Hi. G here.
Just a quick note to say that we'll probably have a brief hiatus of blogging for a few days until we get broadband set up at our new place. Lots to tell, though.
Bye for now.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Moving!
Usually, the thought of moving house fills me with dread. It's a hideous process, mostly because my luck with the weather means that it will either be the hottest day of the year, or pouring down (or both, as occurred during one memorable move).
Tomorrow, however, we are moving into our new house, which we've been looking forward to for about three weeks. It was three weeks and one day ago that we moved into our temporary accommodation, and first encountered the Most Uncomfortable Bed Ever. Seriously, this bed is terrible. I don't know if the owners of this place went out of their way to find the worst bed they could, but they certainly succeeded regardless. For starters, it creaks every time either one of us so much as breathes. The mattress has lumps and bumps poking out all over the place, although to be fair I'm now accustomed to the spring that digs into my rib cage. Finally, it's a double bed, which isn't good for two people who are both over 5'10" and don't like to share. We both wake up each morning with bags under our eyes, and accusing the other of having hogged the bed during the night. G also attributes his daily caffeine consumption to the bed, which is fair enough.
Therefore, even if we were moving into an absolute dive, leaving this bed behind would be reason enough to leave.
G has gone to London today for his work Christmas party. I know. Not fair - start work one week, and get flown to London the next week to hobnob at a wholly-catered function, and get put up at a nice hotel. Meanwhile I get to stay here, and pack and clean. The only upside is that I get the whole bed to myself, and will hog it without feeling the least bit guilty.
We're meeting the landlords at the house tomorrow at 12.30 to sign the lease, pay our rent, and get the keys. G will stop by on his way back from the airport, and in a fortunate piece of luck the Airlink Bus stops right outside our house. In further evidence of the excellent bus system here, I can get on the bus right outside our current place and catch it across town at our new place. This is also good, because we'll be moving house by bus. With such a good bus route, there was no justification for catching a cab there.
However, it does mean that I have to take two trips there and back. Although we arrived in Edinburgh with two suitcases and two carry-on bags in total, we've somehow managed to accumulate so much more stuff in three weeks. Today, G took in to work a full suitcase and a couple of bags of shoes, which he will bring home tomorrow evening. I valiantly tried this morning to cram everything else we have into my suitcase and my carry-on bag, in the hope that I might only have to make one journey tomorrow. No dice, unfortunately, so it's buses galore for me!
I'm also trying to eat as much food from the fridge today, so had ten sticks of celery, an apple, and vegemite on toast for lunch, and will boil two eggs for tea. Yum! I also drank the last of the Irn Bru, which was delightful.
Sunday is St Andrew's Day, which is the Scottish equivalent of Australia Day. Consequently, Friday is Wear Your Kilt to Work Day, so hopefully G will encounter many patriotic Scots at work. On Saturday, we saw a man in BHS wearing a kilt as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and it probably was for him. When we were in Germany, we saw many (older) men wearing Lederhosen, although this kilt-wearing gentleman was about thirty years younger. Those crazy Scots.
Much love
Tomorrow, however, we are moving into our new house, which we've been looking forward to for about three weeks. It was three weeks and one day ago that we moved into our temporary accommodation, and first encountered the Most Uncomfortable Bed Ever. Seriously, this bed is terrible. I don't know if the owners of this place went out of their way to find the worst bed they could, but they certainly succeeded regardless. For starters, it creaks every time either one of us so much as breathes. The mattress has lumps and bumps poking out all over the place, although to be fair I'm now accustomed to the spring that digs into my rib cage. Finally, it's a double bed, which isn't good for two people who are both over 5'10" and don't like to share. We both wake up each morning with bags under our eyes, and accusing the other of having hogged the bed during the night. G also attributes his daily caffeine consumption to the bed, which is fair enough.
Therefore, even if we were moving into an absolute dive, leaving this bed behind would be reason enough to leave.
G has gone to London today for his work Christmas party. I know. Not fair - start work one week, and get flown to London the next week to hobnob at a wholly-catered function, and get put up at a nice hotel. Meanwhile I get to stay here, and pack and clean. The only upside is that I get the whole bed to myself, and will hog it without feeling the least bit guilty.
