Roger and Shirley were visiting with us recently and I just finished downloading the photos I took while we were together. Being the naturally photogenic people that they are, I wanted to share a couple of pics with you.

These photos were taken in downtown Chicago.
Doesn't Shirley look great in her new outfit she bought when we went out shopping?! Great choice Shirley, love the colors. It was fun to have them here visiting. Come back again soon.

Well it is true, we did go to Scotland. And we were in Glasgow during all the foolishness with people driving into the airport in flaming cars, attempting to be terrorists.
Dave's work allowed us this opportunity for him to spend a week working in Glasgow and then we spent a week traveling via car trying to driving on the wrong side of the road for us (Dave driving, me shrieking "You are going to run off the road!") for a week up through the Highlands. We especially loved our time on the Isle of Skye. We were surprised at how much Scotland reminded us of the Pacific Northwest, right down to the plants and of course the climate. Sometimes I would forget where I was until someone spoke... nope that's not someone from Oregon talking.

The Glaswegian folks tended to be a boisterous group, lots of partying every evening. I had a lot of trouble understanding their dialect and no it wasn't after they started drinking. They talk verrry fast and just have a particular accent known throughout the country. I found myself asking people to write things down so I could understand what they were saying. Dave did a lot better understanding people, but then he does have that special advantage of hearing a Scottish accent all during his childhood!

There is a fierce rivalry between Glasgow and Edinburgh (only an hour away), apparently the Glaswegians think the folks at Edinburgh are a bunch of snobs, very unfriendly, etc. while the people at Edinburgh think the Glaswegians are low class, etc. It was funny to hear the taxi drivers talk about the two towns and hear the competitiveness in their voices.

Up in the Highlands all the road signs are now written first in Gaelic (which we found out is pronounced almost like "garlic") then in subtitles in English. There is a big movement to preserve the Gaelic culture and we heard many people speaking in this language, very interesting sound.

If you'd like to see photos of our trip, here's where they are located. There is even a couple of shots of Dave and me mixed in there.