Final Trip Bulletiny Thing. Er, Yay?
Stupid hayfever. Stupid election. Stupid sunburn. *cough* So that was my week, how was yours? ;)
I don't know if you guys are getting sick of these things, but this should be the last one... So, the next day we headed off for Edinburgh; the rail journey was disastrous - a couple of rotten little brats chucked rocks at the train, so it stopped at Chesterfield, and couldn't go on - then we managed to get on the wrong train - twice! (To miss one train may be regarded as a misfortune; to miss two...) Everything seemed to be running late that day, so the train showing as due up on the screens didn't match those on the platforms. Anyway, after a few trials and tribulations we reached Edinburgh (I forgot to mention the train from Newcastle to Edinburgh had been replaced by a bus...) at about 11:30. Fortunately I'd phoned the b&b and he'd left the keys out for us, so that was okay.
The next day we went to the castle and had a little wander down the Royal Mile after. The castle was pretty good actually, and it had plenty of bite-sized historical facts, and rather good battlements, with an awesome view.
The next day we went to the Edinburgh Dungeons (so we've now done London, York & Edinburgh Dungeons. Crikey, nasty lot the Brits...) This time I was one of the persons chosen for their mock trial at the beginning, which was cool until I heard my crime! The London one had had nice, meaty crimes like cannibalism (sorry, bad pun!): the Edinburgh dungeon was rather, er broader humour. The first guy was accused of farting too much, and I was accused of running down Princes St naked and doing Star Jumps in front of McDonalds. Regrattably the only defence I could think of on the spur of the moment was, 'It was Burger King, actually...' Possibly I should not defend myself if I ever get accused of a real crime. ;)
Then on Tuesday on to the Highlands - Craigellachie. This is a lovely place - it's a village of 400 people, and there are some brilliant places to walk (the second day was admittedly pouring with rain though, but the others were fine). We went for a five mile walk up along the River Spey and its tributary - the Fidduch, which was a beautiful walk, amazingly private - we saw no-one and there were wonderful little watefalls and stepping stones across the river, and little paths to go off the main path and explore. Inverness the next day, then to the pub for the evening where the Australians' shock losses at snooker against the English were avenged with wins against the Scots at pool. It was a rather small pool table though, but we claim the victory nevertheless! ;)
Then to Leeds. Oh, and on the train back from Aberdeen, we actually saw kids throwing stones at the train, but these two were lousy shots, and missed completely, so they don't qualify for the British unofficial national sports. :P Right, Leeds - which was only one day, not that we actually did much... All the Brits have the direction-giving gene surgically removed at birth, is my theory, but the populace of Leeds have not giving helpful directions down to a fine art - we basically spent the entire day trying to get to places! I think 'You can't miss it' (Yes, we could - frequently!) and 'turn left, no right, at the traffic lights, not the first ones, the main ones,' are basic Leeds primers to say to unwary tourists... The evening was good. We went to the Hard Rock café (er, yeah, very English...) and then to the Leeds Playhouse, where we saw a little play called, 'Zero Degrees Below, and Falling Zero Degrees and Drifting', which was a modern play, set in a little English village. I thought it'd be pretty bad, but they did a very good job with it - the acting was excellent, and it was experimental without being silly.
After that, Dover, which started well, and ended badly! We didn't do anything besides Italian restaurant and then watch tv, the night we arrived, travelling by train is getting a bit tiring. The next day however we went for a long walk up and along the white cliffs. Then we eventually got to Dover Castle (by which you may have gathered the walk wasn't 100% intentional...). Unfortunately the Keep was closed due to high winds, which certainly made the Admiral's Lookout more exciting! We did see the mediaeval and WWII tunnels though, which were interesting, and it was a nice day out, even the walk... Although I did get rather chalky when Mark and I had an argument about whether a certain (not one of the white cliffs...) steep slope was climbable, I, er, decided to prove my point... the chalk really is everywhere (it brushes off), but I climbed it, and without loss of limb, well only one, which is slowing down the typing a bit... Just kidding!
