Ginned Up

I swear it was not going on when we were in the UK last, in 2016. Friends who were then big-time wine aficionados now are into the flavored gin thing. It has spread even to Scotland, whose interests you'd think would have discouraged gin. But no. I started documenting all this while we were still in the south. I wonder whether anyone has looked into the conjecture that this may have something to do with Brexit?

Click to enlarge and you'll see the cathedral is offering a gin festival

Bonus recipe: store your bottle of Bombay Sapphire in the freezer. When thirsty, pour into a large chilled martini glass, gently swirling (not stirring nor shaking) anti-clockwise. Be careful not to spill. Add one large olive, patted dry. Be amused at the now frozen olive. Enjoy! Responsibly...

English Out-Takes

In no particular order...

Tea apparently an afterthought

I'm thinking perhaps my extensive collection of fridge magnets might qualify me
for a plaque like this; ..."oboist and international fridge magnet collector"...

England, where fruit-cake is never out of season

A serious problem: lead is sufficiently valuable that thieves
will rip it right off an old church's roof

Among the many one-lane roads we traveled: sometimes to get to something
really obscure; sometimes because Tom Tom thought he could save us 1/10th of
a millisecond

Ditto, and also some serious holloways

Who says British food is dull?

At a fish-monger I liked 

Recommended North Sea bathing attire

Let's see: $3MM in Palo Alto will get you a 3 bed/1 bath ranch
on a 1/10th acre lot, next to the freeway, last updated in 1965,
as is...

Up-cycling

Seriously...

Letchworth Garden City; and we were there...

Quick release holy water

Hydrangeas and bougainvillea soon to block entrance to this flat...the Brits do
love their plants

As many gardens as we visit, I'm always grateful to pass a whole season without
a bee sting

And they do love their toasties

And...

Sporting my new pants; and cap; so European...

Interestingly, the church in which Vicki and I were married,
in Miami, was originally a cinema; plushest seating of any
church there; as I've observed before, many churches in
northern Europe are moving more in the direction of
community centers, which is in part what they were in days of
olde...

And they do love their dogs

Contactless payment everywhere in the UK

The Normans really frowned on smoking

Sic transit, Gloria...

"No cave painting here"

Redwoods? Sitka Spruce?

First Medieval depiction of toilet paper

Sort of like OSHA

Scottish Out-Takes

And so on August 13th our Edinburgh stay came to an end, as did our 2019 European campaign--which ranged from Rome to Edinburgh--and we flew back to Middle California, Le Sport, and Rebecca's driveway. It remains to post some of the usual out-takes, divided between Scotland and England. And gin.

My favorite dark beer, available mostly/only in Scotland

Seen everywhere in Edinburgh; the Scots voted overwhelmingly to Remain; this,
of course, was before the Prime Rogue did the prorogation 

Still trying to figure out how I got this shot

Definitely one for my forthcoming Rubbish Bins of the World coffee-table book

Of course Trump is yugely popular here too

At Swish, where we definitely stimulated the local economy

Grilling outdoors in Scotland...we were very lucky with the
weather, both in England and Scotland.