History Hound Travels

Okay, I told you about the pictures, but I also need to write about stuff i wish I’d had. Number one on the list: really good walking shoes. Keds are fun and suit my personality, but they don’t have enough support to comfortably walk four or five miles per day. Likewise, clogs are great, but holding them on for that long of a distance also gets tiring.

I also wish I had been a bit more organized in making sure I saw everything I wanted to see. I did make a list of some things, but then I left it on my desk. I wish I had checked out the Las Vegas guide at United States Hotel Guides. They have listings for most of the hotels, but they also have a blog about the city, and info on local events. We were a little too busy to cram in more events, but it would have been nice to know what was unique about each hotel/resort.

So there you have my preliminary repost: wear good shoes, read up before you go. There will be more later. Lots more, LOL!

I’m home, and I took a boatload of pictures. I took so many that I decided to put them on flickrr, which I had previously used only for my Self Portrait Sunday shots. So many, in fact, that I had to buy a pro account to hold them all. I had a marvelous time, and you can expect some posts about the various attractions there. In the meantime, enjoy the photos.

I should totally be packing, and in fact, there are clothes spread all over my bed, but I am still waiting on a piece or two to come out of the dryer, so I am wasting time on the www. In fact, I am visiting the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane. Did you know the original gardens are open 24/7 and the paths are lit at night? The new gardens, at Mount Coot-tha, at open 8 to 5. Admission is free.

Here is a public domain photo of the pond in the original gardens. Doesn’t it look relaxing? The new gardens are even more impressive, with displays that include

* Tropical Display Dome
* Japanese Garden
* Bonsai House
* Fern House
* Arid Zone and Cactus House
* Exotic Rainforest
* Australian Rainforest
* Fragant Plant and Herb Garden
* Temperate Garden
* Lagoon and Bamboo Grove
* Australian Plant communities
* National Freedom Wall

Of course, if you go, you’ll need to find Brisbane Accomodation. Hotels in Brisbane run the gamut, just like everywhere else, so it’s worth investigating your options on line to make sure you get the best deal but remember that your Brisbane hotel will be a small portion of your vacation memories. My motto remains spend your money doing and seeing, not sleeping.

Oh, ya’ll I am finally going somewhere real! Can you believe it? I am leaving Wednesday for Vegas. Those of you who are unable to join me should continue our cyber world tour. There are plenty of easy to book hotels out there, and since we were just in Scotland, I’m recommending that you stay in the UK while I am gone. You can find good deals on London hotels, where we have already been, OR, do something new, and check into a hotel in Dublin and launch your own search for Danny Boy. If you are really lucky, you might find a leprechaun, or he gold he hid at the end of the rainbow!

You’ll note that I did not say Scotch (which is a whisky, dinna be confused). I was doing some research tonight on Hogmanay, which led me to read a bit on the Kirk (Church) of Scotland. Here’s the tidbit that fascinated me: the Kirk discouraged the celebration of Christmas until the 1960s, even while it held it’s normal religious nature. It was a regular working day in Scotland! People celebrated Hogmanay with gifts and parties, though. In fact, Edinburgh (the capital) and several other cities hold all night parties which begin on December 31st and end on January 1st. Unless they carry over, LOL! of course, the Kirk doesn’t care overmuch for Hogmanay either.

And let’s talk about the Church of Scotland. It is a Presbyterian church, shaped during the Scottish reformation. It is a national church without being a state church, and it’s emblem is the burning bush. You’ll find the offices on George Street in Edinburgh. And if you thought American churches were highly fractured and politicized, read this:

However, in the 1920s, the United Kingdom Parliament passed the Church of Scotland Act 1921, finally recognising the full independence of the Church in matters spiritual, and as a result of this the Kirk was able to unite with the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929. The United Free Church of Scotland was itself the product of the union of the former United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the majority of the Free Church of Scotland in 1900.

Some independent Scottish Presbyterian denominations still remain. These include the Free Church of Scotland (formed of those congregations which refused to unite with the United Presbyterian Church in 1900), the United Free Church of Scotland (formed of congregations which refused to unite with the Church of Scotland in 1929), the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (which broke from the Free Church of Scotland in 1893), the Associated Presbyterian Churches (which emerged as a result of a split in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in the 1980s) and the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) (which emerged from a split in the Free Church of Scotland in 2000).

Wild, huh?

Now, I recommend that you go to Edinburgh around the end of the year. Find a cheap hotel in Edinburgh and attend the Hogmanay party. You’ll need to keep that accomodation in Edinburgh for a few days, because the holiday may last until the 3rd or 4th. When the church offices re-open, visit them, too, just to even things out, see. Hotels in Edinburgh run the gamut from primitive to luxurious–remember my motto: the less you spend on lodging, the more stuff you can afford to do!