Tuesday 23rd March 2004

Week 57, Day 360

More eventful weeks. When will it all end? Hopefully not too soon.

I left off in my last rant saying I was going to see Animal Farm at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. It was rather good - I was impressed with the way they had people playing animal parts without them havig to wear some hideous mask. And it was a small cast as well, who each swapped inbetween parts. Quite clever. From there Alex and I went to see his friends DJ at a bar nearby. Most amusing event of the evening was Alex and Lyndon mucking about, playfighting (as boys do) and then Alex accidently knocking Lyndon's beer glass out of his hand and cutting himself in the process. The bar staff seemed to think they were trying to cause trouble which made the situation funnier from my position because it was quite obvious that wasn't the case. As drinks evenings always end with Alex, we were back at Mojo before calling it a night.

Things were relatively uneventful until Tuesday night when I caught the train to Edinburgh. Melissa and Gordon met up with me and we walked home, stopping at their local, The Bailie, for a small drink. I loved Edinburgh as soon as I arrived. Walking through the city at night with its old stone buildings and the castle on the hill that looks down upon the city - it's all so romantic, antique and beautiful. Maybe it's just because you can't get a place like that in Australia with all its history and tradition. I think that's the big appeal of it for me.

Wednesday saw Melissa and I walking everywhere we possibly could. We started with a trip to the Castle. As you walk there you can smell the toast smell of the brewery nearby (why can't the brewery in Leeds smell nice like that?) and it's a big walk up the hill but it's worth it. The views are sensational and there's quite a bit to see inside. We spent a lot of time walking through the War Museum, and though I'm the non-violent type, I found the Scottish war history rather interesting. Some of the uniforms and weapons were quite impressive too. We made it to watch the 1pm canon blast, which happens everyday except Sundays. There was also a museum dedicated to the Royal treasures and it took you from the first King to the current Queen and how the changes came about from era to era.

We moved on for lunch at Chocolate Soup - they specialise in hot chocolates, but serve sandwiches and soups as well which are yummy. Treated myself to a coffee with Macadamia syrup and it was delish!

We also visited a church in which they have done some excavations and discovered that it was built upon demolished houses. The church is now a visitors' center, but you can take a walk around the excavations and read all about the findings. Quite cool I thought.

Other touristy things of the day included taking a picture of me outside a clothes store called 'Ness' and checking out a few clothes stores, one of which included cute baby tshirts with things like 'Punk Rocker' and The Sex Pistols' cover on the front. Very cute!

Hungry, tired and looking forward to sit down, Melissa and I headed for what has to be one of my favourite places ever - Yo Sushi! It's a Sushi train chain, but this particular one has two parts. The Yo Sushi which is just the sushi train part and then a downstairs bar called Yo Below! Gordon met us there and we headed down to the bar. There's centre tables with the sunken parts where you hang your legs over, so it seems like you're sitting on the floor, but you're not really. Then my fave bit are the beds on the side. They're raised couches really, with really low tables and shelves at the end to put your shoes on if you want to. So you just lounge sipping on the fantastic fruit-infused sake available. What more could you want hey? Well, that evening ended up being the last night for the resident karaoke host, Purdy the transvestite. So amusing. Especially with the drunken knob of a girl next to us who talked so loudly and was so obnoxious, she didn't even know she was making a big fool of herself. I also found it amusing that quite a few Aussies worked there, including a guy from Manly. A good night had by all. Now, to open one in Leeds! ;) There's one in Soho in London so I'll have to take a trip there (Amanda, are you up for it?)

Next day, exhausted from the touristy things we did the day before (and the wind was a little off putting too) Melissa and I walked around aimlessly. All I needed to do was some souvenir shopping - and I can't get over some of the tacky items I found. For example, I bought Andy,Les and Beto the following items: Scottish Cow Pat (it's actually chocolate but the box had a picture of a Highland Cow on it and the caption - 'A Scottish Delicacy!' on it), Haggis flavoured crisps (mmmm, mmmm!), an air freshner in the shape of bag pipes and the funniest yet, Whiskey flavoured condoms called 'McCondoms'. Of course, there were tackier items but I couldn't bring myself to purchase those.

