Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Day 5.
19th June. Durham, Hadrian’s Wall, Edinburgh, Scotland
We skipped the B&B’s breakfast due to it’s annoyingly late start. Their website advertises 7am but I guess being a Sunday they just couldn’t be arsed and would only do it at 9:30 which just would not leave enough time for the busy day we had planned.
First off was a stop off in the charming town of Durham. This is a gorgeous uni town, now I realize I have never truly seen a uni town till now. The amount of uni aged people around the town was astounding. It made me want to spend weeks here and try to meet as many people as possible. The uni here is pretty special. I have always looked at Harry Potter and marveled at how these wizard and witch studends get to go to school in a castle. I didn’t realizes it was a reality. This Durham uni is a castle. And I always thought ANU was beautiful.
Oh, and it is also where the external shots of Hogwarts are filmed, then CGIed into the Oceanside setting you see in the films. Pretty cool.
From there we visited the Angel of the North in Newcastle, a giant modern statue of an angel at the top of a hill overlooking the land around.
And next it was off to follow Hadrian’s wall. A few things about the wall, it was built by Roman Emperor Hadrian to mark the boundaries of the Roman Empire. Funnily he conceded defeat and never claimed Scotland as the Romans were never able to beat the Highlanders. The ridiculously different battle techniques of the Scotsmen (basically the first Gorilla fighters) on their home turf were just too good for the super organized and predictable Roman legions. God I love the Scots :P
The second thing, something I didn’t know, is that the wall was not so much a barrier that was difficult for the Clansmen to cross to attack. But it was a highway to gallop chariots and armies across to get to the location an attack was being made. The wall provide a smooth surface over the otherwise rugged terrain of the area.
So we made our way along the trail of Hadrian’s Wall and stopped to look at many different sections as well as the remains of some Roman towns and forts. These were incredible. In particular the grainery at one stood out to me. The stone flooring even remained (not just the foundations) and we were allowed to walk all over the place. I was hesitant at first, I could not believe you would be allowed to walk on it. Then I did and had a really good close look and climbed all over it. :P
Driving along, completely unplanned we passed through the town of Wall. As in Wall from the movie Stardust. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it, a really fun adventure story. It was so clearly the same town, the matrix of stone walls all around it. I briefly considered going in search of the portal into another dimension. But I decided against it, I do want to get to Scotland this afternoon.
The scenery here is amazing too, I am still amazed, I was expecting such a different scene. I guess I am just used to farm land being quite barren and treeless with dirty looking sheep or skinny cows. But here it is all lush and green with gently rolling hills and white sheep and fat cows.
The next thing was a bit of a hit or miss risk. Once a year just across the Scottish border the local horse owners go on a ride (the Common Ridings) to commemorate the galloping ride warning of the arrival of eh British as in "the British are coming". Just when we thought we had missed it, a man on a quad bike came down the road and told us – in a thick as thick Scotts accent – to stop and wait. And there they were, at least 50 riders all out in the poring rain (as they had been for the last 4 hours).
I am so happy to be in Scotland, I’ve always been fascinated with the history and culture. And I must say the accent is in my top 3 favorites. J
Oh and again, Elizabeth Wooten-Basset has taken us on an incomprehensible route that passed by a particularly stunning Abbey in ruins. The ruins of Kelso Abby, so so so stunning.
And Oh. Once again, for the fifth day in a row we were caught in yet another incident of traffic congestion. Sigh
Edinburgh! No one told me it was this beautiful. I was coming mostly just for my love of Trainspotting. But damn this city is magnificent. And old, it is home to the worlds first skyscrapers. In fact we stayed in one on the world’s first seven story buildings, the Scotsman, the old newspaper offices (the newspaper is even still called the Scotsman).
The hotel is STUNNING! Absolutely gorgeous and super high class. This lovely concierge guy (not just a bell boy) helped us to our room and then spent more then ten minutes chatting to us and gave me some advice about the pubs where I could avoid tourists traps. He also let slip that Ewen McGregor was in town and Bill Nighy was staying in the very hotel we were. Oh gods.