We're meeting the landlords at the house tomorrow at 12.30 to sign the lease, pay our rent, and get the keys. G will stop by on his way back from the airport, and in a fortunate piece of luck the Airlink Bus stops right outside our house. In further evidence of the excellent bus system here, I can get on the bus right outside our current place and catch it across town at our new place. This is also good, because we'll be moving house by bus. With such a good bus route, there was no justification for catching a cab there.
However, it does mean that I have to take two trips there and back. Although we arrived in Edinburgh with two suitcases and two carry-on bags in total, we've somehow managed to accumulate so much more stuff in three weeks. Today, G took in to work a full suitcase and a couple of bags of shoes, which he will bring home tomorrow evening. I valiantly tried this morning to cram everything else we have into my suitcase and my carry-on bag, in the hope that I might only have to make one journey tomorrow. No dice, unfortunately, so it's buses galore for me!
I'm also trying to eat as much food from the fridge today, so had ten sticks of celery, an apple, and vegemite on toast for lunch, and will boil two eggs for tea. Yum! I also drank the last of the Irn Bru, which was delightful.
Sunday is St Andrew's Day, which is the Scottish equivalent of Australia Day. Consequently, Friday is Wear Your Kilt to Work Day, so hopefully G will encounter many patriotic Scots at work. On Saturday, we saw a man in BHS wearing a kilt as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and it probably was for him. When we were in Germany, we saw many (older) men wearing Lederhosen, although this kilt-wearing gentleman was about thirty years younger. Those crazy Scots.
Much love
Friday, November 21, 2008
Bits and bobs
Hiya. It's C here.
Apologies for the silence of late. G started work on Wednesday, and I've been spending pretty much all day on the computer trying to find a job, so the thought of spending more time online has been too depressing. But it's time for an update, though this one won't be with the photos that I had promised my parents. The camera's in the other room and that's just too far to walk at the moment.
So. The good news is that we have a home to move into on Thursday! Hurrah! It's the house that we applied for nearly two weeks ago, so yay that it finally came through. We can't wait to move into our own (rented) place, believe you me.
Unfortunately, this hasn't come without a load of hassle. First of all, it took over a week for the credit check company to carry out their reference check on us. We had to chase up our previous rental agents in Australia to ask them to send back the reference request, which they finally did so this morning, our time. We cheered when we read their email saying that they had completed the reference and faxed it off. The cheering stopped, however, when G received a phone call this morning saying that we'd failed the credit check. Apparently there was no way that we were going to ever pass it because all of our previous details are Australian, not British. We both fail to see how this could be accurate, because that means that no one from un-British backgrounds would ever be able to rent somewhere in the UK. Which is not at all logical. And apparently the credit check company knew from the start that we wouldn't pass their process, but carried it out anyway at the request of the rental agency. Which also knew that we'd never pass it, but still made us go through and pay for it.
The upshot of this situation was that we'd have to give up the idea of renting this place, pay six months rent upfront or get a UK guarantor. The only logical option is the six months rent one, because it's likely we'd fail any credit check with other people if we applied for a rental property elsewhere. And we're tired of living in two rooms separated by a communal corridor. Six months rent would wipe out a lot of our savings. When G called to relay the news to me I was in Debenhams shopping for desperately-needed winter wear, but put all the clothes in my arms back on the racks (this was despite their storewide 25%-off sale). We were both mentally recalculating our plans for the near future, partly because G won't get paid until the 20th of December.
Needless to say, when I dropped into the rental agency to say we'd go with the six months option, I was short with them (when I really wanted to dramatically throw a cup of steaming coffee at Chris, the smarmy 19 year-old). Anyhow, he said he'd pass our details onto the landlord who would contact us directly to arrange the lease signing etc. So we never have to deal with him again! Double hurrah!
When our new landlady called G this arvy, he suggested that perhaps we could pay only three months up front...? Luckily for us, she agreed! Triple hurrah! So that's taken the pressure off things, and we were both able to relax somewhat tonight, instead of stressing about money.
