Edinblogh

Souvenirs

2007-09-08T13:25:00.000+01:00

I have most of my souvenir shopping done. I've tried my best to buy consumable things, because most people won't know what to do with a kilt-decoration for Scotch bottles or a Holyrood Palace snow globe.

I think, the best souvenir I bought for myself is the twenty Edinburgh Fringe shows I saw. Second behind that is two amber necklaces, dark chocolate KitKat bars (Mmmm), and I've yet to buy a houndstooth paperboy hat...

The Impossible

2007-09-07T12:51:00.000+01:00

They found my keys! On the last possible day I could possibly return my work keys...someone turned them in to my building's receptionist.

That was the start to what is turning out to be a wonderful last day of working at Heriot-Watt.

Missing Edinburgh

2007-09-06T12:53:00.000+01:00

I woke up this morning and went out the door. As usual, what I least want to be affronted with at nine in the morning is the smell of hops and barley, but that's Edinburgh for ya. In the morning, in the evening, in the middle of the night, you will get the occasional overpowering scent of one of the two breweries in the city.

It's not so bad, really. I'm going to miss it.

I'm also going to miss walking into one of the several used bookstores around the corner from me. All Edinburgh bookstores are made up of half newer books which means I can buy Catch-22 for £2.50. The other half of the shop is made up of leather-bound Victorian books with gold-lettering and etched illustrations on the inside. Children's books, poetry compilations, novels, they are gorgeous.

I'm going to miss live music in the pubs. There's nothing like sitting in a very Scottish pub, listening to renditions of "Tequila" or bagpipe music pumped with a bellows.

I'm going to miss ambling back to my flat at two in the morning, passing the castle, St. Giles' Cathedral, Greyfriar's Bobby, and assorted wonderfully historic sites. I am so jaded.

And being stared at in pubs, for knitting! This past evening, our normal location was closed so we went to the Oz Bar, where people photographed us, but at least the bartender was really nice.

I'm going to miss Americans standing on Grassmarket, with their gaze set on the fireworks above the castle emitting very loud "Oooohs" and "Ahhhhs".

I'll miss kilt shops. I've never been in one, but their existence is slightly amusing.

Then there's the double-decker buses, with their greenhouse-like upper level, peering down at people boarding the bus. The way the bus inflates and deflates itself with air.

I'll miss calling things "lochs" instead of lakes, "wee" instead of little, "aye" instead of yes, "crisps" instead of chips, ordering my beers in pints and half-pints, thinking in Celsius, Roast Chicken flavored crisps, A4-sized paper, dual monitors at work, wearing three coats in the middle of August...

And this is what we talk about at goodbye dinners.

Cheers!

Glasgow

2007-09-01T23:59:00.000+01:00

I had a busy day today.

Thomas and I arrived in Glasgow (pronounced "glesca", the faster you say, the less people will notice you're pronouncing it incorrectly) at 10:30am by train, and then proceeded to walk about Glasgow. It didn't take long before we realized it really isn't a town for tourists, but instead, a town for shoppers.

We took Lonely Planet's recommended walking tour, that just took us past a bunch of historical buildings that have now been turned into bars, luxury flats, factories, etc. We saw a Scottish funeral, visited the cathedral, wandered through the necropolis, etc. etc.

I was lazy, and let Thomas do the navigating so I really had no idea where we were at any given point during the day. But when we ran out of places to see, I suggested the Willow Tearooms, which were designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (an Art-Nouveau architect/designer from the early 1900s), and we followed that up with a visit to the Lighthouse, another design by Mackintosh.

The view of Glasgow from the Lighthouse's former watertower.

The way down.

We headed back to Edinburgh and saw Hallam Foe at Cineworld (the place where popcorn costs £4! Only 30p less than a student ticket!). The movie was almost entirely filmed in Edinburgh, so it was cool to be able to identify all the buildings. We ended that night at the Whiski pub which was open surprisingly late. It was entertaining to watch the Hen Party behind us cause all sorts of drama with the management and bar staff.

Monday Review

2007-08-28T13:53:00.000+01:00

Stewart Lee - 41st Best Standup Ever! Apparently "March of the Penguins" (a documentary about penguins showing how they make monogamous pairings and each couple carefull raises the young) was jumped upon by Born-Agains as evidence that God wants us to be good, because the penguins are. Stewart Lee wanted to call his show "March of the Mallards", since they're the only animal that reproduces by "gang rape", and are also the only animal to have been caught on tape by scientists performing acts of homosexual necrophilia. Clearly, evidence that God wants us to be evil.

The rest of his show was less entertaining and more repetitive. Typical stand-up.

Sarah Kendall Alternative comedy. A story about how the main performer was almost kidnapped by the Backpacker Murderers in the Belangalo State Forest. It was pretty funny.

And that's the end of the Fringe! Walking around on Monday night, the streets were empty. It was like nothing had ever happened. Temporary cafes being disassembled, large video screens being taken down, and posters falling off their surfaces. It's kind of sad. My vacation is coming to an end...Now all that's left is fireworks on the 2nd.

