Edinburgh and Belfast. Again

This here is the lovely city of Edinburgh. I went here with Clifton, a friend from San Francisco who is actually British and was here visiting some family. We arrived on Wednesday and although we only spent one night here I think it was enough. Edinburgh is a lovely lovely city. And very small. Not a whole lot to do. We went up to the castle and poked around, looking at the crown jewels while we were there. Also went to St Giles Cathedral that had a crazy lady inside who I am pretty sure worked there but you can never be certain. On Thursday we went to the The Real Mary Kings Close which is the old city literally underneathe the current city. It was easier for the town to build on the old buildings than tear them down so you can walk underneathe ground level and see the old streets and apartments people used to live in. It was pretty crazy. This is also where there are lots and lots of ghosts, although I didn't see any. We also walked around Prince Street, climbed to the top of a spiky monument in the center of town which was quite high (and snowing!) and then went saw the Nelson Monument and the Sir Walter Scott Monument, both of which are on top of a hill on the opposite side of the city. It is here where I took this picture, one of my favorites ever I think...



Thursday night off to Belfast to see Stinky. We had him take us to Giants Causeway which is where a volcano erupted and spewed lava into the sea. What is left is hexegonal formations on the coast and beautiful scenery. I really enjoyed going there and it even stopped raining long enough for us to walk about and take in the sites.



Came home on Saturday and now I am just waiting for school to end so I can go back to Ireland and then France! Stinky and I will go to Dublin while I am there and then when I get back I am off to Paris for a few days. Have I mentioned yet that I love living here???

The Slides at Tate Modern

The Tate Modern currently has an installation of slides that for free you can tumble down. The tallest is 10 stories high and this weekend I zoomed on down. I thought I would be scared but since I could see how high I was it didn't bother me at all. It was great fun and I loved it!

I am at work right now. I am working in a hospital in a weekend clinic. It is kind of boring. I just kind of sit here and occassionally do paperwork. I can read though, and update my blog so that is nice. I could study too but I don't think I would actually get anything done. Right now I am reading the Shipping News. I can't decide it I like it or not but it is very readable and good for the tube. And hospital reception desks...

Remember Remember the 4th of November

After visiting the Tower of London last week I can proudly say I know in which they refer. Fourth of November is when there was an attempt to blow up Parliment by those pesky Catholics and when their plan was thwarted, the king was saved and the conspirators hanged and quartered. In rememberance Londoners celebrate the 4th of November for a good ten days. Every night fire works are set off, some of which I can see from the comfort of my living room couch. Someone asked me if I wanted to go watch a fireworks display and I said "What for? I have my own private show right out my living room window, or my kitchen window or my bedroom window." Now that it is over I kind of miss the fireworks.

I want to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to Julia and Anthony on their engagement-I know you will be very happy together for the rest of your lives!

The London Eye

This weekend was a weekend filled with touristy adventures, one of which was the London Eye. For me, this was a big, big mistake, even though I did get this lovely picture out of it. Although I am not a big fan of heights it is more the idea of falling that scares me than the idea of being up high. I thought I would give it a try, see if I could convince myself not to be scared. Nope, didn't work. Apparently the view from the top is amazing; I had my head in my lap.



I also went to the Tower of London. I have been excited to go here ever since I came to London and I finally went this weekend. I had been before and I remembered the tour, with all the gorey stories and interesting history. Things have changed a bit. They still have a tour but it is not very detailed. Now they just have plaques on the walls for you to read some of the stuff they use to tell you on the tour. I was a bit disappointed. I didn't do the audio tour so maybe I had done it in the past and this is where I got all the juicy details? Not sure. Either way, definetly worth going to even though it is a bit pricey to get in.

It is really really cold right now. About 2 degrees celcius. I am not sure what this is farinheit but I think in the high 30s. What is worse is that the nob that turns on our heat is BROKEN! Luckily it is sunny in the afternoons and warms up the apartment. I am actually sitting on my couch right now facing the sun, trying to soak up all its warmth. Still it has to be illegal to have a boiler that has broken nobs. The landlord has been notified but they are not so on the ball. People here just don't care.

By the way, I STILL don't have internet at home. I found an unsecrue site and hoping for the best. They told me today sometime in November I will get internet. Perfect. Makes me so mad!!!!