Aside from housing issues, over the past week I've been hitting the job hunting path hard. It's a hideous process. How do you encapsulate your skills and experience into a handy 200-word summary, particularly when you don't have skills and experience that neatly fall into a pre-defined category? I've applied for jobs that I know I can do, but proving this in my application is hard. I can only hope my skills of persuasive writing are still working.
I hope everyone's holding up under the "rain" of terror (ha ha!) that Brisbane's been subjected to recently. It puts our 3 degrees (not including wind chill!) to shame.
Much love
Apologies for the silence of late. G started work on Wednesday, and I've been spending pretty much all day on the computer trying to find a job, so the thought of spending more time online has been too depressing. But it's time for an update, though this one won't be with the photos that I had promised my parents. The camera's in the other room and that's just too far to walk at the moment.
So. The good news is that we have a home to move into on Thursday! Hurrah! It's the house that we applied for nearly two weeks ago, so yay that it finally came through. We can't wait to move into our own (rented) place, believe you me.
Unfortunately, this hasn't come without a load of hassle. First of all, it took over a week for the credit check company to carry out their reference check on us. We had to chase up our previous rental agents in Australia to ask them to send back the reference request, which they finally did so this morning, our time. We cheered when we read their email saying that they had completed the reference and faxed it off. The cheering stopped, however, when G received a phone call this morning saying that we'd failed the credit check. Apparently there was no way that we were going to ever pass it because all of our previous details are Australian, not British. We both fail to see how this could be accurate, because that means that no one from un-British backgrounds would ever be able to rent somewhere in the UK. Which is not at all logical. And apparently the credit check company knew from the start that we wouldn't pass their process, but carried it out anyway at the request of the rental agency. Which also knew that we'd never pass it, but still made us go through and pay for it.
The upshot of this situation was that we'd have to give up the idea of renting this place, pay six months rent upfront or get a UK guarantor. The only logical option is the six months rent one, because it's likely we'd fail any credit check with other people if we applied for a rental property elsewhere. And we're tired of living in two rooms separated by a communal corridor. Six months rent would wipe out a lot of our savings. When G called to relay the news to me I was in Debenhams shopping for desperately-needed winter wear, but put all the clothes in my arms back on the racks (this was despite their storewide 25%-off sale). We were both mentally recalculating our plans for the near future, partly because G won't get paid until the 20th of December.
Needless to say, when I dropped into the rental agency to say we'd go with the six months option, I was short with them (when I really wanted to dramatically throw a cup of steaming coffee at Chris, the smarmy 19 year-old). Anyhow, he said he'd pass our details onto the landlord who would contact us directly to arrange the lease signing etc. So we never have to deal with him again! Double hurrah!
When our new landlady called G this arvy, he suggested that perhaps we could pay only three months up front...? Luckily for us, she agreed! Triple hurrah! So that's taken the pressure off things, and we were both able to relax somewhat tonight, instead of stressing about money.
Aside from housing issues, over the past week I've been hitting the job hunting path hard. It's a hideous process. How do you encapsulate your skills and experience into a handy 200-word summary, particularly when you don't have skills and experience that neatly fall into a pre-defined category? I've applied for jobs that I know I can do, but proving this in my application is hard. I can only hope my skills of persuasive writing are still working.
I hope everyone's holding up under the "rain" of terror (ha ha!) that Brisbane's been subjected to recently. It puts our 3 degrees (not including wind chill!) to shame.
Much love
Monday, November 17, 2008
Hello all, it's G here. We've been out shopping (again!) and back home a bit earlier than usual. I must say that the novelty of the big red Number 26 double decker bus into the city has worn off almost completely. Hopefully, we'll get word soon about the house we've applied to rent and then we'll be a lot closer into the city (and catch the Number 26 from the other direction). Actually, our new place, if we get it, is only about a 20min walk to work in Princes St so I think I'll be doing that mostly.
On a side note, only one more day of freedom until I'm back at work, although I shouldn't complain too much as I haven't worked since the beginning of July. It'll be good to have the moula rolling in again.
