Lilypie Birthday tickers
Saturday, June 13, 2009
UK Trip Days 5-7 pics
These are coming up in reverse order, but whatev. The first pic is Eilean Donan, second one is a graveyard on the Isle of Skye, third one is the Culloden battlefield (mainly the memorial cairn & some of the clan marker stones), fourth is the CUTE Highland cattle, and the other 2 are mountain/ waterfall shots.
UK Trip Days 1-4 pics
I'm too afraid to edit the actual post, so I'm posting a new post. The first pic is Stonehenge (uh, duh), second one is the Roman Baths, third one is Windsor Castle.
Friday, June 12, 2009
UK Trip, days 5-7
Day 5 - This was mostly a driving day. We headed out to Heathrow fairly early to pick up the rental car. After lengthy negotiations, Andrew manages to secure an upgraded car (Saab Aero) for some extra bucks. The extra bucks buy us more legroom and, more importantly, a GPS. We were off to Scotland! The GPS paid for itself by getting out of the area surrounding the airport with no wrong turns. With the amount of round-abouts in the UK, I'm sure we would have gotten completely lost without the GPS. Thankfully, Andrew has lots of experience with round-abouts from growing up in Australia. We got to Edinburgh at about 6.30pm, though it took us an extra 30 min to find our "guest house" as the GPS did not take us all the way there. After a bit of griping at each other we decided to stop at a pizza joint & ask for directions, because if anyone knows the neighbourhood, it'll be a pizza delivery guy. Anyway, we finally arrived, too late to do any sightseeing in Edinburgh itself. We had a little dinner and then headed up to chill out in the room. Well, it wasn't actually chilly, as it never really got too cool in Scotland when we were there, which hampered our sleeping efforts. Also, our room happened to be above the hotel bar, so if we opened the windows too much we got a room full of smoke & noisy patrons. Awesome.
Day 6 - Had a hot breakfast, including haggis (we went all the way to Scotland, we had to say we'd tried haggis). We only tried a little bit each, but it stayed with us for quite a while. It wasn't awful, it just had an odd taste & texture. Then it was off to Inverness, by way of Fort William. You could really tell when you'd reached the Highlands, the mountains were just spectacular. I've never really been around mountains like that before so it was quite a treat. Sure, they're not the highest mountains in the world, but they just go on forever. I took lots of pictures from the car, and they actually turned out - all hail the sports setting! All over the place there was this small yellow shrub that I can't identify & it's driving me nuts. Anyhoo, we stopped in Fort William for lunch and a little shopping. We bought my dad a quaich & a little bottle of scotch (which he doesn't really drink, and won't be able to drink for a while - until he recovers) from the local distillery (Ben Nevis - which is also the name of the nearby mountain, the highest peak in the UK). We also scored a nodding/bobble-head Nessie for the car! We do love our odd bobble-heads. We still miss Louis, the bobble-head lobster that was stolen with the first Jetta. Sigh. Moving on, we got back on the road to Inverness, passing by Loch Ness in the process. No monsters were spotted. That is one big loch. Part of the reason I wanted to go up to Inverness is because of the Outlander series of books by Diana Gabaldon, so it was great to see the scenery in that area. It's going to add a new element to the books, which I plan to re-read (again) in anticipation of the new book, which will hopefully be out this fall. We passed a small herd of hairy Highland cattle on the way into Inverness - so cool! They are just about the cutest cows you'll ever see (but then I kind of have a thing for horses & cows & sheep etc). We finally reached Inverness about 5pm. We checked into the B&B/guesthouse & headed out for dinner. Then it was back to the guesthouse for a little TV, then sleep. Well, we tried to sleep. The bed was VERY firm, and of course it was pretty warm with the window closed, so we opened it to let in some breeze (and traffic noise, and bird noise). Of course, no one thought to mention that because Inverness is so far north, the sun doesn't set in the late spring/summer. So it's like dusk from 11pm-6am. That didn't bother me so much, but it did get to Andrew. My issues were with the hard bed & the thin pillows - too thin for just 1, too thick for 2. Gah!
