Glad to be home… except for that whole school thing

A week ago today I left California to come back to the UK.  Little did I know that dealing with the idiots along the 101 in enough time to travel the three hours from my parents’ house to the San Francisco International Airport was going to be the least of my problems.

The flight was fine.  Had my favourite seat (window, bathrooms right behind it, only one person to step over should I need to get up, just generally awesome).  I had two Terry Pratchett novels (again, generally awesome).  And there for a while it looked like we were going to get there a whole ten minutes early.  Which was great, because it would give me that much more time to deal with customs, getting my bag and then getting all the way from Heathrow to Euston on the Tube with said luggage.

Until we got to Heathrow, that is…

Because of the bizarre winter weather that has hit all of northern Europe hard (don’t believe me? check out  this photo from the BBC to see what the UK looked like when I landed), there was, surprise surprise, ice and snow on the runway that delayed our landing.  So instead of 10 minutes early, we were 10 minutes late.  It’s okay, breathe, I still had two hours to make the train.

Except that the customs official in the lines at the border gave those of us with residence visas the wrong directions and we had to re-queue; then the man checking our visas, etc., took allthebloodytimeintheworldtocheckeverydetail, and my bag was one of the last to reach the carousel.  Alright, I can handle this, I can drag 14 kilos of luggage (40 lbs) down to the Tube station on to the Tube train, off it, onto another one and then off it and up a few flights of stairs in an hour and a half, really, I can.

And I did, actually.  Got to Euston with all of 5 minutes to spare (I love you London, by the way, no one yelled, no one said anything rude, no one was mad at me, in fact people were mostly helpful).  Only to find out that my train was canceled.

Yep, canceled.

Fuck.

Got comped a new train ride to an unknown destination (last minute change, just told which platform and to hurry), where I was to change at Crewe (I had no idea where this was at the time, but have since learned it is a little south of Manchester).  Unfortunately this train was running about half an hour late, which meant that I missed the early connection that would have gotten me into Glasgow Central by 8 o’clock by all of, are you ready for this? 6 minutes.  So, I had a lovely baguette and caffeinated beverage for dinner, called home, and found out when I went to the cashpoint to withdraw money for my taxi from the station home that RBS had locked my card due to the ‘mysterious purchases’ made on it in US Dollars.

I appreciate their watching my card and trying to make sure there hasn’t been any fraud or other naughtiness, but let’s just say that was not the day on which I wanted to spend minutes on hold while they unlocked it, praying that I didn’t actually run out of mobile credit before they did.  By the time they did unlock it, I didn’t have enough time to get any cash before my train arrived.

So, lovely trip from Crewe to Glasgow.  Or at least it would have been if it hadn’t been after dark and therefore impossible to see any of the scenery.  By the time I got off at Glasgow Central I was so exhausted (having been up for more than 24 hours by that point) that I took one look at the icy sidewalks, the heavy suitcase and decided now would not be the best time to be so frugal as to walk from Central to Queen’s Street.  Icy sidewalk + 14 kilos + no sleep = recipe for disaster, and as I’ve already experienced the tailbone bruising fun that is falling flat on your arse on a cold, slate sidewalk, I really didn’t want to repeat that good fun.  So back into the station to their cashpoint so I could get a taxi.

Best three pounds I’ve ever spent.  Seriously. (for those of you not here, the fares start at £2.20 – 2.50, so it was a very short ride).

Had to wait another hour in that station (who thought open stations in Scotland were a good idea, seriously?!?!), then finally got into Edinburgh, and home after 11:00 PM.

Just in time for semester 2 to start on Monday.  And my supervisor was trying to give me guilt over missing the extracurricular (but compulsory, what gives!) seminar last night.  Yeah, I feel soooooooooooo bad that I stayed home and napped.  This is my sad and regretful face, seriously.

So yeah, lots of time spent in the library this week, or online dealing with emails back an forth about my internship, and two hours in class.  Back to the normal routine.

Not that it’s all bad.  I have managed to go to the cafe twice, a pub once, and spent an evening ensconced on one of my friend’s couches talking the same sort of nonsense we talk at the pub, just minus the alcohol.  And it’s Friday evening.

So even though last Saturday was the travel day from hell, they did manage to NOT lose my luggage, and well, there are certain things we are all willing to put up with in order to find our way home.

More pictures and less whining next time.  Promise.

