December Daily Meme - Day 9- er, 10

[motetus]

honscot asked: I'd love to hear about your experience of living in Scotland. Do you think you and the wife will stay there longterm, now that you have the gorgeous apartment?

Okay, but be warned, this post is basically going to be WHY I LOVE SCOTLAND LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS.

So, um, the first time I ever set foot in Scotland was when my parents dumped me off at uni in St. Andrews - I accepted the offer from a place I'd never visited because it had a very good reputation, had pretty pictures on the website, and somehow wanted me to come there despite not exactly having stellar grades. I didn't fall in love with it at first, but eventually I became very fond of the people (the few actual Scottish people I came across, because St. Andrews is 98% rich Americans and English), the sea, the lovely grey and solid architecture, and even the weather wasn't as bad as I'd expected. When I left four years later to join the Wife in Manchester I cried all through the bus journey, but staying wasn't an option because St. Andrews is tiny and it was time to move on.

Three years later I decided fuck it, I hated Manchester and I hated being away from all my friends who lived in various parts of Scotland, so I moved back by applying for a PhD in Glasgow which had seemed like an interesting city the few times I'd visited. I know some people think Glasgow has a bit of a bad reputation, but they are people who have never visited the West End - it is gorgeous here, full of parks and museums/art galleries and little independent shops/cafes and hundreds of really good restaurants (food is very, very important to me), and there are some lovely old grand buildings and charming Victorian tenements (architecture is also very, very important to me). Edinburgh is an hour away on the train, Hadrian's Wall is not too far away, and a half hour drive gets me to Loch Lomond and the countryside there is spectacular - I have not actually gone much further north than there, but I hear it's even prettier as you keep going up! I certainly hope we end up staying here long-term - I would be happy if we were here for at least another 3 years, hopefully 5, but I suppose that all depends on jobs. If we have to move we will, and I suspect eventually it'll happen because neither of us are settling-down-for-the-rest-of-our-lives people, but as Scotland is the first place I've ever felt at home in I really hope that's not any time soon.

(also yes, my lovely (and as I am currently appreciating, WARM) flat! I certainly would not be able to afford something so nice and in such a perfect location in most other cities. And I haven't even begun to decorate it properly!)

I was planning on taking a photo to go along with this post at the weekend, but as it was dark and grey and rainy I wasn't too keen on leaving my sofa and my hot chocolate. Here is one I nicked off google of the university tower from Kelvingrove park (everything is called Kelvin-something here, it gets very confusing):




Dec. 5: AS A BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO ME, DESCRIBE YOUR RESEARCH IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL (augustbird)
Dec. 6:
Dec. 7:
Dec. 8: Tell me about the place you most want to visit! (osprey_archer)
Dec. 9:
Dec. 10: I'd love to hear about your experience of living in Scotland. Do you think you and the wife will stay there longterm, now that you have the gorgeous apartment? (honscot)
Dec. 11:
Dec. 12: What about talking about the wife and how you guys met and wound up getting married to each other? (seascribe)
Dec. 13: What was your favourite book (maybe several books) as a child? Did it remain your favourite, when you grew up? (beili)
Dec. 14: I'd love to know what/how you drew when you were little. (fififolle)
Dec. 15:
Dec. 16: Talk about Father Ted! Do you draw anything Teddish or is it more of a distant love from Far Away? (bunn)
Dec. 17: Your favorite character to draw and why (carmarthen)
Dec. 18:
Dec. 19:
Dec. 20: Could you please talk about one book that really influenced you? Even in small ways, but a book without which you wouldn't be the same, which taught you someting or changed your perspective. The if you really want to know me, you gotta read it kind of book. If you have one. (arvok)
Dec. 21:
Dec. 22: Favourite people from ancient Rome (weekend)
Dec. 23: Favourite people from ancient Rome (or history in general) you want to paint or draw one day (the_little_owl)
Dec. 24:
Dec. 25:
Dec. 26:
Dec. 27: Your favorite thing to draw that isn't people (carmarthen)
Dec. 28: Your favourite Sutcliff novel and why (weekend)
Dec. 29: Would you consider reminiscing about a favorite story of you with a grandparent, or great grandparent? (pronker)
Dec. 30:
Dec. 31:

Comments

[motetus.livejournal.com]

I bet it would have been so different back then - well, the cities, not so much the landscape. Have never been to Loch Ness (yet!), but I assume it is full of appalling Nessie tourist tat. :D

Isn't Ewan over in the USA these days?

[pronker]

Ewan gets around, in any number of meanings.