We headed straight out for some dinner and a pub. We wandered around the High Street which is a pedestrian street beginning at Edinburg Castle and stretching through the old town (old as in the old medieval part, not the modern expansion areas) and ends at the Palace, The Royal Mile. This walk is amazing, the mix between medieval buildings, modern shops, souvenir shops packed with kilts and sporrens (each one the same as the others), tourists, locals, buskers, men in kilts and homeless people and their dogs. But none of the negative things can detract from the overwhelming beauty of the place. And the atmosphere is pure brilliant. Within ten minutes I knew Canada has been bumped as top spot for where I want to live after uni. Edinburg it is.
So we went to a pub in Grassmarket (the old hay market street from medieval days and a location mentioned in Trainspotting – much to my excitement). We ate haggis and drank Whisky. I was terrified of the haggis (knowing what it is made of) and was prepared to choke it down for the tourist cliché. To my shock it was absolutely delicious. Truly, really really good food.
While eating I overheard a particularly occa accent teasing about sharks and spiders so butted in and got into a bit of a conversation with two Aussie guys and two Scottish guys. Raina ended up going back to the hotel and I stayed on with my new besties. Then a German guy and another Aussie woman showed up too, the woman had lived in Edinburg before so knew what the go was and led us on a pub crawl. We lost the Scotts after a while and made our way around some of Edinburg’s best pubs. The music was sensational, there was an Irish two-man band playing with electric guitars and fiddles and stuff, traditional music with a wicked modern twist, I loved it. The beer was flowing, you may be aware I am a bit of a lightweight but this night I downed four pints of beer, two wiskys and a jager bomb. So, fun times.
We went to Dropkick Murphy’s, a very famous Irish pub and the inspiration for the name of the band featured in the film the Departed. Nice place. J
We went to a few different pubs and a club, had fun running around the cobblestone streets and a wrestling match proved that Aussies well and truly dominate Germans. Many a disparaging comment was exchanged, drinking games were played and friends were made. I had such a brilliant night. I love Edinburgh!!!!!!
I decided on a cab home instead of trying to navigate the medieval streets and to my delight the cabbies here are super friendly and helpful. Had no problem taking me the ridiculously short 3pound fare back to my hotel. The ever so gentlemanly German guy rode with me to make sure I was safe (thank you) and I staggered into my room and bed.
What a day! What a night! Did I mention I love Edinburgh?
We skipped the B&B’s breakfast due to it’s annoyingly late start. Their website advertises 7am but I guess being a Sunday they just couldn’t be arsed and would only do it at 9:30 which just would not leave enough time for the busy day we had planned.
First off was a stop off in the charming town of Durham. This is a gorgeous uni town, now I realize I have never truly seen a uni town till now. The amount of uni aged people around the town was astounding. It made me want to spend weeks here and try to meet as many people as possible. The uni here is pretty special. I have always looked at Harry Potter and marveled at how these wizard and witch studends get to go to school in a castle. I didn’t realizes it was a reality. This Durham uni is a castle. And I always thought ANU was beautiful.
Oh, and it is also where the external shots of Hogwarts are filmed, then CGIed into the Oceanside setting you see in the films. Pretty cool.
From there we visited the Angel of the North in Newcastle, a giant modern statue of an angel at the top of a hill overlooking the land around.
And next it was off to follow Hadrian’s wall. A few things about the wall, it was built by Roman Emperor Hadrian to mark the boundaries of the Roman Empire. Funnily he conceded defeat and never claimed Scotland as the Romans were never able to beat the Highlanders. The ridiculously different battle techniques of the Scotsmen (basically the first Gorilla fighters) on their home turf were just too good for the super organized and predictable Roman legions. God I love the Scots :P
The second thing, something I didn’t know, is that the wall was not so much a barrier that was difficult for the Clansmen to cross to attack. But it was a highway to gallop chariots and armies across to get to the location an attack was being made. The wall provide a smooth surface over the otherwise rugged terrain of the area.
