So we're rounding the bend on the year, the end is insight so in order to celebrate all of our travelling we have decided that instead of sightseeing in the last week of our trip we are going to SHOP! I'm excited, like salivating at the corners of my mouth excited. We've been such good girls and spent very little. We have only paid for one sight seeing attraction in each city (with the exception of Dresden where we paid nothing), and only paid at the most 9 euros (with the exception of a Sound of Music tour in Salzberg which was worth every penny). Every meal we could cook ourselves we have...so now we are going to shop until we drop.
It isn't that we haven't done things, or denied ourselves of things we have wanted to do, it's just that once you've seen about 20 museums or castles you've really seen them all. That being said we did have a wonderful and very educational time in the Museum of Dutch Resistance in Amsterdam, I would recommend that to anyone! Especially Canadians, because as it turns out we are the Dutch saviours! We went to a museum in Brussels that, to be honest I could have taken or left, but I did learn that it used to be surrounded by a wall and I saw over 700 outfits for the Manikin Pis...for those of who don't know it's a statue of a peeing boy. Speaking of museums the train museum in York is awesome! And free, just don't get stuck there for lunch the food is ridiculously expensive. Hamburgh is a pretty city but unfortunately the weather was miserable, my pal had a cold and most of the stuff to do is outside on the water. Dresden was still a little cold, but the sun was out and there were free bikes to be had so off we went, touring a beautiful city, my second most favourite place we have been. Next we went down to Prague which is beautiful and cheap! Bonus! It's a pretty big city when you don't know your way around so we took a nice bus tour got a little history and better oriented. Also because it was so cheap we had to do a little shopping (you would have too!). Our hostel was great, while it was 20 minutes out of the city, there was a tram that went pretty frequently. The place was a great escape from the city, a former boathouse it was right on the water, unfortunately we went to go canoeing on our last day but the guy was closed for the day, instead we had a nice little hike in the surrounding forest. The women who ran the hostel were great. When we arrived they knew who we were and greeted us as we came in, than handed us little welcome packs with some postcards, a pen and a map of prague! Everynight they cooked homemade meals for us, and even vegetarian ones special for my friend and I. They rang a bell and called us all for dinner, calling your name if you lagged behind. When we left they gave us little packs for our train ride, a juice box, apple and a little package of wafer cookies! They were great, and surprisingly the cheapest hostel we have stayed at. We almost changed our plans to stay there!
The train 'adventure' to Fussen was quite a trip and I don't have the energy to go into it now, but one day when I have nothing to do I will, even the thought of it still drains me of every fiber of my being. (It wasn't just that bad, it was worse!)
Fussen was our next destination, and I would have to say that it was the best we've had on our trip. The views were beyond words! Just outside of Fussen is the castle that the Disney castle is based on. Newenstein. Not only is there this castle, there is another one, plus hill mountains, alps and a gorgeous lake. Stunning! On our first day we rented bikes and took them around a lake, which took us into surrounding towns and gave us great views. It was like being in a postcard. The next day we went to the castle and got some more great views. We took a (terrifying) carriage ride up to the castle.
From Fussen we went to Salzberg, which is nice, but coming from Fussen wasn't very impressive. An expensive city, we had to go out of the city to get stunning views. The castle in the city reminded us of Edinburgh castle, so we weren't that impressed. We did however take a very nice Sound of Music tour. Sing along included!!
So now we find ourselves in Frankfurt, ready to shop! I could go on but there are some VERY noisy boys in here driving Mush and I crazy. They seem to think they are the only ones in here or that this room is just for them. They have surround my poor pal.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Quick Update!!!
Just to let you know (whoever you are) that I'm not dead!!
Quick update on our trip, we've left Edinburgh, been through York,(train museum was awesome), London, (Saw Wicked again that was fantastic, again), Brussels (we watched police clean up a jumper off the ground across the street from our hostel). And now we are in Amsterdam, taking in the sites heading off to Hamburgh tomorrow. Oh and my phone got cut off so I have no way of communicating with anyone except for email, when I randomly get a computer! It's been a great time so far! I'm already running out of time on this ancient computer so that will have to be all for now.
Quick update on our trip, we've left Edinburgh, been through York,(train museum was awesome), London, (Saw Wicked again that was fantastic, again), Brussels (we watched police clean up a jumper off the ground across the street from our hostel). And now we are in Amsterdam, taking in the sites heading off to Hamburgh tomorrow. Oh and my phone got cut off so I have no way of communicating with anyone except for email, when I randomly get a computer! It's been a great time so far! I'm already running out of time on this ancient computer so that will have to be all for now.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
2 1/2 Days Left In Edinburgh
First of all I want to say thanks to my best pal Cheryl for giving my blog a new look. The pictures are actual pics from our trip. She's the best!!
So we have 3 days left in Edinburgh, well 2 1/2 days left. Yesterday I went out and took the plunge...I cut my hair!! I got it cut the shortest that I have had it cut in like ten years, which for me is just below my shoulders. I also decided to catch up with the times and get it layered (I actually got it layered before but not as much as this time). I got it 'thinned' to. Very exciting! I must admit that it is a very different look for me, but I really like it!
In other preparations, we've packed up suitcases to ship home. It is hard to leave somewhere for a year and not accumulate some stuff. After a lot of thought and some research we found that the best way to ship things home was actually easier than we thought, and cheaper. We can just send our suitcases home through Mailboxes Etc. for 75 quid! Some shipping companies were going to take 8 weeks (this will only take a week) and they were going to cost like 200! We decided that we didn't want ot drag around our suitcases through Europe, but they are still in good condition so we went out and got real backpacker backpacks, and fortunately we can still send home our suitcases (to use for the next trip).