Day 7 - Had a good breakfast (a nice mix of cold & hot foods), then headed out to the Culloden Battlefield Interpretive Centre, which is near to Inverness. Again, it was awesome to be somewhere I'd read so much about in Diana's books (even though they are fiction, they have elements of actual historical events). It was sad and a little chilling to see the artifacts of the battle - all the musket balls & broken swords, as well as mementos & items that actually belonged to Bonnie Prince Charlie. One highlight of the centre is the 360 degree theatre, which shows a film based on the battle (no narration, just the battle). As you're standing in the middle of the room you hear the wind around you & see the grass & the heather moving with the wind. Then you start hearing bagpipes & the sounds of marching. Slowly the men come into view - the English army or the Highlanders, depending on which direction you are facing. They get closer & closer, facing each other. Then the English cannons start firing, and the muskets (with bayonets), and the Highlanders start yelling & advancing with their swords & shields. They never stood a chance. Like I said, it was chilling. Then the figures fade away and you hear the wind again. By this time you've reached the place where you exit the building onto the battlefield itself. Obviously it's just a field now. You get an audiophone & you walk the path. The audiophone activates at certain places on the path and you hear an account of the battle, often based on writings of people who were there. You pass by the Well of the Dead, where one of the big chieftains fell, the stones placed where the members of each clan were buried, and the big stone cairn commemorating the battle, which was put there over 100 years later (the battle was April 16, 1746). By that time it was almost 11am, so we hit the road to Skye, which was the other thing we had been planning to do that day. Turns out we should have allowed a whole day for Skye to do everything we wanted to do, but we didn't know that at the time. The GPS took us the long way around, through multiple one lane roads, but we finally made it. One of our destinations was Duncan House, which is an artisan studio about 30min inland from Broadford. It was well worth the trip, the Celtic knot jewelry there is made by the artisan on site. I bought a silver ring with thistles & Celtic knots (it's hard to describe) as my "souvenir of our trip" from the artisan himself. It was very cool. Then we went & had some lunch & headed up to Portree, to shop at Skye Batiks. We had also intended to visit Talisker Distillery but as it was already 3.45pm we thought it was too late, as it would take about 45 mins to get there & it closes at 5pm. So we headed back to Inverness the quick way. On the way we rounded the bend and all of a sudden in front of us was a castle (Eileen Donan), right on the shores of a loch! It was stunning. Another un-eventful evening, except for the finale of Britain's got Talent, and a Top Gear episode that we hadn't seen yet (but that happened to also be the first episode we saw when we got home).
We're in the home stretch now. Only 2.5 more days to go!
Day 6 - Had a hot breakfast, including haggis (we went all the way to Scotland, we had to say we'd tried haggis). We only tried a little bit each, but it stayed with us for quite a while. It wasn't awful, it just had an odd taste & texture. Then it was off to Inverness, by way of Fort William. You could really tell when you'd reached the Highlands, the mountains were just spectacular. I've never really been around mountains like that before so it was quite a treat. Sure, they're not the highest mountains in the world, but they just go on forever. I took lots of pictures from the car, and they actually turned out - all hail the sports setting! All over the place there was this small yellow shrub that I can't identify & it's driving me nuts. Anyhoo, we stopped in Fort William for lunch and a little shopping. We bought my dad a quaich & a little bottle of scotch (which he doesn't really drink, and won't be able to drink for a while - until he recovers) from the local distillery (Ben Nevis - which is also the name of the nearby mountain, the highest peak in the UK). We also scored a nodding/bobble-head Nessie for the car! We do love our odd bobble-heads. We still miss Louis, the bobble-head lobster that was stolen with the first Jetta. Sigh. Moving on, we got back on the road to Inverness, passing by Loch Ness in the process. No monsters were spotted. That is one big loch. Part of the reason I wanted to go up to Inverness is because of the Outlander series of books by Diana Gabaldon, so it was great to see the scenery in that area. It's going to add a new element to the books, which I plan to re-read (again) in anticipation of the new book, which will hopefully be out this fall. We passed a small herd of hairy Highland cattle on the way into Inverness - so cool! They are just about the cutest cows you'll ever see (but then I kind of have a thing for horses & cows & sheep etc). We finally reached Inverness about 5pm. We checked into the B&B/guesthouse & headed out for dinner. Then it was back to the guesthouse for a little TV, then sleep. Well, we tried to sleep. The bed was VERY firm, and of course it was pretty warm with the window closed, so we opened it to let in some breeze (and traffic noise, and bird noise). Of course, no one thought to mention that because Inverness is so far north, the sun doesn't set in the late spring/summer. So it's like dusk from 11pm-6am. That didn't bother me so much, but it did get to Andrew. My issues were with the hard bed & the thin pillows - too thin for just 1, too thick for 2. Gah!
