Decent visitor attractions

[Tazio]

Just now, jonnothejambo said:

 

The acoustics would be great......

 

 

Well there’s one word in particular that Scots and Australians don’t find quite as offensive as the rest of the world that carries well in terms of vocal projection. 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

1 hour ago, Maple Leaf said:

My Canadian family loved Craigmillar Castle, the Scott Monument, Arthur's Seat, Calton Hill, Tynecastle (of course), and Edinburgh in general.  Edinburgh is an incredible city.

 

An awesome visit for me was the Vimy Ridge WWI war memorial in Northern France.

 

Yes it's a very impressive memorial, beautifully kept and looked after, as you'd expect, wonderful views over the plains below.

Still live munitions in the wood next to the car park.

 

Newfoundland Park at Beaumont Hamel on the Somme is another very good memorial, really tragic story of the Newfoundlanders, the whole regiment pretty much wiped out on the first day of the Somme with around about 80% casualties.

 

[Maple Leaf]

45 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Yes it's a very impressive memorial, beautifully kept and looked after, as you'd expect, wonderful views over the plains below.

Still live munitions in the wood next to the car park.

 

Newfoundland Park at Beaumont Hamel on the Somme is another very good memorial, really tragic story of the Newfoundlanders, the whole regiment pretty much wiped out on the first day of the Somme with around about 80% casualties.

 

 

I haven't been there but my daughter has.  She said it is heartbreaking. 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

21 minutes ago, Maple Leaf said:

 

I haven't been there but my daughter has.  She said it is heartbreaking. 

 

As were many such things during that time.

 

I would urge anyone to visit the WWI battlefields of France & Belgium, it is a sobering experience, the sheer numbers killed is staggering.

On our 3 day tour we took in Ypres, Arras & the Somme, visiting many memorials & cemeteries along the way, including which was a highlight for me, Contalmaison, it wasn't on the tour, but I asked the tour guide if he knew anything about McCrae's Battalion and the Hearts and to my surprise he did know some of the story and said that we'll try and stop at the Cairn the next day on the Somme visit, which we did, but even more so he'd obviously researched the story the evening before as he proceeded to tell the whole bus about the Hearts and how the team had joined up en-mass in 1914 & how we'd lost 3 players within the first few minutes of the first day of the battle of the Somme.

 

Made me proud as punch to be a Hearts supporter, that not only could I pay my respects to both players and supporters who had made the ultimate sacrifice during WWI, but also that the whole bus was made aware of their sacrifice as well. 

 

Later that day I searched for and found all 4 of the players' names on the Thiepval Memorial that we had lost during the Somme campaign.

 

[benny]

 Claude Monet Gardens Giverny France.
Up there with the best on a hot day.

[Jambos_1874]

RRS Discovery in Dundee. Very interesting and informative and that's just the exhibition before you get down to the boat itself, which was fascinating.

[luckyBatistuta]

On 02/09/2020 at 00:13, Lone Striker said:

Some of the exhibitions they put on at the Botanic Gardens are surprisingly interesting.      Usually free too.   

 

Maid of the Forth trip to Inchcolm is a good day out (if the sea isn't too choppy).

Loch Leven Castle and Inchmaholm  Priory at the Lake are good .... nice boat trips to them too.

 

Kennedy Space Center in Florida  is amazing - partly for the sheer size of the place. The area is so big,  they lay on buses to take you from one part to another. Loads to see and learn - you come away feeling over-awed at the concept of space travel &  exploration.

 

Railway Museum and Jorvik Centre in York are good too.

I loved this, found it fascinating, but the wife found it boring and never wants to go back🤷🏼‍♂️

[Doctor FinnBarr]

On 02/09/2020 at 18:52, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

As were many such things during that time.

 

I would urge anyone to visit the WWI battlefields of France & Belgium, it is a sobering experience, the sheer numbers killed is staggering.