**Warning, Rant Alert**
Despite sending stuff home, obviously we have a lot more stuff than we can ever consider keeping. To combat this we made the decision to donate our things to a chairty shop, checking that they would pick it up, because we have quite a bit. We decided to donate our things to the PSDA, which is an animal chairty. We went into the store a week ago and arranged for them to come by and pick the stuff up. We were told the driver would call us some time this week to arrange a time for pick up no later than Wednesday, but probably earlier. For those of you who don't know, today is Wednesday, and in my land it is now just after 5pm. When we hadn't heard from them by yesterday we gave them a quick call to check that they were still coming, I hate to wait around all day for nothing. They told me that the driver would call us first thing in the morning to arrange what time he would be here today.
I woke up somewhat early to make sure we wouldn't miss his call and to make sure everything was ready for him to take. When we hadn't heard from him by 10:30 I called the PSDA again to make sure that he was in fact coming today, once again I was told he would be calling me and that he would be in the shop in the next 1/2 hour so I would hear from him than. By 12:00 we still hadn't heard anything. By now I was getting edgy, I just wanted to know whether or not this guy was coming today, because I HATE WAITING AROUND, and ummm, I did think that we were doing them a favour donating our stuff.
So at 12:30 Cheryl calls this time to see if he will be coming today and the woman becomes very curt and tells us that she has no idea and that he will call us. She was so rude it was like they are doing us a favour!!! There is at least 200 pounds worth of stuff, it's not like a couple bags of clothes and a few books. You know if they didn't want it they could have just said no thanks, and we could have arranged to give it to someone else. Now we leave in a few days and I'm not willing to get burned again waiting around for a shop to come and pick it up.
So now it's five o'clock, we haven't heard a word from them and we've got a bunch of stuff that we are going to have too sort through AGAIN, and we are going to carry it to the nearest charity shop, which isn't that near. We don't want it to go in the bin when someone can use the stuff, it would be such a waste, not to mention my wasted day! Argh the rage!
So we have 3 days left in Edinburgh, well 2 1/2 days left. Yesterday I went out and took the plunge...I cut my hair!! I got it cut the shortest that I have had it cut in like ten years, which for me is just below my shoulders. I also decided to catch up with the times and get it layered (I actually got it layered before but not as much as this time). I got it 'thinned' to. Very exciting! I must admit that it is a very different look for me, but I really like it!
In other preparations, we've packed up suitcases to ship home. It is hard to leave somewhere for a year and not accumulate some stuff. After a lot of thought and some research we found that the best way to ship things home was actually easier than we thought, and cheaper. We can just send our suitcases home through Mailboxes Etc. for 75 quid! Some shipping companies were going to take 8 weeks (this will only take a week) and they were going to cost like 200! We decided that we didn't want ot drag around our suitcases through Europe, but they are still in good condition so we went out and got real backpacker backpacks, and fortunately we can still send home our suitcases (to use for the next trip).
**Warning, Rant Alert**
Despite sending stuff home, obviously we have a lot more stuff than we can ever consider keeping. To combat this we made the decision to donate our things to a chairty shop, checking that they would pick it up, because we have quite a bit. We decided to donate our things to the PSDA, which is an animal chairty. We went into the store a week ago and arranged for them to come by and pick the stuff up. We were told the driver would call us some time this week to arrange a time for pick up no later than Wednesday, but probably earlier. For those of you who don't know, today is Wednesday, and in my land it is now just after 5pm. When we hadn't heard from them by yesterday we gave them a quick call to check that they were still coming, I hate to wait around all day for nothing. They told me that the driver would call us first thing in the morning to arrange what time he would be here today.
I woke up somewhat early to make sure we wouldn't miss his call and to make sure everything was ready for him to take. When we hadn't heard from him by 10:30 I called the PSDA again to make sure that he was in fact coming today, once again I was told he would be calling me and that he would be in the shop in the next 1/2 hour so I would hear from him than. By 12:00 we still hadn't heard anything. By now I was getting edgy, I just wanted to know whether or not this guy was coming today, because I HATE WAITING AROUND, and ummm, I did think that we were doing them a favour donating our stuff.
So at 12:30 Cheryl calls this time to see if he will be coming today and the woman becomes very curt and tells us that she has no idea and that he will call us. She was so rude it was like they are doing us a favour!!! There is at least 200 pounds worth of stuff, it's not like a couple bags of clothes and a few books. You know if they didn't want it they could have just said no thanks, and we could have arranged to give it to someone else. Now we leave in a few days and I'm not willing to get burned again waiting around for a shop to come and pick it up.
So now it's five o'clock, we haven't heard a word from them and we've got a bunch of stuff that we are going to have too sort through AGAIN, and we are going to carry it to the nearest charity shop, which isn't that near. We don't want it to go in the bin when someone can use the stuff, it would be such a waste, not to mention my wasted day! Argh the rage!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Foo!!!
Last night Cheryl and I went to see a Foo Fighters concert for T on the Fringe. It was awesome!! The Foo are great, I love the Foo, who doesn't love the Foo? This was their biggest outdoor concert and there were sooo many people there!!!We wore bright colours so we wouldn't lose each other in a crowd. Despite being really crappy rainy weather all day (typical Scotland), late afternoon it all turned around and it was a really nice night (not typical Scotland), although we did still have to wear sweaters to keep warm (I know it's August, you don't have to tell me that!).