 

Snow, London, Family, and reading things that aren’t assigned for a change…

Wow, over a month’s silence.  I’m very sorry about that.  Things got more than a bit hectic there at the end of term, and then there was Christmas shopping and good bye parties and traveling and well, you get the picture.

But the most amazing thing that happened?

That’s the view from my window a little more than a week before I left.

I had been told not to expect snow until February, and not to expect anything that would stick.  Apparently, no one told the weather what it was supposed to be doing, because by the time I left there was a lot more snow on the ground!

Unfortunately, my camera hates me, and has been uncooperative on the photography front, which is why this is the only picture I’ve got.  I did manage to get new batteries, that lasted me all of ONE day while I was in London.  Which is a pity, because the walk I took through Soho down to Trafalgar Square and then on to the South Bank of the Thames was just unbelievable.  But that was day two, so I’m afraid you’ll just have to rely on Google for pictures of Parliament, Big Ben, Trafalgar and other such lovely things.  At least until I go back again!

The following pictures show what the snow looked like down in the suburb where I was staying, the stereotypical cheesy pics of the Tube, the Natural History Museum, and the Victoria and Albert.  Those are all the things I managed to squeeze in on day one.  Enjoy!

I’ve now been back in California for about four days, have been down Christmas Tree Lane (found all the reindeer, yey!), tried on some hilariously hideous 80s revival clothes with my best friend before getting Thai food (oh, how I have missed you, Thai House), and am nearly over the horrible cold that hit me like a ton of bricks when I got off the plane.  I’m not homesick, yet, but I’m thinking the huge pile of books I have to keep me occupied during the next week and a half will help to keep that at bay.

If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ve been neglecting Neil Gaiman long enough.

Happy (belated) Christmas, everyone!!

 

Why I’m not posting…

This is what my desk looks like tonight:

Yes, I am reading all of those books.  No, none of them is for ‘fun’, not even Pride & Prejudice.

Ah, end of term, in the intervening four years since we last met, how did I forget how much I loathe thee…

 

Leith Water Walk

After weeks and weeks of nothing, two posts in as many days.  How’s that for inconsistency…

I had a really good morning of yoga and studying.  So as a reward, I grabbed my coffee, my camera, my Zune, and went and got lost in New Town.  Ended the afternoon with a street performer and walked home with a battered Mars bar.  This may have been my most perfect Sunday in Scotland, yet!

 

 

Coffee, Alcohol… and food if you insist.

So today I needed to reset my head, and intended to go on one of the many ‘walks’ to be had in Edinburgh.  Unfortunately, it being a lazy Saturday and having been out at a pub until midnight like a proper post-grad I didn’t really get going until after three o’clock.  This meant that the sun was starting to set by the time I not only got my coffee but made my way to Waverley station to purchase tickets for my forthcoming trip to exotic, exciting Norwich (you all envy me, don’t you?).

I may not have managed a picturesque walk, but I did pass by nearly every place I adore heading with my friends up here, pubs and coffee houses, and the occasional restaurant as well (I maintain that as a post-grad it is perfectly acceptable to survive on coffee, chocolate and alcohol… my flatmates disagree though… they are clearly strange).

As previously promised, here is the picture of the three pubs lined up in a row (in order left to right, The Counting House, The Blind Poet, The Peartree):

I usually find myself at the Pear Tree.  If I’m not there, I’m here (sorry for the darkness of the pic… it gets dark here fast):

Okay, that turned out crappier than I thought it would, just trust me when I say that the sign behind the red and white stripey things says ‘Brass Monkey’.  It’s a pub just ’round the corner from where I live that is pretty good.

Last but not least, there’s The Jazz Bar, where I’ve been at least twice in about three weeks, and will be going again next week:

IF you like live jazz (which yours truly does) it is a fantastic place.  And it serves the best red wine I’ve had in Edinburgh thus far (Merktree Merlot, for anyone heading that way… Australian mix of merlot, shiraz, and I can’t remember how many other reds).

Also, being in a part of the world where they understand how to properly brew coffee (provided it’s not instant, ::shudders::) I have become something of a coffee addict.  And I’m a bit spoiled for choice here in Edinburgh.

