Another random guy pulled my curls outside a club tonight.
Is this a socially acceptable thing here?
I mean, I dont really mind. But it does happen a lot considering 14% of the population are ginger here. C'est bizzare.
PS. Adam Green is a sex god.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Friday, 29 January 2010
The Seventeeth Century
I just saw an excellent Glaswegian band. Went to see There Will Be Fireworks who were decidedly average in comparison to their opening act - The Seventeenth Century. I am in love. Its a Logan Valentine moment ladies.
http://www.myspace.com/theseventeenthcentury
Their myspace doesnt do them justice though. They were amazing live. The singer is unbelievable.
This is my F-YOU to all those who drank goon with Jens. So unbelievably jealous. You cant even get goon here.
Going to Adam Green tomorrow :)
http://www.myspace.com/theseventeenthcentury
Their myspace doesnt do them justice though. They were amazing live. The singer is unbelievable.
This is my F-YOU to all those who drank goon with Jens. So unbelievably jealous. You cant even get goon here.
Going to Adam Green tomorrow :)
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Up Helly Aa
Up Helly Aa - the biggest excuse for a piss up Ive ever encountered. And for men to dress as women. The history of it is a bit random. Apparently some Shetlanders around the new year used to get drunk and burn stuff in the 1860s and the council got sick of it so turned it into a legit festival. There is a Jarl Committee - very prestigious stuff if youre from Lerwick. Each year a head Jarl is voted for and he is the main Guizer - its a highly sought after post and you have to serve on the committee for 15 years before you are ever considered.
In the morning there is a parade of the Jarl Squad down the main streets, followed by the Head Jarl who rides on the Gally - the dragon boat thing.
And this is the 2010 Jarl Squad.
We got our picture taken with a Guizer!
So then after that Im not entirely sure what they do, I imagine they rest. Or start drinking, wouldnt put it past these Shetland folk. We went wandering. To the museum - Jacqui and Lyall had some fun in the maritime history display.
Then we went walking to another Broch - this one you can go right inside and climb all over. It was cool. Lyall said its a regular hang out of dilinquent drunken youths.
After this we went back to Lyall's place to rest up for the long night ahead. At about 7pm we went down to the 'toon' to get a spot for the procession. They begin at the town hall where they all light up their torches. Its not just one Viking squad, there are about 5000 participants. All men. This picture is them just begining, they turn all the street lights off for the procession and the sky was red from all the fire.
This is the beginning of the procession - the Gally is there too.
This video is quite long, but it shows the procession as it went right past us. They are singing the Up Helly Aa song. The only bit I know is "The waves are rolling on!" but its generally viking themed. Its rather incredible that this festival is still going considering how much fire is involved and how little there seems to be in the way of saftey measures. Awesome though.
So after all 5000 men walk up and down the main streets chanting and singing. They lead the Gally into a playground. They all march in after it and form a huge circle formation around it and then wait for the Head Jarl to get off it and they throw their torches at it setting it alight. Thats porbably the most dangerous bit. We saw a couple of guys run off to the first aid tent. It was a pretty cool sight. Fire everywhere, chanting vikings, men in stupid outfits. There were fireworks too. This is a picture of the Gally burning.
So, as far as the children are concerned that is all there is to Up Helly Aa. How grossly misinformed the wee ones are. The next phase of the festival is the Halls. There are several community centres, school halls, hotels, the town hall and even the ferry terminal which are set up as party halls. The different Jarl squads travel between all these places doing dances and skits as the audiences get drunker and drunker. This explains the ridiculous outfits you would have seen in the above video. This doesnt stop til 8am. 8AM! So the idea is that from about 9pm-8am you stay in the halls watching men in stupid outfits dance and sing while you drink obscene amounts and eat scones. So committed are the people of Shetland to this 140year old tradition, that the following day is a public holiday, recovery day. Rather considerate of the council really. But yes, I never thought I would find myself sitting in a primary school hall, drunk as a skunk, watching 10 grown men in silver lycra dance to 'The Love Game' by Lady Gaga. There was another act which involved men dancing provocatively with each other until they were joined by other men in pea pod costumes. Why? Because they were dancing to a Black Eyed Peas song. Duh.
