Dear Anglophiles: As many of you are aware, I am taking a sabbatical from blogging due to my mother being critically ill. I expect to resume blogging in September. Until then, I am very excited to announce that guest writer Vicki Speegle will be sharing her travel journal with us! Vicki traveled by ship to England and is now in London for the first time and will be touring the U.K. Warning: Her posts will make you want to drop everything and fly across the pond straightaway! Feel free to make comments or ask her questions. --Zella
Scotland ON MY WAY TO SCOTLAND (10:00 a.m.)
On the East Coast train to Edinburgh. There I’ll connect to North Berwick via Scotrail.
It occurred to me as I put my luggage up and took my seat that it’s important to think of the journey part of your journey as an adventure too. I tend to treat the “getting there” as just a means to an end. The train I’m on is wonderful, but I failed to take advantage of it. I’m traveling from Kings Cross, and when I booked they gave me a choice of forward or back-facing seat, seat at a table, window or aisle, and quiet car. I didn’t give much thought to any of these options. Just wanted to get a seat so I could be sure I was on my way. Now I wish I’d been more choosy. I was wise enough to select the quiet car, but the seat at a table would have been lovely too. Lots of room to set out a drink, my laptop, a book. And the windows are bigger! My seat has a little tray, but it’s more cramped here, the view out the window more stingy. But I’m on my way to SCOTLAND! So I can’t be disappointed.
Last night I spent an hour getting to know my new camera better so I can take some good shots of the highland games. Finally figured out how to change the ISO setting so I can get moving shots, and discovered a “continuous” setting that allows me to snap several shots within seconds! This will come in very handy when those Scots in kilts start tossing logs. :) My Mom gave me a Pentax K-1000 for Christmas one year, and it’s gone with me on nearly every journey I’ve taken – through Austin Texas, New Orleans, Colorado, Mississippi, Atlanta, Vieques Puerto Rico. And Mom's gone with me on many of those too. I always swore I’d never go digital. That my Pentax would be my only witness. But it’s hard to keep a travel blog and post photos every day when you have to wait for your film to be developed. Not to mention expensive. So I had to face reality and give in to the new technology. But my Pentax remains the best gift anyone’s ever given me. The best gift from my best friend. Wish she was here with me.
We left London in rainy, gray skies, but as we passed into Donington the blue came out and now we’re speeding through meadows speckled with sheep and sun-colored flowers. It’s becoming more hilly too. Don’t know at which point we’ll actually be in Scotland – maybe not till Edinburgh itself – but I’m getting more excited now.
My next report, dear friends, shall be from Scotland! hee hee
On the East Coast train to Edinburgh. There I’ll connect to North Berwick via Scotrail.
It occurred to me as I put my luggage up and took my seat that it’s important to think of the journey part of your journey as an adventure too. I tend to treat the “getting there” as just a means to an end. The train I’m on is wonderful, but I failed to take advantage of it. I’m traveling from Kings Cross, and when I booked they gave me a choice of forward or back-facing seat, seat at a table, window or aisle, and quiet car. I didn’t give much thought to any of these options. Just wanted to get a seat so I could be sure I was on my way. Now I wish I’d been more choosy. I was wise enough to select the quiet car, but the seat at a table would have been lovely too. Lots of room to set out a drink, my laptop, a book. And the windows are bigger! My seat has a little tray, but it’s more cramped here, the view out the window more stingy. But I’m on my way to SCOTLAND! So I can’t be disappointed.
Last night I spent an hour getting to know my new camera better so I can take some good shots of the highland games. Finally figured out how to change the ISO setting so I can get moving shots, and discovered a “continuous” setting that allows me to snap several shots within seconds! This will come in very handy when those Scots in kilts start tossing logs. :) My Mom gave me a Pentax K-1000 for Christmas one year, and it’s gone with me on nearly every journey I’ve taken – through Austin Texas, New Orleans, Colorado, Mississippi, Atlanta, Vieques Puerto Rico. And Mom's gone with me on many of those too. I always swore I’d never go digital. That my Pentax would be my only witness. But it’s hard to keep a travel blog and post photos every day when you have to wait for your film to be developed. Not to mention expensive. So I had to face reality and give in to the new technology. But my Pentax remains the best gift anyone’s ever given me. The best gift from my best friend. Wish she was here with me.
We left London in rainy, gray skies, but as we passed into Donington the blue came out and now we’re speeding through meadows speckled with sheep and sun-colored flowers. It’s becoming more hilly too. Don’t know at which point we’ll actually be in Scotland – maybe not till Edinburgh itself – but I’m getting more excited now.
My next report, dear friends, shall be from Scotland! hee hee
 GUEST WRITER'S BIO Vicki Speegle is an award-winning screenwriter whose feature script LOVED ONES was in development at Amazon Studios and was a finalist for best screenplay. Her screenplay DEAREST was a finalist for the 2011 Sundance Screenwriters Lab, and her television pilot THE WAKES OF WILBUR POE recently placed in the finals of Slamdance. Vicki grew up the daughter of a gay single mom turned pastor in Akron, Ohio, where she helped take care of her two younger brothers, an experience that provided fodder for a number of short stories and scripts. Her infatuation with storytelling began at the age of five when she sent a love letter to Donny Osmond, and since then she has worked an eclectic mix of jobs to support her writing habit, including 4 years in the U.S. Navy tracking nuclear submarines on a tiny island called Adak, Alaska, assistant to a very eccentric New York City artist, and a brief bout as the world’s worst waitress. Vicki studied music performance and education at Akron University before making the move to New York University, where she earned her BFA in Film & Television Production. During her studies at NYU she interned as assistant to the editor for Ken Burns’ production of THE WEST. She wrote, directed, and produced several shorts, including her thesis film OLDER, which went on to screen at the Tribeca Underground Film Festival and won 2nd place in the Pioneer Theatre Short Film Slam in New York City. After graduating from NYU, Vicki joined Rigas Entertainment as assistant to the Director of Development, helping in the development of feature films with directors Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) and Maggie Greenwald (SongCatcher). In 2005 Vicki began shooting a documentary about her mother’s struggle to reconcile her faith as a pastor with her advancing Alzheimer’s. The project is currently in post-production and has garnered the support of GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). In 2007 Vicki’s screenplay LOVED ONES placed in the top 5 of the Bluecat Screenplay Competition and won Screenplay Live at the Rochester Film Festival. Her works have placed in several other competitions, including Women in Film, Chesterfield, and American Zoetrope. Vicki’s credits include a teen comedy for Applause Films and radio scripts for Wynton Marsalis, Director of Jazz At Lincoln Center. Vicki lives and works as a writer, filmmaker, and web producer in New Jersey. She is still waiting for Donny’s response. LINKS Vicki's website: http://www.vickispeegle.com/ |
Go to: BRITISH DRINKS
Go to: BRITISH FOOD
Go to: BEST TIMES TO VISIT BRITAIN
Go to: WHEN TO FIND BEST AIRFARES
Go to: HOMEPAGE
Go to: BRITISH FOOD
Go to: BEST TIMES TO VISIT BRITAIN
Go to: WHEN TO FIND BEST AIRFARES
Go to: HOMEPAGE