The first band to come on were called Silver Sun Pickups. Now I'm not a huge concert goer so I'm really not the best concert critic but this is my blog so I'm going to do it anyway. The thing that I enjoy about concerts is being able to sing and dance (yes I dance, not well but I do it anyway) to the songs. I find my biggest problem with bands or songs that I'm not familiar with is that because of the sound quality that you get at a concert you don't really know what they are saying, and the song is lacking that (I can't believe I'm about to say this...) polished quality that I hate to love. I think this makes me incapable of commenting on their songs, except to say that I am willing to seek them out and give them a chance. That has to do with the part that I feel I can more fairly comment on, the character of the show that they put on. The band was made up f 4 members, lead singer on a guitar, drummer, girl on guitar, and finally a guy on a key board. The lead singer was really good with the crowd, interactive, and funny. He seemed excited and thrilled to be there. The drummer was good, but all I can really say about him is that he seemed liked he was possessed while playing the drums. I have no real handle on what a drummer should look like but I'll admit I found it oddly creepy, but he wasn't horrible to look at so he gets a point. The guy on the keyboard was really really into the music. I can't quite think of anything else to say about him, he was sort of just there, off to the side. Now last but no least the girl on the guitar. In the words of my pal, Cheryl, she seemed to have gotten lost on her way to Lilith Fair. While the rest of her band was rocking out she was sort of swaying to the music. To be fair it was a big concert and it could have been nerves because a few songs in she started to take a few steps around the stage but it was still an awkward fit. She did add a little something different to their sound though.
Nine Inch Nails came up next. Ah hem, now previous to this show I considered myself a NIN fan, not a huge fan, but I enjoyed their music. I'm not going to say that after this show I don't, but keeping in mind that these guys are veterans, I expected a better show. Despite all the flash and lights they had, I found it bland and well I'll be honest I was bored and a little annoyed. For the first few songs they all had like laptops in lieu of instruments and they were pushing buttons and swaying to the 'music'. I could go on but like them (seemingly), I don't care enough.
Now on to the Foo!! They're great, have I mentioned how great they are? They put on an awesome show. A show for the audience, if you know what I mean. And they genuinely look like they are enjoying themselves. Even though their music would be enough the light show they put on was pretty awesome too. And Dave Grohl, well we all know that he is just awesome! I must admit we are finishing off this year quite nicely.
Before I finish I have to comment on the portion of the night I like to call leaving the stadium and heading home. It was golden, I just can't leave it out, it's not my style. So as the concert was nearing an end I did a scan of the facilities to see which would be the best exit strategy. After careful consideration I decided that most people would exit from the centre so our best bet was to go out the furthest side to avoid a mad rush of people heading for the exit. Now you have to give credit to Meadowbank Stadium for being brave enough to hire the mentally challenged to man the exits and handle crowd control. I'm sorry that was uncalled for and unfair to all mentally challenged people in the world, even the ones with goo brains. Someone in their absolute idiocy decided that the best way to get one of the largest crowds that the stadiums has ever seen to leave was by bottlenecking the crowd so that thousands upon thousands of us had to leave out of ONE exit. Now at first they let people leave through all the exits but suddenly decided to have a little fun with the rest of us. The worst of it was, they seemed to close off an exit just as a group of us came from the other one that had just been closed. Third one in I wasn't having it anymore, and we started yelling, "just go through him", referring to the poor scrawny guy they had standing at that exit. Next we started to 'gently' pushing the people in front of us so they had to option but to push through him and when he had to give a bunch of us scurried through to freedom!! I was sad it had to come to that, but trust me, it had to be done.
Not over yet, this is just a show of the luck that I possess. Standing at the bus stop we quickly realized that they had closed off the road and heard that the buses wouldn't start running down the street for another half hour at least. We decided, since we don't leave all that far we would just walk home, because of a curfew concerts have to end by 10 o'clock, so it was still early. We started walking up the street and were chatting about this and that when I looked up the street which the traffic had been diverted to and lo and behold there was our bus sitting in traffic. After a little mad dash through the crowded sidewalks to get to the bus stop we made it just as it pulled up and got home in record time!! I know you don't care, but stuff like that happens so rarely I need to mark the occasion.
The first band to come on were called Silver Sun Pickups. Now I'm not a huge concert goer so I'm really not the best concert critic but this is my blog so I'm going to do it anyway. The thing that I enjoy about concerts is being able to sing and dance (yes I dance, not well but I do it anyway) to the songs. I find my biggest problem with bands or songs that I'm not familiar with is that because of the sound quality that you get at a concert you don't really know what they are saying, and the song is lacking that (I can't believe I'm about to say this...) polished quality that I hate to love. I think this makes me incapable of commenting on their songs, except to say that I am willing to seek them out and give them a chance. That has to do with the part that I feel I can more fairly comment on, the character of the show that they put on. The band was made up f 4 members, lead singer on a guitar, drummer, girl on guitar, and finally a guy on a key board. The lead singer was really good with the crowd, interactive, and funny. He seemed excited and thrilled to be there. The drummer was good, but all I can really say about him is that he seemed liked he was possessed while playing the drums. I have no real handle on what a drummer should look like but I'll admit I found it oddly creepy, but he wasn't horrible to look at so he gets a point. The guy on the keyboard was really really into the music. I can't quite think of anything else to say about him, he was sort of just there, off to the side. Now last but no least the girl on the guitar. In the words of my pal, Cheryl, she seemed to have gotten lost on her way to Lilith Fair. While the rest of her band was rocking out she was sort of swaying to the music. To be fair it was a big concert and it could have been nerves because a few songs in she started to take a few steps around the stage but it was still an awkward fit. She did add a little something different to their sound though.
Nine Inch Nails came up next. Ah hem, now previous to this show I considered myself a NIN fan, not a huge fan, but I enjoyed their music. I'm not going to say that after this show I don't, but keeping in mind that these guys are veterans, I expected a better show. Despite all the flash and lights they had, I found it bland and well I'll be honest I was bored and a little annoyed. For the first few songs they all had like laptops in lieu of instruments and they were pushing buttons and swaying to the 'music'. I could go on but like them (seemingly), I don't care enough.
Now on to the Foo!! They're great, have I mentioned how great they are? They put on an awesome show. A show for the audience, if you know what I mean. And they genuinely look like they are enjoying themselves. Even though their music would be enough the light show they put on was pretty awesome too. And Dave Grohl, well we all know that he is just awesome! I must admit we are finishing off this year quite nicely.