I doubt I will see an odder sight in my lifetime.
We did our best to make it through til 8am - but Jacqui and I lacked the stamina that these locals seem to have acquired. We made it til the Main Jarl squad arrived. That was at about 6am.
We left after that. The Jarls had 3 halls left to go to at that point. That is serious commitment in all that chain mail. It must be tough.
We slept the next day til about 2 in the afternoon. Then Lorraine made us a spectacular meal and got on the ferry again. Mickey and Neil were catching the Thursday one so the trip back was just the three of us. About 18 hours later we got back to Glasgow.
Im exhausted. But man it was an amazing few days. So lucky we met Lyall really or we would never have gone.
Next adventure: London for Waitangi weekend! Study shmudy.
xxooo
In the morning there is a parade of the Jarl Squad down the main streets, followed by the Head Jarl who rides on the Gally - the dragon boat thing.
And this is the 2010 Jarl Squad.
We got our picture taken with a Guizer!
So then after that Im not entirely sure what they do, I imagine they rest. Or start drinking, wouldnt put it past these Shetland folk. We went wandering. To the museum - Jacqui and Lyall had some fun in the maritime history display.
Then we went walking to another Broch - this one you can go right inside and climb all over. It was cool. Lyall said its a regular hang out of dilinquent drunken youths.
After this we went back to Lyall's place to rest up for the long night ahead. At about 7pm we went down to the 'toon' to get a spot for the procession. They begin at the town hall where they all light up their torches. Its not just one Viking squad, there are about 5000 participants. All men. This picture is them just begining, they turn all the street lights off for the procession and the sky was red from all the fire.
This is the beginning of the procession - the Gally is there too.
This video is quite long, but it shows the procession as it went right past us. They are singing the Up Helly Aa song. The only bit I know is "The waves are rolling on!" but its generally viking themed. Its rather incredible that this festival is still going considering how much fire is involved and how little there seems to be in the way of saftey measures. Awesome though.
So after all 5000 men walk up and down the main streets chanting and singing. They lead the Gally into a playground. They all march in after it and form a huge circle formation around it and then wait for the Head Jarl to get off it and they throw their torches at it setting it alight. Thats porbably the most dangerous bit. We saw a couple of guys run off to the first aid tent. It was a pretty cool sight. Fire everywhere, chanting vikings, men in stupid outfits. There were fireworks too. This is a picture of the Gally burning.
So, as far as the children are concerned that is all there is to Up Helly Aa. How grossly misinformed the wee ones are. The next phase of the festival is the Halls. There are several community centres, school halls, hotels, the town hall and even the ferry terminal which are set up as party halls. The different Jarl squads travel between all these places doing dances and skits as the audiences get drunker and drunker. This explains the ridiculous outfits you would have seen in the above video. This doesnt stop til 8am. 8AM! So the idea is that from about 9pm-8am you stay in the halls watching men in stupid outfits dance and sing while you drink obscene amounts and eat scones. So committed are the people of Shetland to this 140year old tradition, that the following day is a public holiday, recovery day. Rather considerate of the council really. But yes, I never thought I would find myself sitting in a primary school hall, drunk as a skunk, watching 10 grown men in silver lycra dance to 'The Love Game' by Lady Gaga. There was another act which involved men dancing provocatively with each other until they were joined by other men in pea pod costumes. Why? Because they were dancing to a Black Eyed Peas song. Duh.
I doubt I will see an odder sight in my lifetime.
We did our best to make it through til 8am - but Jacqui and I lacked the stamina that these locals seem to have acquired. We made it til the Main Jarl squad arrived. That was at about 6am.
We left after that. The Jarls had 3 halls left to go to at that point. That is serious commitment in all that chain mail. It must be tough.
We slept the next day til about 2 in the afternoon. Then Lorraine made us a spectacular meal and got on the ferry again. Mickey and Neil were catching the Thursday one so the trip back was just the three of us. About 18 hours later we got back to Glasgow.
Im exhausted. But man it was an amazing few days. So lucky we met Lyall really or we would never have gone.
Next adventure: London for Waitangi weekend! Study shmudy.
xxooo
Shetland Islands
EPIC EPIC WEEK.
