Michael Bell

Boater and cottager on Georgian Bay. From Scotland to Toronto. Living the dream and working my ass off to achieve it.

[Simon Harris @SimonHarrisMBD]

For someone who’s used to the London Underground, using the Subway in Glasgow is like stepping into a different world. Travelling with kids just after the morning rush hour, a woman dressed in orange warmly welcomed us all to the station concourse, engaged in chit chat, and then immediately offered us assistance to ensure we purchased the best value tickets for today.

The guy at the window then sold me a day pass that gave me change from a fiver, with the kids only being a couple of quid each as well. The train then arrived and there’s a sort of unwritten code where people ensure that those who were on the platform before them board the train first, as opposed to ‘elbows out, f**k you, and last one on board’s a massive sissy.’

You sit on the train and people sometimes actually want to talk to you instead of just glaring at you like they want you to spontaneously evaporate because you had the sheer nerve to get on the same train as them. ‘Here mate I’ll move so you can sit with your kids’ instead of not bothering so you end up getting off at Kings Cross with three of them by your side while the other one merrily wings their way to Cockfosters.

Finally, when you reach the other end and get to the ticket barrier, your mobile phone wallet hasn’t knackered the magnetic strip on the back of the ticket because there isn’t one - the cardboard has built-in NFC or whatever so you just tap it, the gate opens, and then you piss off and get on with the rest of your day.

Yeah, I know Glasgow’s subway is way, way smaller and there’s only two lines - an ‘outie’ and in ‘innie’ that both go round in a circle in opposite directions so if you get bladdered and fall asleep you’ll always eventually end up where you need to be. However, I didn’t leave the network feeling like I wanted to twat someone or emigrate to Greenland, which unfortunately is something I experience on The Tube more often than not.

[freddie barss @BarssFreddie]

After 60 years in family ownership, the iconic Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum is on the market. c.o. Oban Times 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Sovereign 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👑 @SovereignBain]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👑💪🫶👌

[ClarksonsFarm @ClarksonsFarm1]

When James and Richard blew up the original farm house. 🤣

[MP10 @MusicPills10]

In 1996, during A Night in London, Mark Knopfler played “Sultans of Swing” and time stood still.
No showing off. Just pure storytelling through six strings. The greatest musicians never need to shout to be heard. And today, at 77 years old, the magic is still there. #DireStraits

[John Swinney @JohnSwinney]

The Cruachan power station, a kilometre deep inside the mountain, and the dam above are iconic feats of Scottish engineering.

Scotland’s vast renewable energy capacity continues to grow. It was great to see the work ongoing to upgrade these vital facilities.

[Craig @craig_m0808]

Me: I'm nipping out to watch the eclipse

Scottish weather:

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

Welcome to Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

The march out of the massed pipers and drummers from Edinburgh Castle down the Royal Mile. Absolutely glorious.

[Granite Man 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @GraniteDhuine]

If you come to Scotland, you may find the language different from London. We use strange words like, "please", "thank you" and "excuse me".

[Sovereign 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👑 @SovereignBain]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👌🫶

[Being Scottish @BeingScots]

On this day 30 years ago: Oasis played the first of two massive outdoor concerts in Balloch Castle Country Park, next to Loch Lomond. 80,000 fans attended over the two days. Support acts included Manic Street Preachers, The Charlatans and Black Grape.

[AlphaFox @alphafox]

I felt it. 😞

[☆𝕃𝕦𝕟𝕒𝕣🌙𝕃𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣☆ @Lunar_Luster]

In honor of Canada Day and being Canadian 🥰🇨🇦

[Washingtons ghost @washghost1]

Can we make Europeans coming here a yearly thing? Like for a month out of the summer they just come here and go on adventures

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

The Tartan Army are a credit to Scotland. Here they are in full voice singing ‘Loch Lomond’ in Boston Stadium last night for the World Cup match between Scotland and Haiti. Absolutely glorious.

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

The Proclaimers, “500 miles” belted out by Scottish football fans at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.

If you mix American Baseball with the Tartan Army and The Proclaimers, this is what you get. Surreal but absolutely glorious.
⚾️🇺🇸⚽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿♥️

[The Herald @heraldscotland]

It has been reported that a 125-decibel sound level was recorded during Flower of Scotland, which makes it the loudest noise at a World Cup tournament ever 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 👇

𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 @SPARScotland

𝘐𝘔𝘈𝘎𝘌: 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯/𝘗𝘈 𝘞𝘪𝘳𝘦

[PixByPedro @PedDronio]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Scotland with Sam @Theweewhitedug]

It’s never easy being Scottish but it’s awesome all the same. The tartan army in full voice in Boston. What a sound. Fills my heart with pride. So wish I was there.

Never been so stressed between 2-4am in my life but a win’s a win. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿😍⚽️