Edinburgh july 2010

The thought of no travel for the better part of a year was too scary so I booked a long weekend away in July to Edinburgh where I wouldn't need a passport to travel to. Train tickets were organized (only £29 round trip), 2 nights at the Radisson hotel with 1 of the nights free (being in the know does pay off sometimes) and I found 2 travel companions (my past flatmate A and my current flatmate S). Result!  A trip to look forward to to a city I've always wanted to see, with great company.

The day finally arrived and off we went, arriving to a hot sunny Edinburgh afternoon. After checking in we went out for a wander around. Our hotel was very centrally located, right on the Royal Mile, which made exploring very easy. There is a lot to see in such a small city and we made the most of our time there. The second day we woke up to the pooring rain and learned Edinburgh weather can't be counted on. We found a place for breakfast hoping by the time we finished the rain would stop.  It didn't but we headed for the Castle at the top of the Royal Mile with a stop in in a church, the St Giles Cathedral to escape the rain and listen to the beautiful sounds of a visiting American choir. My favourite bit of the cathedral was the small carving of an angle with bagpipes.

Edinburgh Castle is where you end up if you follow the Royal Mile to the top of the hill. On this day it was in the clouds, but because the city was blotted out it added to the atmosphere of what it must have been like 100's of years ago. Tip: I would suggest getting to the castle early and having breakfast there, the canteen/restaurant has great views of the city and sells fantastic pastries.

After the castle we explored the shops, had a great Thai lunch, and then after a freshen up, headed out to check out the night life. We learned a night out must end with fried food, anything you can think of fried. Pizza, Mars Bars you name it.

Our final day we planned to take a walking tour. We woke up it was sunny so A and I chose summer clothes, shorts and such, but as weather in Scotland does it changed, and the sun went in the wind picked up and that was it for summer weather. In an effort to keep warm I quickly bought a scarf, now my souvenir of Edinburgh and a reminder of how fleeting summer can be in Scotland.  The walking tour was great, we saw Harry Potter sites, learned some history, lots about the city and were told the story of the Stone of Destiny (aka Stone of Scone).

Then it was time to get a bite to eat grab our bags and head to the train station. Time to head home.  Edinburgh is a great city, I really liked it. Possibly because it reminds me a little of home, some of the buildings look the same as the historic part of Halifax, the people are friendly, the wind, the size of the city, and the fact that it is a university town.  For whatever reason if it wasn't so cold I would seriously consider living there. It is one of those cities that I just click with.

S says eat your Haggis it's yummy.

Scottish flag.

The sounding landscape is beautiful, this is known as Arthur Seat.

S and I

Edinburgh Castle

Shops

At night all lit up.

The school that was the inspiration for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books.

Out on the town.

Windy at the top.

St. Giles Cathedral

A and I with the Edinburgh Castle in the far background.

Canada Day - London

Every year in London there is a Canada Day celebration in Trafalgar square that includes all things "Canadian" and all the Canadian's in London congregate together and show our national pride.

Things Canadian include Mounties, Tim Hortons, Canadian beer (Sleeman's and Moosehead), Canadian wine, the Canada shop sells their Canadian goodies (dill pickle chips, and various chocolate bars and candies), and Bison Burgers?! (must be a western Canada thing!).

There is a floor hockey tournament, a stage with various singers from Canada, and of course the grand finale, my favourite part, singing O'Canada.

Kim and I, Kim was living in London in 2008.

Life without a passport.

My Canadian passport was going to expire in less than 6 months, it was time to get a new one, so I thought best to get it in early so there would be lots of time before my heading to Canada for my UK visa to be reissued by the UK home office.  At the end of November I sent it off my the Canadian Embassy in London.

When the time it was due came and went I emailed the Canadian Embassy in London to ask if all was OK. In 10 minutes I had a reply apologizing that it was 3 days behind due to a high volume but it had just arrived from Montreal so I should have it the next day. So polite and efficient so Canadian.

When it did arrive and I gathered all the forms and the £168 fee off it went to the UK home office, and the wait began.  It was now the 3rd week of January. Nowhere on the home office website does it say how long it should take, other "than the normal standards of service", but I had heard horror stories of people on other visas waiting 6 months or longer for a reissue and mine involved a name change.

I'd already been 2 months without a passport. Suddenly it seemed like there were travel deals everywhere that I couldn't even consider taking advantage of.  So I looked at where I could go without one, England, Scotland and Wales.  I decided to make the most of it and book a weekend away to Edinburgh in July, that would give me something to look forward to.

I called and enquired after 2 months had gone by. All they could tell me was they had it and it was being processed, no they couldn't estimate how long it should take, nor could they say how long it might take worse case. Thanks. In the end I had a colleague with a friend in high places in the foreign office enquire after my passport/visa. I also finally managed to to find out what the "standards of service" are, 14 weeks apparently.

At last the the 14 weeks (I had been 6 months with no passport) came and went, and the next day I had the passport back in hand with the visa reissued in it. So my ticket to Canada in August wouldn't be going to waste, and I felt free having it back knowing I was free to go anywhere I wanted again.

Alton Towers! Bring on the Roller Coasters.

I love roller coasters there is nothing like that ticket in the tummy they give you and the feeling of being alive when you get off at the end. In England there is a place I have wanted to go for many years, Alton Towers where they have 8 roller coasters.  It is up north near Manchester and requires a car to get to. So N and I decided to make it a road trip before he sold his Mini. The date was set and off we went!

Nemesis, Europe's first inverted roller coaster. We went on this one 3 times.

Oblivion, the world's first vertical drop roller coaster. Hands down the scariest roller coaster I've ever been on. A face first drop into a hole in the ground after they leave you hanging over it at the top, (like in the photo) for what seems like forever.

The hole. N asked did I see the mist?  Mist what mist?! I had my eyes shut!!

On the way back to London we stopped off for a wander and lunch in Stratford, here I am with the obligatory photo opp in front of Shakespeare's birthplace.

Dating long distance

A couple posts ago I mentioned meeting a couple of guys at the Blitz Party.  Over the next couple of months N and I got to chatting online, texting, chatting on the phone and even meeting up on a stopover I made on my way to Cornwall (he lived in Devon).

He made me laugh, was kind. intelligent, and though originally I didn't think anything would come of it when we exchanged contact information at the Blitz Party I soon found I like him and enjoyed our chats, and I was very glad my flatmate had chatted up his friend those couple of months back.  The catch of course was he lived in Devon. Encouragingly he did think that London was a possibility and he was up for a change.  When in March he got made redundant the process of making the move got under way.  In the mean time though our relationship was a long distance one.  This meant many hours on trains, learning how to get the best deals for those tickets, lots more calls, texts and messaging on line.

The good thing about long distance is you make the most of the time you have together. It also means the normal dating pattern doesn't exist. In some ways it slows things down, and at the same time other things happen faster. On visits we were staying with each other, and in N's situation this meant staying at his parents because he had rented out his place.  Meeting the parents on the 3rd date (though we had known each other for months and months by this time) and staying over at their house isn't something I've experienced before.  Luckily for me not only is N fantastic but he comes from a great family who are very welcoming.

We made the most of those first months, and his car before he sold it, and made lots of road trips.  We toured the west country and then went north to somewhere I've wanted to go for years, Alton Towers (more on that tomorrow).

Things have come a long way, and I still enjoy every minute with him and he still makes me laugh like no one else.