Weekend Review 2

2007-08-27T13:38:00.000+01:00

Sunday

A History of Scotland (in 60 minutes or less) A good children's show. Didn't really introduce me to any Scottish history I didn't already know, but it was entertaining.
Yamato Chanbara - The Legend of the Sword A Japaense sword-play story interspersed with peace signs and lots of cheesy faces. Nonetheless, it was kinda fun to watch the actors time their sword movements to the pre-recorded sound effects.
Ca$h in Christ Inspired by many Evangelical Churches (mainly the Hillsong Church). I think its major point was to make people afraid of Americans and Evangelicals. Did you know a large chunk of the population in the 'States believe that Jesus will return in the next 50 years?

Saturday

I caught the Saturday-night fireworks again. There should be really big ones on the 2nd of September.
Will Adamsdale: The Human Computer Alternative comedy. Just kind of crazy. The man turns himself into a human computer by using cardboard props and pretending to be the running applications. Not really recommended.
Nina Conti: Complete and Utter Conti More alternative comedy. This one being a ventriloquist. It was really funny.

Friday

We went to the half-price hut and snatched two tickets for half their normal cost. It was pretty sweet.
The Florists Mediocre play.
Potato: A Show That Will Save the World A man with a...9pm shadow dressed in a women's silk nighty walks on to the stage, "Let me tell you about manners. When someone sneezes, like, 'Atch. Oo.' you do nothing. You pretend it didn't happen. Like so. Atch. Ooo. *blank face*." And then, Osama Bin Laden is carried onto the floor by a wheelbarrow, giving a Johnny Walker promotion. Incredibly random humor, but very good. What you expect from the Fringe.

To Do

2007-08-24T16:37:00.001+01:00

I'm beginning to feel stretched a bit thinly. I only have two weeks left, and in the meantime, I must finish/clean up work, see more Fringe shows, write an extended abstract for OurCS, organize the trip to OurCS for WiCS, begin pondering the startup of a Drexel ACM-W branch, see Edinburgh Castle, Visit Holyrood Palace, and go souvenir shopping. Too. Much. Stuff. To. Do.

Ceilidh

2007-08-23T23:00:00.000+01:00

I was invited to a Ceilidh (KAY-lee) organized by the English tutors at Heriot-Watt.

One of the girls at pub-knitting told me that there's two kinds of Ceilidhs: One, the tame fundraiser-type Ceilidhs, and the other, drunken Ceilidhs. This one was mostly the first type, but with some random confusion thrown in for good measure.

It was a lot of fun, and now I'm exhausted.

Can I briefly talk to you about the point of life?

2007-08-22T17:19:00.001+01:00

I saw Mark Watson: Can I briefly talk to you about the point of life? last night at 11pm (it was a bonus show). Between it being his 4th gig of the day, the late hour, his collapsed lung, and a terrible bout of hiccups...he looked like death. He has really good reviews, I expected better, but as I said, he didn't look too healthy. That could be an excuse.

He looked familiar. I believe I've seen him on TV on Mock the Week. [edit: I know I've seen him on "Mock the Week"]

Weekend Review

2007-08-20T14:23:00.000+01:00

Friday

Adam Hills: Joymonger Standup comedian from Australia. The best show I've seen so far.

Saturday

Hotel World A play about the death of a hotel worker and how it affects everyone else around her. It's performed by a group of six 14-18 year olds from London. It was good.
Auto Auto Two Germans beat a Vauxhall Astra Mk2 to pieces, shattering the windows turning the roof into a singing saw, etc. They use hammers and their fists to pound beats against the cars as they sing songs from just about everywhere. Entertaining.
Astronomy for Insects Weird as hell, and definitely freaky. It lasted twice as long as it should have, but if it were 45 minutes long instead of 1.15, it would have been excellent, but funky. I definitely didn't catch a transition between the "passageways to other universes" and Santa Claus. But that's what you get from Russian physical theatre.

Sunday

Escaping Hamlet I read a review that described it as "camp", and that's the truest description I can come up with. Hamlet wants to become an actor...some random actress jumped on the laps of the people in the front row. I really don't know why. And the stage and costumes seemed to emit some sort of bad funk.
Andrew Maxwell - Waxin' A fairly popular Irish stand up comedian. He was decent.

The Udderbelly venue is a giant purple tent that looks like an upside down cow.

Jihad: The Musical

2007-08-17T17:21:00.000+01:00

So, last night, on a bit of a whim, I dragged myself to the C and saw Jihad:The Musical.

Things of "note":
"We Jalalalalalalalala-love you!"
"I wanna be like Osama B and be Islamically renowned"
cast members traipsing about in pink-sequined burqas

I say this often, but with scenes like that, how could it not be good?! There were Afghani stereotypes, French stereotypes, American stereotypes. It was amazing and most definitely not PC. Not bad. Just...different.

The Fringe this week

2007-08-15T16:30:00.000+01:00

Two comedians: Adam Hills and Andrew Maxwell. One play, Hotel World.

And of course, one weird-ass show:
Astronomy for Insects: Moscow's Fringe First, Total Theatre award-winning 'Alien Circus' blackSKYwhite troupe present a show about passageways into worlds that are other than human and those secret parts of Santa's trip on Christmas Eve. 'Poignant, terrifying, exhilarating' Guardian.