Before I finish I have to comment on the portion of the night I like to call leaving the stadium and heading home. It was golden, I just can't leave it out, it's not my style. So as the concert was nearing an end I did a scan of the facilities to see which would be the best exit strategy. After careful consideration I decided that most people would exit from the centre so our best bet was to go out the furthest side to avoid a mad rush of people heading for the exit. Now you have to give credit to Meadowbank Stadium for being brave enough to hire the mentally challenged to man the exits and handle crowd control. I'm sorry that was uncalled for and unfair to all mentally challenged people in the world, even the ones with goo brains. Someone in their absolute idiocy decided that the best way to get one of the largest crowds that the stadiums has ever seen to leave was by bottlenecking the crowd so that thousands upon thousands of us had to leave out of ONE exit. Now at first they let people leave through all the exits but suddenly decided to have a little fun with the rest of us. The worst of it was, they seemed to close off an exit just as a group of us came from the other one that had just been closed. Third one in I wasn't having it anymore, and we started yelling, "just go through him", referring to the poor scrawny guy they had standing at that exit. Next we started to 'gently' pushing the people in front of us so they had to option but to push through him and when he had to give a bunch of us scurried through to freedom!! I was sad it had to come to that, but trust me, it had to be done.
Not over yet, this is just a show of the luck that I possess. Standing at the bus stop we quickly realized that they had closed off the road and heard that the buses wouldn't start running down the street for another half hour at least. We decided, since we don't leave all that far we would just walk home, because of a curfew concerts have to end by 10 o'clock, so it was still early. We started walking up the street and were chatting about this and that when I looked up the street which the traffic had been diverted to and lo and behold there was our bus sitting in traffic. After a little mad dash through the crowded sidewalks to get to the bus stop we made it just as it pulled up and got home in record time!! I know you don't care, but stuff like that happens so rarely I need to mark the occasion.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Edinburgh Fringe Festival-- Part One
I have now been to see 9 plays, 6 good and 3 bad. Not too bad if you ask me, considering we've only payed full price for one show, and it ended up being good, and in a really good location!!
Now I'm going to attempt to review as many of the shows as possible. Since I procrastinated, and saw most of them over a week ago, I'm sorry to say that they won't be as detailed as I would have liked. In any case, if you want to know more about the shows I went to see I'm sure a simple Google search will bring something up or you can check out the Fringe website at http://www.edfringe.com/ .
Bigger than Jesus ****
The first show that we saw, my expectations were very low, there are so many shows on the Fringe, they can't all be fabulous, can they (see Xenu is Loose). Because there are so many shows, they really set up venues everywhere, this one was in a church, and ironically we sat in pews. In the first few minutes of the show, you think that you've made a big mistake and this really is going to be a mass, and the ad was an elaborate scheme to draw in those who have 'lost their way'. Thankfully though, it was not only hilarious, but Rick Miller managed to poke fun at religious groups without being too offensive and critical of them. Considering the setting he had to work with it was very well done, my favourite part being his recreation of the last supper with a Jesus action figure, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and a few other recognizable characters. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Tony Blair The Musical ***
Pretty obvious what this one is about. Very well done, especially considering the venue they had to work with, the stage was about the size of a dinner table, and there was no air. Despite being very somewhat sweaty this youthful cast did an excellent job comedically going through Tony Blair's career. Especially entertaining was the depiction of his relationship with Gordon Brown. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Xenu is Loose! Cower puny Humans as the Dark Prince of the Galactic Federation rains Atomic Death once more upon your Pitiful Planet - The Musical!*
You know when your friend is in play so you go see it and pretend it was good so you don't hurt there feelings. Well in the case of Xenu is Loose, not even the nicest friend could muster up something nice to say about it. Sorry that was a lie, the title is cool, and the reason why I gave it one star. Who wouldn't want to see a show with a title like that? This show is about Scientology and is about as confusing and as easy to make fun of as the religion itself. Why most will agree it has the ingredients to be a good show, every aspect of the show needs fixing. From the guys standing on corners of the stage playing their guitars way too loud, looking less than thrilled to be there, to the gun fights resembling ones my brother and I had when we were in diapers. Xenu needs to be locked back up. I give it 1 out of 5 stars.
Women Fully Clothed*****
I've been in Scotland for nearly a year now and my strongest feelings of homesickness came after seeing Women Fully Clothed. I was laughing throughout the entire show. While it was aimed at women from about the 30 to 50 age range I think everyone can relate to the sketches these brilliant women perform. But as a big support of anything Canadian I guess I am somewhat biased. In any case a must see! I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
http://www.womenfullyclothed.com/
Best Laid Marketing Plans
Picture this. After crawling up a dark and dingy st air case you enter a tiny room, a nervous looking man flipping through a notebook mumbles something incoherently to you. "Pardon", you say nervously. Slightly clearer the man replies, "Are you here for the show...tickets are around the corner."Politely you thank him and head around the corner, where a surprised teenager tells you that the other show is still on, but you can have a seat and wait or get a drink at the deserted bar. Kindly you decline the drink and have a seat, where through a window you can see the stage below. It is small and the audiences folding chairs are practically on the stage. About half way back from the stage are two girls, giggling nervously. On the stage a girl is, well how to put this sensitively...lip syncing to very bad songs while shoving a sex toy in her ear. You turn to your friend nervously, than glance around with the sudden realization that if you stay around any longer it will be the two of you sitting along in that little theatre listening to that awkward, nervous mumbling man talk for an hour if you don't get out of there soon. So we left.