Im doing a two part post to cover everything without confusing myself. So brace yourselves for a lot of photos.
So, the Shetland Islands ,for those not familiar with Scottish geography, are a groups of 100 islands north of Scotland that are closer to Bergen than Glasgow. A long long way a way. They were porperty of Norway and Denmark for a long time but then were acquired by Scotland in 1669. So the Shetlanders don't really consider themsleves Scottish. They also dont really speak English. Ok, well, technichally they do but it is a very strong accent with a very absurd dialect. Eg- "Do kens da wy" meaning a general term of agreeance. Very difficult to understand. Lyalls mum was pretty much speaking a foreign language the whole time as far as Jacqui and I could tell.
I went up with my friend Jacqui - from Melbourne - and her flatmate Lyall who is a born and bred Sheltlander. Such a sweet deal because we stayed with Lyall's parents, Lorraine and Douglas, who fed us the most incredible food. Orkney fudge cheese cake, and another cake that was like a mud cake and a pavalova's love child. Oh man. That women could open a shop.
To get to the Shetlands, you can fly but its very expensive, so most people take the ferry. Which leaves from Aberdeen. The granite city. Look on a map. Aberdeen is not close to the Shetlands. The ferry takes 14 hours. The ferry on the way up was so much fun though. We met a couple of guys that Lyall vaguely knew called Mikey and Neil, and we sat in the bar drinking beer and whisky until about 3 in the morning. Good times. And there were a bunch of accordian and bagpipe players on board who were heading up for the festival to entertain us. The accordians were ok (Mikey and I did a lovely rendition of the Rattlin Bog for everyone) but the bagpipes wore a bit thin. It might have been ok if they hadnt been standing right next to us. I managed to capture Jacqui's expression when they first started playing.
This is Jacqui and Lyall on the ferry.
So we arrived at about 7am - it was still dark. We went to Lyalls house which is in rural Shetland about 20mins from Lerwick which is the main town. (Or the 'toon').
This is the view from their lounge window.
There are no trees in Shetland. It makes the landscape so barren. And means the wind is always intense. Its so beautiful though - like nothing Ive ever seen before. There are heaps of beaches and islands off the coast. So cool.
We found some shetland ponies! Such odd looking creatures. I made friends with the ginger one but then it licked my hand and gave me a fright.
Then we went a took a tour of an archeological site that was once a viking settlement. It was a group of houses around a 'broch' - there's heaps of them on the Shetlands, they are for signalling - like in Lord of the Rings when they set fire to those things to get a message to Gondor. Anyway, it was really cool. You could see all this Viking and Pict DIY - it was pretty well preserved considering it dated to 200AD. Only the bases of the houses were left but still, RIDICULOUS!
This is a not very good photo of one of the houses.
Heres another picture of Shetland. We drove all over the South end of the main island. It was pretty spectacular.
That night we went into Lerwick to see a friend of Mikey and Lyalls play a Nirvana tribute in one of the pubs. Such an odd thing to have experienced. As Jacqui said - weirdest Australia Day ever.
The gig didnt go that well really, some of the oldies asked them to turn it down. Generally quite amusing.
So that was day one. Going to write a seperate entry for day two. It needs it.
Im doing a two part post to cover everything without confusing myself. So brace yourselves for a lot of photos.
So, the Shetland Islands ,for those not familiar with Scottish geography, are a groups of 100 islands north of Scotland that are closer to Bergen than Glasgow. A long long way a way. They were porperty of Norway and Denmark for a long time but then were acquired by Scotland in 1669. So the Shetlanders don't really consider themsleves Scottish. They also dont really speak English. Ok, well, technichally they do but it is a very strong accent with a very absurd dialect. Eg- "Do kens da wy" meaning a general term of agreeance. Very difficult to understand. Lyalls mum was pretty much speaking a foreign language the whole time as far as Jacqui and I could tell.
I went up with my friend Jacqui - from Melbourne - and her flatmate Lyall who is a born and bred Sheltlander. Such a sweet deal because we stayed with Lyall's parents, Lorraine and Douglas, who fed us the most incredible food. Orkney fudge cheese cake, and another cake that was like a mud cake and a pavalova's love child. Oh man. That women could open a shop.