However, after we got back to the guesthouse, I was sitting peacefully in my room, when I heard a raised voice - the landlady was giving M a right, royal ticking off! I'm so not going into details on this. I reckon anyone else'd find it boring as hell, besides I never quite figured it out myself. She finally accused me of lying, which I don't, and said that she wanted us out in the morning. *shrug* I got firmly on to my high horse and said actually we'd leave then. Don't worry, I said it politely, I was damned if I'd descend to her level and start shouting, so we left, and went back to London. Shame about Dover - I would have liked one more day there, but we did the main things, and it turned out remarkably easy to find a convenient, not too expensive, but much nicer than our previous London one, hotel.
So back to London, We spent the next day in shopping, and then went out to a nice restaurant and then clubbing (that was definitely M's idea!). You know, I think I've totally grown out of clubbing - I was never too attached to it when I was 18, and it was fairly novel - now, besides the eye-candy, I can't see the point. Then, four hours later, we got up for our last day in London. For our last day the main activity planned was that trip to the London Zoo finally, which was fun, although kind of like going to Perth Zoo, but without the ferry ride! I really do love London. Seriously, they've got the brilliant, huge parks right in the middle of the city, everything has a history, the Underground's easy and convenient, and not too expensive, people were polite, and helpful. Okay, taxi and bus drivers are occasionally insane, and there was some evidence for a huge bus versus taxi driver private war... But, hey, just adds spice...
Anyway, home now, which is good, it is nice to not have to go on any more trains, and to sleep in the same bed, in one's own bedrooom. Even if people keep wanting me to do things with them (like get sunburnt! ;P) when I still just want to sleep. ;) But, even if home's best, there were totally things I'd have liked to do - Climb a Scottish mountain, see a play in Stratford on Avon, go to Avebury, go to a con and meet a few of you guys... Only thing is I never want to go on another plane ever again!!!! Er, once I get over that, I'm totally going back. Or they get around to inventing transporters. Get on with it, damn it!
So, that's all from me for now. Possibly next post will actually be fannish...
I don't know if you guys are getting sick of these things, but this should be the last one... So, the next day we headed off for Edinburgh; the rail journey was disastrous - a couple of rotten little brats chucked rocks at the train, so it stopped at Chesterfield, and couldn't go on - then we managed to get on the wrong train - twice! (To miss one train may be regarded as a misfortune; to miss two...) Everything seemed to be running late that day, so the train showing as due up on the screens didn't match those on the platforms. Anyway, after a few trials and tribulations we reached Edinburgh (I forgot to mention the train from Newcastle to Edinburgh had been replaced by a bus...) at about 11:30. Fortunately I'd phoned the b&b and he'd left the keys out for us, so that was okay.
The next day we went to the castle and had a little wander down the Royal Mile after. The castle was pretty good actually, and it had plenty of bite-sized historical facts, and rather good battlements, with an awesome view.