I have some difficulty convincing people that The Fringe isn't about seeing world-class productions. It's about seeing undiscovered artists and funky stuff you can't find back home. *ahem*. lol

Crisps

2007-08-14T13:59:00.000+01:00

Iris: I'd like a glass of water and some ...uh. Crisps. Yeah.
Bartender: Tap water, and what flavor crisps?
Iris: Flavor? Uh. Normal? Plain? Those there. *points*

My flatmate tells me I should've asked for "ready-salted", apparently the equivalent of "normal" potato chips. This language barrier makes things exciting.

Shows, Shows, and More Shows

2007-08-13T13:16:00.001+01:00

Macbeth: Who is that Bloodied Man? was good. I think if I had read the play I would've known what was actually going on, instead of being solely amused by the stilts, fire, rolling lawn mower of beheaded ..heads, and the added bonus of motorbikes. Yeah. It was strange.

Best of Scottish Comedy was a typical stand-up comedy club/show, except everyone talked so fast I barely understood them half the time. Additionally, they had "standing room only". More amusing was the guy dressed up in a penguin costume all day (Stag party).

I was home around midnight to catch the fireworks over Edinburgh Castle from the window in my hallway:

Insomnia

2007-08-09T03:34:00.000+01:00

It's 3:30am and I'm not even a little tired, despite trying to sleep for the past four hours.

And what do I do with this newfound chunk of time my insomnia has given me? I read through the Edinburgh Fringe guide, and take photos of boring things. Like, this ad from the catalogue:

The bottom reads, "Only Scientology can save you now!"

Friday I'm going to get some pizza (which I could kill for) and see this show. Anything that involves Shakespeare, stilts, and fire is a classic, for sure. Saturday evening I'll be going to see Best of Scottish Comedy. What's next? The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain? The best Eagles tribute ever? A Yiddish cabaret?!

I dunno, but I'm wondering if "Camille" is the same French artist I listen to back home...despite her being labeled as Irish. lol. [edit: the answer is "no".]

Edinburgh Festivals

2007-08-06T12:19:00.000+01:00

Well, the Edinburgh Festivals have begun. The Military Tattoo and the parade outside my window Saturday morning pretty much marked the start of it.

I saw Kristen Schaal last night. It was okay. Not really that funny. So maybe it was a little less than "okay".

Military Tattoo

2007-08-02T23:59:00.000+01:00

What's that? Taiwanese girls in gogo boots standing next to American colonialists...standing next to the only steel drum military band in the world?

If that doesn't sound like fun, I don't know what does. Oh, wait. I forgot:

How could I forget playing trombone while riding a horse?!

Needless to say, I just returned from a very awesome (and very half price) Military Tattoo "Preview". By "Preview" it means we get to see all the media photographers get trampled by a Russian military band doing seemingly random marching sets. It was so great.

International Students Trip

2007-08-02T20:00:00.000+01:00

Who says Thursday can't be a little fun?

I ended up in Dunkeld again. So I crossed the bridge over the River Tay and ended up in Birnam (as in Beatrix Potter's childhood vacation home...or "Birnam Woods" from Macbeth). I had to cover my ears as Fiona revealed the plot to Macbeth. I really should become literate again. Anyways. Photos.

Blair Castle with a wee piper.

Blair Castle without the piper (and generally a fuller view).

The Falls of Bruar. Slowly becoming commercialized...the ice cream is okay.

And last, Edradour Distillery. The smallest whisky distillery in Scotland.

Isle of Skye Trip

2007-07-31T11:05:00.000+01:00

Friday

I knew the trip was starting off well, when I saw a rainbow on my way down the hallway on my flat (photo is darkened so that maybe you can actually see the rainbow):

From here on, I'll just list photos/things we saw.

A monument to William Wallace, built sometime in the late 1800s. The guides spent a fair amount of time dispelling lies from "Braveheart".

The view from atop the Wallace monument, supposedly you can see seven battle grounds. We had only 15 minutes here, but Thomas and I decided to climb the 67m up anyways

Next up was Hamish, the highlander cow (or "hairy coo"). Apparently voted sexiest animal of 2007 (some ingredient from the cow's horn is used in Viagra...)

Next up was Glencoe (Gaelic for "Valley of Tears" due to the numerous waterfalls)

Glencoe is the site where the Campbell Clan broke the Highlander hospitality rules, and killed the MacDonalds who were their hosts on February 13, 1692. Campbells are still generally disliked in this region.

We stayed at Fort Augustus on the shores of Loch Ness both nights. This photo is of the ferry that gives one hour tours of Loch Ness, along with sonar images taken from the bottom.

The boat departs at 8pm...

But tonight happened to be the date of the monthly Loch Ness "Booze Cruise". 4 hours of live music and ferrying around Loch Ness. Once you get on...you can't get off the boat. Our guides noted how dressed up the locals weree; this monthly booze cruise appears to be the event of the month.

The turn around point was Urquhart Castle (above).

Saturday

Saturday started off with another rainbow, seen here over a loch.

We even got to see the end of the rainbow! It was the brightest rainbow I've ever seen.

Next was Eilean Donan Castle, rebuilt in 1932.

"The money shot" of Eilean Donan Castle. It appeared in a James Bond film, and was the scene of the "Highlander" movie.

Then we stopped by a stream that supposedly makes you beautiful, so half the bus stuck their face into it. There was a story associated with it, how a beautiful young Highlander clan princess was to marry a clan prince. When she was rushing to her wedding her horse slipped and she slammed her face into some rocks, losing her eye. When the prince saw how ugly she had become, he determined it was some sort of treason, and he killed her attendants. Somehow everything became right when she put her face into the water.

