We had our big weekend planned away for last weekend (8th/9th December). On Friday night it was my work christmas party. It was an interesting evening. It was a corporate party event really, we had two tables of people and there must have been about 40 tables there. It was nice to talk to some colleagues outside of work and Angus and I managed to have a bit of a boogie on the dance floor too which was nice ;-) We walked home afterwards in the cool air which was pretty nice.
On Saturday morning Angus made us great French Toast ;-) Then we packed up our stuff and got in our rental car. We headed North, towards the city of Perth. The forecast for Edinburgh for the weekend was a maximum of 2degs and sleet, so we were pretty ready for some cold wet weather! We drove through Perth and kep going north to the town of Pitlochry. We had lunch there and then drove out towards the lochs and mountains. We drove through some really lovely countryside. We went to Loch Tummel which was really spectacular, and then past Schiehallion, which is apparently the hill where the first contour map was made. The weather was getting a bit worse, and we actually had some snow fall while we were driving which was very cool ;-) We drove along a beautiful loch, along a really narrow road, with snow falling around us, it was quite magical. We got to the town of Callander about 4ish and checked into a nice little b&b which we had managed to find on the internet - we were pleased with it! We had a pretty quiet afternoon and had a great dinner in the restaurant. It was excellent food and we had a tasty bottle of spanish red wine with dinner. Afterwards we sat in the great little bar and angus had a whiskey! It was a really nice evening.
On Sunday morning we had an awesome breakfast - porridge, cereal, toast, hot breakfast - yum! Angus tried Haggis and Black Pudding too! We then drove a little way from the town to do a walk. We walked for about 2 or so hours, up towards Ben Ledi, we made it to a bit above the snow line, walking along a river for the first part, then up a beautiful valley with a waterfal running down it. It was a great walk. We were ready for a late lunch and lucked upon an incredible little cafe right on the edge of a loch. We both enjoyed a great lunch with views of the loch and mountains surrounding it. Then in the afternoon we had a great drive back and stopped in at Doune Castle which is one of the best preserved 14th century castles in Scotland. It's pretty spectacular, and we really enjoyed looking around the very impressive rooms and the view from the roof was amazing! It was a great weekend away ;-)
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We had a fabulous weekend in Cambridge with Hannah and Owen. It took us a while to get there - I left work about 20 past 4 on friday afternoon and walked to Haymarket train station and met Angus there. We caught the train to Glasgow, and then walked through the city (under 10mins) to the other train station in Glasgow, we bought some chocolate to take to Owen and Hannah (we can't take wine on the plane of course!) and Angus bought a beer for with dinner. We got on the train to Prestwick Airport, which is about an hour from Glasgow. We ate dinner on the train - Angus had cooked a fabulous quiche which was really really yummy! We got to the airport and had lots of time and grabbed a coffee (eeek, this starbucks stuff is aweful, i don't know why people would actually _choose_ to drink this stuff!!) before lining up to get on the plane. Ryanair don't do allocated seats, so you have to line up. You can pay extra to get priority lineup, but that seemed silly when it won't actually get you there faster or more comfortably or anything! We ended up being basically at the front of the plane anyway, so i'm not sure of the point of the paying extra! The flight was fine and at the other end (London Stanstead) there was a bus waiting to take us to Cambridge (although according to the bus timetable there was no bus, but we wern't arguing!). We met Owen and Hannah at the other end! It was so great to see them both! We went for a bit of a walk through Cambridge, through Clare college (Owen's college) which is really beautiful - just like in the movies (which sounds really corny, but it's a fantastic building, with a square in the middle, with grass you can't walk on so it's all green and lush, with cobbled paths, and maginficient buildings all around!, including a chapel with stained glass!). We also saw Kings College and walked on a bridge over the river Cam (Clare college is the second oldest college and has an old bridge over the river, it's actually sagging on one side! - very cool). Then we went back to Owen and Hannah's flat, which is very nice - cozy but not small, pretty similar in size to our place here in Edinburgh. We had mince pies and tea and the boys had whiskey and we had chocolates too. We talked and talked and talked. The way you can only do with old friends. It was fantastic! We actually stayed up until about 2:30am talking!
On Saturday morning after a great breakfast we went back to Clare College to go for a punt. The weather was perfect. Blue skies and sunshine, it was really beautiful. We got all our stuff into the punt and headed off, Owen being punter. It was fantastic. So wonderful just seeing all the fantastic colleges, bridges, gardens, views etc all from the peace and comfort of a punt! Angus had a go and appears to be a natural punter! Hannah managed to lose the pole which was very amusing and I stayed sitting in the boat the whole time (not being a big fan of slippery backs of punts and cold cold water!). We had the grand tour of the river Cam with Owen and Hannah telling lots of stories along the way. Photos will be loaded up soon, I promise!! We then went for a bit of a walk, visited the local markets, which are on every day (which we are very envious of, as we would love to have local markets in Edinburgh - apparently there is a market here once a week but a decent walk from us and on a Saturday morning so we havn't been yet!). Then we went back to Hannah & Owen's for lunch (fantastic walnut bread and garlic stuffed olives!). We had a cruisy afternoon too, going for a walk through some more beautiful colleges, Trinity & Kings. Unfortunately the evensong wasn't on, so we couldnt' go to that. All the more reason to come back next year! So we sat in a nice pub for a few hours before going to a cool restaurant for dinner, a bit reminiscent of the Jeruseleum in Adelaide (think the parachute ceilings!). It was a great night out, though very very cold!
On Sunday morning we had another tasty breakfast before walking to the bus stop to catch our bus to the airport. It all went smoothly and we were back in Edinburgh by mid-afternoon and then walked home from the city and did some food shopping on the way. We had pretty quiet evening in as it had been a big weekend!
