Ach! or yikes! ... in 10 days I'll be in Scotland

[Generic]

i am not going with a tour group.
no itinerary. free style.
a widower who lives over there invited a few other widows/widowers to come ... so i said 'why not?!' my life is work and sleep and cook and clean. why not indeed.
i only know him the way i know all of you ... online.
i did not want to go alone, so although not widowed ... my nephew and his wife asked about coming, too ... he said okay and yes they are going with me.
we are flying iceland air with a stop in reykjavik iceland and then we fly into glasgow. have arranged a car rental and it should be interesting driving on the opposite side of the road.
we have reservations to go on the jacobite train in fort william, are going to see loch ness and a few other places .. but basically the rest of the time we are free to do whatever or not much. staying near a ruinous castle in the middle of nowhere.
my credit card company has been told about the trip to scotland ... gave me no pin and chip info ... so we will see how that goes.
i am going to get some pounds this week (hopefully) so will have some when we get there..

my credit card company has been told about the trip to scotland ... gave me no pin and chip info ... so we will see how that goes.
i am going to get some pounds this week (hopefully) so will have some when we get there.

I'm off to get my dollars tommorrow...wahoo!!
We have lots of people pay with cards that are on foreign accounts and often do not have chip&pin chips in them and I've never had a problem. I just swipe the card and it prints the receipt for signature. I don't think you'll find this an issue.
.

John, are the automated machines, like at the train station set for chip or do they still swipe? In France they were all chip only. We have chips, but had to direct Americans to go to the cashier, or in the case of the bicycles they simply couldn't use them. And at least one department store made the Americans go to customer service to check out, since their registers no longer had swipe capability.
Not that they can get a chip&pin card in any case, but it does present a small hassle.

 

[Joey Camb]

i am not going with a tour group.
no itinerary. free style.
a widower who lives over there invited a few other widows/widowers to come ... so i said 'why not?!' my life is work and sleep and cook and clean. why not indeed.
i only know him the way i know all of you ... online.
i did not want to go alone, so although not widowed ... my nephew and his wife asked about coming, too ... he said okay and yes they are going with me.
we are flying iceland air with a stop in reykjavik iceland and then we fly into glasgow. have arranged a car rental and it should be interesting driving on the opposite side of the road.
we have reservations to go on the jacobite train in fort william, are going to see loch ness and a few other places .. but basically the rest of the time we are free to do whatever or not much. staying near a ruinous castle in the middle of nowhere.
my credit card company has been told about the trip to scotland ... gave me no pin and chip info ... so we will see how that goes.
i am going to get some pounds this week (hopefully) so will have some when we get there..

my credit card company has been told about the trip to scotland ... gave me no pin and chip info ... so we will see how that goes.
i am going to get some pounds this week (hopefully) so will have some when we get there.

I'm off to get my dollars tommorrow...wahoo!!
We have lots of people pay with cards that are on foreign accounts and often do not have chip&pin chips in them and I've never had a problem. I just swipe the card and it prints the receipt for signature. I don't think you'll find this an issue.
.

John, are the automated machines, like at the train station set for chip or do they still swipe? In France they were all chip only. We have chips, but had to direct Americans to go to the cashier, or in the case of the bicycles they simply couldn't use them. And at least one department store made the Americans go to customer service to check out, since their registers no longer had swipe capability.
Not that they can get a chip&pin card in any case, but it does present a small hassle.
.

our machines know the difference and do it automatically - either ask for pin or print out to sign - its not a lot of bother.

 

[Copperhead]

i am not going with a tour group.
no itinerary. free style.
a widower who lives over there invited a few other widows/widowers to come ... so i said 'why not?!' my life is work and sleep and cook and clean. why not indeed.
i only know him the way i know all of you ... online.
i did not want to go alone, so although not widowed ... my nephew and his wife asked about coming, too ... he said okay and yes they are going with me.
we are flying iceland air with a stop in reykjavik iceland and then we fly into glasgow. have arranged a car rental and it should be interesting driving on the opposite side of the road.
we have reservations to go on the jacobite train in fort william, are going to see loch ness and a few other places .. but basically the rest of the time we are free to do whatever or not much. staying near a ruinous castle in the middle of nowhere.
my credit card company has been told about the trip to scotland ... gave me no pin and chip info ... so we will see how that goes.
i am going to get some pounds this week (hopefully) so will have some when we get there..

this will sound stupid but the time to watch is when you stop _ say for gas (and your eyes will water at our gas prices) this is when you make the mistake to drive on the wrong side - once you are going and following the traffic it is a lot easier so be aware of this!
My DH has added in his 10 cents - wear a thick coat and visit distilleries for whisky most have a visitors center and free samples!
.