Yesterday, Kitty and I forswore (if that's the word I want) bus travel and decided to walk to the Holyrood park. It was only about 7 degrees but very calm and sunny so was really delightful. For much of the way, we walked along a delightful little stream with the not so delightful name of Figate Burn. It looked very clean and healthy apart from being the final resting place of quite a few bricks and bottles and assorted rubbish. But clean rubbish.
I really wanted to have a good look at Duddingston Loch which is in the southeast area of the park. We elected to walk to the south and west of the loch, which seemed to be the most scenic route from looking at our map, however it turned out that our view was mostly blocked by trees and then by a very long high stonewall. We saw a squirrel, though.
The wall was actually one of two that border a disused railway line, now a cycle path, called the Innocent railway. It was called this because the trains were initially horse drawn, in an 'innocent' age, when it was thought that steam engines were dangerous.
It's quite a long isolated path and as we seemed to be the only people on it for some time, Kitty was continuously looking behind us for potential muggers or other people of ill intent.
We made it to the park unscathed, however, and were amazed by the number of people crawling like ants up the hills and along the cliffs. Also some people in shorts and t-shirts doing sprints up a hill. Nutbags.
We eventually had lunch outside the Scottish parliament and then went to an exhibtion next door called Our Dynamic Earth, where we got to go in a time machine (elevator) to just before the big bang and then be flown in a spaceship (walk) through a series of rooms about the geology, climate, biodiversity etc of the earth (including an entirely plastic and animatronic rainforest). At the end of the exhibition, we went on a time trip to the future (this time more like a movie theatre rather than an elevator), which we got to democatically choose along with everyone else in the time machine with 2 voting buttons on our chairs. I found the options for the potential futures to therefore be annoyingly dualistic. After leaving the time machine, one walks straight into the gift shop where, strangely enough, I immediately started looking for the didgeridoos. Obviously, I've been to too many theme parks/museums in Australia.
Overall the exhibition was kind of fun, but probably not 9 pounds worth of fun.
We ended up getting a bus home as we were sick of walking by then. For dinner, we thought it would be a great idea to get fish and chips. A lot of great ideas are not so great in hindsight, and this was one of them. Greasy battered haddock and moist chips did not an enjoyable meal make and neither of us finished more than half of our portions before binning them.
On a brighter note, we've bought tickets to see Jarvis Cocker in concert next Friday. Woohoo!!
Also, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a big fan of the Proclaimers, and a musical based on their music, 'Sunshine on Leith', will be playing here shortly and we are (I am) revved up about going. Seeing the musical will, I think, almost be as good as seeing Craigie and Charlie in concert. Given that my two music based goals for living in the UK are to see Jarvis Cocker and the Proclaimers in concert, I'm over the moon about how quickly things are moving. (On a side note, we've been to Leith and it seems like a dump. Maybe it's nicer in summer)
That's about all from me.
Bye for now.
G.
On a side note, only one more day of freedom until I'm back at work, although I shouldn't complain too much as I haven't worked since the beginning of July. It'll be good to have the moula rolling in again.
Yesterday, Kitty and I forswore (if that's the word I want) bus travel and decided to walk to the Holyrood park. It was only about 7 degrees but very calm and sunny so was really delightful. For much of the way, we walked along a delightful little stream with the not so delightful name of Figate Burn. It looked very clean and healthy apart from being the final resting place of quite a few bricks and bottles and assorted rubbish. But clean rubbish.
I really wanted to have a good look at Duddingston Loch which is in the southeast area of the park. We elected to walk to the south and west of the loch, which seemed to be the most scenic route from looking at our map, however it turned out that our view was mostly blocked by trees and then by a very long high stonewall. We saw a squirrel, though.
The wall was actually one of two that border a disused railway line, now a cycle path, called the Innocent railway. It was called this because the trains were initially horse drawn, in an 'innocent' age, when it was thought that steam engines were dangerous.
It's quite a long isolated path and as we seemed to be the only people on it for some time, Kitty was continuously looking behind us for potential muggers or other people of ill intent.
We made it to the park unscathed, however, and were amazed by the number of people crawling like ants up the hills and along the cliffs. Also some people in shorts and t-shirts doing sprints up a hill. Nutbags.
