Andrea and Adam's bus back to London left at eight in the morning so we were up quite early and at teh bus station we said our goodbye's. 'It's been fun, see you when i'm next in America'. I then went in search of the train station where i thought i could get a ticket to Leeds for a remarkable £12, but first i had to find the station. I knew roughly where it was as the hotel receptionist had given me a map and shown me, but i had all day and was in no rush. Along the way i reluctantly withdrew my map and quickly looked at it, as Glasgow is the kind of place where if someone sees that you are lost they will cross the road to ask if you need help. Sure enough, on the second time i withdrew my map a lady did ask me if i needed help, but i assured her that i was fine. So as i ambled to the train station i thought about my stay in Scotland...'Glasgow was a very fine place, very friendly; people had fantastic accents; i got to see Loch Ness; I tried Haggis; saw some men in kilts at the Hogmany celebrations; but i didn't get to go to Edinburgh or try a deep fried mars bar - there's always next time' i mused. But as it turned out i could at least cross one of those two missed opportunities from my list as the only train i could get to Leeds bypassed Edinburgh and cost £49. So having no other choice i took it, and with in an hour and a half i was in the country's capital. My ticket to Leeds was not time dependent so i wandered outside of the station and had a look around the chilly but beautiful city. First i walked through a large park that was the drained out remains of a Loch (lake) which sat below Edinburgh castle, then i wandered up to the castle and had a nice look around the outside. It cost £11 to get in, and i didn't feel like walking around too much in there as my backpack was starting to weigh heavy upon me. Whilst taking photos of it, a worker there asked how i was going, and we got chatting. He told me where he thought a good chip shop would be that sold deep fried mars bars, so i headed in that direction, back over past the railway station, not before visiting the (free) kilt making and Military Tattoo mueseums. When i made it onto the street that the chip shop was supposed to be on i spied another mueseum that was having an exhibition on portraits. Now i'm not all that big on paintings, but i'm rather partial to a good photographic portrait, so i thought i would have a quick gander through the exhibition to see if any painted portraits would excite me. Before i could enter the room though, a lady informed me that i could not wear my bag inside and i could either carry it by my side or leave it at the front desk. My bag must wiegh in excess of 15kg so chose to leave it at the front counter where i recieved a token to show when i returned to pick it up. I went back into the exhibition and was very impressed by some of them, who managed to emulate photography amazingly 'why do that when you could just take a photo some might say' but 'why not!', i'd reply it looked fantastic. As i left the exhibition i decided i might just leave my bag there a little while, to liten my load for my search for the deep fried mars bar.
After finding that the place suggested by the castle employee was closed i went into a 'Walkabout' pub which is an Australiasian themed bar, and while i was waiting to ask someone, i had a look at their food menu. To my surprise, i found that everything on their menu looked fantastic! I didn't think Australians really had a specific food culture, but i must be wrong. Ther were chunky lasagnes, burgers, roasted potatos, salads, wedges and much more, all very nice and whetting my apetite. The guy at the bar with a very Australian accent (must be from Perth) gave me some very very rough directions on how to get to Old town where there was sure to be a 'chippy'. So i followed them and after crossing an old bridge and a pub called 'the Scotsman' (i just mentioned that because lots of people were having their photo taken infront of it - perhaps it is famous?) i found just the shop i was after. I ordered a burger, can of IRN BRU and a 'Mars fry' as it was advertised. Handed to me in typical fish shop styrofoam was my holy grail, i had found it, THE DEEP FRIED MARS BAR!!!! Now it sounds a bit over the top deep frying a chocolate bar - but deary me, what a fantastic over the top idea it is. The crispy battered shell holds the warm melted chocolate in beautifully and the two combine to form a brilliant filling treat. You should definatly try this at least once in your life time (perhaps any more and your arteries might clog up!) Just like the two minute noodles and toast in Wales, adding these two good things together was never going to be a bad conbination. I ate my burger and downed my drink on the walk back to the mueseum to collect my bag, as i thought someone might get a bit suspicious if they actually thought about a bag that had been abandoned, with the security announcements that are currently running at all airports and train stations. Thankfully my bag was still there, so i gave a donation to the 'friends and good pals of Scottish art' foundation and went to catch my train back to Leeds. The trip took me along the east coast of Scotland so i got a nice view of the ocean and rugged shoreline and also of the very green country side before it got dark and i arrived back in Leeds.
