Lanzarote
Many of you know, many of you may not know, that I’m in the middle of the very long and painful (emotionally) process of renewing my visa. After jumping through many fiery hoops, including taking a ‘Life In The UK’ test (the same test they give to those requesting citizenship status), and paying nearly a grand; I’ve sent my passport, and every single document that identifies me as me to the Home Office with fingers duly crossed.
I actually got a letter from them last week, dated one month ago, saying they received my information. Well, that’s good. I don’t know if someone wrote the letter and then forgot about it in their ‘In’ tray or what. But the post mark doesn’t lie, I’m afraid, and as shit as the Royal Mail is about delivering, I’m very doubtful that it took them an entire month.
Anyway, after being advised not to ask how long the application will take, and not to call unless it’s an emergency, oh, and not to make any plans to travel, I sit here, passport-less and suddenly desiring a luscious holiday to a beach somewhere…
But alas, I’m stuck here for the time being.
There are a couple of options available to me which don’t require me to leave the country, such as visiting the Highlands up north and gasping in awe at the beauty of the heather. (Aside: I actually went up to Loch Fyne for my birthday and had a lovely walk, and then a very posh seafood lunch. Beautiful.)
Or I could go south and take in some of their sunshine while its around, since the sun doesn’t seem to want to visit Glasgow. (That’s not true, actually, the sun has been around quite a bit recently, but a biting north wind is keeping things a bit chilly for the moment.)
I suppose I could go on one of these steam rail tours which would take me on a breathtaking journey through a gorgeous countryside (and then I wouldn’t have to walk anywhere, hurrah!). Actually, the thought of being on a real steam powered train sounds pretty exciting. I wonder if it makes that ‘chug chug chug’ sound that everyone always associates with trains, but which doesn’t happen with trains nowadays?
On a side note: As much displeasure I’ve had with Scotrail regarding the frequency (and cost) of their Glasgow/Edinburgh service during the Festival season, there’s always something like a wet leaf on the track, or the threat of strikes which always leads to some sort of disruption or other.
ANYWAY…I suppose that I have two options for my daydream holiday:
- go somewhere in the country
- just wait for my damned passport to be returned
And who knows? My application could get rejected (hopefully not!) and then my holiday to the States will have been planned for me.
Let’s all hope that doesn’t happen.
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