So we made our way along the trail of Hadrian’s Wall and stopped to look at many different sections as well as the remains of some Roman towns and forts. These were incredible. In particular the grainery at one stood out to me. The stone flooring even remained (not just the foundations) and we were allowed to walk all over the place. I was hesitant at first, I could not believe you would be allowed to walk on it. Then I did and had a really good close look and climbed all over it. :P
Driving along, completely unplanned we passed through the town of Wall. As in Wall from the movie Stardust. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it, a really fun adventure story. It was so clearly the same town, the matrix of stone walls all around it. I briefly considered going in search of the portal into another dimension. But I decided against it, I do want to get to Scotland this afternoon.
The scenery here is amazing too, I am still amazed, I was expecting such a different scene. I guess I am just used to farm land being quite barren and treeless with dirty looking sheep or skinny cows. But here it is all lush and green with gently rolling hills and white sheep and fat cows.
The next thing was a bit of a hit or miss risk. Once a year just across the Scottish border the local horse owners go on a ride (the Common Ridings) to commemorate the galloping ride warning of the arrival of eh British as in "the British are coming". Just when we thought we had missed it, a man on a quad bike came down the road and told us – in a thick as thick Scotts accent – to stop and wait. And there they were, at least 50 riders all out in the poring rain (as they had been for the last 4 hours).
I am so happy to be in Scotland, I’ve always been fascinated with the history and culture. And I must say the accent is in my top 3 favorites. J
Oh and again, Elizabeth Wooten-Basset has taken us on an incomprehensible route that passed by a particularly stunning Abbey in ruins. The ruins of Kelso Abby, so so so stunning.
And Oh. Once again, for the fifth day in a row we were caught in yet another incident of traffic congestion. Sigh
Edinburgh! No one told me it was this beautiful. I was coming mostly just for my love of Trainspotting. But damn this city is magnificent. And old, it is home to the worlds first skyscrapers. In fact we stayed in one on the world’s first seven story buildings, the Scotsman, the old newspaper offices (the newspaper is even still called the Scotsman).
The hotel is STUNNING! Absolutely gorgeous and super high class. This lovely concierge guy (not just a bell boy) helped us to our room and then spent more then ten minutes chatting to us and gave me some advice about the pubs where I could avoid tourists traps. He also let slip that Ewen McGregor was in town and Bill Nighy was staying in the very hotel we were. Oh gods.
We headed straight out for some dinner and a pub. We wandered around the High Street which is a pedestrian street beginning at Edinburg Castle and stretching through the old town (old as in the old medieval part, not the modern expansion areas) and ends at the Palace, The Royal Mile. This walk is amazing, the mix between medieval buildings, modern shops, souvenir shops packed with kilts and sporrens (each one the same as the others), tourists, locals, buskers, men in kilts and homeless people and their dogs. But none of the negative things can detract from the overwhelming beauty of the place. And the atmosphere is pure brilliant. Within ten minutes I knew Canada has been bumped as top spot for where I want to live after uni. Edinburg it is.
So we went to a pub in Grassmarket (the old hay market street from medieval days and a location mentioned in Trainspotting – much to my excitement). We ate haggis and drank Whisky. I was terrified of the haggis (knowing what it is made of) and was prepared to choke it down for the tourist cliché. To my shock it was absolutely delicious. Truly, really really good food.
While eating I overheard a particularly occa accent teasing about sharks and spiders so butted in and got into a bit of a conversation with two Aussie guys and two Scottish guys. Raina ended up going back to the hotel and I stayed on with my new besties. Then a German guy and another Aussie woman showed up too, the woman had lived in Edinburg before so knew what the go was and led us on a pub crawl. We lost the Scotts after a while and made our way around some of Edinburg’s best pubs. The music was sensational, there was an Irish two-man band playing with electric guitars and fiddles and stuff, traditional music with a wicked modern twist, I loved it. The beer was flowing, you may be aware I am a bit of a lightweight but this night I downed four pints of beer, two wiskys and a jager bomb. So, fun times.