To get to the Shetlands, you can fly but its very expensive, so most people take the ferry. Which leaves from Aberdeen. The granite city. Look on a map. Aberdeen is not close to the Shetlands. The ferry takes 14 hours. The ferry on the way up was so much fun though. We met a couple of guys that Lyall vaguely knew called Mikey and Neil, and we sat in the bar drinking beer and whisky until about 3 in the morning. Good times. And there were a bunch of accordian and bagpipe players on board who were heading up for the festival to entertain us. The accordians were ok (Mikey and I did a lovely rendition of the Rattlin Bog for everyone) but the bagpipes wore a bit thin. It might have been ok if they hadnt been standing right next to us. I managed to capture Jacqui's expression when they first started playing.
This is Jacqui and Lyall on the ferry.
So we arrived at about 7am - it was still dark. We went to Lyalls house which is in rural Shetland about 20mins from Lerwick which is the main town. (Or the 'toon').
This is the view from their lounge window.
There are no trees in Shetland. It makes the landscape so barren. And means the wind is always intense. Its so beautiful though - like nothing Ive ever seen before. There are heaps of beaches and islands off the coast. So cool.
We found some shetland ponies! Such odd looking creatures. I made friends with the ginger one but then it licked my hand and gave me a fright.
Then we went a took a tour of an archeological site that was once a viking settlement. It was a group of houses around a 'broch' - there's heaps of them on the Shetlands, they are for signalling - like in Lord of the Rings when they set fire to those things to get a message to Gondor. Anyway, it was really cool. You could see all this Viking and Pict DIY - it was pretty well preserved considering it dated to 200AD. Only the bases of the houses were left but still, RIDICULOUS!
This is a not very good photo of one of the houses.
Heres another picture of Shetland. We drove all over the South end of the main island. It was pretty spectacular.
That night we went into Lerwick to see a friend of Mikey and Lyalls play a Nirvana tribute in one of the pubs. Such an odd thing to have experienced. As Jacqui said - weirdest Australia Day ever.
The gig didnt go that well really, some of the oldies asked them to turn it down. Generally quite amusing.
So that was day one. Going to write a seperate entry for day two. It needs it.
Saturday, 23 January 2010
ISLE OF ARRAN!!
Today we went to the Isle of Arran for the day. Took a train and ferry - about 2 hours total in a southwest direction.
It was so beautiful.
This is us approaching on the ferry
We went to the north of the island by bus and then wandered around the tiny village there, went to the whisky distillery and then got back on the bus and drove around the entire coast line.
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Jess was determined to see a deer. We did eventually, in the distance. She was very happy.
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We are a rather silly bunch.
.JPG)
Jess and I tend to be excited by the most random things. Like at the Glasgow train station, we wandered around and couldnt find a single rubbish bin anywhere, so we asked an official who told us to 'put it on the wall' because someone would be along to pick it up. This concept reduced us to hysterical teary laughter rather rapidly. Its so ridiculous! At least have some kind of sign that says 'Litter friendly zone'. You possibly had to be there.
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Scots say Arran is 'Scotland in miniture' because the north is like the highlands and the south is like the lowlands.
.JPG)
This picture may seem boring at first glance, BUT the little hump in the ocean is a rocky island that is the source of the rock that is used to make all the worlds curling stones. You learn something every day. The local that told us this seemed to enjoy our persistant banter on the bus - we were having a heated debate about the difference between cookies and biscuits. Every time we said biscuit the womans dog groaned and got all excited so we had to continue saying 'the b word' instead. Ahhh, good times.
SO off to the Shetlands tomorrow!!
EXCITING
Just a meager 14 hour ferry ride involved.... yikes.
xxo
It was so beautiful.
This is us approaching on the ferry
We went to the north of the island by bus and then wandered around the tiny village there, went to the whisky distillery and then got back on the bus and drove around the entire coast line.
.JPG)
Jess was determined to see a deer. We did eventually, in the distance. She was very happy.
.JPG)
.JPG)
We are a rather silly bunch.