What I did end up buying a lot of was t-shirts and cds. Melissa took me to what seemed the indie part of town with all these really kitsch and ultracool stores that sell obscure nik nax, and great music. I found so many cool tshirts but only bought a black one with Animal from the muppets on it, a bright pink Fraggle rock one, a red one with the loch ness monster on it with 'Nessie' underneath it (ok, so it's a touristy thing to do, but I couldn't resist!) and this purple japanese oragami patterened wrap around top which was way beyond my budget but too nice to pass by. I also found a few other items but I'm giving them to people so I can't spoil the surprise online ;)

Realising it was late and we hadn't eaten, Melissa and I headed for a place on the street we were shopping at. She ordered a plate of mixed breads and dips which was a starter and she got this massive plate piled high with bread! So much for a snack. I had a very scrumptious sweet potato, mushroom and spinach bake.

That night we met up with Gordon to go on a haunted tour through the Vaults, which are under the south bridge. That was really cool. I wasn't scared though I thought I would be. Basically the tour guide is an actress who tells you all these accounts of ghost sightings or weird happenings down in the vaults while giving a little information on the history of the place. You can take just purely historical visits of the place, which I think I'd like to go on next time, but the haunted tour was just the thing for this time round. Unfortunately, Melissa was a little bit freaked out by it but I was impressed she managed through it!

After that, we headed for the Bailie for dinner only that it poured with rain on the way and then when we did get there, discovered they don't serve food on Thursday evenings. Instead, we walked over to a Thai restaurant - not that I complained - and feasted there instead.

The next day, I walked into town with Melissa and Gordon while it poured with rain and then it started snowing while it rained! Bizarre. I said my goodbyes and walked around town until I had to catch the train home.

All in all, my trip was brilliant and just what I needed. It really felt like a holiday and I can't wait to get back there again to discover more unbelievably cool places. Edinburgh is like the Melbourne of the UK to me. Thanks Melissa and Gordon for making it such a great trip!

I experienced my first bit of horrendous traffic in the UK that night on the way to work. A trip that takes me 25mins took me 2 1/2 hours!! Someone had a nasty accident on the junction that I normally take and I was stuck on the ramp to it for about 1 1/2 hours. Thank god for the music in my car otherwise I would have gone insane.

Saturday night I was supposed to meet up with Ana and Jayne for drinks but as that fell through, I had dinner at Alex's and then watched the DVD of The Secretary - bizarre, quirky but cute in its own surreal way. Sunday saw a busy night at work but it always feels good when it's like that because you feel you've really earned your money!

Went to the movies with Alex last night to see 21 Grams. Had no idea what it was about except for the snippets of info Alex had read from reviews in the papers. And boy was I impressed. Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Torro gave fantastic performances. And though it's a little confusing at first, by the time you work out what's going on, you just want to get to the end. It's not a happy movie, but it felt very true to life. Take your tissues if you do go because there's this one scene with Naomi and Sean that the tear taps opened up and would not stop!

So that's it up until now. It's Andy's birthday drinks tomorrow, and Les's birthday on the weekend so no doubt there'll be many a story to tell next rant. Apart from that, seeing the Complete Stone Roses on Saturday which should be fantastic!

Top 10 this week:

1. Edinburgh - If Nando's opens up there soon, I'm putting up my hand to work there! I love that place!
2. Yo Below! - Why isn't there one near me? I'm dying from some fruit infused sake!
3. New music - Well, not entirely new, but new to me. Been listening to a lot of Alex's CDs - the kind I've always wanted to have but never bought.
4. Feeling Good - With things back up for me, I can't stop smiling.
5. Amanda - Thanks for your phonecall! I hope everything is working out for you in the big smoke that is London ;)
6. A big Happy Birthday to Andy and Les this week! I hope you like the pressies I got you even though you two are so hard to buy for! Also, as I might not get back on in time, big hugs and kisses to my big sis, Luisa, who's birthday is this Saturday. Another Happy Birthday out to Gordon too - have a pint for me :)
7. Happy 29th Wedding Anniversary to Mum and Dad - funnily enough it's on the 29th of this month :)
8. Property - Doing the search around Leeds for a place to buy and thought I wouldn't find anything but am glad to see there are reasonable places within my range. Can't wait to have my own place!
9. Movies - Seen two good ones this week. It always feels special to me when I watch a movie that moves me and I've had two instances like that this week.
10. Alex, Les, Andy & Beto - The men in my life at the moment. The people that always make me laugh.
x
Vanessa