We eventually had lunch outside the Scottish parliament and then went to an exhibtion next door called Our Dynamic Earth, where we got to go in a time machine (elevator) to just before the big bang and then be flown in a spaceship (walk) through a series of rooms about the geology, climate, biodiversity etc of the earth (including an entirely plastic and animatronic rainforest). At the end of the exhibition, we went on a time trip to the future (this time more like a movie theatre rather than an elevator), which we got to democatically choose along with everyone else in the time machine with 2 voting buttons on our chairs. I found the options for the potential futures to therefore be annoyingly dualistic. After leaving the time machine, one walks straight into the gift shop where, strangely enough, I immediately started looking for the didgeridoos. Obviously, I've been to too many theme parks/museums in Australia.
Overall the exhibition was kind of fun, but probably not 9 pounds worth of fun.
We ended up getting a bus home as we were sick of walking by then. For dinner, we thought it would be a great idea to get fish and chips. A lot of great ideas are not so great in hindsight, and this was one of them. Greasy battered haddock and moist chips did not an enjoyable meal make and neither of us finished more than half of our portions before binning them.
On a brighter note, we've bought tickets to see Jarvis Cocker in concert next Friday. Woohoo!!
Also, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a big fan of the Proclaimers, and a musical based on their music, 'Sunshine on Leith', will be playing here shortly and we are (I am) revved up about going. Seeing the musical will, I think, almost be as good as seeing Craigie and Charlie in concert. Given that my two music based goals for living in the UK are to see Jarvis Cocker and the Proclaimers in concert, I'm over the moon about how quickly things are moving. (On a side note, we've been to Leith and it seems like a dump. Maybe it's nicer in summer)
That's about all from me.
Bye for now.
G.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Brush with fame!
C here, y'all.
Yesterday we went to Rosslyn Chapel, made famous in The Da Vinci Code as the final resting place of Mary Magdalene, the Holy Grail (spoiler for that one person out there who hasn't read the book or seen the film). It is a very pretty chapel, but there is a canopy built over it to keep out the rain and snow, which really mars the visual impact of the exterior. The chapel inside is very ornate, with carvings crammed onto every possible surface. You could spend a month inside the chapel and still find new things to look at. We got a tour, and the guide seemed a bit reluctant to mention the DVC, even though most of the people wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been for the book. The conservation fund is working to restore the chapel, which is admirable, but they're also putting in a conference centre, restaurant, discovery centre and viewing platform with the money raised, so as to "enhance" the tourist experience. Hmmm.
For me, sadly, one of the more thrilling discoveries at Rosslyn was made while looking at the visitor book. I turned back through the pages to see if any Australians had visited recently, and noted that visiting the previous day was The Hon. Mark Vaile former Deputy PM of Australia. Seriously, that's how he signed his name. Unless he was there on official duty, which I doubt, it really smacks of desperation to do that. But, I noted down his address and will send a letter advising him not to do that in future.
G made an important purchase yesterday of a winter coat and some gloves. It's been a long time coming, but he bit the bullet and bought a schmick black coat from River Island (which he kept calling River Island Naturist Park for some reason). The salesgirl was very friendly, but asked the inevitable question "Why on earth did you move to Edinburgh?" (This question is usually followed by "And why did you swap the lovely Australian summer for our horrid winter?") Today we're going shopping for more clothes, specifically work gear for G, as he starts on Wednesday (at the civilised time of 9.30).
Had more sagas with the rental agent over our application. Suffice to say, we heard from him that we had failed the credit check because our previous addresses were all Australian as were our bank account details, which means tht no one who moves to the UK from a foreign country could ever rent somewhere to live. He insisted that any foreign person they deal with at their company either pays six months rent up front or finds a UK citizen to act as guarantor for them. We both found this hard to believe. G contacted the credit check company directly and was told that, no, we haven't actually failed the credit check as they still hadn't contacted our previous landlord in Brisbane for a reference. G called back to tell this to the real estate agent, who then tried to claim he knew all along that the credit check company was still waiting to make their decision. Hmmm, not sure I believe him on that. Anyhow, we're still hopeful of getting this place to rent, and hopefully will found out something soon!