I think it was minus 6 degrees this morning (Monday 17th) when I walked to work and it's meant to be a maximum of 1degree. So so cold! Before we came to Europe I don't think we actually thought about the cold that much, it was just not something we considered. Now that we're here and living in it, we're quite challenged as to how to keep warm enough. Ie, how do we keep our feet warm enough in our shoes? And I can understand why girls here wear stockings under their pants to keep warmer! I'm certainly very very glad I bought a big coat when we were in Germany, without that I'd be frozen!
Now for some news:
On Sunday morning we had an awesome breakfast - porridge, cereal, toast, hot breakfast - yum! Angus tried Haggis and Black Pudding too! We then drove a little way from the town to do a walk. We walked for about 2 or so hours, up towards Ben Ledi, we made it to a bit above the snow line, walking along a river for the first part, then up a beautiful valley with a waterfal running down it. It was a great walk. We were ready for a late lunch and lucked upon an incredible little cafe right on the edge of a loch. We both enjoyed a great lunch with views of the loch and mountains surrounding it. Then in the afternoon we had a great drive back and stopped in at Doune Castle which is one of the best preserved 14th century castles in Scotland. It's pretty spectacular, and we really enjoyed looking around the very impressive rooms and the view from the roof was amazing! It was a great weekend away ;-)
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We had a fabulous weekend in Cambridge with Hannah and Owen. It took us a while to get there - I left work about 20 past 4 on friday afternoon and walked to Haymarket train station and met Angus there. We caught the train to Glasgow, and then walked through the city (under 10mins) to the other train station in Glasgow, we bought some chocolate to take to Owen and Hannah (we can't take wine on the plane of course!) and Angus bought a beer for with dinner. We got on the train to Prestwick Airport, which is about an hour from Glasgow. We ate dinner on the train - Angus had cooked a fabulous quiche which was really really yummy! We got to the airport and had lots of time and grabbed a coffee (eeek, this starbucks stuff is aweful, i don't know why people would actually _choose_ to drink this stuff!!) before lining up to get on the plane. Ryanair don't do allocated seats, so you have to line up. You can pay extra to get priority lineup, but that seemed silly when it won't actually get you there faster or more comfortably or anything! We ended up being basically at the front of the plane anyway, so i'm not sure of the point of the paying extra! The flight was fine and at the other end (London Stanstead) there was a bus waiting to take us to Cambridge (although according to the bus timetable there was no bus, but we wern't arguing!). We met Owen and Hannah at the other end! It was so great to see them both! We went for a bit of a walk through Cambridge, through Clare college (Owen's college) which is really beautiful - just like in the movies (which sounds really corny, but it's a fantastic building, with a square in the middle, with grass you can't walk on so it's all green and lush, with cobbled paths, and maginficient buildings all around!, including a chapel with stained glass!). We also saw Kings College and walked on a bridge over the river Cam (Clare college is the second oldest college and has an old bridge over the river, it's actually sagging on one side! - very cool). Then we went back to Owen and Hannah's flat, which is very nice - cozy but not small, pretty similar in size to our place here in Edinburgh. We had mince pies and tea and the boys had whiskey and we had chocolates too. We talked and talked and talked. The way you can only do with old friends. It was fantastic! We actually stayed up until about 2:30am talking!
On Saturday morning after a great breakfast we went back to Clare College to go for a punt. The weather was perfect. Blue skies and sunshine, it was really beautiful. We got all our stuff into the punt and headed off, Owen being punter. It was fantastic. So wonderful just seeing all the fantastic colleges, bridges, gardens, views etc all from the peace and comfort of a punt! Angus had a go and appears to be a natural punter! Hannah managed to lose the pole which was very amusing and I stayed sitting in the boat the whole time (not being a big fan of slippery backs of punts and cold cold water!). We had the grand tour of the river Cam with Owen and Hannah telling lots of stories along the way. Photos will be loaded up soon, I promise!! We then went for a bit of a walk, visited the local markets, which are on every day (which we are very envious of, as we would love to have local markets in Edinburgh - apparently there is a market here once a week but a decent walk from us and on a Saturday morning so we havn't been yet!). Then we went back to Hannah & Owen's for lunch (fantastic walnut bread and garlic stuffed olives!). We had a cruisy afternoon too, going for a walk through some more beautiful colleges, Trinity & Kings. Unfortunately the evensong wasn't on, so we couldnt' go to that. All the more reason to come back next year! So we sat in a nice pub for a few hours before going to a cool restaurant for dinner, a bit reminiscent of the Jeruseleum in Adelaide (think the parachute ceilings!). It was a great night out, though very very cold!
On Sunday morning we had another tasty breakfast before walking to the bus stop to catch our bus to the airport. It all went smoothly and we were back in Edinburgh by mid-afternoon and then walked home from the city and did some food shopping on the way. We had pretty quiet evening in as it had been a big weekend!
I think it was minus 6 degrees this morning (Monday 17th) when I walked to work and it's meant to be a maximum of 1degree. So so cold! Before we came to Europe I don't think we actually thought about the cold that much, it was just not something we considered. Now that we're here and living in it, we're quite challenged as to how to keep warm enough. Ie, how do we keep our feet warm enough in our shoes? And I can understand why girls here wear stockings under their pants to keep warmer! I'm certainly very very glad I bought a big coat when we were in Germany, without that I'd be frozen!
Now for some news:
A massive congratulations to my super talented big brother Martin who has got his PhD!
And a big well done to Michaela and Graham who had their baby daughter Karina Jade Heinson on Friday December 14!! Very Exciting!!!
Merry Christmas to everyone, we'd love to hear some news from you all.
LoveSelina & Angus
xox
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