We stopped for lunch in the fishing village of Portree.

Then we walked up Fairy Falls, which is called Fairy Falls because anyone who does not believe in fairies falls on their way down. It was very slippery (all grass and water).

The Old Man of Storr once was an old giant and his wife. The old woman became too old to climb to the top of the mountain and gossip with her husband. When the fairies found out, they turned them both to stone. The Old Woman (which fell a few years ago) had a weak hip, which lead to her crumbling. Now all that's left is the Old Man.

Kilt Rock (the formation in the back) is so named because it looks like a kilt. An Irish giant tried to woo a Scottish giant-ess, but when he found out that she had a husband, he decided to fight the husband. The giant-ess had her husband take the place of a giant baby, and hung a giant kilt up to dry so as to make the Irish giant think her husband was much larger than he. It worked, and the Irish giant tore up the bridge he had built and never came back.

We stopped at a Dynamite mine, which was very pretty.

Sheep scaling the edges of the cliff at the Dynamite mine.

The way back. Straight up.

Pretty scenery on the way back to the hostel.

A shot of one of the locks on the Caledonian Canal back at Fort Augustus.

The canal at Fort Augustus links Loch Ness with Loch Oich.

Sunday

Another view of Urquhart Castle.

The moors at Culloden where Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Highlander troops were massacred by British troops.

4,000 year old Burial Cairns made of rocks from 25 miles away.

The last stop was at the Cathedral at Dunkeld where I bought myself some honeycomb ice cream and butter tablet (which is like butter flavored fudge. Sort of.)

The Cathedral is on the banks of the River Tay, pictured above.

All in all a good but exhausting trip...and despite spending two nights right next to it, I know absolutely nothing about Loch Ness, lol.

That Weekend

2007-07-29T19:00:00.000+01:00

I think this quote from my Haggis Adventures tour guides pretty much sums up my weekend:
R: "Well, you know. Eilean Donan Castle. It's on that Times' list: 'Top 50 things to do before you die.' It's like for-ee three or some'in'. "
G: "Number one is of course to 'Visit Scotland'. And number twen-ee is 'Go on a 4 hour booze cruise on Loch Ness'."

Or another good one:
R: "Now look at that loch to the left. Sometimes you'll see...pigeons...Pigeons?! I meant dolphins. Yeah. I guess there's pigeons, too."

"Backpacker tours" niche marketing yields interesting results.

Hairspray

2007-07-26T23:00:00.000+01:00

So, I went to see Hairspray with some of the international students. Without giving too much of the "plot" away, let's just say that the movie is in typical Broadway-musical style in that it takes a serious topic and makes it all butterflies and sunshine; in this particular case, it's the topic of segregation.

After the movie, I had to explain that segregation was not all butterflies and sunshine to my fellow movie-goers. They seemed to think that the film was based on truth, but instead Broadway musicals gloss over reality. I spend a fair amount of time dispelling the myths about America and Americans. I'm beginning to need some back up.

This Weekend

2007-07-26T12:30:00.001+01:00

"My Heart is My Own"

2007-07-25T14:53:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I bought the largest book I've ever owned and have proceeded to read it. All 515 glorious pages of My Heart is My Own a biography of Mary, Queen of Scots. I get lost half the time because all the dukes and kings keep changing names. So far it's not so much about Mary, but all the political intrigue around her.

100 pages down, 415 to go...

Don't be too jealous

2007-07-24T13:02:00.000+01:00

Don't be too jealous. Because. I lost my keys. Either Tuesday or Wednesday of last week. In the past two days I have asked at 4 grocery stores, the bus company, two pubs, a yarn store, the university's lost property office, the manufacturing engineering office, my flat's front desk, and the university's RBS branch. No luck. Today, I'm going to scour the office and tonight I'm going to thoroughly search my flat (although I just cleaned it on Thursday, so nothing should turn up).

It's not really a big deal. Sort of. I may be able to copy my flatmate's mailbox key, and that will save me £20. Yes, charges, that's right:

1 Mailbox key..........£20
1 Office Key..........£10 deposit
1 Bike lock key..........Priceless

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to tell Harris that his bike is permanently chained to the bike garage. *sigh*

[edit] Now it seems I've also lost my size 10 circular knitting needles, in their packaging. I'm not so much distraught by all this losing of items as I am disappointed in myself. Where did my memory go? I don't usually lose anything, much less keys and everything else! [/edit]

Missed Meeting

2007-07-23T14:42:00.000+01:00

Somehow missed meeting up with Kyle in Edinburgh. My guess is he didn't realize his cell phone won't work in Europe. I knew I should've made alternate meet-up plans. *sigh*

On the bright side, my plans for this weekend have already been confirmed. I'm going on Haggis Adventures' 3-day "Skye-High" tour to the Isle of Skye.

I've also bought tickets for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo preview on Thursday, August 2nd...which should be exactly two hours after I return from the International Students trip to Blair Castle, Edradour distillery, etc.