.JPG)
Jess and I tend to be excited by the most random things. Like at the Glasgow train station, we wandered around and couldnt find a single rubbish bin anywhere, so we asked an official who told us to 'put it on the wall' because someone would be along to pick it up. This concept reduced us to hysterical teary laughter rather rapidly. Its so ridiculous! At least have some kind of sign that says 'Litter friendly zone'. You possibly had to be there.
.JPG)
Scots say Arran is 'Scotland in miniture' because the north is like the highlands and the south is like the lowlands.
.JPG)
This picture may seem boring at first glance, BUT the little hump in the ocean is a rocky island that is the source of the rock that is used to make all the worlds curling stones. You learn something every day. The local that told us this seemed to enjoy our persistant banter on the bus - we were having a heated debate about the difference between cookies and biscuits. Every time we said biscuit the womans dog groaned and got all excited so we had to continue saying 'the b word' instead. Ahhh, good times.
SO off to the Shetlands tomorrow!!
EXCITING
Just a meager 14 hour ferry ride involved.... yikes.
xxo
Friday, 22 January 2010
GINGER
As drizzle descends horizontally from a Glaswegian sky, Niki stands outside a bar, aptly named 'Nice 'n Sleazy', waiting for friends to emerge from the aformentioned institution. A short Irish man approaches with a girl on his arm, who has mildly curly strawberry blonde hair.
Irish stranger (to Niki): You should know you're making this Irish lass awfully jealous with your gorgeous ginger locks
Niki (in her exotic accent): Thank you, and not meaning to make it worse for her; I'm from New Zealand.
The couple appear shocked and mutter outraged Irishisms as they wander drunkenly into the bar.
Win.
A footnote to this tale: I have had my hair stroked more in Scotland than in my entire childhood. And I tell you, there was a lot of childhood stroking.
Irish stranger (to Niki): You should know you're making this Irish lass awfully jealous with your gorgeous ginger locks
Niki (in her exotic accent): Thank you, and not meaning to make it worse for her; I'm from New Zealand.
The couple appear shocked and mutter outraged Irishisms as they wander drunkenly into the bar.
Win.
A footnote to this tale: I have had my hair stroked more in Scotland than in my entire childhood. And I tell you, there was a lot of childhood stroking.
Thursday, 21 January 2010
The things I love about Glasgow
That every day I discover somewhere new, normally in some kind of cobbled alleyway that is equally if not more incredible than somewhere I went the day before. Yesterday we went to the most amzing tea house. We sat on pillows in front of a fire drinking a raspberry tea called 'Fairies Blood'. I want to take you all there. And next door was a bookshop called Voltaire and Rousseau - it was like Black Books. Theres potential for a lot of amazing discoveries in that place.
That where ever we go, if you're willing to drink Tennents or Fosters, there will nearly always be a £1.50 pint on offer.
That at the drop of a hat I can decide to take a week off uni to go to a Fire Festival in the Shetland Islands and my lecturer is willing to rearrange my assessment to fit with this plan. Seriously.
That the GUU (one of the unions) has a reading room filled with red leather couches and an open fire - it feels like the Gryffindor common room in there. They also have an amazing debating chamber and gallery - I have stood where Robert Carlyle stood and delivered his covenant speech in the Stone of Destiny. Its all rather grand at the GUU.
That there is so much amazing food here. Between me and uni there are about four authentic italian restaurants, there's also an abundance of indian food and gorgeous pâtisseries. Heavenly.
That being from New Zealand will keep a conversation going for about 20 minutes. People are so friendly and easy going here and very happy to chat. They love to tell me how much they like Flight of the Chonchords and Lord of the Rings. They also invariably ask about the scenery, the sheep and the kiwis. Not so fond of the constant ripping out of my accent (thats mostly from Australians though - its what you'd expect really).
That Glasgow is home to people from all over the place. Youre not likely to meet more than a handful of natives in any one place. Last night we went to a bar in town called the Flying Duck to see Jacqui's flatmate Lyall DJ (he was so excellent by the way)- and we met all of his friends. Two from the Shetlands, and Irish guy, a Norwegian, two Englishmen (who were most embarrased to reveal their heritage), a few from other parts of Scotland and one guy who was born in Glasgow.
That the Ashton lanes are a lit at night by fairy lights. That never gets old.
xxoo
That where ever we go, if you're willing to drink Tennents or Fosters, there will nearly always be a £1.50 pint on offer.