According to these reviews we made the right choice... http://www.one4review.com/Comedy_/comedy2007/best_l_m_p_.htm
http://www.edfringe.com/reviews/read.html?id=4096
Prints Of Denmark ****
We went to see this on a recommendation. A comedy about the controversial Danish comics depicting the Mohamed. The script was brilliantly written and except for a minor hitch in a few lines the acting was superb. On an awkward stage, with few props these guys did an excellent job. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Tap Ole *****
Tap Dancing and Spanish Guitar. Simple yet brilliant. I went into this show with very little expectations, I was looking for something I could sit back and enjoy without having to think about it. What I got was a performance that was not only colourful, but full of character and enthusiasm. It wasn't just that both the tap dancers and the guitar players were amazing, which they were. It was that they were really happy to be there and were clearly enjoying what they were doing. Fun for all. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
X-Files Improv *
Anyone who has ever seen any improv could have created this improv show. Very formulatic (if that's a word that's what this was). No one seems to have told Dean (aka Langley from the Lone Gunman), that improv isn't getting ideas from the audience and than spend your time making fun of those ideas. It was similar to primary school when the teacher gives you a story and you have to fill in the adjectives. The story is the same every time, but in some the dog is green, not brown. He didn't even have the sense or creativity to end a skit when it was clearly going wrong. He chose a girl from the audience who didn't just seem like she didn't speak English, but told him she didn't speak English in her broken English. You think he would have figured that out when he had to go up to get her when he told he to come to the stage, or when she couldn't figure out to put her arms in a lab coat. Maybe he just thought she was really stupid when he told her to wave and she didn't. The poor girl had to take hand signals from other audience members so she knew what to do. It was more sad than embarrassing. I am giving it 1 out of 5 stars, for a guy in the audience who came on stage and was actually funny.
Potted Potter****
Made for kids, this show is enjoyable for Harry Potter fans of any age. A hilarious run through all 7 books in just one hour. Qudditch included!! Dan and Jeff use their quick wit to keep even a young audience entertained for the whole show. Finale is icing on a already tasty cake, it left me humming days later. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
http://www.seabright.info/pottedpotter.html
Finally An Update!!!
Hiya!
Apologies for the long silence on my end. Life began to get very…routine, very average, and that doesn’t make for good writing. Well I guess it could have but after working all day and the occasional outing, I was way to tired to do anything but pass out on the couch with one of the few movies we have playing in the background. (Don’t judge me, you’ve all been there).
I finsihed working on the trains around March , went on to do 3 weeks of data entry which didn't work out because we didn't it faster than they anticipated, so I found myself at Scottish & Newcastle, a brewery, but not at the brewery, in the HR department, as a recruitment advisor. It was all very fancy!! And stressful, you see they were going through a 'restructure' and basically temps were taking over the permanant workers jobs while they found new work else where because they were being outsourced. Fun (that's sarcasm for those of you who weren't sure). The job was really good experience and most of the people were really nice but....well I'm sure no job is perfect. In any case I ended up making better money than most temp jobs and was able to save enough to take most of the month of August off to enjoy the city during festival season.
Since I have some extra time I decided it was time for a little update. While still working, I did go a few places and see a few things. For Canada Day weekend, we went to St.Andrew’s, known most famously for their golf courses, or for the university that Prince William went to. It was a very lovely little city, and we stayed at the university, just minutes away from the city centre. The city is right on the water, and if they actually had summer here (allegedly they do, but it’s August and I’m wearing a sweater) it would have been really nice. The weekend was nice, in Scottish terms, which means it only rained 50% of the time and hats and mittens were not needed. The fog made for some cool pictures though.
We also made it back to Stirling, where we saw some of the things we never got a chance to see before. We saw the bridge that William Wallace (aka Mel Gibson in Braveheart) fought one of his greatest battles on. We also went up the Wallace monument which gives an exceptional view of the city. Already situated on a hill above the city, the monument is about 300 stairs to the top where you get a worthwhile view. There were also exhibits on each level to break up the climb up the stairs. Unfortunately on the day that we went it was very very windy (when is it not windy in Scotland though). Needless to say, it was a little scary, and we stayed somewhat near the centre and away from the edges.
Scotland is a great city to be on the Harry Potter bandwagon. When the movie came out, we went to the Imax in Glasgow to city, taking advantage of the day trip to do a little shopping in the city I would personally describe as having the best shopping in Scotland. As an added bonus the cinema is near the harbor, and we took the opportunity to walk along the edge of the water.
The book came out a week later, and we queued up for it at the Waterstones bookstore which is directly across from the Bell Manor hotel, where JK Rowling finished writing the seventh book.
Now that it’s August, the festival has begun in Edinburgh. So far I’ve gone to see 5 shows (it would have been 6 but one of the venues was an absolute dive and we were the only ones there to see it so we bolted, trust me, anyone would have). Of the 5 we have seen, only one was a disappointment (2 if you count the one we bolted on). Not to be biased, but the best 2 that we say just so happened to also be Canadian acts (one of which we didn’t know was Canadian when we got the tickets).
For those of you interested, or who have too much time to know what to do with, here is the link to some of the Fringe stuff. http://www.edfringe.com/
The festival is really cool so far, the streets are packed and full of street performers. Any time of day you can walk down the street and watch a performance. Just the other day I saw an angry man throwing knives! I didn’t stick around for that one…
Well that’s about all for now. I’m looking forward to an exciting next few months. We will be leaving Scotland in September and embarking on our backpacking trip. I’ll try and keep you all updated….
Apologies for the long silence on my end. Life began to get very…routine, very average, and that doesn’t make for good writing. Well I guess it could have but after working all day and the occasional outing, I was way to tired to do anything but pass out on the couch with one of the few movies we have playing in the background. (Don’t judge me, you’ve all been there).