Isle of May

2007-07-21T21:00:00.000+01:00

So, Friday (i.e. yesterday) I got up at some horrible hour in the morning, and walked to Waverley train station to meet up with Thomas at 6:45am. We were on a tight schedule:

7:06-8:09	Scotrail train, Edinburgh -> Leuchars
8:34-8:45	Stagecoach bus #99, Leuchars -> St. Andrews
8:55-9:16	Stagecoach bus #X26, St. Andrews -> Anstruther
10:00	Isle of May Ferry to The May, weather permitting

Of course, I got so absorbed in my knitting (and Thomas was asleep) that I missed our train stop at Leuchars and we ended up in Dundee. Somehow, we made it back to Leuchars in enough time to catch the #99, miss the X26 (and take #95 instead) and board the ferry, which amazingly took off, and even landed at the Isle of May. They cancel some trips due to inclement weather.

More or less, despite my complete airheaded-ness, Thomas and I really lucked out.

The Isle of May has been a National Nature Reserve since 1956, and during the month of July is home to about a quarter million sea birds...even though it's only 1.5 kilometres long. I really just wanted to go for the puffins, but it ended up being a gorgeous day on the beautiful island which had lots of paths and all sorts of birds. We ended up seeing: arctic terns, shags, puffins, different sorts of gulls, kittiwakes, gannets, gray seals, and one razorbill.

Gray seals hanging around the South Horn. The May is also a breeding ground for seals.

Made curious by the ferry landing, a seal pokes his head above the water and watches us.

The white specks are all terns. I have never seen so many birds in my entire life.

Puffins!!

I think they're awesome.

This cave was full of baby gulls...and parent gulls flying to and from the feeding grounds.

Nestled amongst the cliffside of the cave of baby gulls were these three shags. I think they're shags, anyways.

After the sun showed up, the Isle of May was quite beautiful

Modern castle-style lighthouse

Note the baby gulls in the lower-right corner. They didn't like us standing so close.

That's me standing on a path that goes over/near an undercut cliff. The fabulous silly purple hat I'm wearing is what I was making on the train...it made an appearance in the previous SnB post.

Attacking Terns

By far the best moment of the whole trip was being attacked by nesting Arctic Terns (which is actually why I made/wore a hat). They attack the highest point on your body, so we avoided this by holding rolled up posters in the air, and allowing the terns to attack that. The following photo is Thomas being attacked by two Arctic Terns. They actually pulled some of his hair!!

This scene still makes me laugh hysterically.

After three hours on the isle, we went back to Anstruther. A ranger released a baby puffin onto the water once we were far enough from other birds (that would likely try to eat it). Baby puffins live in burrows in the ground, and when they've had enough, they leave in the middle of the night and go out to sea for three years. Sometimes they get a bit lost and the rangers help them out.

The Isle of May from the Ferry

Anstruther

Anstruther, just another cute fishing village in Fife...with Scottish Tablet ice cream (mmmm...). The weather was nice, so naturally the town was full of old people just off a tour bus.

We returned to St. Andrews and walked along the Old Course for a bit, and then back along the shore. The International Students trip went to St. Andrews last weekend, so I'm not going to put up too many photos of there. Next weekend, the Women's British Open is in St. Andrews Old Course. This weekend the Carnoustie Open was up in...Carnoustie.

St. Andrews Old Course

My hostel was like, half a mile away from town which is somewhat annoying, but I only had to walk there and back twice, so I'm not too upset. £25 did get me my own room though, which is nice.

St. Andrews

After breakfast Thomas and I couldn't resist a chance to play on St. Andrews Women's Course (don't worry, I'm fluent in pompous-ass-ish; "women's course" translates to "miniature golf").

Action shot!

Once I got accustomed to the natural greens, I stopped sucking so much and ended up beating Thomas. It was an easy course.

I find it kinda amusing, the way all golfers' wives dress identically.

We eventually did make it back to Edinburgh, and now I am exhausted. Good night.

SnB

2007-07-18T22:00:00.000+01:00

So I went to CityKnitty's SnB again tonight. 'Had myself a "ginger beer" (which I'm quite sure is just ginger ale...but somehow tastier). I spent an hour and a half frogging some oatmeal color shrug I had finished, but didn't fit right. Time to begin again! I've become very Tibetan-monk about my knitting. Finish it, then throw it all away!

An older woman noticed a more exciting yarn in my bag, before I left. A more exciting yarn that has become this goofy hat:

I really like it, despite its ridiculousness.

Weekend Trip

2007-07-18T15:08:00.000+01:00

So. I booked it. The most complicated 24 hour trip ever. Why so complicated? Because getting to the Isle of May is apparently a big deal. 7am Friday morning I take a train to Leuchars, then a bus to St. Andrews, and then another bus to Anstruther. If I get to Anstruther before 10am, then I try to get a ticket on the Isle of May Ferry. Otherwise, I head back to St. Andrews and check into my SYHA hostel and try for the 10:45am departure on Saturday.

Yes, I was just at St. Andrews this past weekend, but it's the closest hostel to Anstruther that'll take singles! Now I'll get a chance to see the golf museum and take the Witches tour, lol.

Besides, I like St. Andrews. It has a beach town sort of feel to it.

My plans were moved up by a day, since I have a former Camden coworker visiting on Sunday. 'Need to be back to Edinburgh by Sunday evening.

Sketchy

2007-07-16T11:41:00.000+01:00

Today (or rather, Friday) I received my bank account info. That's right. I'm officially a sketchy person with a bank account in two countries.

Although, as Vito points out, it's not nearly as sketchy as the Cayman Islands. 'Always something to strive for.