Much love
Yesterday we went to Rosslyn Chapel, made famous in The Da Vinci Code as the final resting place of Mary Magdalene, the Holy Grail (spoiler for that one person out there who hasn't read the book or seen the film). It is a very pretty chapel, but there is a canopy built over it to keep out the rain and snow, which really mars the visual impact of the exterior. The chapel inside is very ornate, with carvings crammed onto every possible surface. You could spend a month inside the chapel and still find new things to look at. We got a tour, and the guide seemed a bit reluctant to mention the DVC, even though most of the people wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been for the book. The conservation fund is working to restore the chapel, which is admirable, but they're also putting in a conference centre, restaurant, discovery centre and viewing platform with the money raised, so as to "enhance" the tourist experience. Hmmm.
For me, sadly, one of the more thrilling discoveries at Rosslyn was made while looking at the visitor book. I turned back through the pages to see if any Australians had visited recently, and noted that visiting the previous day was The Hon. Mark Vaile former Deputy PM of Australia. Seriously, that's how he signed his name. Unless he was there on official duty, which I doubt, it really smacks of desperation to do that. But, I noted down his address and will send a letter advising him not to do that in future.
G made an important purchase yesterday of a winter coat and some gloves. It's been a long time coming, but he bit the bullet and bought a schmick black coat from River Island (which he kept calling River Island Naturist Park for some reason). The salesgirl was very friendly, but asked the inevitable question "Why on earth did you move to Edinburgh?" (This question is usually followed by "And why did you swap the lovely Australian summer for our horrid winter?") Today we're going shopping for more clothes, specifically work gear for G, as he starts on Wednesday (at the civilised time of 9.30).
Had more sagas with the rental agent over our application. Suffice to say, we heard from him that we had failed the credit check because our previous addresses were all Australian as were our bank account details, which means tht no one who moves to the UK from a foreign country could ever rent somewhere to live. He insisted that any foreign person they deal with at their company either pays six months rent up front or finds a UK citizen to act as guarantor for them. We both found this hard to believe. G contacted the credit check company directly and was told that, no, we haven't actually failed the credit check as they still hadn't contacted our previous landlord in Brisbane for a reference. G called back to tell this to the real estate agent, who then tried to claim he knew all along that the credit check company was still waiting to make their decision. Hmmm, not sure I believe him on that. Anyhow, we're still hopeful of getting this place to rent, and hopefully will found out something soon!
Much love
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Touristing
Hello, C. here.
Today, we played the roles of tourists. G's likely to start work on Wednesday next week, so we're going to knock over a few tourist destinations before then. Unfortunately, most of these are located in the Old Town, around the Royal Mile...which means walking downhill, only to have to climb up again. We were both pooped by 4pm, when we were heading back to the bus stop to head to Sainsbury's. Pathetic? Maybe, but then you aren't sleeping in our incredibly uncomfortable, small bed. Yeah.
Anyhow, we went to the Queen's Gallery, and happened to be there on the first day of a new exhibition of Italian Baroque paintings. They were really impressive, and you could stand literally 2mm from the paintings (or closer, if you want your eyeball to touch the canvas). The talent of the painters was remarkable and unmistakeable, and we were both really affected by how realistic they were. I was quite excited to be so close to a Caravaggio. Not sure why exactly, but yeah.
After the gallery, we popped over to Holyrood Palace, which was right next door. This is the Queen's official residence in Scotland, and only one of three such residences she has. Building started in the early 1100s, and Charles II and Mary Queen of Scots lived there, among other monarchs. We saw Mary's quarters, including the room in which she was dining when her husband burst in with some flunkeys, dragged the Italian ambassador away and stabbed him 56 times (and we also saw the spot on which his body was left including, I swear, the blood stains!). The highlight was undoubtedly a miniature portrait of Charles II, around which Mary had embroidered a decorative border in her own hair. I guess during the long winter nights you made your own entertainment.
I'll end this post with a photo of a menu item we could have chosen today for lunch, but did not.