Sunday, 6 January 2008
2 breakfasts + 2 playgyms = very happy Justin
That morning at 4am we were awoken by a fire alarm and all the residents of the hotel met up outside - the fire brigade was there but apparently it was just caused by someone smoking in their room. Smokers eh? Despite this i woke at 8o'clock so that i could have some of the fantastic breakfast that was provided; Croissants, pa chocolate's, yoghurt, cereals, toasts, fruit, and three types of juice. While i was munching away on a croissant the lady who was working there sidled up to me (presumably as i was the only person there) and asked how my new years was. She then mentioned that because not many people would be up, they were going to serve breakfast up until 12 not the normal 9. So with that handy piece of information i went back to our room where Andrea and Adam were still sleeping and slipped back into bed and slept until ten to twelve when we all got up and i had a second lovely breakfast.
The day only got better from there as we had a lovely walk around Glasgow, along the Clyde river which was originally used for transporting ships that had been built in the town and into a nice big park. Now i was quite impressed with the first play gym that we came accross, especially as it had a sign that said 'give priority to those under 12 years old', and as there was no one there we had free run of it. But things just got even better when we saw about 200 metres away from us, towering up into the sky four pyramid type consructions with inbuilt ladders, and from the top of each spouting what appeared to be giant swirling slippery slides. We hastely approached them, and found that it was indeed a mega play ground and it had a sign saying 'give priority to those under 16 years old'. I must admit, i was quite excited as this looked like the king of all play gyms - and i was not to be dissapointed. Inside we went and first up tested out the massive rope swings, then the slides, but found them to be quite slow and a bit wet. But a Dad who was there with his two daughters gave us two plastic bags to sit on for going down the slides, and they made such a dramatic difference! My word - these would have to be the coolest slides i have probably ever been on. And this is just another example of how nice the Glaswiegens are. After a quick play on a very crazy rotating swing, we set off in search of the play gym for those 18+, but figured it would probably be in the shady part of town...
The day only got better from there as we had a lovely walk around Glasgow, along the Clyde river which was originally used for transporting ships that had been built in the town and into a nice big park. Now i was quite impressed with the first play gym that we came accross, especially as it had a sign that said 'give priority to those under 12 years old', and as there was no one there we had free run of it. But things just got even better when we saw about 200 metres away from us, towering up into the sky four pyramid type consructions with inbuilt ladders, and from the top of each spouting what appeared to be giant swirling slippery slides. We hastely approached them, and found that it was indeed a mega play ground and it had a sign saying 'give priority to those under 16 years old'. I must admit, i was quite excited as this looked like the king of all play gyms - and i was not to be dissapointed. Inside we went and first up tested out the massive rope swings, then the slides, but found them to be quite slow and a bit wet. But a Dad who was there with his two daughters gave us two plastic bags to sit on for going down the slides, and they made such a dramatic difference! My word - these would have to be the coolest slides i have probably ever been on. And this is just another example of how nice the Glaswiegens are. After a quick play on a very crazy rotating swing, we set off in search of the play gym for those 18+, but figured it would probably be in the shady part of town...
Highlands and Hogmany
Early in the morning we rose, and very much enjoyed our complimentary breakfast (a couple of notches up from the usual cereal and toast of youth hostels) before racing to find George square where we would meet our tour operator who would take us all around the Scottish higlands. After a few moments of panic caused by the changes to the square because of that nights new years celebrations we found him and claimed the back seats of the 30 seater bus. Our tour guide 'Billy' spoke with a fantastic Scottish accent and made sure that we answered with an 'Eye' not a 'yes'. In that day we covered over 600kms and saw some fantastic scenery as well as having a cruise on the eery Loch Ness. I didn't see any monsters, but i wouldn't deny that one could live there. It is over 23 miles long and up to 300 metres deep in places! Througout the trip Billy told us stories about the old Scots and the country side, dropping in lots of fun Scottish sayings. My favourite was 'When i get back i'm going to have a cheeky wee drop of malt whisky, not your mamby pamby blended stuff'. When we did arrive back it was dark so we had a quick bit to eat and headed out to see the Hogmany (what the Scots call New years)celebrations.
