Bonnie Chairlie's noo awa', Safely ower the friendly main; Mony a heart will break in twa', Should he ne'er come back again.
Will ye no come back again? Will ye no come back again? Better lo'ed ye canna be, Will ye no come back again?
Traditional Scottish Song
What a week! Flicky and I have had a marvellous time in Scotland where we spent 3 days in St Andrews, checking out the town, being shown around the University and meeting with Admissions and one of the Modern History professors.
Allow me to introduce you to the University of St Andrews ...
And here's some photos of the Cathedral and Castle;
the beaches and golf course;
and the St Andrews town centre.
but these are my favourite photos:
Flicky sitting at the entrance to the School of History, St Katherine's Lodge, where she will be studying
and Flicky battling the elements, the wind so strong she could barely walk,
but just check out that Manhattan City Quilter carrier bag!!!
Allow me to introduce you to the University of St Andrews ...
And here's some photos of the Cathedral and Castle;
the beaches and golf course;
and the St Andrews town centre.
but these are my favourite photos:
Flicky sitting at the entrance to the School of History, St Katherine's Lodge, where she will be studying
and Flicky battling the elements, the wind so strong she could barely walk,
but just check out that Manhattan City Quilter carrier bag!!!
The weather wasn't our friend, freezing temperatures, winds and snow, but Flicky loved it. The University and people of St Andrews made us very welcome and we quickly learnt just how special it is that Flicky has received an unconditional offer from this ancient seat of British learning, who still hand pick only the students that they feel will suit the way of life and study methods.
So Flicky is pretty certain that she will be accepting their offer and we've already booked our trip back for her admission in September.
After St Andrews we headed off to Glasgow via Dundee. The weather was dreadful but we did squeeze in a bit of shopping and a trip out to the 'Armadillo' to see the English comedian Jimmy Carr, which was excellent but nothing that I can repeat here ;). Flicky also had her first experience of being caught in a football crowd at Glasgow Central Station - jeering Scotland fans singing "we hate England more than you" to the Wales fans was incredibly intimidating and frightening but I told her to not speak so she wouldn't give away our nationality and we were quickly on our way. It was the one low point of our trip but at least she's a bit more prepared now for when she encounters that sort of behaviour again.
I did have to take a photo of the sewing machine wall at the All Saints store in Glasgow. I know this is a regular feature in All Saints stores but I always think they look amazing and yet it makes me a little bit sad that these machines aren't being used anymore.
I did have to take a photo of the sewing machine wall at the All Saints store in Glasgow. I know this is a regular feature in All Saints stores but I always think they look amazing and yet it makes me a little bit sad that these machines aren't being used anymore.
We spent our last 3 days in Edinburgh, again the weather was too bitter to do the touristy things so more shopping and eating and catching up on some rest and sleep in our beautiful apartment.
We did look up at the Castle as we shopped our way along Princes Street
and we enjoyed some delicious Flirtini cocktails
We did look up at the Castle as we shopped our way along Princes Street
and we enjoyed some delicious Flirtini cocktails
We didn't worry too much about not really seeing anything as we figured we'll have plenty more opportunity to do everything properly over the next 4 years that Flicky's studying here.
Oh and look how much of my EPP Coffins I managed to do ... don't do a close up on my stitches because you'll see everyone of them screaming at you - my appalling eye sight, a smattering of turbulence, narrow seats (yes we fly economy) and an overhead plane light on a night flight don't lend themselves to beautiful, invisible stitches!!!
It's good to be back though, although I love doing EPP, I'm very, very happy to see my sewing machine again!
For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my side bar :D
Sounds like you had a great trip despite the weather!