6 Bus Trips, One Day

2007-07-14T23:59:00.000+01:00

Today I got my money out of my Ridacard bus pass...

Craigmillar Castle

I hopped on a bus going east and went to Craigmillar Castle, a few miles outside of the city. This castle was where Mary Queen of Scots sheltered after the murder of her friend Rizzio, and also where plans were made to murder Mary's husband, Darnley.

Edinburgh Castle can be seen on the hill to the left. There is one smaller hill next to a larger hill on the right. I believe the smaller one is Arthur's Seat.

Just before it began raining (of course) I got on the bus and headed back to the city.

Botanical Gardens

The gardens were nice and green. The only excitement was that I missed my stop the first time, and ended up in a residential part of town by the sea. I figured it out though, and eventually ended up where I meant to be.

There was a very nice/large rock garden, emulating plant terrain in the Himilayas.

I had lunch at the cafe, and then headed back into town (once again).

Harry Potter

Met up with some of the international students to see the new Harry Potter movie. It was good. There was a scene or two they rushed through too much. Death shouldn't be a 5 second thing. Afterwards we attempted to find a pub without a cover, which is tricky on a Saturday night...but we found one. It was full of hen parties, lol. Kinda strange, but whatever.

Falkland Palace, St. Andrews, and Pittenweem

2007-07-13T21:00:00.000+01:00

Another International Students trip, another day of quaint villages and crumbling castles.

Falkland (Palace)

First, the quaint village...

Falkland Palace is technically owned by the queen, but it has been under the care of keepers for hundreds of years.

...In 1402 the eldest son of King Robert III of Scotland was imprisoned at Falkland Palace, and died there due to starvation. The Scots have this great culture where it seems that someone important has been murdered at every castle.

It is also the home of the oldest tennis courts in the world. The precursor to lawn tennis, royal tennis (very exciting, I know):

St. Andrews

Next it was onto St. Andrews, the home of golf and the centre of much activity during the Reformation.

Since St. Andrews was the seat of the Bishop (and the seat of Catholicism in Scotland), much violence during the Reformation focused here. Many of the cathedrals have crosses marked on the ground where prominent Reformers had been burned at the stake by the Bishop to prove a point.

The Bishop lived in St. Andrews Castle. At some point in time, the Castle had been overtaken by Reformers and the Bishop's body was thrown into the bottle dungeon. There is an underground siege tunnel that goes from someone's basement to the castle, where the Catholics tried to gain back the castle. The occupiers dug three different tunnels to try and intercept the others. the third was successful.

And then St. Andrews Cathedral...which has been blown down by storms twice, burnt down once, and pillaged in the 16th century. It was once one of the largest and most magnificent cathedrals in Britain.

St. Rules tower, all that remains of the original church.

The view from St. Rules Tower

Only at the seat of the governing body of golf would there be a golf headstone.

???

After being all castle-ed and church-ed out, we went for a walk on the beach (after the castle, we all were essentially let loose on the city, which was very nice). I found some of the most delicious ice cream ever. Vanilla with chunks of butter "tablet" (i.e. butter fudge) in it.

Must pass the Old Course to get to the beach...

St. Andrews from the beach

See, proof that I was there.

Pittenweem

And as a final bonus trip, we stopped at the fishing village of Pittenweem on our way back. Of course, it began to rain. But we had nothing but nice weather earlier in the day, which was very un-Scotland-like.

Arthur's Seat

2007-07-12T21:00:00.000+01:00

So. Edinburgh has seven rather large hill-ish mountain-ish things surrounding it. After a fabulous meal at David Bann I headed out to Arthur's Seat, one of the aforementioned seven hill-ish mountain-ish things.

It didn't look too bad from the bottom.

...but that was before I got halfway up and the wine kicked in a second time.

A pretty view during one of my breaks.

There were lots of slugs and snails along my way.

It only took about a half an hour to reach the top, and then I took some pretty photos:

What you see there is the National Monument on Calton Hill. It was supposed to be a model of the Parthenon, but they ran out of money after 12 columns. It has been known to be nicknamed the "shame of Edinburgh".

I determined that perhaps having the smaller glass of wine with my dinner would've been a better idea. Somehow, exercising immediately after it has left me rather impaired all evening.

CityKnitty

2007-07-11T22:40:00.000+01:00

Tonight was the night in which much knitting was...left unaccomplished. I apparently cannot talk and knit lace at the same time. Hrrmph.

So. Here's what I accomplished at CityKnitty's SnB tonight:

It will be a shrug some day. But not today.

On the bright side, I did get to meet a handful of new people, my fellow knitters.

KIM Meeting, Birmingham

2007-07-10T22:00:00.000+01:00

As stated previously, today I went to Birmingham for a project meeting. I woke up at 4am.

See, Edinburgh at 4am! It's already light out!

Birmingham was once an industrial city, but basic industry has been dying out here in the UK, much like back in the States. So now, Birmingham is the focus of many urban renewal projects. I'd say it's looking really pleasant.

Look. It's a beach. In the city. Weird advertisement.

Birmingham

2007-07-09T16:32:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow I go to Birmingham for the day. I'm giving a 5 minute talk about my potential approaches to the project I'm working on at the KIM Meeting. Boy, am I excited about that.