Today, we played the roles of tourists. G's likely to start work on Wednesday next week, so we're going to knock over a few tourist destinations before then. Unfortunately, most of these are located in the Old Town, around the Royal Mile...which means walking downhill, only to have to climb up again. We were both pooped by 4pm, when we were heading back to the bus stop to head to Sainsbury's. Pathetic? Maybe, but then you aren't sleeping in our incredibly uncomfortable, small bed. Yeah.
Anyhow, we went to the Queen's Gallery, and happened to be there on the first day of a new exhibition of Italian Baroque paintings. They were really impressive, and you could stand literally 2mm from the paintings (or closer, if you want your eyeball to touch the canvas). The talent of the painters was remarkable and unmistakeable, and we were both really affected by how realistic they were. I was quite excited to be so close to a Caravaggio. Not sure why exactly, but yeah.
After the gallery, we popped over to Holyrood Palace, which was right next door. This is the Queen's official residence in Scotland, and only one of three such residences she has. Building started in the early 1100s, and Charles II and Mary Queen of Scots lived there, among other monarchs. We saw Mary's quarters, including the room in which she was dining when her husband burst in with some flunkeys, dragged the Italian ambassador away and stabbed him 56 times (and we also saw the spot on which his body was left including, I swear, the blood stains!). The highlight was undoubtedly a miniature portrait of Charles II, around which Mary had embroidered a decorative border in her own hair. I guess during the long winter nights you made your own entertainment.
I'll end this post with a photo of a menu item we could have chosen today for lunch, but did not.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Things
It’s G here. C pointed out that it’s our blog and not just her blog so I’m taking a turn. It’s been a bit warmer here today, maybe around 8, and quite calm unlike the last few days so seemed comparatively balmy. I still need to get an overcoat and gloves, but having some difficulty in forking out 170 pounds for a coat, which seems to be what I’ll be needing to pay for anything decent (i.e. it’ll keep me warm). Obviously, I’ve assimilated the stereotypical Scottish thriftiness quite quickly. No doubt the dropping temperatures will force the issue.
Things: I landed a job today with the TrainLine (hooray) although I’m a bit apprehensive now as I’ve just read C’s previous post about what she’ll do when I get a job. Hopefully, it won’t rage too out of control. The office is right in the middle of Edinburgh with views of the castle, which is nice, and is about 25 min walk to our place that we have applied for (fingers crossed we’ll get it).
The girl from the agency through whom I found the job asked me if I was having any trouble understanding Scottish accents and I replied, ‘Not really’, and added that we got a reasonable amount of British shows on TV in Australia so we were used to all sorts of British accents. She, and her colleague, looked at me as I if I had said I enjoyed wallpapering fish. I don’t really know why what I said could have produced that reaction, but the meaning of communication is the response you get so I guess there was a glitch somewhere. Further to this, when I got a call from her to let me know that I had the job, she said that she would shout me lunch. I light heartedly responded with, “Ooh, I hope it’s somewhere nice like McDonalds or Burger King”, to which the slightly shocked and earnest response was, “Oh no! It’ll be fine dining.” Maybe my delivery is off….
Speaking of off things, when we were doing the rounds of the op shops in Portobello looking for 2nd hand coats, C accidently stepped in something unmentionable. Let’s just say the dog sitting at the entrance to the florist we had just passed was looking guilty but somehow subtly triumphant. As a consequence, only I went into the last op shop on the way, C considerately not wanting to contaminate a heated and closed up room. No good on the clothes front, but I overheard an interesting snippet of conversation from the two ladies who worked there.
“Hae yea nor tried Guinness, then?”
“Aye, I hae tried it. Ah don’ laike the tairste but ut’s fool o’ vitamins soo ah drunk ut wharle ah wass preegnunt”
(Apologies for this poor attempt at a phonetic representation of an Edinburgian accent (Edinburgh-ite? Edinburgher? What do you call someone from Edinburgh, anyway?))