These two shops are conveniently close to either the library or my classes.  Top photo is of Elephants and Bagels, a shop discovered by my mother via Google before I arrived, and sister shop to the famed Elephant House which claims to be where part of Harry Potter was penned (for the real location, check Miss Edinburgh’s comment, please!).  They do some pretty decent coffee and tea, and make fantastic bagel sandwiches (see, I do eat food!).  The bottom is The Black Medicine Coffee Shop.  They do excellent coffee, and even better tea for only £1.30 a pot.

But by far my favourite coffee shop is this tiny little place with excellent coffee, service AND food just three minutes from home:

Kilimanjaro, right there in the middle.  Blink and you’ll miss it, but very good shop.

And since my flatmates insist that woman cannot live on caffeine and alcohol alone, here are two eateries near or on the Royal Mile that I absolutely adore.

Top is Chocolate Soup… which they don’t necessarily serve (it’s a type of drink, not a soup).  They do an EXCELLENT mocha (chocolate… duh), and their soups are fantastic and very affordable.

Bottom is Clamshell.  Another blink and you will miss it shop on the Royal Mile where you can get traditional fish and chips, or chips and brown sauce (my preference), or any other number of fried foods including the beloved deep fried Mars bar, which I insist everyone must at least try here in Edinburgh.

So, I’m not going hungry or thirsty.

I am however, feeling as though I am quickly running out of time.  Only three more weeks of class, and six before I head back to the States for my only visit all year, and I still have 4000 words to write for one class.  With all the traveling and going out I’ll be doing in the next few weeks I guess I’ll need to knuckle under and get to work.

I mean, being here on a student visa, they seem to expect me to study or something…

 

Reading week, a lot of studying, and Eddie!!

Sorry for my silence the past couple weeks.  I spent all of reading week working on a paper that is my ONLY assessment for a core (read: required and very important) course; then last week I spent doing a presentation for my Theorising the Photographic Image course which involved a very close reading of, oh, an entire book.

Post-grad life, here I am!

Reading week wasn’t all bad, I have to admit.  I got to go out and do a preliminary interview with the place I’m doing my internship.  Haven’t been back because my training has been delayed until 3 December… but at least I know where I’ll be working, how to get there, and what I’ll be working with.  I also got to experience Halloween here in Edinburgh.

Being a veteran trick or treater and former substitute teacher, I was not as keen to go to the university’s Halloween party.  One, because dressing up would have involved either buying an expensive costume or paying expensive prices to get my stuff from home shipped over, and well, with all the above mentioned work, I was too damned tired and lazy.  Two, university starts at 16 – 18 here.  I really did not want to be trapped with people, the likes of whom I had been giving referrals to only a few months ago, while they got completely drunk and I watched.  Been there, done that.  Not fun.

So instead I went to the Royal Mile to watch the Samhuinn Fire Festival, put on by the Beltane Fire Society here in Edinburgh.  I’m afraid I have no pictures of the actual fire festival YET… I took my old fashioned, film camera in an attempt to get some funky long exposures.  Once I get them developed and get myself a cd of the images I’ll try to upload.

I did however encounter not only some of my classmates, but also my flatmates, all of whom were acting in a rather more outgoing and flirtatious manner than usual.  I guess this is what happens when you combine alcohol with dressing up and a Saturday night!

The night ended at a pub (of course!) which is something I always enjoy.

Last week we were all so busy that the only thing not school oriented that was done was a trip to the National Museum of Scotland with another of my flatmates:

The high point of the past two weeks though has definitely been the acquisition of tickets to see Dara O’Briain in March, AND getting to see Eddie Izzard last night in Glasgow.

Oh. My. God.

I was FIVE ROWS from the stage.  Excuse me a moment. ::deep breath:: Okay.

He went on about Spartan ninja sheep, jazz chickens, religion, wikipedia, French speaking badgers and a number of other things that made me laugh so hard that my sides STILL hurt and was just utterly, totally glorious.  Anyone who can, find a ticket somewhere, he is totally worth a drive/effort to see in person.  I really can’t gush about this enough.

The only downside was that the show ran a bit over time, and the crowd moved a bit slow, so there was a bit of a rush from Glasgow Central to the Queens Street station as my friend and I did not particularly want to spend the night out in the cold in Glasgow when we both had classes/meetings today.  But we DID in fact make it to the train in time and recap all the glorious jokes we had heard over the previous two hours plus.  Unfortunately, though, since we got back after midnight, all the shops were shut so our favourite scottish comfort food of a deep fried Mars bar was unavailable (I know it sounds gross… but damn is it one guilty pleasure…).