We didn't have tickets to enter the square and see the celebrations, but thanks to some very helpful random Scots (who we could barely understand) we secured some and went inside with the other 17000 Glaswiegens. The band 'the view' played and then we counted down to 12:00 where Old lantine was played and everyone sung, and then Loch Lomond, which we had learnt the words to on our tour
"you take the high road,
and i'll take the low road
and i'll be in Scotland before you"
After this we shook hands with and kissed the people we were standing next too, and fought our way through the crowds back to our motel
We didn't have tickets to enter the square and see the celebrations, but thanks to some very helpful random Scots (who we could barely understand) we secured some and went inside with the other 17000 Glaswiegens. The band 'the view' played and then we counted down to 12:00 where Old lantine was played and everyone sung, and then Loch Lomond, which we had learnt the words to on our tour
"you take the high road,
and i'll take the low road
and i'll be in Scotland before you"
After this we shook hands with and kissed the people we were standing next too, and fought our way through the crowds back to our motel
Saturday, 5 January 2008
London to Glasgow
We only just managed to catch our coach to Glasgow (we arrived just as the final boarding call was announced) bus once on board enjoyed the opportunity to see a great deal of Englands green country side during the day time, which lasts for about 8 hours and is slightly lighter than the night time. I sat next to a red headed twin from Manchester who was studying in Germany this year. It's not everyday that you get to meet single twins,(i mean seeing one and not the other - she had a boyfriend) so i gave her a good grilling on the sort of funny twin things that you always want to know if they actually happen ie. Do you dress the same? (quite often actually) Have you played any games on people where you switch places? (yes, changed classes quite often in primary school) Can you feel when she is in trouble, like a superhero? (no, that is silly). After she got off the bus at Manchester i started reading the book of Shirlock Holmes stories that Emma gave me for Christmas and tried applying what i had learned to people on the bus. I deduced that the girl sitting opposite me was less 18 years old, from a well to do family, was interested in trivial things such as fashion, had just come back from a trip to see some close relatives, and over the past 6 months had lost a lot of weight. I figured this as she wore fashionable clothing (ugh boots, jeans, nice top) but the jeans were too big for her, not the tight fitting form worn by girls her age. The boots were not worn suggesting they were not her only pain, she ate sandwiches and fruit and read a reality tv magazine boasting 'best celeb diets' and she carried a sleeping bag...So i'm not on the same level as Holmes (he would be able to tell you not only what pet's her neighbour had but their names aswell) but really, who is?
Finally after ten hours and about 600kms travelled we arrived in Glasgow and found our hotel within 2 minutes. The receptionist John was very lovely and we asked him a couple of questions regarding where we could get food and how to get to the tourist information centre. He had the most marvelous Scottish accent, and must have dropped in about seven 'wee's' in the five minutes we were talking to him - fantastic! After dropping our stuff in our room, we wandered down the street and bought some food at a fish and chip shop, one of the only ones still open (it was 10'oclock on a Sunday night). Because i promised my sister Dru that i would try haggis so i bought one (deep fried) and a burger(which turned out to just be a patty deep fried), some chips and a bottle of IRN BRU, a scottish fizzy drink. Back in the hotel we broke the haggis into three and munched away. Andrea knocked hers back, saying that the smell was alot worse then the actual taste. I would agree with that, but the taste for me came in two waves. Initially it didn't taste too bad, but then just before you swallowed it, it began to taste like how it smelled. And it's smell remined me of a sheep that Dad and i had to shift that had died and layed in the sun for three or four days, at the time i was close to throwing up, and this haggis put me in a similar position. Nevertheless i finished three mouthfuls of the stuff, so i can say that i've tried it!
Finally after ten hours and about 600kms travelled we arrived in Glasgow and found our hotel within 2 minutes. The receptionist John was very lovely and we asked him a couple of questions regarding where we could get food and how to get to the tourist information centre. He had the most marvelous Scottish accent, and must have dropped in about seven 'wee's' in the five minutes we were talking to him - fantastic! After dropping our stuff in our room, we wandered down the street and bought some food at a fish and chip shop, one of the only ones still open (it was 10'oclock on a Sunday night). Because i promised my sister Dru that i would try haggis so i bought one (deep fried) and a burger(which turned out to just be a patty deep fried), some chips and a bottle of IRN BRU, a scottish fizzy drink. Back in the hotel we broke the haggis into three and munched away. Andrea knocked hers back, saying that the smell was alot worse then the actual taste. I would agree with that, but the taste for me came in two waves. Initially it didn't taste too bad, but then just before you swallowed it, it began to taste like how it smelled. And it's smell remined me of a sheep that Dad and i had to shift that had died and layed in the sun for three or four days, at the time i was close to throwing up, and this haggis put me in a similar position. Nevertheless i finished three mouthfuls of the stuff, so i can say that i've tried it!
Madam Tussauds and Monty Python
I met my Yankie pals early in the morning and we decided to walk to Madam Tussauds Wax mueseum, which took us up along Baker street, the same street where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Character Shirlock Holmes lived in the late 19th Century. After getting our tickets checked by the Australian man at the entrance to the wax mueseum, we busseled our way into the main viewing room along with a mass of other people. The models were all very clever, and it was easy to mistake one for an actual person as they were all just planted around the room, i was pretty impressed with Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta, but i was dissapointed to find that just like my mate Tom Cruise, i would also be too short to date Nicole Kidman... We then walked through a couple of other themed rooms - pirates of the caribean, more celebs, sports people, royals, house of horrors, and then a history of the mueseum. Apparently, Mary Tussaud was commissioned in France in 17 hundred and something to make death masks of the French royal families who had been decapitated after the revolution. She kept copies for herself and went touring the country showing them to people, and slowly expanding her collection. So this light hearted attraction has a bit of a grizzly beginning.
