Dundee, Scotland

3 August 2013

So what makes Dundee so special? Well, to folks from Dundee I'm sure there's much, but to me there was a plastic model show there on Saturday. Since it is one of the very few over here that are within my 4 hour driving radius, I just had to go...

The UK is actually the birthplace of the International Plastic Modeler's Society, founded 50 years ago in 1963. I am of course a member of the US branch so I could, if I wanted to, enter in the local competitions here. But anyone who knows me knows I only compete against myself; I'd never want to risk putting my efforts up against some truly fantastic work. Some models range from the "perfect miniatures" to beautiful examples of art. I just have fun.

Dundee is north of Edinburgh, not only across the Firth of Forth, but on the north side of the Firth of Tay. Quickest route was actually to take the motorway north to Glasgow then take another motorway east to Dundee. If a motorway was direct to Edinburgh it might have been quicker, but would have required crossing two major bridges. Weather reported very high winds and traffic was reporting slow and go, so I'm glad I wasn't tempted to go via Edinburgh.

I guess the train was an option...but we all know how my luck is with trains to Scotland!

Generally a pretty drive through the countryside. Very windy as I walked about Dundee. I had lunch at a pancake house. Now, it is NOT IHOP nor is any pancake house an American would recognize. The menu was traditional British fare with a Scottish twist (haggis instead of blood pudding for breakfast). I had fish and chips with a banana milkshake. The fish was breaded (tempura in England) and the milkshake was just banana flavored milk.

They did have pancakes on the menu. Strictly deserts with ice cream and sauces -- the descriptions reminded me of crepes. The "American" was a stack of 3 with butter and maple FLAVORED syrup. More choices were savory pancakes. Imagine Indian curried chicken in a pancake...not my cup of tea.

Oh...here's a photo of one of ship models from the show:

And in case you're wondering...it's about 1 inch long (1/3000th scale). Turkish ship-of-the-line.

The drive back was a bit tiring; by hour 3 I was tired but glad I got back just before dinner. 8 hours on the road is a bit much sometimes, but it was worth it. I had fun.

Until next time...