Category: travel

ugly Scottish Parliament buildings

On By Rick McIn product complaints, travel4 Comments

What a shame.

Edinburgh, Scotland has the most fantastic traditional architecture.

Blighted by this …

ugly-Scottish-Parliament

see more ugly photos on Skyscraper.com’s Top 10 Ugly Buildings forum thread

It’s difficult to capture with photos just how UGLY this complex appears in context. Who’s idea was it to feature bamboo as an important element?

… From the outset, the building and its construction have proven to be highly controversial. The choices of location, architect, design, and construction company were all criticised by politicians, the media and the Scottish public. Scheduled to open in 2001, it did so in 2004, more than three years late with an estimated final cost of £414m, many times higher than initial estimates of between £10m and £40m. …

Wikipedia

It consistently ranks in lists of 10 top ugly buildings and monuments.

who buys tourist souvenirs?

On By Rick McIn product complaints, travelLeave a comment

It amazes me all the tourist trinket shops in the world can stay in business. Even with an 80% mark-up.

Who buys this crap?

1k-souvenirs

In Europe it’s still mostly Japanese tourists. Rushing from one “famous” tourist attraction to the next. Snapping photos of one another at each. Buying at least one authentic (made in China) souvenir at each bus tour stop.

The only others I’ve seen actually pay for anything in those shops are suspiciously blonde, suspiciously busty, loud American women who like to be seen clambering on and off trains with awkward armloads of shopping bags. As if it’s Christmas Eve.

=== On a completely unrelated topic, I’m shopping for a novelty Scotland t-shirt.

tshirt

Any recommendations?

Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2009 – a review

On By Rick McIn Cirque du Soleil, product endorsements, travel3 Comments

It was great.

The setting cannot be beat, outdoor on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. Images are projected on the castle ramparts. Wonderful.

tattoo060809-1006

Over 217,000 people see it each year. About half get rained upon, I reckon. Luckily it stayed dry for my show on the last night of 2009.

I loved the flyby salute by jets. And the fireworks.

This year the Swiss Top Secret Drum Corps stole the show as they did, I assume, in 2003 and 2006.

I doubt you could find anyone who left the show unhappy. It’s more poignant right now because U.K. soldiers are dying in Afghanistan. Mothers and Grandmothers were protesting on the High Street during the festival.

All that said … in my opinion the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo was better. More variety. More humour. Better.

Edinburgh needs to hire a consultant from Cirque du Soleil. Their show easily be improved. … On the other hand, it’s been sold out for the past 10yrs.

attending Edinburgh Military Tattoo tonight

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

The Edinburgh Military Tattoo has been sold out for weeks. But on my 5th attempt, I managed to snag a ticket for the 7:30PM show tonight, Saturday. It’s the final evening so I’m hoping for something special at the Castle.

I enjoyed the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in July. I can now compare it against the most famous Tattoo of all.

Click PLAY or watch a preview video clip on YouTube.

There’s a group from Calgary, Alberta performing. How about that?

edintattoo.co.uk

Rick’s High Route to the Matterhorn

On By Rick McIn hiking, photos, travelLeave a comment

Over on my hiking blog, I’m posting photo from my 7-day hike Chamonix to the Zermatt, one day at a time, over the next week.

Matterhorn

… Mt Blanc to Matterhorn – day 1

What a fantastic adventure!

Rick McHaggis arrives in Scotland

On By Rick McIn travel3 Comments

Flew into fantastic Edinburgh, Scotland yesterday. My first visit to one of my ancestral homelands.

It’s already my favourite city in Europe !!

Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle

Actually, what I like about the city is how weird, dark and gritty it is. Very unique. Very interesting.

Edinburgh
Edinburgh

The food offerings are especially great. Every restaurant is different. … I found the choices so limited in the Alps and Dolomites.

Great food in the U.K. … Who’d a thunk it?

Off to the most popular hike for the next 5 days or so. Will be offline.

But I’m booked in for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Aug. 27-30.

is Switzerland expensive?

On By Rick McIn travel1 Comment

Let’s check the Big Mac index:

Five most expensive (as of 4 February 2009)

Norway – USD 5.79
Switzerland – USD 5.60
Denmark – USD 5.07
Sweden – USD 4.58
Eurozone – USD 4.38

If, as a traveller, you have some crappy currency, let’s say Canadian loonies, Switzerland is very expensive. … If you want to buy a crappy burger.

However, if you live and work in the country, here are the easiest places to earn a Big Mac:

Tokyo, Japan – 10 minutes
Los Angeles, United States – 11 minutes
Chicago, Illinois United States – 12 minutes
Miami, Florida United States – 12 minutes
New York City, New York United States – 13 minutes
Auckland, New Zealand – 14 minutes
Sydney, Australia – 14 minutes
Toronto, Canada – 14 minutes
Zürich, Switzerland – 15 minutes
Dublin, Ireland – 15 minutes

Actually, I spent very few Swiss francs over a couple of weeks there. I’ll soon post: Europe on the Cheap.

Off to Geneva tomorrow, one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Geneva

P.S.

Worst McDonalds in the World? … Chamonix, France. It’s hilarious how the French can ruin a service company as finely tuned as Rotten Ronnie’s.

Massacre of Cermis – US pilot kills 20 in Italy

On By Rick McIn bad news, travel2 Comments

In European mountains this summer I’ve taken a lot of cable cars.

Cablecar.zelllamsee.500pix

Each and every time I’ve cursed the U.S. military for an incident in 1998 the Italians call the Massacre of Cermis.

The Cavalese cable car disaster of 1998 (as distinct from the similarly named disaster of 1976), occurred on 3 February 1998 near the Italian town of Cavalese, a ski resort located in the Dolomites, some 40 km north-east of Trento. The disaster, which led to the death of 20 people, occurred when a U.S. military plane cut a cable supporting a gondola of an aerial tramway. …

The pilot of that military jet, Captain Richard J. Ashby, was only found guilty of “obstruction of justice” and “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman” for having destroyed a videotape recorded from the plane.

He was dismissed from the Marines as was navigator, Captain Joseph Schweitzer.

Flying at 500 MPH in the busy Dolomites. I’d shoot Ashby myself if I got the chance.

… The restrictions in effect at the time required a minimum flying height of 2,000 feet (610 m); the pilot said he thought they were 1,000 feet (300 m). The cable was cut at a height of 360 feet (110 m). …

Bloody American military!

The worst cable car accident ever was not the Massacre of Cermis. But it was at that same ski resort in Italy, in 1976.

… 42 people including 15 children died when the steel cable of their cable car broke. … The cabin fell some 700 feet (200 m) down a mountainside, and then a heavy overhead carriage assembly fell on top of it. Only one passenger survived, a 14 year old girl. …

All Experts

survived the High Route in the Alps …

On By Rick McIn hiking, travelLeave a comment

Just arrived back to civilization, Chamonix, France, after 7 days, 7 nights up with the glaciers.

FANTASTIC hike. Chamonix to Zermatt: The Walker’s Haute Route

Trip report and photos coming soon …