On our 3 day tour we took in Ypres, Arras & the Somme, visiting many memorials & cemeteries along the way, including which was a highlight for me, Contalmaison, it wasn't on the tour, but I asked the tour guide if he knew anything about McCrae's Battalion and the Hearts and to my surprise he did know some of the story and said that we'll try and stop at the Cairn the next day on the Somme visit, which we did, but even more so he'd obviously researched the story the evening before as he proceeded to tell the whole bus about the Hearts and how the team had joined up en-mass in 1914 & how we'd lost 3 players within the first few minutes of the first day of the battle of the Somme.

 

Made me proud as punch to be a Hearts supporter, that not only could I pay my respects to both players and supporters who had made the ultimate sacrifice during WWI, but also that the whole bus was made aware of their sacrifice as well. 

 

Later that day I searched for and found all 4 of the players' names on the Thiepval Memorial that we had lost during the Somme campaign.

 

 

Its a sober enough experience just seeing pictures of them. Host of the campsite we stayed on about 20 years ago took us on a motorcycle tour around Diksmuide/Ypres. He seemed a bit put out that we didn't want to visit the Scottish cemetery until I explained that most folks would prefer to do it alone rather than in a group. Still never done it, pictures are enough for me.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

27 minutes ago, FinnBarr Saunders said:

 

Its a sober enough experience just seeing pictures of them. Host of the campsite we stayed on about 20 years ago took us on a motorcycle tour around Diksmuide/Ypres. He seemed a bit put out that we didn't want to visit the Scottish cemetery until I explained that most folks would prefer to do it alone rather than in a group. Still never done it, pictures are enough for me.

 

Equally sobering is the ages of many of the soldiers, just laddies most of them, teenagers with their whole lives in front of them.....and in the blink of an eye, wiped out.

 

[Doctor FinnBarr]

As i mentioned on the other thread I know a few places in the south of Holland that are worth a visit. The village of Melderslo near Horst hosts the Dutch National museum of Mushrooms and asparagus is well worth a visit delocht.nl Vastly under sells itself as it has houses and a street of shops done up in Victorian style (or whatever the Dutch called Victorian times) plus a big pond full of newts.

Slightly further north in Overloon near Veneray is the Dutch War Museum, the grounds and Marshall museum are free (grounds still have shell holed pill boxes with names, ages and home towns of defenders who died in them on plaques plus a very interesting letter sent from an American GI that explains how the battle of Overloon went). The main museum has every sort of 2nd World War vehicle you could imagine, V1 rocket and planes hanging from the roof, Dutch village under German occupation where you can hear and smell a Panzer starting as bullets whistle by you (i challenge anyone not to duck).

[IronJambo]

I'm generally not that impressed with tourist attractions. These stick out though::

 

London transport museum

Natural history museum (London and Chicago)

Warwick Castle

Basilica De Santa Maria (Barcelona)

Palais des papes (Avignon)

Underground city tours in Edinburgh

Graceland

Boulders Beach (Simon's Town, South Africa).

 

 

[highlandjambo3]

Just back from Ullapool, seafood shack is a must.

[maroondevo52]

Sun City, South Africa went there in their winter and got sun stroke

My family enjoyed it.

[Cruyff]

2 hours ago, highlandjambo3 said:

Just back from Ullapool, seafood shack is a must.

They've got one of them in North Berwick too. I'm not sure it's called the seafood shack but I was down there a few weeks ago I had some Calamari and half a Lobster because my eyes are bigger than my belly. Nice though! 

[Stuart Lyon]

14 hours ago, Cruyff said:

They've got one of them in North Berwick too. I'm not sure it's called the seafood shack but I was down there a few weeks ago I had some Calamari and half a Lobster because my eyes are bigger than my belly. Nice though! 

The NB one is called the Lobster Shack - was closed last year - see article - presume its OK now.

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/inspectors-shut-dirty-kitchen-used-by-top-seafood-restaurants-r37560bdj

[Cruyff]

2 hours ago, Stuart Lyon said:

The NB one is called the Lobster Shack - was closed last year - see article - presume its OK now.

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/inspectors-shut-dirty-kitchen-used-by-top-seafood-restaurants-r37560bdj

if I had known that, I wouldn't have touched it with a bargepole. 

Edited September 7, 2020 by Cruyff