I finsihed working on the trains around March , went on to do 3 weeks of data entry which didn't work out because we didn't it faster than they anticipated, so I found myself at Scottish & Newcastle, a brewery, but not at the brewery, in the HR department, as a recruitment advisor. It was all very fancy!! And stressful, you see they were going through a 'restructure' and basically temps were taking over the permanant workers jobs while they found new work else where because they were being outsourced. Fun (that's sarcasm for those of you who weren't sure). The job was really good experience and most of the people were really nice but....well I'm sure no job is perfect. In any case I ended up making better money than most temp jobs and was able to save enough to take most of the month of August off to enjoy the city during festival season.
Since I have some extra time I decided it was time for a little update. While still working, I did go a few places and see a few things. For Canada Day weekend, we went to St.Andrew’s, known most famously for their golf courses, or for the university that Prince William went to. It was a very lovely little city, and we stayed at the university, just minutes away from the city centre. The city is right on the water, and if they actually had summer here (allegedly they do, but it’s August and I’m wearing a sweater) it would have been really nice. The weekend was nice, in Scottish terms, which means it only rained 50% of the time and hats and mittens were not needed. The fog made for some cool pictures though.
We also made it back to Stirling, where we saw some of the things we never got a chance to see before. We saw the bridge that William Wallace (aka Mel Gibson in Braveheart) fought one of his greatest battles on. We also went up the Wallace monument which gives an exceptional view of the city. Already situated on a hill above the city, the monument is about 300 stairs to the top where you get a worthwhile view. There were also exhibits on each level to break up the climb up the stairs. Unfortunately on the day that we went it was very very windy (when is it not windy in Scotland though). Needless to say, it was a little scary, and we stayed somewhat near the centre and away from the edges.
Scotland is a great city to be on the Harry Potter bandwagon. When the movie came out, we went to the Imax in Glasgow to city, taking advantage of the day trip to do a little shopping in the city I would personally describe as having the best shopping in Scotland. As an added bonus the cinema is near the harbor, and we took the opportunity to walk along the edge of the water.
The book came out a week later, and we queued up for it at the Waterstones bookstore which is directly across from the Bell Manor hotel, where JK Rowling finished writing the seventh book.
Now that it’s August, the festival has begun in Edinburgh. So far I’ve gone to see 5 shows (it would have been 6 but one of the venues was an absolute dive and we were the only ones there to see it so we bolted, trust me, anyone would have). Of the 5 we have seen, only one was a disappointment (2 if you count the one we bolted on). Not to be biased, but the best 2 that we say just so happened to also be Canadian acts (one of which we didn’t know was Canadian when we got the tickets).
For those of you interested, or who have too much time to know what to do with, here is the link to some of the Fringe stuff. http://www.edfringe.com/
The festival is really cool so far, the streets are packed and full of street performers. Any time of day you can walk down the street and watch a performance. Just the other day I saw an angry man throwing knives! I didn’t stick around for that one…
Well that’s about all for now. I’m looking forward to an exciting next few months. We will be leaving Scotland in September and embarking on our backpacking trip. I’ll try and keep you all updated….
Monday, February 19, 2007
More DSL!!!
For some strange reason I had forgotten that I am still a tourist in Scotland and I am therefore able to do touristy things. And let me tell you it felt great to be a tourist again. Cheryl, our friend Delwyn and I decided to go to Stirling Castle for the day. Ever since the first time I passed Stirling on one of the Haggis tours I have wanted to go there. Not only is it a beautiful place, but also it is so full of history, deeply Scottish history. I didn't get to do all of Stirling because it was much bigger than we had thought and we didn't have as much time as we thought. Forutnately the bus only takes an hour to get there and it only costs 4.40 for a return ticket. Can't beat that for a great day out!! Speaking of great deals we bought a Historic Scotland Membership and now we get into most castles and sites around scotland for free, and half price in the UK. Not bad!! (Not to mention we get money off in the gift shops).
Despite being rather similar to Edinburgh Castle, the history of it makes up for any similarities, as does the view from the castle. Off to one side is the city, another way is flat farm land, and yet another side gives you an amazing view of some fabulous mountains, some of which were snow capped!! It was amazing! Even the history of the castle was interesting, and all of the renovations taking place to get the castle back to it's original beauty are quite interesting. I dont' think it's worth going into a castle unless you get some sort of guided tour. You just learn so much more, even just about the architecture. There is so much that you wouldn't even think to look at. I can't even begin to describe it. Oh also from the castle we could see the Stirling bridge. This is the famous site where William Wallace fought off the English Army (Braveheart does the man such a horrible injustice), using that bridge. Near the mountains you can see the Wallace Monument, which is just outside the city, and a bit of a hike. Now this is one of the places that we didn't make it to, but definitely will be going back for it.
Luckily for us it was a beautiful day and we just wandered the city, than of course being female we had to go and do a little shopping. There was a great shopping centre just outiside of the bus station. We also wandered the Holy Rude Church grave yard which contained some really old gravestones. Sorry Laura, no ghosts.
The taste of tourism from Stirling has certainly reminded me of why I came and now I am planning trips, some things just even within Edinburgh. With my membership came a book and I didn't realize how many castles were in Edinburgh. We are also planning a trip out to London for St. Patty's day weekend, we screwed up our chances to go to Dublin, so we decided to go the other way. I'm very excited about that. I've spent the day looking for all sorts of different things for us to do. We are also starting to plan, slowly but surely, our backpacking trip that we will be taking when we are finished working here. I'm finally putting the holiday back into my working holdiay!!!
(I know I'm a loser)
Despite being rather similar to Edinburgh Castle, the history of it makes up for any similarities, as does the view from the castle. Off to one side is the city, another way is flat farm land, and yet another side gives you an amazing view of some fabulous mountains, some of which were snow capped!! It was amazing! Even the history of the castle was interesting, and all of the renovations taking place to get the castle back to it's original beauty are quite interesting. I dont' think it's worth going into a castle unless you get some sort of guided tour. You just learn so much more, even just about the architecture. There is so much that you wouldn't even think to look at. I can't even begin to describe it. Oh also from the castle we could see the Stirling bridge. This is the famous site where William Wallace fought off the English Army (Braveheart does the man such a horrible injustice), using that bridge. Near the mountains you can see the Wallace Monument, which is just outside the city, and a bit of a hike. Now this is one of the places that we didn't make it to, but definitely will be going back for it.