The only time I've ever forgotten I'm supposed to be driving on the other side of the road is at a roundabout.............you have heard about roundabouts haven't you?
Oh... and you can't turn on a red light.
.

The only time I've ever forgotten I'm supposed to be driving on the other side of the road is at a roundabout.............you have heard about roundabouts haven't you?
Oh... and you can't turn on a red light.

The US is finally catching on to how well the roundabouts work to reduce traffic jams in otherwise congested areas. Our area has installed 2 in the last year and no more backups! Of course, there are some famous roundabouts that have been in the US for a very long time (i.e. Lee Circle in New Orleans) hope it catches on in many more places!

 

[user 26]

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

 

[Joey Camb]

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?.

yup debit cards are pretty much accepted everywhere - some very tiny shops are cash only (ie like newspaper shops) but thats it

 

[Highlands John]

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.

 

[user 26]

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.
.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.

haha! oh, man. this should be interesting!! (or something)

 

[Samster]

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?.

Forgot to mention that I found the exchange rate at the ATMs in the train stations to not be horrible. Just used my bank ATM card to get pounds. I also found that Marks and Spencer's store currency exchange was a better rate than any local banks.
There are additional foreign transaction fees when using credit cards in the UK. We have never had a problem in the UK with using a magnetic stripe card.

 

[Madeleine]

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.
.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.

haha! oh, man. this should be interesting!! (or something)
.

The only time you'll find it a problem is if you are the first car at a stop light/sign. Then you really have to pay attention to where the traffic is going!
Oh, and all the directional signs (Loch Ness 5 km) are on the LEFT side of the road, not the right. All you see on the right side of the road is the back of the signs going in the other direction.
Everyone WALKS on the wrong other side, too. So, if you stay to the right you'll plow into everyone. Crossing the street is hard. You'll get used to it but it takes a few times of close calls to make your brain think to look the other way!
Good luck with the 'accent'. In some places it is thick as the fog.

 

[Highlands John]

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.
.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.

haha! oh, man. this should be interesting!! (or something)
.

The only time you'll find it a problem is if you are the first car at a stop light/sign. Then you really have to pay attention to where the traffic is going!
Oh, and all the directional signs (Loch Ness 5 km) are on the LEFT side of the road, not the right. All you see on the right side of the road is the back of the signs going in the other direction.
Everyone WALKS on the wrong other side, too. So, if you stay to the right you'll plow into everyone. Crossing the street is hard. You'll get used to it but it takes a few times of close calls to make your brain think to look the other way!
Good luck with the 'accent'. In some places it is thick as the fog.
.

Yeah, crossing the street is the bit that scares me too.

 

[Highlands John]

i am not going with a tour group.
no itinerary. free style.
a widower who lives over there invited a few other widows/widowers to come ... so i said 'why not?!' my life is work and sleep and cook and clean. why not indeed.
i only know him the way i know all of you ... online.
i did not want to go alone, so although not widowed ... my nephew and his wife asked about coming, too ... he said okay and yes they are going with me.
we are flying iceland air with a stop in reykjavik iceland and then we fly into glasgow. have arranged a car rental and it should be interesting driving on the opposite side of the road.
we have reservations to go on the jacobite train in fort william, are going to see loch ness and a few other places .. but basically the rest of the time we are free to do whatever or not much. staying near a ruinous castle in the middle of nowhere.
my credit card company has been told about the trip to scotland ... gave me no pin and chip info ... so we will see how that goes.
i am going to get some pounds this week (hopefully) so will have some when we get there..

this will sound stupid but the time to watch is when you stop _ say for gas (and your eyes will water at our gas prices) this is when you make the mistake to drive on the wrong side - once you are going and following the traffic it is a lot easier so be aware of this!
My DH has added in his 10 cents - wear a thick coat and visit distilleries for whisky most have a visitors center and free samples!
.