I’m sorry for the lack of pictures in this post.  I’ve been so busy and exhausted I just haven’t had the energy to pull out my camera.  BUT, I do have a Thanksgiving party to attend soon, and a trip down to exotic Norwich (England at last).  Plus in a few short weeks I know for sure I’ll be in London before I get my flight back to the States… and I’m hoping to get in a sneaky trip to Italy and possibly Spain.  So there should be more photos soon.

Promise!

 

Not much to see…

This isn’t going to be a very long post because I am, quite frankly, exhausted.

The trip to Loch Katrine was I would say only a 50/50 success story.  We did get there.  Eventually.  We got lost on the way up.

Twice.

The windshield wipers on the bus broke at one point, which was a serious problem because it was bucketing down most of the time (horizontal rain at a few points), and after about five hours or so in a bus, the novelty of being lost in the Highlands wears off.

I did, however, get to see lots of sheep, and got more than half way through the leg of my second sock.

We did make it there eventually, and the food at the pub/bistro on the loch while not spectacular was at least hot.  And it stopped raining long enough for us to take a short stroll ’round the lake.  Which is where I got the following.

Enjoy!

 

Why yes… I am bragging…

Look what arrived in the mail yesterday…

It’s my ticket for this: http://www.eddieizzard.com/

Hate me, my friends.  Hate me!

 

Glasgow

I don’t think I mentioned last time that I was heading to Glasgow on Saturday.

Well I was.  A group of us went, and so I took my first train ride in the UK, and finally got to see more of the country than Heathrow Airport, Edinburgh (duh), and a few sheep from the window of the plane before I nodded off.

I don’t know what I expected to find there, honestly, but I was assuming it would somehow be more industrial.  Of course, we only did the “tourist” thing, museums, bus tours, etc. So perhaps we just completely missed the “industrial” part of the city.  Have a look see:

There are a lot more museums, for sure.  And I understand (being an art major and all) that the city of Glasgow spends more on the arts every year than Edinburgh does.  So it has definitely been added to my places-to-look-for-jobs-that-will-enable-me-to-pay-off-all-my-loans list.  And aside from finding out the hard way that BBC Weather lies (hello, my name is Brenna, the human ice cube), and getting lost on the way back to the train station, at 9 o’clock at night (we circled Glasgow Central fully before we found the entrance, and then found out that at that time of night we had to leave from a different station… great fun in the dark and the cold, let me tell you!), it really was a great day.

But if I’m honest I was really glad to get ‘home’.

At least until I remembered what my workload for the week was (heavy).  But I am a post-graduate student, which means that I am a professional procrastinator.  And with a trip to Loch Katrine coming up THIS Saturday (spend five weeks not budging from my central location and now I’m traipsing all over the country… it’s great), I decided to hunker down and get some knitting done.

Those of you unfamiliar with my previous blog and completely uninterested in knitting, feel free to stop reading now.

I started a pair of Evelyn Clark’s Retro Rib Socks (ravelry link only, sorry) nearly two months ago (8 September).  But because of the “great emotional roller coaster” that was the visa process (you’re going, no you’re not, you’re going, it’ll be another two weeks… by the way, it’ll be there tomorrow), I didn’t get too terribly much done.  BUT, on Sunday, I at long last finished:

One sock.  NOW I just have to make another one (damn). Yarn is Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino sock yarn in colourway P138 for anyone who’s interested, purchased at Wildfiber in Santa Monica in June.

And because knitting is so much more interesting than reading assigned readings… I knocked out my first pair of Fetching by Cheryl Niamath:

I used less than a whole skein of Knit Picks Swish DK in colourway Petal.  The only mods I made were to leave out one cable row (replaced with just another ribbing row) and to do a regular bind off rather than the picot edged one recommended.  As cold as it was just in Glasgow, I’m suspecting it will be even colder on the Loch.  And with winds that do actually head down here out of the Arctic, frilly must make way to warm!

More pictures next week.

 

Word to the wise…

If you’re an American in Edinburgh and seriously want to impress the guy in the chip shop, walk in and confidently order chips with brown sauce and an Irn-Bru (pronounced iron-brew), which is the national drink of Scotland.  It’s a soda that tastes like a slightly creamier but not overly sweet version of orange soda.

Instant kudos.  And I got way more chips than last time.

Just sayin’…