Day 7 - Had a good breakfast (a nice mix of cold & hot foods), then headed out to the Culloden Battlefield Interpretive Centre, which is near to Inverness. Again, it was awesome to be somewhere I'd read so much about in Diana's books (even though they are fiction, they have elements of actual historical events). It was sad and a little chilling to see the artifacts of the battle - all the musket balls & broken swords, as well as mementos & items that actually belonged to Bonnie Prince Charlie. One highlight of the centre is the 360 degree theatre, which shows a film based on the battle (no narration, just the battle). As you're standing in the middle of the room you hear the wind around you & see the grass & the heather moving with the wind. Then you start hearing bagpipes & the sounds of marching. Slowly the men come into view - the English army or the Highlanders, depending on which direction you are facing. They get closer & closer, facing each other. Then the English cannons start firing, and the muskets (with bayonets), and the Highlanders start yelling & advancing with their swords & shields. They never stood a chance. Like I said, it was chilling. Then the figures fade away and you hear the wind again. By this time you've reached the place where you exit the building onto the battlefield itself. Obviously it's just a field now. You get an audiophone & you walk the path. The audiophone activates at certain places on the path and you hear an account of the battle, often based on writings of people who were there. You pass by the Well of the Dead, where one of the big chieftains fell, the stones placed where the members of each clan were buried, and the big stone cairn commemorating the battle, which was put there over 100 years later (the battle was April 16, 1746). By that time it was almost 11am, so we hit the road to Skye, which was the other thing we had been planning to do that day. Turns out we should have allowed a whole day for Skye to do everything we wanted to do, but we didn't know that at the time. The GPS took us the long way around, through multiple one lane roads, but we finally made it. One of our destinations was Duncan House, which is an artisan studio about 30min inland from Broadford. It was well worth the trip, the Celtic knot jewelry there is made by the artisan on site. I bought a silver ring with thistles & Celtic knots (it's hard to describe) as my "souvenir of our trip" from the artisan himself. It was very cool. Then we went & had some lunch & headed up to Portree, to shop at Skye Batiks. We had also intended to visit Talisker Distillery but as it was already 3.45pm we thought it was too late, as it would take about 45 mins to get there & it closes at 5pm. So we headed back to Inverness the quick way. On the way we rounded the bend and all of a sudden in front of us was a castle (Eileen Donan), right on the shores of a loch! It was stunning. Another un-eventful evening, except for the finale of Britain's got Talent, and a Top Gear episode that we hadn't seen yet (but that happened to also be the first episode we saw when we got home).
We're in the home stretch now. Only 2.5 more days to go!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
UK Trip, Days 1-4
Here is the long-awaited (heh - who am I kidding?) UK trip diary. I didn't actually keep a diary while this was all happening, so I'm dragging it out of the dark recesses of my noggin. Come along, enjoy the ride! Beware of an overload of information! I'll add pictures later.
Day 1 - Left Toronto at 12midnight precisely, the flight was surprisingly good for a "budget flight". Lots of legroom & my arse even fit in the seat! Huzzah! I heart Air Tr@nsat. Food was not bad, but not great either. I tried to sleep but the fool in the seat in front of me kept opening her window blind (every 10 minutes) so I kept getting a face full of sunshine. Grrrrrr. Touched down at 11.30am local time, got a taxi to the hotel & were in our room by 12.30pm. That's got to be some kind of miracle. Didn't do much that day, except book a tour for the next day & go out to dinner at an Argentinian steak restaurant. Food was really good, especially the cheese bread & chimichurri sauce. Slept surprisingly well.
