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Re: [OM] UK trip 2012

Subject: Re: [OM] UK trip 2012
From: Michael Wong <mialop.wong@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:11:18 +0800
Piers,
Thank you very much for your suggestion. The schedule is not confirmed
yet & my daughter requests to visit France too. All suggestions will
be discussed with my family.

Thanks all ^^

---
Sent from Michael's iPhone 4s

On 16 Jan, 2012, at 23:17, Piers Hemy <piers@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Who, me?
>
> To answer your direct (and implicit) questions, Michael, there are
> international airports in Scotland at Edinburgh and Glasgow (as Gerry has
> mentioned), as well as Aberdeen, all with direct flights from Heathrow.
> There are smaller airports too, but none of them have links to London
> Heathrow.
>
> As Chuck, and before him Nathan, have discovered, Scotland is a bigger
> country than you might think, and it takes much longer than you might expect
> to travel around it.  If you want to see Highlands and lakes (we call them
> lochs) as well as Edinburgh followed by York, I strongly recommend that you
> fly as far north as you can. If you must fly from Heathrow, then that means
> flying to Aberdeen. Preferable (but not possible from Heathrow) would be to
> fly to Inverness, which is at the very centre of the Highlands. It might not
> appear to be so from the map, but you have to take into account that the
> beautiful mountains force the roads (and railways) into some not-so-direct
> routes!
>
> BUT the time you have available is very limited indeed, given that you want
> to see York, and arrive in Somerset (which is about as far from the
> Highlands as possible) on 1 September.  Here's some indications of timing
> for you:
> London Heathrow to Aberdeen, Inverness or Edinburgh by air will take about
> 1.5 hours flight time + at least 1 hour for security
> Edinburgh to Inverness by train will take nearly 4 hours
> Aberdeen to Inverness by train will take about 2.5 hours
> Edinburgh to York by train will take about 2.5 hours
> York to Taunton by train will take about 4.5 hours
>
> I suggest that you aim to fly to Aberdeen on 27 August, and the next day
> take a train to Inverness. There are tours available in Inverness to cover
> the main tourist/historical/scenic spots. Take the train to Edinburgh on 30
> August, and from there the train to York on 31 August, and from there the
> train to Taunton on 1 September. I think you can "get away" with less time
> in Edinburgh and York because the cities are more compact than the
> Highlands!
>
> Let us know how your plans develop - and congratulations to your daughter, I
> hope she enjoys Taunton!
>
> Piers
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chuck Norcutt [mailto:chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: 12 January 2012 15:04
> To: Olympus Camera Discussion
> Subject: Re: [OM] UK trip 2012
>
> Congratulations to your daughter... and her parents!  :-)
>
> I'm sure Piers and others will chime in with all sorts of suggestions but my
> wife and I along with another couple (of Scottish descent) toured some of
> Scotland in early July.  We went first to London where we stayed with the
> son of our friends who is on assignment there.
>
> To tour Scotland we took the Virgin train from London to Glasgow.
> Due to fortunate timimg we got a good price break and took first class which
> was excellent.  The first class lounge while waiting for the train was
> especially welcome since it was very hot that day and the lounge was air
> conditioned.  It was also serving wine, strawberries and cream and other
> delightful snacks.  On board we were served wine, whisky and an excellent
> meal with seconds.
>
> In Glasgow as well as Edinburgh we stayed at the "Hot-el Apartments"
> <http://www.hot-el-apartments.com/> which we greatly enjoyed.  Good price,
> good accommodations... 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen and living/eating areas.
> In Glasgow the apartments are only a short walk from the train station.  In
> Edingburgh they are on the waterfront, a beautiful spot.
>
> On arrival in Glasgow we rented a car from Hertz which is within walking
> distance of the apartments.  We kept the car in the apartment's garage.
>  We toured Glasgow and the River Clyde on foot and then used the car to
> tour the country side generally toward the north.  Places of note:  Loch
> Lomond, Inveraray/Loch Fyne (where I took my "fynest" photo), Oben and its
> waterfront and distillery :-)
>
> After several days of that we took the car from Glasgow to our other
> apartment in Edinburgh.  We spent several days touring Edinburgh by car, bus
> and foot.  Places we especially enjoyed other than the city itself are the
> Royal Botanical Gardens (plan at least a full day) and a tour of the ship
> Britannia.  By car we toured to the north again seeing the Falkirk Wheel (a
> must for mechanical engineers) Stirling Castle, Dunfermline (the abbey, nave
> and palace) and St. Andrews.  Once again the Hot-el Apartments proved to be
> a good base.  Aside from the beautiful water front and modern building they
> have plenty of parking for the car, good bus service a short walk away and
> grocery and other shops a short ride by bus or car.
>
> We returned to London via train from the Edingburgh station.  The driver
> dropped the rest of us and our luggage at the station while he returned the
> car to Hertz which is not very far from the station.  But plan a cab ride
> for that one if you're in a hurry.  The train ride back was not on Virgin
> Trains and was not first class since first class on that line was very
> expensive.  Nevertheless we had a comfortable ride and a decent meal.  IIRC,
> the train ride between London and Glasgow or Edinburgh is about 6 hours.
> Maybe the train would be better if you have a lot of photo gear.
>
> I had hoped to meet up with Piers in Scotland but our schedules didn't match
> up.  But he did come to visit me in London and we had a good time in the
> British Museum and a busy pub.  :-)
>
> Once again, congratulations to your daughter.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
>
>
>
> On 1/12/2012 6:46 AM, Michael Wong wrote:
>> My daughter has confirmed to admit Queen's College in Taunton,
>> Somerset in next school year. We are planning to visit Scotland before
>> my daughter reports to school. Preliminary idea is 26 Aug (HKT) night
>> flght to Heathrow and will arrive on 27 Aug morning (GMT). I
>> appreciate to transfer to Scotland at Heathrow on same day. Where is the
> airport in Scotland?
>> Edinburgh? I wish to visit Scottish Highlands, Edinburgh and take some
>> shots of lake scenes. An then to York before go to Somerset. I have to
>> arrive Somerset on 1 Sept&  my daughter will report to school on 2 Sept.
>>
>> Any suggestion to me?
>>
>> Thanks. ^^
>>
>>
>>
>> ---
>> Michael
> --
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