The only time I've ever forgotten I'm supposed to be driving on the other side of the road is at a roundabout.............you have heard about roundabouts haven't you?
Oh... and you can't turn on a red light.
.

The only time I've ever forgotten I'm supposed to be driving on the other side of the road is at a roundabout.............you have heard about roundabouts haven't you?
Oh... and you can't turn on a red light.

The US is finally catching on to how well the roundabouts work to reduce traffic jams in otherwise congested areas. Our area has installed 2 in the last year and no more backups! Of course, there are some famous roundabouts that have been in the US for a very long time (i.e. Lee Circle in New Orleans) hope it catches on in many more places!
.

There's a town down in England called Hemel Hemstead, which has a famous roundabout, known locally as the Magic Roundabout (Magic Roundabout was a kids program from the 70's and 80's).
It's a large roundabout that you can go either direction round, but around it it has mini roundabouts and as you come to each one you have to obey normal roundabout rules (ie. give way to he right).

 

[Madeleine]

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.
.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.

haha! oh, man. this should be interesting!! (or something)
.

The only time you'll find it a problem is if you are the first car at a stop light/sign. Then you really have to pay attention to where the traffic is going!
Oh, and all the directional signs (Loch Ness 5 km) are on the LEFT side of the road, not the right. All you see on the right side of the road is the back of the signs going in the other direction.
Everyone WALKS on the wrong other side, too. So, if you stay to the right you'll plow into everyone. Crossing the street is hard. You'll get used to it but it takes a few times of close calls to make your brain think to look the other way!
Good luck with the 'accent'. In some places it is thick as the fog.
.

Yeah, crossing the street is the bit that scares me too.
.

Yeah, crossing the street is the bit that scares me too.

BTW, in New England, most states have a rule that vehicles must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Don't believe it. Make eye contact with the driver and if you don't feel you're in the movie Mad Max, they're probably going to stop for you not on you.

 

[Joey Camb]

i am not going with a tour group.
no itinerary. free style.
a widower who lives over there invited a few other widows/widowers to come ... so i said 'why not?!' my life is work and sleep and cook and clean. why not indeed.
i only know him the way i know all of you ... online.
i did not want to go alone, so although not widowed ... my nephew and his wife asked about coming, too ... he said okay and yes they are going with me.
we are flying iceland air with a stop in reykjavik iceland and then we fly into glasgow. have arranged a car rental and it should be interesting driving on the opposite side of the road.
we have reservations to go on the jacobite train in fort william, are going to see loch ness and a few other places .. but basically the rest of the time we are free to do whatever or not much. staying near a ruinous castle in the middle of nowhere.
my credit card company has been told about the trip to scotland ... gave me no pin and chip info ... so we will see how that goes.
i am going to get some pounds this week (hopefully) so will have some when we get there..

this will sound stupid but the time to watch is when you stop _ say for gas (and your eyes will water at our gas prices) this is when you make the mistake to drive on the wrong side - once you are going and following the traffic it is a lot easier so be aware of this!
My DH has added in his 10 cents - wear a thick coat and visit distilleries for whisky most have a visitors center and free samples!
.

The only time I've ever forgotten I'm supposed to be driving on the other side of the road is at a roundabout.............you have heard about roundabouts haven't you?
Oh... and you can't turn on a red light.
.

The only time I've ever forgotten I'm supposed to be driving on the other side of the road is at a roundabout.............you have heard about roundabouts haven't you?
Oh... and you can't turn on a red light.

The US is finally catching on to how well the roundabouts work to reduce traffic jams in otherwise congested areas. Our area has installed 2 in the last year and no more backups! Of course, there are some famous roundabouts that have been in the US for a very long time (i.e. Lee Circle in New Orleans) hope it catches on in many more places!
.