Day 2 - We (Andrew, Andrew's boss & I) did a day tour of Windsor Castle, Stonehenge & Bath (well, the Roman Baths). We had to be at the pick up hotel (10 minutes walk away) by 8am so we got up too early for a vacation, had a quick breakfast of yoghurt (that we'd bought the day before) and hit the road. The bus actually picked us up at 8.20am & took us to the bus terminal, where we lined up to get on our actual bus. Arrived at Windsor Castle at approx 10am, when it promptly started raining. Didn't take too long to get inside & get our audiophone tour guide thingy. Why they think people are co-ordinated enough to walk & listen to an audiophone at the same time is beyond me. Or maybe I'm underestimating other people. Anyway, the castle was very cool but the audio tour was too slow, we were constantly getting ahead of it. We had to be back at the bus by 11.45am, but of course you get held up by the changing of the guard (the police won't allow you to leave the castle grounds until it's over at 11.30am). Then we quickly grabbed some lunch, as previously instructed, and hoofed it back to the bus. Drove through the beautiful countryside (it had stopped raining by then) to Bath. I love Bath, it's one of my favourite places I've been, it's too bad we only had enough time to see the Roman Baths, which were actually the one part of Bath I didn't see the first time I was there. That was also neato. Had just enough time for an iced mocha & some yummy chocolates. Then back on the bus & off to Stonehenge! Stonehenge looks pretty much like it does when you see it on TV or in pictures, but it's smaller than you expect. That might disappoint some, but I thought it was great! Amazing that it's been standing for so long. It's also really cool to think about all the people in history who've seen it. Then it was back on the bus & back to the hotel. My feet were KILLING ME by this point. We did a little refreshing, then headed out to dinner at this great Italian place called Alloro. I had the best fried goats cheese on a bed of spinach salad, and for dessert I had a chocolate fondant cake. Yummmmmmm. Andrew wanted to check out the hotel he used to work at (Brown's) so we headed there after dinner, and he had a good chat with the doorman. Then it was back to the hotel. Man, I slept like the dead that night.
Day 3 - Andrew went to work that day, but first he got us a yummy breakfast from the café nearby. I had a chocolate pastry twist & a glass of milk - mmmmm. Actually, I had that the next 2 mornings too. Soooo yummy. Andrew & his boss headed out, & I went back to sleep. I woke up at 11.00am & decided that if I was going to do anything that day I should get a move on. I decided to walk up to the restaurant I used to work at (Café Creperie). Why I decided to walk, when my feet felt like pieces of tenderized meat, I don't know. It was pretty cool checking out all the high-end jewelry stores (Bulgari, Tiffany's, Chopard, etc) on my way. I also got told by a lovely African man that I was "his kind of woman". Thanks! This baby do got a fair bit of back. Made it to the restaurant in about 30 min, which I was pretty proud of. Had the same crepe I used to love when I worked there - stuffed with bacon, cheese & sour cream. These are big crepes, about the size of a platter. They put the stuffing in the middle of the big circle, then fold it up into a square. Then they cook it on both sides. It was sooooooooooo good. The place hasn't changed a bit, but the area is a lot more built up than I remember. Then I headed to Selfridges, which is right next door. Selfridges was one of the first purpose-built department stores in London, and it's celebrating 100 years in business this year. Everything was yellow - they had yellow Coke bottles, yellow carry bags designed by different designers (the one I got is designed by Stella McCartney), yellow rock candy. There's lots of designer stuff there, but since there was no chance any of it was going to fit me, I headed next door to Marks & Spencer. I got a very nice grey cardigan there. By this time my feet were saying NO MORE! So I hopped in a cab & headed back to the hotel. The boys had dinner with work colleagues that night, so I got room service.
Day 4 - Andrew was working again, so I headed out early (10am) to catch a hop-on, hop-off tour. It was rainy & cool that day, so I stayed inside the bus. I hopped off at Westminster Abbey, another place that I missed on my previous trip to the UK. Loved it - I lit a candle for my dad. I grabbed a snack there (at 2pm, I hadn't eaten since 8am that morning). I hopped back on the bus for what I hoped was a quick trip back to my hotel. After another 2 hrs on the bus I was finally home. I didn't pee all day - gah! That night we went to a seafood restaurant (I hate seafood but the boys really wanted some fish). I had a great steak there, though, and a yummy chocolate pot. Andrew had oyster rarebit for dessert (it doesn't actually contain oysters, just oyster stout & cheese). That was yummy. That was our last night in London, but we were getting anxious to move on by then.