Luckily for us it was a beautiful day and we just wandered the city, than of course being female we had to go and do a little shopping. There was a great shopping centre just outiside of the bus station. We also wandered the Holy Rude Church grave yard which contained some really old gravestones. Sorry Laura, no ghosts.
The taste of tourism from Stirling has certainly reminded me of why I came and now I am planning trips, some things just even within Edinburgh. With my membership came a book and I didn't realize how many castles were in Edinburgh. We are also planning a trip out to London for St. Patty's day weekend, we screwed up our chances to go to Dublin, so we decided to go the other way. I'm very excited about that. I've spent the day looking for all sorts of different things for us to do. We are also starting to plan, slowly but surely, our backpacking trip that we will be taking when we are finished working here. I'm finally putting the holiday back into my working holdiay!!!
(I know I'm a loser)
Friday, February 16, 2007
The Battle Continues
The battle to post my photos continued today. I have wasted most of my day trying to upload the software and such to put my pics on the computer and then on my blog. While I lost this battle the war is not yet over. I have some really cool pics to post and am very excited to post them. While I haven't done much travelling as of late, Cheryl and I are hoping to go a few places in the following few months. France and Spain are on the list!!! And I am very excited about that!! We are possibly going to Stirling Castle tomorrow, but that has been neither confirmed nor denied. I hope we go I am very excited to see the Wallace monument, as well as Stirling Castle.
As for work. I have been on the Aberdeen train all week and because the sun has been setting later and later, and the train has been relatively quiet, I have been able to look out the window at the amazing views. It is a truly stunning journey. Worth the trip just to see the scenery from the train. We saw seals the other day!! And when the weather was a little stormy the waves were amazing. Ahhhh, momentary DSL moment (deep scottish love).
As for work. I have been on the Aberdeen train all week and because the sun has been setting later and later, and the train has been relatively quiet, I have been able to look out the window at the amazing views. It is a truly stunning journey. Worth the trip just to see the scenery from the train. We saw seals the other day!! And when the weather was a little stormy the waves were amazing. Ahhhh, momentary DSL moment (deep scottish love).
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Who would have thought it was possible?
I wouldn't have thought that it was possible, yet here we are. Or at least there you guys are, in Canada covered in snow, while I'm here in Scotland basking in the sunshine. You know I actually have a few windows open around the flat because the sun is so hot!! And yet I miss it, yes you heard me right, I miss it. The snow. The smell of it, the crunching under my feet. Sniff sniff I really miss the cold too. I love that feeling in the air, when it suddenly gets a little warmer and you know that it is about to snow. I love shoveling snow, making that first dent in a freshly snowed upon driveway! Hmmmm... I miss it. We've only had snow here once and it as like maybe 2 cm. As soon as you stepped on it it melted away. *Sigh* Oh well. Cheryl and I have tried to convince our respective work places that snow days are like religious holidays so we shouldn't have to come into work today, but as you've probably guessed they didn't care much.
Well, *sigh*, I hope you enjoy it.
Well, *sigh*, I hope you enjoy it.
Monday, February 5, 2007
I must be dreaming!!!
I have to type fast, I'm scared that if I take to long I won't be able to post!!! AARRRGGHHH I have been trying to post on my blog for about a month now and everytime I try it won't let me sign in!!! Argh. Well it's letting me now so I guess I must make the most of this!!!
So hmmm, where to begin. It's been so long since Christmas, I don't know where to start. Really not a lot has happened, and most of it is old news.
Here's the recap:
The New Years street party in Edinburgh was cancelled and I ended up having a pretty dull new years. We had some friends staying with us so we ended up going back home to bring in the new year. The storm was pretty bad and we were worried that if we didnt' head home we would get stuck. I had to work at 9am on New Years day so I ended up just going to bed at about 12:30. I know I'm a loser.
Since then my life has been full of...well work. Not much else happening. Pretty much settling into the routine of Scottish life. We are trying to plan a trip but now that Cheryl has a new job we rarely see eachother. Because my job isn't a 9-5 Monday to Friday job no one is really off when I am so most of my time off is spent puttering around. I'm starting to make friends in the railway, which is a surprise considering how shy I am...(that was a joke for those of you who didn't get it), so I've been hanging out with some of them, but even then everyone works different shifts. To keep myself busy I've starting baking and cooking. I like the challenge and the tasty food that comes with it. I made tea biscuits with are extremely frustrating but ended up being pretty tasty. I would make muffins but muffin trays are ridiculously expensive here, and I don't need muffins that bad.
We are trying to get the internet at home and then I will be able to keep up with my blog more (if, that is, the blogger gods let me).
I am now going to become like all of my work mates and talk about nothing but the trains.
First of all, for those of you who remember I once wrote about an incident where I had the misfortune to walk in on a woman while she was, well...taking care of business. Shortly after making fun of this woman I had a reversal of roles, only this time I was at work, which I feel makes it worse because I have to keep interacting with the peeping tom. That was uncalled for, I'm sorry. It wasn't his fault, it was the trains. Sooo, here I was running up and down the train looking for a loo. Now there was a wheelchair one, but the locks on them are so iffy I tried hard to find another one. Unable to do so I had to go for it, confident that the door was locked I settled in to take care of business. Luckily (?) it wasn't until I was pulling up my trousers that some poor man kept hitting the door open button. I could hear him keep pushing it and knowing how those doors can be I tried to go as fast as I could, but unfortunately our uniforms can be a little tricky, you know with the belt and all. The worst was we both kept trying to hit the close button on our respective sides, but it was just making it stay open. I don't think the man took coffee or tea for the rest of the journey, deciding instead to stare out the window with his headphones on. The moral of the story? Don't make fun of people because it can happen to you? No, don't use wheelchair bathrooms on the train!!!