We went to Dropkick Murphy’s, a very famous Irish pub and the inspiration for the name of the band featured in the film the Departed. Nice place. J
We went to a few different pubs and a club, had fun running around the cobblestone streets and a wrestling match proved that Aussies well and truly dominate Germans. Many a disparaging comment was exchanged, drinking games were played and friends were made. I had such a brilliant night. I love Edinburgh!!!!!!
I decided on a cab home instead of trying to navigate the medieval streets and to my delight the cabbies here are super friendly and helpful. Had no problem taking me the ridiculously short 3pound fare back to my hotel. The ever so gentlemanly German guy rode with me to make sure I was safe (thank you) and I staggered into my room and bed.
What a day! What a night! Did I mention I love Edinburgh?
6
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Day 6. 20th June. Edinburg, Stirling, Inverness, Loch Ness
The day began very shortly after I made it back to my bed, we were up and at it early to squeeze in a loop on the hop-on hop-off bus. We packed up and went to check out. As we entered the lobby I was vaguely aware of a tall, well dressed older man right by me. Then Raina tapped me and pointed him out and said Hello.
Holy Shit! That’s right, Bill Nighy is staying in this hotel. And that is him! I went up to him and said, "Bill, excuse me but I am a fan and I would never forgive myself if I didn’t say anything to you." He was so nice. He was super friendly and stunningly warm and pleasant. He even asked our names. That floored me nearly, that he would care what my name was. I was so amazed that I managed to keep my head and not be an idiot in front of him. I think when it comes down to it, he just was very down to earth and is just a guy and after all it is pretty easy to talk to just a guy. We asked if we could take a photos and he was very happy to pose with me.
I cannot believe I got to meet him, and it was a truly great experience, one I will treasure for the rest of my life. What an actor, what a nice man. J
From there I was nearly peeing myself with excitement and must have looked a right idiot with the stupid grin on my face. I got to see Nick who gave me the info about Grassmarket and thank him for allowing my awesome night. He was lovely.
So we left the hotel and went to get on the HoHo Bus (HopOn HopOff) and toured Edinburg, it is a remarkable city and one I know I will be back to again, maybe even to live for a while.
Leaving there we passed through Leith (the area of Edinburg that Trainspotting is set) and then headed off for Stirling. At Stirling we visited the William Wallace monument which was great because one, I love and admire Wallace and two, I got to see his sword. Like the actual man’s sword. Wow. The spiral staircase hosting both up and down traffic wasn’t much fun, but well worth it. William Wallace was a pretty amazing guy and one of my favorite historical figures.
A few things on crossing into the Scottish Highlands.
BAM have a mountain
It is incredible. BAM
About the ponies, they are everywhere, are of the best quality I have ever seen and appear to be the only breed of horse legal in the highlands. We drove past a random paddock and saw what I really think was not only the nicest Highland Pony I have ever seen but one of the nicest horses I have ever seen. A little stallion that was honestly as good as anything I have ever seen. And a paddock full of his mares and foals.
Turns out they are owned by a riding school, for like saddle club kids. Lucky shits. So I had a ride. It was cool because the little pony really wasn’t expecting me to know what I was doing and it took a bit to make it realize I was the boss and I expected more. Then she was lovely.
As we were leaving, Raina, in an off hand tone said, “you need to be shipping more over to Australia.” So I chatted to the owner, a slightly crazy old man with no real concept of personal space, for a while longer then we jumped in the car and zoomed off, desperately in need of petrol. Turns out he seems to have thought we meant we were interested and he had wanted to talk to us more. He jumped in his car too and followed us all the way to the petrol station in town. BAHAHAH, so after a slightly awkward conversation explaining that we did not actually want to have any shipped over but just meant it in a general way, we headed off again. So much for our plan to get to the hotel early and get a good rest. A plan we have made every day, a plan that has failed, every day.
Elizabeth Wooten-Basset has suffered a very concerning neurological condition. It appears that in her old age of six days we may be seeing the end of her life. It is a great shame that we did not immediately recognize a cause for concern when she did some particularly eccentric things today, even by Elizabeth’s standards. We will be seeking medical treatment by the means of Dr. Google-Search as soon as we reach civilization. We have been performing some wilderness first aid techniques in an attempt to save her. But it does not look too good. I will keep you posted on how her condition progresses.