Speaking (writing) of accents, I caught a cab the other day after a job interview out in the sticks, and when I jumped in the car, the cabbie said something like “Weerdablochnaeglochennow?” (or similar). I sat thinking furiously for a few seconds trying to translate what he had just said into ‘Strine, after which, watching me blinking and staring, he felt prompted to helpfully add, “Gillblanegoonoddabumudlee?”. I made a cognitive leap and said, “Livingston North train station”, which seemed to satisfy him and that’s where we ended up so I’m guessing I leapt in the right direction. We ended up overcoming our communication problems sufficiently during the journey for him to learn where I was from and, like a lot of locals we have spoken to, express disbelief that we had chosen to leave an Australian summer to come to a Scottish winter. I don’t think that they realise what a sticky, debilitating and overpowering heat is a part of a Brisbane summer. Things are always greener.
Tomorrow we are planning on going to Holyrood castle and abbey ruins. I found out today that “rood” means cross, which has cleared things up greatly. I still think “Holyrood” sounds like some sort of sacred object, the absolute rudest possible, worshipped by a devoted bunch of really rude people.
That’s about all for the moment, however, I’ve just realised that I haven’t talked much about C in this entry so I think I should mention that she is, of course, as always, quite wonderful and the best companion I could have on this adventure.
Bye for now,
Things: I landed a job today with the TrainLine (hooray) although I’m a bit apprehensive now as I’ve just read C’s previous post about what she’ll do when I get a job. Hopefully, it won’t rage too out of control. The office is right in the middle of Edinburgh with views of the castle, which is nice, and is about 25 min walk to our place that we have applied for (fingers crossed we’ll get it).
The girl from the agency through whom I found the job asked me if I was having any trouble understanding Scottish accents and I replied, ‘Not really’, and added that we got a reasonable amount of British shows on TV in Australia so we were used to all sorts of British accents. She, and her colleague, looked at me as I if I had said I enjoyed wallpapering fish. I don’t really know why what I said could have produced that reaction, but the meaning of communication is the response you get so I guess there was a glitch somewhere. Further to this, when I got a call from her to let me know that I had the job, she said that she would shout me lunch. I light heartedly responded with, “Ooh, I hope it’s somewhere nice like McDonalds or Burger King”, to which the slightly shocked and earnest response was, “Oh no! It’ll be fine dining.” Maybe my delivery is off….
Speaking of off things, when we were doing the rounds of the op shops in Portobello looking for 2nd hand coats, C accidently stepped in something unmentionable. Let’s just say the dog sitting at the entrance to the florist we had just passed was looking guilty but somehow subtly triumphant. As a consequence, only I went into the last op shop on the way, C considerately not wanting to contaminate a heated and closed up room. No good on the clothes front, but I overheard an interesting snippet of conversation from the two ladies who worked there.
“Hae yea nor tried Guinness, then?”
“Aye, I hae tried it. Ah don’ laike the tairste but ut’s fool o’ vitamins soo ah drunk ut wharle ah wass preegnunt”
(Apologies for this poor attempt at a phonetic representation of an Edinburgian accent (Edinburgh-ite? Edinburgher? What do you call someone from Edinburgh, anyway?))
Speaking (writing) of accents, I caught a cab the other day after a job interview out in the sticks, and when I jumped in the car, the cabbie said something like “Weerdablochnaeglochennow?” (or similar). I sat thinking furiously for a few seconds trying to translate what he had just said into ‘Strine, after which, watching me blinking and staring, he felt prompted to helpfully add, “Gillblanegoonoddabumudlee?”. I made a cognitive leap and said, “Livingston North train station”, which seemed to satisfy him and that’s where we ended up so I’m guessing I leapt in the right direction. We ended up overcoming our communication problems sufficiently during the journey for him to learn where I was from and, like a lot of locals we have spoken to, express disbelief that we had chosen to leave an Australian summer to come to a Scottish winter. I don’t think that they realise what a sticky, debilitating and overpowering heat is a part of a Brisbane summer. Things are always greener.
Tomorrow we are planning on going to Holyrood castle and abbey ruins. I found out today that “rood” means cross, which has cleared things up greatly. I still think “Holyrood” sounds like some sort of sacred object, the absolute rudest possible, worshipped by a devoted bunch of really rude people.
That’s about all for the moment, however, I’ve just realised that I haven’t talked much about C in this entry so I think I should mention that she is, of course, as always, quite wonderful and the best companion I could have on this adventure.
Bye for now,
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