The next day we went to the Edinburgh Dungeons (so we've now done London, York & Edinburgh Dungeons. Crikey, nasty lot the Brits...) This time I was one of the persons chosen for their mock trial at the beginning, which was cool until I heard my crime! The London one had had nice, meaty crimes like cannibalism (sorry, bad pun!): the Edinburgh dungeon was rather, er broader humour. The first guy was accused of farting too much, and I was accused of running down Princes St naked and doing Star Jumps in front of McDonalds. Regrattably the only defence I could think of on the spur of the moment was, 'It was Burger King, actually...' Possibly I should not defend myself if I ever get accused of a real crime. ;)
Then on Tuesday on to the Highlands - Craigellachie. This is a lovely place - it's a village of 400 people, and there are some brilliant places to walk (the second day was admittedly pouring with rain though, but the others were fine). We went for a five mile walk up along the River Spey and its tributary - the Fidduch, which was a beautiful walk, amazingly private - we saw no-one and there were wonderful little watefalls and stepping stones across the river, and little paths to go off the main path and explore. Inverness the next day, then to the pub for the evening where the Australians' shock losses at snooker against the English were avenged with wins against the Scots at pool. It was a rather small pool table though, but we claim the victory nevertheless! ;)
Then to Leeds. Oh, and on the train back from Aberdeen, we actually saw kids throwing stones at the train, but these two were lousy shots, and missed completely, so they don't qualify for the British unofficial national sports. :P Right, Leeds - which was only one day, not that we actually did much... All the Brits have the direction-giving gene surgically removed at birth, is my theory, but the populace of Leeds have not giving helpful directions down to a fine art - we basically spent the entire day trying to get to places! I think 'You can't miss it' (Yes, we could - frequently!) and 'turn left, no right, at the traffic lights, not the first ones, the main ones,' are basic Leeds primers to say to unwary tourists... The evening was good. We went to the Hard Rock café (er, yeah, very English...) and then to the Leeds Playhouse, where we saw a little play called, 'Zero Degrees Below, and Falling Zero Degrees and Drifting', which was a modern play, set in a little English village. I thought it'd be pretty bad, but they did a very good job with it - the acting was excellent, and it was experimental without being silly.
After that, Dover, which started well, and ended badly! We didn't do anything besides Italian restaurant and then watch tv, the night we arrived, travelling by train is getting a bit tiring. The next day however we went for a long walk up and along the white cliffs. Then we eventually got to Dover Castle (by which you may have gathered the walk wasn't 100% intentional...). Unfortunately the Keep was closed due to high winds, which certainly made the Admiral's Lookout more exciting! We did see the mediaeval and WWII tunnels though, which were interesting, and it was a nice day out, even the walk... Although I did get rather chalky when Mark and I had an argument about whether a certain (not one of the white cliffs...) steep slope was climbable, I, er, decided to prove my point... the chalk really is everywhere (it brushes off), but I climbed it, and without loss of limb, well only one, which is slowing down the typing a bit... Just kidding!
However, after we got back to the guesthouse, I was sitting peacefully in my room, when I heard a raised voice - the landlady was giving M a right, royal ticking off! I'm so not going into details on this. I reckon anyone else'd find it boring as hell, besides I never quite figured it out myself. She finally accused me of lying, which I don't, and said that she wanted us out in the morning. *shrug* I got firmly on to my high horse and said actually we'd leave then. Don't worry, I said it politely, I was damned if I'd descend to her level and start shouting, so we left, and went back to London. Shame about Dover - I would have liked one more day there, but we did the main things, and it turned out remarkably easy to find a convenient, not too expensive, but much nicer than our previous London one, hotel.
So back to London, We spent the next day in shopping, and then went out to a nice restaurant and then clubbing (that was definitely M's idea!). You know, I think I've totally grown out of clubbing - I was never too attached to it when I was 18, and it was fairly novel - now, besides the eye-candy, I can't see the point. Then, four hours later, we got up for our last day in London. For our last day the main activity planned was that trip to the London Zoo finally, which was fun, although kind of like going to Perth Zoo, but without the ferry ride! I really do love London. Seriously, they've got the brilliant, huge parks right in the middle of the city, everything has a history, the Underground's easy and convenient, and not too expensive, people were polite, and helpful. Okay, taxi and bus drivers are occasionally insane, and there was some evidence for a huge bus versus taxi driver private war... But, hey, just adds spice...
Anyway, home now, which is good, it is nice to not have to go on any more trains, and to sleep in the same bed, in one's own bedrooom. Even if people keep wanting me to do things with them (like get sunburnt! ;P) when I still just want to sleep. ;) But, even if home's best, there were totally things I'd have liked to do - Climb a Scottish mountain, see a play in Stratford on Avon, go to Avebury, go to a con and meet a few of you guys... Only thing is I never want to go on another plane ever again!!!! Er, once I get over that, I'm totally going back. Or they get around to inventing transporters. Get on with it, damn it!
So, that's all from me for now. Possibly next post will actually be fannish...