Tonight is a lovely B&B with friendly people, a nice room, great food and an indescribable view, a view of Loch Ness.
The day began very shortly after I made it back to my bed, we were up and at it early to squeeze in a loop on the hop-on hop-off bus. We packed up and went to check out. As we entered the lobby I was vaguely aware of a tall, well dressed older man right by me. Then Raina tapped me and pointed him out and said Hello.
Holy Shit! That’s right, Bill Nighy is staying in this hotel. And that is him! I went up to him and said, "Bill, excuse me but I am a fan and I would never forgive myself if I didn’t say anything to you." He was so nice. He was super friendly and stunningly warm and pleasant. He even asked our names. That floored me nearly, that he would care what my name was. I was so amazed that I managed to keep my head and not be an idiot in front of him. I think when it comes down to it, he just was very down to earth and is just a guy and after all it is pretty easy to talk to just a guy. We asked if we could take a photos and he was very happy to pose with me.
I cannot believe I got to meet him, and it was a truly great experience, one I will treasure for the rest of my life. What an actor, what a nice man. J
From there I was nearly peeing myself with excitement and must have looked a right idiot with the stupid grin on my face. I got to see Nick who gave me the info about Grassmarket and thank him for allowing my awesome night. He was lovely.
So we left the hotel and went to get on the HoHo Bus (HopOn HopOff) and toured Edinburg, it is a remarkable city and one I know I will be back to again, maybe even to live for a while.
Leaving there we passed through Leith (the area of Edinburg that Trainspotting is set) and then headed off for Stirling. At Stirling we visited the William Wallace monument which was great because one, I love and admire Wallace and two, I got to see his sword. Like the actual man’s sword. Wow. The spiral staircase hosting both up and down traffic wasn’t much fun, but well worth it. William Wallace was a pretty amazing guy and one of my favorite historical figures.
A few things on crossing into the Scottish Highlands.
BAM have a mountain
BAM have a rocky cliff
BAM have some Highland Cattle
BAM have some Highland Ponies
BAM have some pine trees
It is incredible. BAM
About the ponies, they are everywhere, are of the best quality I have ever seen and appear to be the only breed of horse legal in the highlands. We drove past a random paddock and saw what I really think was not only the nicest Highland Pony I have ever seen but one of the nicest horses I have ever seen. A little stallion that was honestly as good as anything I have ever seen. And a paddock full of his mares and foals.
Turns out they are owned by a riding school, for like saddle club kids. Lucky shits. So I had a ride. It was cool because the little pony really wasn’t expecting me to know what I was doing and it took a bit to make it realize I was the boss and I expected more. Then she was lovely.
As we were leaving, Raina, in an off hand tone said, “you need to be shipping more over to Australia.” So I chatted to the owner, a slightly crazy old man with no real concept of personal space, for a while longer then we jumped in the car and zoomed off, desperately in need of petrol. Turns out he seems to have thought we meant we were interested and he had wanted to talk to us more. He jumped in his car too and followed us all the way to the petrol station in town. BAHAHAH, so after a slightly awkward conversation explaining that we did not actually want to have any shipped over but just meant it in a general way, we headed off again. So much for our plan to get to the hotel early and get a good rest. A plan we have made every day, a plan that has failed, every day.
Elizabeth Wooten-Basset has suffered a very concerning neurological condition. It appears that in her old age of six days we may be seeing the end of her life. It is a great shame that we did not immediately recognize a cause for concern when she did some particularly eccentric things today, even by Elizabeth’s standards. We will be seeking medical treatment by the means of Dr. Google-Search as soon as we reach civilization. We have been performing some wilderness first aid techniques in an attempt to save her. But it does not look too good. I will keep you posted on how her condition progresses.
Tonight is a lovely B&B with friendly people, a nice room, great food and an indescribable view, a view of Loch Ness.
No comments:
Post a Comment