This is wordier that I thought (but it's a good way to remember my trip). I'll pick up the story in another post.
Day 1 - Left Toronto at 12midnight precisely, the flight was surprisingly good for a "budget flight". Lots of legroom & my arse even fit in the seat! Huzzah! I heart Air Tr@nsat. Food was not bad, but not great either. I tried to sleep but the fool in the seat in front of me kept opening her window blind (every 10 minutes) so I kept getting a face full of sunshine. Grrrrrr. Touched down at 11.30am local time, got a taxi to the hotel & were in our room by 12.30pm. That's got to be some kind of miracle. Didn't do much that day, except book a tour for the next day & go out to dinner at an Argentinian steak restaurant. Food was really good, especially the cheese bread & chimichurri sauce. Slept surprisingly well.
Day 2 - We (Andrew, Andrew's boss & I) did a day tour of Windsor Castle, Stonehenge & Bath (well, the Roman Baths). We had to be at the pick up hotel (10 minutes walk away) by 8am so we got up too early for a vacation, had a quick breakfast of yoghurt (that we'd bought the day before) and hit the road. The bus actually picked us up at 8.20am & took us to the bus terminal, where we lined up to get on our actual bus. Arrived at Windsor Castle at approx 10am, when it promptly started raining. Didn't take too long to get inside & get our audiophone tour guide thingy. Why they think people are co-ordinated enough to walk & listen to an audiophone at the same time is beyond me. Or maybe I'm underestimating other people. Anyway, the castle was very cool but the audio tour was too slow, we were constantly getting ahead of it. We had to be back at the bus by 11.45am, but of course you get held up by the changing of the guard (the police won't allow you to leave the castle grounds until it's over at 11.30am). Then we quickly grabbed some lunch, as previously instructed, and hoofed it back to the bus. Drove through the beautiful countryside (it had stopped raining by then) to Bath. I love Bath, it's one of my favourite places I've been, it's too bad we only had enough time to see the Roman Baths, which were actually the one part of Bath I didn't see the first time I was there. That was also neato. Had just enough time for an iced mocha & some yummy chocolates. Then back on the bus & off to Stonehenge! Stonehenge looks pretty much like it does when you see it on TV or in pictures, but it's smaller than you expect. That might disappoint some, but I thought it was great! Amazing that it's been standing for so long. It's also really cool to think about all the people in history who've seen it. Then it was back on the bus & back to the hotel. My feet were KILLING ME by this point. We did a little refreshing, then headed out to dinner at this great Italian place called Alloro. I had the best fried goats cheese on a bed of spinach salad, and for dessert I had a chocolate fondant cake. Yummmmmmm. Andrew wanted to check out the hotel he used to work at (Brown's) so we headed there after dinner, and he had a good chat with the doorman. Then it was back to the hotel. Man, I slept like the dead that night.
Day 3 - Andrew went to work that day, but first he got us a yummy breakfast from the café nearby. I had a chocolate pastry twist & a glass of milk - mmmmm. Actually, I had that the next 2 mornings too. Soooo yummy. Andrew & his boss headed out, & I went back to sleep. I woke up at 11.00am & decided that if I was going to do anything that day I should get a move on. I decided to walk up to the restaurant I used to work at (Café Creperie). Why I decided to walk, when my feet felt like pieces of tenderized meat, I don't know. It was pretty cool checking out all the high-end jewelry stores (Bulgari, Tiffany's, Chopard, etc) on my way. I also got told by a lovely African man that I was "his kind of woman". Thanks! This baby do got a fair bit of back. Made it to the restaurant in about 30 min, which I was pretty proud of. Had the same crepe I used to love when I worked there - stuffed with bacon, cheese & sour cream. These are big crepes, about the size of a platter. They put the stuffing in the middle of the big circle, then fold it up into a square. Then they cook it on both sides. It was sooooooooooo good. The place hasn't changed a bit, but the area is a lot more built up than I remember. Then I headed to Selfridges, which is right next door. Selfridges was one of the first purpose-built department stores in London, and it's celebrating 100 years in business this year. Everything was yellow - they had yellow Coke bottles, yellow carry bags designed by different designers (the one I got is designed by Stella McCartney), yellow rock candy. There's lots of designer stuff there, but since there was no chance any of it was going to fit me, I headed next door to Marks & Spencer. I got a very nice grey cardigan there. By this time my feet were saying NO MORE! So I hopped in a cab & headed back to the hotel. The boys had dinner with work colleagues that night, so I got room service.