Just yesterday I had one of the most interesting days that I think I have ever had at work. Coming back from London the train was heaving, we were packed to the gils, standing room only. While this still can be a bit overwhelming for me, I was surving, and it wasn't that eventful. That was until a drunk laddy came up to the buffet car looking for a door so that he could get off. Now there were a few problems with his getting off. The first was that he was Scottish (as he kept telling us) and we were still in England, the second was that we weren't in a station yet and still moving. Somehow we managed to keep him on the train until we got into Newcastle and forgot about him while we went about our work. As we started to leave the station we could hear a commotion outside of the train I went over to the window to take a look and just as the train came to a halt, after only just heading out, I saw the drunk guy hanging from the window. Platform staff were trying to pull him away, all the while he was shouting "That's my train, I'm Scottish" He accussed the staff of being racist because he was Scottish. While it was delaying the train and make me late for my bedtime, it was pretty amusing to watch. Well it was at least until we started moving again and he tried to jump under the wheels of the train. It took 4 platform staff to wrestle him to the ground and hold him there until we were gone. That's the problem I have with people being allowed to bring their own alcohol on the train, there is nothing we can do when they get that drunk. He had friends on the train who should have been watching him, but they were pretty drunk themselves. In case any of you get any ideas to do the same thing if you miss the train, he was arrested, banned from the trains for life and has to pay £140 for every minute that the train was delayed. They didn't say whether or not the staff were going to have him charged with assault. Needless to say, it was quite the night!!
Well hopefully this posts and hopefully I will be able to get it to work again. I now have to take care of business (if you know what I mean).
So hmmm, where to begin. It's been so long since Christmas, I don't know where to start. Really not a lot has happened, and most of it is old news.
Here's the recap:
The New Years street party in Edinburgh was cancelled and I ended up having a pretty dull new years. We had some friends staying with us so we ended up going back home to bring in the new year. The storm was pretty bad and we were worried that if we didnt' head home we would get stuck. I had to work at 9am on New Years day so I ended up just going to bed at about 12:30. I know I'm a loser.
Since then my life has been full of...well work. Not much else happening. Pretty much settling into the routine of Scottish life. We are trying to plan a trip but now that Cheryl has a new job we rarely see eachother. Because my job isn't a 9-5 Monday to Friday job no one is really off when I am so most of my time off is spent puttering around. I'm starting to make friends in the railway, which is a surprise considering how shy I am...(that was a joke for those of you who didn't get it), so I've been hanging out with some of them, but even then everyone works different shifts. To keep myself busy I've starting baking and cooking. I like the challenge and the tasty food that comes with it. I made tea biscuits with are extremely frustrating but ended up being pretty tasty. I would make muffins but muffin trays are ridiculously expensive here, and I don't need muffins that bad.
We are trying to get the internet at home and then I will be able to keep up with my blog more (if, that is, the blogger gods let me).
I am now going to become like all of my work mates and talk about nothing but the trains.
First of all, for those of you who remember I once wrote about an incident where I had the misfortune to walk in on a woman while she was, well...taking care of business. Shortly after making fun of this woman I had a reversal of roles, only this time I was at work, which I feel makes it worse because I have to keep interacting with the peeping tom. That was uncalled for, I'm sorry. It wasn't his fault, it was the trains. Sooo, here I was running up and down the train looking for a loo. Now there was a wheelchair one, but the locks on them are so iffy I tried hard to find another one. Unable to do so I had to go for it, confident that the door was locked I settled in to take care of business. Luckily (?) it wasn't until I was pulling up my trousers that some poor man kept hitting the door open button. I could hear him keep pushing it and knowing how those doors can be I tried to go as fast as I could, but unfortunately our uniforms can be a little tricky, you know with the belt and all. The worst was we both kept trying to hit the close button on our respective sides, but it was just making it stay open. I don't think the man took coffee or tea for the rest of the journey, deciding instead to stare out the window with his headphones on. The moral of the story? Don't make fun of people because it can happen to you? No, don't use wheelchair bathrooms on the train!!!
Just yesterday I had one of the most interesting days that I think I have ever had at work. Coming back from London the train was heaving, we were packed to the gils, standing room only. While this still can be a bit overwhelming for me, I was surving, and it wasn't that eventful. That was until a drunk laddy came up to the buffet car looking for a door so that he could get off. Now there were a few problems with his getting off. The first was that he was Scottish (as he kept telling us) and we were still in England, the second was that we weren't in a station yet and still moving. Somehow we managed to keep him on the train until we got into Newcastle and forgot about him while we went about our work. As we started to leave the station we could hear a commotion outside of the train I went over to the window to take a look and just as the train came to a halt, after only just heading out, I saw the drunk guy hanging from the window. Platform staff were trying to pull him away, all the while he was shouting "That's my train, I'm Scottish" He accussed the staff of being racist because he was Scottish. While it was delaying the train and make me late for my bedtime, it was pretty amusing to watch. Well it was at least until we started moving again and he tried to jump under the wheels of the train. It took 4 platform staff to wrestle him to the ground and hold him there until we were gone. That's the problem I have with people being allowed to bring their own alcohol on the train, there is nothing we can do when they get that drunk. He had friends on the train who should have been watching him, but they were pretty drunk themselves. In case any of you get any ideas to do the same thing if you miss the train, he was arrested, banned from the trains for life and has to pay £140 for every minute that the train was delayed. They didn't say whether or not the staff were going to have him charged with assault. Needless to say, it was quite the night!!
Well hopefully this posts and hopefully I will be able to get it to work again. I now have to take care of business (if you know what I mean).
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