More liveblogging of trip
Jun. 18th, 2022 08:34 pmImpressions of London:
OMG, this heat is unreasonable. /o\ More bearable when one is on the river bus, though. I'm glad there's an old British lady acting as tour guide to her (presumably) tourist friends pointing out all the buildings and features so I can listen in. She seems to be a Harry Potter fan.
I went to Greenwich, which was nice. Climbing the rigging of the Cutty Sark was fun, though expensive, and it would have improved the experience if the climbing guides had been able to answer more questions about how the rigging worked. Oh well. National Maritime Museum: interesting and also blessedly air-conditioned. I never got to the Observatory before closing time; I suppose there is a reason that the meridian is not painted on the pavement outside, namely to make people pay money to go in and photograph themselves on it.
First impressions of the Highlands:
I never realised the extent to which two invasive and introduced species have spread here! And I really resent how that obscures and changes the historical landscape. There are so many ugly spruce plantations and clearcuts here. /o\ Worse than in Sweden, because they're not even native here. And then there's the rhododendron: the hillsides are purple with that, instead of heather (well, the heather's there too, but not blooming yet). Not surprised it thrives; the climate is much like the Pacific Northwest.
In a way, I suppose one could see the spruce plantations as the culmination of what some of those improving 18th century estate owners were doing: they were so proud of their larch plantations and whatnot. But aesthetically and biologically I detest them. (A note here that I love the Norway spruce in its proper environment in the boreal forest!)
We passed through Fort William and looked at the site of the fort, of which there is sadly nothing left but bits of a wall. Now we are in a hostel in Invergarry. We took a walk and twenty meters from the house, I found heaps of the oceanic lichens Lobaria pulmonaria, Lobaria virescens and Degelia plumbea just growing there on a goat willow! OMG, AND WHAT IS THAT, IS THAT A STICTA LICHEN?? *dies of excitement* Those are extinct in Sweden!! Er. I'm sure![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
regshoe was laughing at me.
We looked at the ruins of Invergarry castle, and imagined Keith Windham limping past it on the shore below, nervously looking to see whether anyone would come out. He probably could not care less about the Sticta lichen; if anything, he was disgusted by the water dripping down from it onto his head. <3
OMG, this heat is unreasonable. /o\ More bearable when one is on the river bus, though. I'm glad there's an old British lady acting as tour guide to her (presumably) tourist friends pointing out all the buildings and features so I can listen in. She seems to be a Harry Potter fan.
I went to Greenwich, which was nice. Climbing the rigging of the Cutty Sark was fun, though expensive, and it would have improved the experience if the climbing guides had been able to answer more questions about how the rigging worked. Oh well. National Maritime Museum: interesting and also blessedly air-conditioned. I never got to the Observatory before closing time; I suppose there is a reason that the meridian is not painted on the pavement outside, namely to make people pay money to go in and photograph themselves on it.
First impressions of the Highlands:
I never realised the extent to which two invasive and introduced species have spread here! And I really resent how that obscures and changes the historical landscape. There are so many ugly spruce plantations and clearcuts here. /o\ Worse than in Sweden, because they're not even native here. And then there's the rhododendron: the hillsides are purple with that, instead of heather (well, the heather's there too, but not blooming yet). Not surprised it thrives; the climate is much like the Pacific Northwest.
In a way, I suppose one could see the spruce plantations as the culmination of what some of those improving 18th century estate owners were doing: they were so proud of their larch plantations and whatnot. But aesthetically and biologically I detest them. (A note here that I love the Norway spruce in its proper environment in the boreal forest!)
We passed through Fort William and looked at the site of the fort, of which there is sadly nothing left but bits of a wall. Now we are in a hostel in Invergarry. We took a walk and twenty meters from the house, I found heaps of the oceanic lichens Lobaria pulmonaria, Lobaria virescens and Degelia plumbea just growing there on a goat willow! OMG, AND WHAT IS THAT, IS THAT A STICTA LICHEN?? *dies of excitement* Those are extinct in Sweden!! Er. I'm sure
regshoe was laughing at me. We looked at the ruins of Invergarry castle, and imagined Keith Windham limping past it on the shore below, nervously looking to see whether anyone would come out. He probably could not care less about the Sticta lichen; if anything, he was disgusted by the water dripping down from it onto his head. <3
