Off to Aberdeen

First a word of explanation about my travel companion Rhino prompted by a question from my son Alistair yesterday.
Way back in the day when I actually worked for a living at Caterpillar, I was on a team working on "Project Rhino". The reason for the name is top secret, but we had small gifts for visitors to remind them of the project. They are squishy rhino toys and quite friendly, unlike real rhinos. My friend Nick took me to the airport and gave me Rhino as a travelling companion and as a gift from the Project Rhino team. Thank you. He will be appearing in the blog along the theme of the gnome who appears in photos and postcards around the world. Thank you for your indulgence in this explanation!!

It is early Monday morning. My brother Steve is away to work and the house is quiet.
I am off to Aberdeen on the East coast of Scotland today to meet up with my long time friends Geoff and Ellie.

Aberdeen is the hub for much of the support activity for the North Sea oil and gas production, and the harbor is full of supply vessels and equipment and is a busy place. Many of the workers on the rigs work 2 or 3 weeks straight and then have the same amount of time off. I know of some that actually have homes in Spain and come off the rigs in the often cold and always windy North Sea, and hop a plane to sunny Spain for their time off.
Geoff and I worked together way back and after a rough start became very good friends and I am happy to say that the friendship has endured for close to 30 years!

Steve and I had a pleasant weekend as the weather gradually improved and we went for a walk yesterday (Sun) morning with the intent of going to a place called Waters Meet, where the north and south branches of the Tyne river meet. It is abobout a mile west of Hexham where he currently lives. The path proved to be too icy so we walked along the swollen river and sloshed about in the mud for a while before taking a different route home. It was sunny and about 6 deg C a pleasant change from previous weeks.
We had reports from Shetland that the wind on Saturday was blowing 44 knots (almost 50mph) and the Friday ferry to Aberdeen was canceled in both directions. This is the same ferry we will take on Wednesday evening. It takes about 12 hours,and is about 110 meters long and carries cars and trucks as well as passengers. I will be posting photos when I have some.
Hmmm. On Saturday I could select the font, but do not see that option today. Sorry Bruce, but it looks like Times New Roman is the font of the day. Who came up with those funky names anyway??

Carlos Nunez concert. One of the best I have ever seen.

The concert exceeded all of my expectations. The basic band are 6 people including the singer who is from Brazil. At one point there was the entire Scottish youth Pipe band and a drumming group (maybe 12 people) on stage and playing together. Carlos promised a magical evening and that is exactly what he delivered.

They play Celtic music but principally from Galicia in Northern Spain, but the theme of the evening was the connection to the music of Brazil and how similar they are.

I rate bands by how far I would go to see them and this is a solid 500 mile band (the highest category) but would actually go a lot further (as I have) to see them again.

An added bonus was the opening band called “The Shee” a group of 6 young ladies who,between them play mandolin, accordion, flute, harp and two fiddles. I love Celtic music but it is enhanced by it being played by talented pretty girls!!

I am back on the train now headed to my brother’s home just west of Newcastle for the weekend, and I am hoping for a walk if the weather cooperates. I was listening to Carlos Nunez on my Ipod and watching the southern Scottish scenery and now better understand the connection between the two.

Many of the rivers and streams are flooded or close to capacity dealing with the melting snow.

As I learn how to blog, this should get better. I just learned how to change fonts and am going to use Ariel. This for my friend Bruce!! Not sure it will print perfectly the first time though. (Kinda inside joke). Sara gave me tips on sequencing my photos. I am lucky to have smart kids!!

Thursday. A nice day with family. I woke at 9am!. I was meant to take my niece, Rachael’s children to school, a walk of maybe ½ a mile, but slept through all the early morning noises. My sister Allie decided against waking me as I could take them today, (Friday) which I did.
We had a nice supper together, with the two energetic kids and lots of conversation and laughter.
My brother in law Bob and and Rachael’s husband Martin and I followed a long Thursday tradition of visiting the social club later in the evening for a rewarding Guinness.
Up early this morning and made it to take the kids to school and get to the train station by 9.30 for the train to Glasgow.
I have a travel companion Rhino who first featured at the Raleigh airport and has been little trouble and good company to date.
We decided to forgo the culinary delights of the railway and take a packed lunch, and a suitable beverage, and you can see that Rhino was sharing in the feast!!
I traveled from Birmingham to Glasgow with another Andy who I met on the train. We had an interesting, wide ranging conversation that helped pass the 4 hour journey and helped me in one of the trip objectives, which is to meet people. Thanks Andy. A nice guy who will be following the blog.
My Glasgow accommodation is, as intended a hostel that provides a clean, basic room that is inexpensive, so I can spend money on more interesting things. The room pleasantly surprised me. It is basic, but has an excellent hot shower with plenty of pressure, and a comfortable double bed. For 29 pounds a night a good deal I think. It was not difficult to find the room as the numbers on the door are “large and easy to read” (see picture.
I am off to see Carlos Nunez this evening. He is a Spanish celtic music performer that I have admired for several years but never heard in concert.
I will tell you tomorrow how it went.
I am going to have to practice more with uploading photos to get them in order. Please be patient

More snow today

Still cold as all get out and some train disruptions but not too bad. Great to see family and I have a growing anticipation of the Shetland trip after talking with my brother Steve this evening. We have a weekend at a beach cottage on the island of Unst and hope to walk to get a view of Muckle Flugga the most northerly island in the chain It is uninhabited.

First day in the UK

Well I am in the UK! Good flight over with some open seats including the one next to me, which helped with getting some sleep.
The change of the London flight to Heathrow a year or so ago has added to my journey as my sister Mags lives very close to Gatwick, but a more lengthy journey by train and underground coupled with a later departure from Raleigh.
Nick and Diana were kind enough to give me a ride to the airport. Nick bought a small gift from work. A squishy Rhino from the Project Rhino team. You can see me holding him up in the pic at RDU. I did not declare him when I arrived as I think he may be considered an endaggered species!
It is about 34 deg F (2C) and there is still quite a bit of snow on the ground.
Looking forward to a cup of tea (or two) and a chat with Mags to get caught up and maybe a nap this afternoon for a while.
I wrote that part on the train and it is now around 5pm. Took some pics of the snow. More is threatened for tonight.
Off to see my other sister Allie tomorrow in route to Scotland.

Almost forgot

In the picture you will see a green hat in front of Mabs. The hat was made for me by my friend Jen Sloan specifically to keep my noggin warm when we are in Shetland. Itis my safety hat (long story) Thanks Jen!!

All ready to go

It is finally Jan 11th and I leave this evening for London and the beginning of the big adventure. My buddy Nick has offered to take me to the airport, and I am as ready as I will ever be.
I did a "test" pack over the weekend to ensure that everything would fit in the bag (it does) and that I would not have a bag that was overweight. Allowance is 23kg and I just did a final check and come in at 18kg, so a comfortable margin.
My cat Mabou (Mabs) has been increasingly nervous as she sees the preparations, and has no idea if I will be gone for a couple of days or (as in this case 3 months!)
My fish do not seem to care anywhere near as much for some reason.
I went back into the bedroom and saw Mabs laying on some of the clothes but not quie in the bag!
The weather in the UK is moderating and I hear that it is worse in the south and warmer up north. Glad about that as I head to Glasgow on Friday for a Carlos Nunez concert. I have several of his CDs (kinda Spanish Celtic music from Galacia in Spain), but he never tours in the USA. I am lucky the timing looks like it will work.
More when I get to the UK