Day 4 - Andrew was working again, so I headed out early (10am) to catch a hop-on, hop-off tour. It was rainy & cool that day, so I stayed inside the bus. I hopped off at Westminster Abbey, another place that I missed on my previous trip to the UK. Loved it - I lit a candle for my dad. I grabbed a snack there (at 2pm, I hadn't eaten since 8am that morning). I hopped back on the bus for what I hoped was a quick trip back to my hotel. After another 2 hrs on the bus I was finally home. I didn't pee all day - gah! That night we went to a seafood restaurant (I hate seafood but the boys really wanted some fish). I had a great steak there, though, and a yummy chocolate pot. Andrew had oyster rarebit for dessert (it doesn't actually contain oysters, just oyster stout & cheese). That was yummy. That was our last night in London, but we were getting anxious to move on by then.
This is wordier that I thought (but it's a good way to remember my trip). I'll pick up the story in another post.
Friday, June 5, 2009
The jet lag - she sucks
Probably the worst thing about overseas travel is the jet lag. In the past I've suffered pretty badly with it, especially when we came back from Australia last spring - I couldn't sleep at night for 3 days, I was a complete mess. This time, we had a great sleep the night we returned from the UK, but since then I've been waking up multiple times every night. I hate broken sleep, it always throws me for a loop because I'm usually a good sleeper - heck, I started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old! I don't suppose my daughter will also do that? Probably not. I can't imagine what the plane ride home from Ethiopia will be like, all that time with an infant I hardly know, who doesn't know us, who I won't have a clue how to comfort. I freak out a little just thinking about it. Hopefully I can lose a heap of weight before then so I can be more comfortable in economy class, cuz there's no way we can afford business class!
All that to say I'm not up to blogging about the trip yet. Maybe on Sunday when I get home from visiting my folks. About that - GOOD NEWS! Dad is finally home from the hospital! They discharged him Thursday afternoon.
That's all from here, have a great weekend everyone (all 2 of you!)
All that to say I'm not up to blogging about the trip yet. Maybe on Sunday when I get home from visiting my folks. About that - GOOD NEWS! Dad is finally home from the hospital! They discharged him Thursday afternoon.
That's all from here, have a great weekend everyone (all 2 of you!)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Yeah, I'm back
We arrived home on Tuesday evening, after a flight that included: a 1 year old child in the row behind us that screamed at the top of his lungs for half the flight (no exageration - poor guy, his ears probably didn't pop properly); a drunk old couple sitting in front of us, chatting & repeating themselves incessantly; and a medical emergency once we arrived (she didn't look all that sick to me, she walked off the flight under her own power - but who am I to judge?). All in all, not the best flight. The trip was awesome, though. I'll post pictures in the next week or so.
In Dad news, he's still in hospital but doing better. First he developed pneumonia but that's been resolved. Now his incision isn't healing properly, so they had to remove the staples & suture it up (30 big stitches & 10 smaller ones). The incision is 10 inches long. Wowsers.
Well, that's about all I feel up to posting now. Perhaps I will have more energy tomorrow. It's good to be back, but I sure miss the UK.
In Dad news, he's still in hospital but doing better. First he developed pneumonia but that's been resolved. Now his incision isn't healing properly, so they had to remove the staples & suture it up (30 big stitches & 10 smaller ones). The incision is 10 inches long. Wowsers.
Well, that's about all I feel up to posting now. Perhaps I will have more energy tomorrow. It's good to be back, but I sure miss the UK.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)