an American, you will be totally safe, the natives will care for you, perhaps even letting you spend the night in their hovels.
Don't forget to tell them that Scotland is your favourite part of England, and what a shame it is that they haven't yet mastered the language.

Oh, and that your favourite Scotch people are Wee Jimmy Krankie, Rab C Nesbitt and Russ Abbot's C.U. Jimmy. *Not forgetting JCF's very own MartinBarre (in fact, PM him, he'll chauffeur you round Scotchland, let you stay in his cave, and take you for a pint of heavy or two. Probably)*

He can stay in my fuckin' cave, nae bother! A few pints o' heavy would be nice too.
An, like I posted earlier on today on another forum - a baseball cap is a good thing in Scotland. Twice mine has saved me from a Glasgow Kiss.

[MartinBarre]

Ah you know how us ignorant Americans are... England, Scotland, France.... it's all the same.....

Nope. I worked in a castle for a wee while, and Americans were great. They all knew England was full of cunts and the French smelled of piss.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

And, as an American, you will be totally safe, the natives will care for you, perhaps even letting you spend the night in their hovels.
Don't forget to tell them that Scotland is your favourite part of England, and what a shame it is that they haven't yet mastered the language.

I've heard Americans are quite popular over there! But I would feel bad for lying, because Irishland is my favorite part of England, everyone has red hair and wears green and sounds like a Leprechaun.

Australia is a close second, mostly because everyone sounds just like Crocodile Dundee, and practically everything anyone says makes me giggle hysterically.

Not that Scotland isn't pretty cool, I hear that the guys don't wear underpants under their skirts, and that's A-OK by me!

But hey, why play favorites, it's all one big happy country, right?

(Fuck all you guys. I'm just kidding, and you know it.)

[MartinBarre]

You American fuckers need to remember it was one of us who gave you your favourite thing: TV.

Your favourite thing, other than McDonalds (hey, Scottish name!), was given to you by us Scots.
What other country of our size has done as much as us? What did Sweden ever do? Fuck all. What about Iceland? Fuck all.

Norway? Burnt some churches down, other than that, fuck all.

Ireland? Stupid accents and Father Ted. Okay, I'll give you that, since Father Ted was brilliant.

Wales? Even more stupid accents and sheep shagging on a world ending scale. Bastards.