2007-07-09T13:27:00.000+01:00

Today I met an American. As in, a not-tourist American. I was paying for this weekend's international students trip to Falkland Palace and St. Andrews at the Chaplaincy, and he was talking to the secretary. We were both sort of surprised. Americans just don't live in Edinburgh (apparently), much less work/study at Heriot Watt University.

Climb

2007-07-07T12:10:00.000+01:00

Today, I walked past the castle. Then, I climbed the side of the cliff up to the castle, at which point I proceeded to walk down the other side. To top all this excitement off, I bought 6 pairs of socks and found a yarn supply inside a John Lewis department store.

Yes. I'm that exciting.

Oh, wait. I lied. I also went to the "Scotch Whisky Experience" which was sort of like a haunted house ride...through the history of whisky. The bonus was a free sample of the cheapest whisky they had on offer. Which is great, because it burns.

I befriended an Indian couple who bought the 4-region whisky sampler, and was obliged to finish off their "Island" whisky. If they could put a BBQ into liquid form, whisky from the islands is it.

Photos from today's walk about town:

Old Town over Waverley Bridge

Waverley Bridge doesn't cross a body of water. It used to cross swamplands that have since been turned into the Princes Gardens...along with Waverley train station.

New Town from the side of the Castle's cliff. That front row of buildings is Princes Street (I've posted photos of it before...). Behind you see the water. Maybe some weekend I will head out to Ocean Terminal...

Lots of people headed to Edinburgh Castle near the Whisky Experience

Rendez-Vous

2007-07-05T22:00:00.000+01:00

A missed meet-up with the other international students, and I end up watching Paris, Je T'aime on my own in a theatre that holds ~80 people. It's like watching a movie in a large living room.

There's nothing like 10 short films about love in a foreign city to remind you that you're watching a movie without any friends...in a foreign city. The last one nearly killed me.

And then. AND THEN. I come home to this:

That's right. My flatmate filled my shelf with Stella! You'd think the other three shelves would be enough? Then again, having a shelf full of beer may not be the end of the world...

I was walking back from the movie theatre at 11pm, and somehow ended up on the road with all the show bars. I thought I had maneuvered it so I wouldn't cross them (I would've preferred avoiding drunken guys coming out of lap-dance-a-palooza), but no harm done. There were middle-aged American women hanging out of the next building/hotel, taunting each party-goer that exited the neighboring establishment with, "Good evening darlin'" in a light Southern drawl. god. I love being American.

SHARK!

2007-07-05T13:36:00.000+01:00

There is a pregnant shark living in the common room.

Although, my animation-major flatmate assures me this plasticine sculpture has a beer belly, and not a baby.

Art majors!

To market, to market

2007-07-04T11:28:00.001+01:00

I finally found a good day (rather, a good two hours. It began pouring immediately afterwards) in which to take a photo tour of the city. Or rather, more specifically, a photo tour of my route to the grocery store. As the summer wears on, perhaps I'll actually spend some time in a few of these tourist traps. Or perhaps not.

I've drawn out the grocery route above. It starts at the bus stop along Princes St. (after work)

Royal Scottish Academy and National Gallery

Princes Street

Old Town (I like the way it looks. It's very Edinburgh)

The view of Old Town over Waverely Bridge

Market St., with the Edinburgh Dungeon on the left.

We took an early turn, need to take a side-street/stairway up to Cockburn St. There's usually a restaurant or two tucked away along these "closes".

Cockburn St. Kitschy shopping (a lot more open & full when not on a Sunday).

Cross the Royal Mile which leads to Edinburgh Castle, but I take it the other way. To South Bridge/Nicolson St.

South Bridge/Nicolson St. It gets progressively more residential and city-ish.

Tesco Metro Supermarket!!

A (former?) church, as I walk along the Royal Mile.

Victoria St. has some more small shops, and it leads directly to Grassmarket.

Grassmarket, the place of many pubs and former hangings.

Another angle of Edinburgh Castle, peering over Grassmarket.

And that's it! (Grassmarket is literally a 2 minute walk from my doorstep)

Where has the UK's Summer Gone?

2007-07-03T23:00:00.000+01:00

"July is going to be lousy and the rest of it, August and September will not be worth waiting for," said Piers Corbyn, director of Weather Action.

Newton would be proud

2007-07-03T11:23:00.000+01:00

Why does my £2 coin have "STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS" engraved into its milled edge?

Progression

2007-07-02T22:00:00.000+01:00

	21:00
	21:30
	21:45
	22:00
	22:10
	23:00

"English"

2007-07-01T16:00:00.000+01:00

There was a short break in the rain today, so I decided to head out to Dobbie's Garden World out in Lasswade. I just sort of wandered around and looked at the plants. Didn't buy anything. There just isn't a point. Ever since I bought my "poppy mug" at the market on Princes St., my obsession with poppies has died down.

Anyways.

As I was waiting for the bus back, some old man said something to me. I responded and he immdiately said, "You're American." "Yes. The accent's pretty obvious."

Everyone has been pointing out that I'm from America. I guess it never really happened in Turkey because there weren't that many people who could discern amongst accents of English.

The old man continued to talk to me about what I was doing, when I was going back, eating lunch, "Balto", calling me sweety pie, and all sorts of exciting things. So exciting that I didn't really understand anything he said. He took the blank look on my face to mean that I didn't believe him.