After this we walked down the immensely busy Oxford street to get to Londons West end where we were going to see the Spamalot musical show. The street was so packed as a result of christmas shopping that we had to walk in a row behind each other just to make any forward progress. The musical was fantastic, losely based on 'the search for the holy grail' Monty Python movie, but with other fantastic additions such as a line of men doing a Russian dance that yelled 'Hay!' when an old lady dragging a cart of straw walked accross the stage. Classic stuff.
After this we walked down the immensely busy Oxford street to get to Londons West end where we were going to see the Spamalot musical show. The street was so packed as a result of christmas shopping that we had to walk in a row behind each other just to make any forward progress. The musical was fantastic, losely based on 'the search for the holy grail' Monty Python movie, but with other fantastic additions such as a line of men doing a Russian dance that yelled 'Hay!' when an old lady dragging a cart of straw walked accross the stage. Classic stuff.
From Suffolk to Seppos
On the 27th i took a coach back to London and stayed at my Great Aunt Alison's place. The following day was my birthday and Emma my Dad's cousin came around and we had a marvellous big breakfast. I then ventured into Bayswater, a suburb in London to meet up with my American friend Andrea and her boyfriend Adam. I met them no probs at the hostel that they were staying at and we had an all you can eat pizza lunch for only £5 down the street, before i took them on a walk all accross London. Having spent about a month in this massive city i was just like a tour guide, which felt a little odd, but i think i did a good job. We walked through Hyde park, past Buckingham palace, the Guards avenue, Trafalger square, along the Thames opposite the London eye, past Big Ben and the houses of parliament and over Westminster bridge where we bought some roasted nuts. By this time my Seppo* pals were quite exhausted having been up for 18 hours and were a bit jet lagged, so we called it a day and went our separate ways. When i was back at Alisons i had a fantastic bath with almond oil, the lights dimmed, a good book, and rain tapping on the skylight - what an ace way to finish a 20th birthday!
*slang term for Americans (Americans are often called yanks which rhymes with tanks, septic tank = Seppo)
*slang term for Americans (Americans are often called yanks which rhymes with tanks, septic tank = Seppo)
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Wet not white Christmas
I stayed with my Great Aunt Betty for the week up to Christmas in a small farm house in Suffolk. We spent our time sitting in front of the tele drinking cups of tea, knitting and talking about family, English culture and the past. It was fantastic, i really enjoyed having a time to just vege out after all the travelling around.
For Christmas we opened pressies (Donnie got me some slippers to wear about he house, they are fantastic old mans ones in rich red and some other fun goodies) and then had a great big lunch at Kate's place (my 2nd cousin) of turkey with all the trimmings. I ate an aweful lot. After dinner we watched the Queens speech and a bit of tele, had a walk outside and then Donnie and I went back to her place and did a bit more knitting. All in all a most enjoyable day.
Apart from the obvious temperature differences between Australian and England Christmas' there are also a couple of other ones. As a result of the seasons Britons spend more time inside and therefore watch television on Christmas day. I have never done this at all before. The stations get right on board showing favourites like 'my fair lady' and the 'great escape' every year as well as more kiddy friendly movies. The English also play cheesy christmassy songs on the radio like Maria Carie, Cliff Richards and the Pogues. They are terribly catchy. Becky gave me a CD full of them so i can play them all when i get back home - hooray! I both love and hate them at the same time - but they will always bring back good memories.
Oh and it rained not snowed.
For Christmas we opened pressies (Donnie got me some slippers to wear about he house, they are fantastic old mans ones in rich red and some other fun goodies) and then had a great big lunch at Kate's place (my 2nd cousin) of turkey with all the trimmings. I ate an aweful lot. After dinner we watched the Queens speech and a bit of tele, had a walk outside and then Donnie and I went back to her place and did a bit more knitting. All in all a most enjoyable day.
Apart from the obvious temperature differences between Australian and England Christmas' there are also a couple of other ones. As a result of the seasons Britons spend more time inside and therefore watch television on Christmas day. I have never done this at all before. The stations get right on board showing favourites like 'my fair lady' and the 'great escape' every year as well as more kiddy friendly movies. The English also play cheesy christmassy songs on the radio like Maria Carie, Cliff Richards and the Pogues. They are terribly catchy. Becky gave me a CD full of them so i can play them all when i get back home - hooray! I both love and hate them at the same time - but they will always bring back good memories.
Oh and it rained not snowed.
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