ReplyDeleteI am sure Flicky will have a great time studying at St Andrews. She might even find a prince there. It has been known to happen :)
We had a blast Fiona, can't wait to go back and who knows about that prince! :)
DeleteOh wow what a fantastic trip! St Andrews looks stunning, you must be so proud to think that Flicky is going to be studying there. Shame about the weather and the football crowds, but it sounds like the rest of your trip was amazing! I'm thinking I might need to have a little trip to Scotland over the next 4 years when you're there and you can show me around ;-) Love the EPP by the way. It looks great to me. Oh and that cocktail looks delicious - staying in the warm and drinking cocktails - good decision!!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately that's too often the nature of football crowds wherever they are in the world but it was Flicky's first experience and quite shocking for her. I think a trip to Scotland together is an absolute must-do, don't you, how fun would that be, we've got lots of time for planning? The Flirtini is Flicky's cocktail, I had a Kir Royale (brings back memories of Wills and Kate's wedding day and trying out my new Bernina!) - so delicious :)
DeleteChrissie, I was eagerly waiting to see your beautiful photos and read abouabout your trip! So glad you had a good time and sorry about the hatred you had to face with the football fans. It's really sad:( Loved the pictures of the Unversity and seeing those vintage sewing machines in the window. Are you sure it's just a display? If it was it's such a shame... Thank you for sharing your photos! Your EPP looks really pretty, don't worry, your stitches don't show at all!
ReplyDeleteOh Kati, lots of wonderful memories but the best bit was spending a whole week on my own with Flicky, absolutely priceless, such a special time. Growing up between Liverpool and Manchester I'm well used to the behaviour of football crowds and it was a bit of a surprise for me to realise that my daughter has grown up far away from this type of thing and was quite unprepared in how to handle it. Yes, the All Saints stores have these old machine displays as standard I think, the branch at Spitalfields, Manhattan has them too - I think they're beautiful but I'm sure most of them could have been restored to working order and that makes me really sad. When you come down to the city we'll have to take a look :)
DeleteWhat beautiful photos even though the weather was against you. Hopefully one day I will get to that area of the world!
ReplyDeleteWell worth a visit if you get a chance, it's a very beautiful place and the people are so welcoming - it reminded me so much of the north of England, where I'm originally from and I loved that people said "ta" to me in the shops instead of "thank-you", that made it feel just like home for me! :)
DeleteMy goodness, that looks incredible! I've only been to the UK (or Europe, for that matter) once, and we spent the whole week in London, which was lovely, but there is so much more I'd love to see! One of my great regrets is that I didn't study abroad, because it probably would have been in the UK. Congrats to Flicky, that looks incredible (though the weather reminds me of upstate NY, which isn't necessarily a good thing!) But, that makes it easier to focus on the studies, or so I always try to convince myself. ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine, if you get chance you've got to go further afield than London - don't tell anyone I said so but there's a lot more to Great Britain than London and it's such a shame that some haven't even heard of anywhere else! Over and over when we're abroad we're asked if we're from London, and we're treated with disbelief the moment we say "no", believe it or not many ex-pat Brits just say "yes" as it's so much easier. Another common misconception is that Britain is so small that we must all know each other or even be related, it beggars belief really, you just have to laugh!
DeleteI digress! Anyway, Britain is incredibly beautiful with so much history and it's well worth exploring if you ever get the chance. Flicky's going to have a fantastic time there and they did assure us that the weather isn't usually as bad as it was during our visit which is good to know!!! :)
What a lovely account of your trip--even the less than wonderful crowd (like you said, a learning experience). Your photos are so inviting, down to the City Quilter bag--they are strong, aren't they--but especially because of Flicky's beautiful smile! The wall of sewing machines looks like it should be in a museum. Seeing the drink reminded me that we need to get together for that drink... I may be the only quilter you know who is not doing hexies. Love yours!
ReplyDeleteThanks Christine. I keep all the CQ bags, they fold up beautifully and as you say they're incredibly strong! You're so right about the drink - I'll email Wendy right now to see about getting it organised again :)
DeleteChrissie, I loved this post - and congratulations to Flicky - you must be so proud!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cynthia, I'm so proud of her. I know you know too well how this all feels - and that she's my only daughter and my youngest and last to leave too!!!
DeleteWOW we just moved from near Edinburgh before Christmas !! yes the Scot do have a thing about the (us) English unfortunatly just ignore them and
ReplyDeletetheir small minds .............my husband is Scotish by the way!! he know what they are like !!
we moved down to the enemy of the scots :))))
Lol, living in the States we regularly encounter the odd American who is quite happy to tell us exactly what we (the English) are responsible for throughout the whole of history and they can be quite belligerent about it. It's all a bit much sometimes for us sensitive, mild mannered English roses who wouldn't dream of telling anyone what we thought of them to their faces - we like to wait till we're home alone to really lay into them!!!
Delete