There's a town down in England called Hemel Hemstead, which has a famous roundabout, known locally as the Magic Roundabout (Magic Roundabout was a kids program from the 70's and 80's).
It's a large roundabout that you can go either direction round, but around it it has mini roundabouts and as you come to each one you have to obey normal roundabout rules (ie. give way to he right).
.

I wouldn't try and attempt it and Im from here!

 

[Highlands John]

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.
.

OH! no right on red? thank you!
are debit cards accepted in the big stores?

Holy cow, don't try and turn right on a red light, you're on the other side of the road, you'd cross two lanes of traffic.
I think if your card is either vi sa or mast erca rd you'll be ok. I use my debit card everywhere.

haha! oh, man. this should be interesting!! (or something)
.

The only time you'll find it a problem is if you are the first car at a stop light/sign. Then you really have to pay attention to where the traffic is going!
Oh, and all the directional signs (Loch Ness 5 km) are on the LEFT side of the road, not the right. All you see on the right side of the road is the back of the signs going in the other direction.
Everyone WALKS on the wrong other side, too. So, if you stay to the right you'll plow into everyone. Crossing the street is hard. You'll get used to it but it takes a few times of close calls to make your brain think to look the other way!
Good luck with the 'accent'. In some places it is thick as the fog.
.

Yeah, crossing the street is the bit that scares me too.
.

Yeah, crossing the street is the bit that scares me too.

BTW, in New England, most states have a rule that vehicles must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Don't believe it. Make eye contact with the driver and if you don't feel you're in the movie Mad Max, they're probably going to stop for you not on you.
.

Yeah, crossing the street is the bit that scares me too.

BTW, in New England, most states have a rule that vehicles must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Don't believe it. Make eye contact with the driver and if you don't feel you're in the movie Mad Max, they're probably going to stop for you not on you.

That's pretty much the same as our zebra crossings.

 

[Samster]

i am not going with a tour group.
no itinerary. free style.
a widower who lives over there invited a few other widows/widowers to come ... so i said 'why not?!' my life is work and sleep and cook and clean. why not indeed.
i only know him the way i know all of you ... online.
i did not want to go alone, so although not widowed ... my nephew and his wife asked about coming, too ... he said okay and yes they are going with me.
we are flying iceland air with a stop in reykjavik iceland and then we fly into glasgow. have arranged a car rental and it should be interesting driving on the opposite side of the road.
we have reservations to go on the jacobite train in fort william, are going to see loch ness and a few other places .. but basically the rest of the time we are free to do whatever or not much. staying near a ruinous castle in the middle of nowhere.
my credit card company has been told about the trip to scotland ... gave me no pin and chip info ... so we will see how that goes.
i am going to get some pounds this week (hopefully) so will have some when we get there..

this will sound stupid but the time to watch is when you stop _ say for gas (and your eyes will water at our gas prices) this is when you make the mistake to drive on the wrong side - once you are going and following the traffic it is a lot easier so be aware of this!
My DH has added in his 10 cents - wear a thick coat and visit distilleries for whisky most have a visitors center and free samples!
.

The only time I've ever forgotten I'm supposed to be driving on the other side of the road is at a roundabout.............you have heard about roundabouts haven't you?
Oh... and you can't turn on a red light.
.

The only time I've ever forgotten I'm supposed to be driving on the other side of the road is at a roundabout.............you have heard about roundabouts haven't you?
Oh... and you can't turn on a red light.

The US is finally catching on to how well the roundabouts work to reduce traffic jams in otherwise congested areas. Our area has installed 2 in the last year and no more backups! Of course, there are some famous roundabouts that have been in the US for a very long time (i.e. Lee Circle in New Orleans) hope it catches on in many more places!
.

There's a town down in England called Hemel Hemstead, which has a famous roundabout, known locally as the Magic Roundabout (Magic Roundabout was a kids program from the 70's and 80's).
It's a large roundabout that you can go either direction round, but around it it has mini roundabouts and as you come to each one you have to obey normal roundabout rules (ie. give way to he right).
.

Here is a link to that roundabout on Wiki. Very interesting!