Dollar, Drummond Castle, and Loch Katrine

2007-06-30T22:00:00.000+01:00

I signed up for an International Students trip to Dollar Glen and Drummond Castle Gardens. Below are the shenanigans that followed.

The train bridge over the River Forth. The bridge used to need to be painted constantly- it was so long that once the workers finished painting, they had to start over again, hence the phrase "it's like painting the Forth Bridge." I've never heard that phrase before, so it doesn't matter.

We were heading to Castle Campbell in Dollar Glen. We took a hiking trail through Dollar Glen. It was entirely uphill and took about a half an hour, thereby exposing my extreme out-of-shape-ness.

Iris at Castle Campbell

You've never seen me so happy to be at a castle. Really...except maybe in this photo:

Iris at Castle Campbell (again)

Campbell Castle was formerly known as "Castle Gloom" (situated between the River Sorrow and the River Care. I'm not kidding), until one of the Dukes of Argyll took over and had it renamed to Castle Campbell.

The view of the town of Dollar (where our hike began) from atop the castle tower

The courtyard from atop the tower

The intact tower with the crumbling main hall in the foreground

Arsty. Very.

The castle has a very small garden, much smaller than in the castle's heyday.

Castle Campbell again, on our way back to the bus.

Drummond Castle was next on our list. It features a symmetrical garden that was popular at some time in Italy.

Drummond Castle Gardens

The garden focused in the center a sun dial which supposedly tells the times of different capital cities. Really, it just looked like a bunch of protruding nails and metal shards, to me:

Drummond's "Sun Dial"

And then someone pointed out the obvious futility of having a sun dial in Scotland. Maybe a rain dial.

When the owners of Drummond Castle no longer saw a need for a fortress, they built a manorhouse right next to it:

Drummond Castle on the left, the manor house on the right.

Next we went to Loch Katrine (made popular in the poem "Lady of the Lake" by Sir William Scott), but it began raining (surprised?) pretty heavily, so there's no photos.

Out of 40-some foreigners, I was the only American- which seems to be a common trend, leading me to the hypothesis that there are no Scottish people or Americans in Edinburgh.

Going Home

2007-06-29T22:00:00.000+01:00

On a regular basis I find myself laughing hysterically in the middle of the street (or, at least, in my head). I can't exactly believe that this is a place where I live. Below are some photos of scenes I pass everyday.

Here's a small map of a typical route home from the bus.

My bus stop, with something suspicious lingering in the background...

A short walk along the Princes Street Gardens.

The view down Princes St. Serious shopping. If I photographed it at another time/day, it'd be quite filled with people.

A turn down Lothian Road, little stores, medium-sized grocery stores.

An ooooold cemetary on the corner of Lothian and Princes Sts.

The castle peeks through, along Fountainbridge.

Almost home...lol.

My apartment building.

Weather

2007-06-28T22:00:00.000+01:00

It has rained all but one of the days I've been here. It has been in the mid-50s everyday. I wish I brought my hiking boots. This will soon be remedied.

Intarweb

2007-06-27T14:00:00.000+01:00

I do not have an internet connection in my flat, and do not plan on having it. Instead of spending £25 on the initial connection (plus £4 per week), I bought a 2GB flash drive for £25 so I can upload stuff at work. Now if only I could ping dunx1!

Activity

2007-06-24T19:00:00.000+01:00

I'm trying desperately not to take a nap. My schedule is completely funky.

Harris (the kid whose room I have taken over) has been incredibly nice to me. Yesterday, when I arrived, he showed me around the building. 'Told me where the laundry place is, the downstairs lounge, etc. He has lent me use of his extra cell phone (since my Turkish phone is questionable), given me his leftover spices and tea, and has lent me his bicycle. Of course, I'd have to be nearly insane to bike in a town I barely know, but we'll see. Today Harris showed me the whole town, lent me 10£ so I could buy a UK Sim Card, introduced me to his friends, showed me where the Edinburgh College of Art's (ECA's) graduating senior exhibit is, and so on.

I think I may slowly begin to understand where things are located.

And now, a small tour of my flat. Excuse the filthiness. I live with two guys, and I really don't care to clean up after them.

My splendid bedroom

Hallway of bedroom doors

The fabulous kitchen

The amazing common room. Well. Not so amazing.

Surreal

2007-06-24T13:57:00.000+01:00

That's what I woke up to this morning, at the foot of my bed.

There's something about being in a place you never thought to be that makes daily life surreal.

Standby

2007-06-23T11:00:00.000+01:00

I made it here, only 3 hours later than expected. I had some doubts after I missed my first flight's check-in by 5 minutes. Who'd have thunk that they really close international check-in an hour before takeoff? They're not lying. Or at least Continental wasn't.

An odd camaraderie is built between the standby groups. You're all standing in line, wanting to be the first on the list, but everyone else has equally pitiful stories:

The woman and her son, trying to meet up with the rest of their family on some trip to Edinburgh. The airline told them their "international team" was "tracking their trip", so she shouldn't worry about making her flight.
The family of 4 whose late flight earlier caused them to miss their original flight. Instead of patiently waiting at their seats for the standby seats to be called, they determined it would be smarter to spend the next two hours standing at the desk.
And, of course, the businessman who needs to make a meeting.

Apparently, Edinburgh is a very popular destination, at least from Newark.