That at the drop of a hat I can decide to take a week off uni to go to a Fire Festival in the Shetland Islands and my lecturer is willing to rearrange my assessment to fit with this plan. Seriously.
That the GUU (one of the unions) has a reading room filled with red leather couches and an open fire - it feels like the Gryffindor common room in there. They also have an amazing debating chamber and gallery - I have stood where Robert Carlyle stood and delivered his covenant speech in the Stone of Destiny. Its all rather grand at the GUU.
That there is so much amazing food here. Between me and uni there are about four authentic italian restaurants, there's also an abundance of indian food and gorgeous pâtisseries. Heavenly.
That being from New Zealand will keep a conversation going for about 20 minutes. People are so friendly and easy going here and very happy to chat. They love to tell me how much they like Flight of the Chonchords and Lord of the Rings. They also invariably ask about the scenery, the sheep and the kiwis. Not so fond of the constant ripping out of my accent (thats mostly from Australians though - its what you'd expect really).
That Glasgow is home to people from all over the place. Youre not likely to meet more than a handful of natives in any one place. Last night we went to a bar in town called the Flying Duck to see Jacqui's flatmate Lyall DJ (he was so excellent by the way)- and we met all of his friends. Two from the Shetlands, and Irish guy, a Norwegian, two Englishmen (who were most embarrased to reveal their heritage), a few from other parts of Scotland and one guy who was born in Glasgow.
That the Ashton lanes are a lit at night by fairy lights. That never gets old.
xxoo
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Bliss
I have so many concert tickets! Naturally, I chronologically pinned them to my notice board so I can stare with anticipation. I CANT WAIT! Hot Chip, Adam Green, Passion Pit, Spoon and Grizzly Bear! I am one very happy ginger.
In other news, I have a cool new dress. Its altered vintage from Urban Outfitters. Its rather snazzy.
AND I booked flights to Lisbon for March to see a friend for a few days.
AND THEN I did some studying - research about the electoral performance of the Green parties in Germany and the Czech Republic.
Its been a good day.
In other news, I have a cool new dress. Its altered vintage from Urban Outfitters. Its rather snazzy.
AND I booked flights to Lisbon for March to see a friend for a few days.
AND THEN I did some studying - research about the electoral performance of the Green parties in Germany and the Czech Republic.
Its been a good day.
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Edinburgh!
Today we had what felt like a very long day in Scotland's capital. It's such a beautiful city. It was rather overwhelming. Glasgow is so different, defintely a bit grungier (is that a word) but I like that. Edinburgh was built to be beautiful.
First stop: The Elephant House. a.k.a The Birthplace of Harry Potter!! Its where JK used to write before she became famous. You can see how she would have been inspired, the window looks out over Edinburgh Castle. Its so cool.
This is a picture of us drinking coffee right where JK did! Eeeeep!
The people in the photo are left to right: Me, Arrtu (from Finland), Trond (from Norway), Jess (Melbourne), Cliff (Oklahoma), and Deborah (my flatmate from Canada).
Then we walked up the royal mile past a billion touristy gift shops. A lot of tartan. And bagpipe players everywhere. We walked up the castle but didnt go in becasue its pircey and we would have spent most of our time there so we think we may come back to do it. This is a picture of a bunch of us outside the castle entrace.
Thats Cliff again on the left, being a dick with Phil (Sydney), then thats Jacqui (Melbourne), Trond, Gowri (Brisbane), Me and Deb.
We had lunch in another fantastically British pub, Deacon Brodies. Mum might know it? Then we went vintage shopping. Some gorgeous stuff, but the boys got tired of us so we didnt spend too much time in there. W.Armstrongs Emporium it was called. Heavenly. Then we went walking again around the bottom of the Castle. So beautiful. Cant get over it.
Today was a taste test really, didnt do any touristly things but will go back, and hopefully see some gigs there too while Im here.
Tomorrow is our Scottish film day! We are going to Trond's flat and watching Stone of Destiny, Trainspotting and Braveheart! And drinking Irn Bru. Gooood.
One final picture, for the road.
How British am I?
xx
First stop: The Elephant House. a.k.a The Birthplace of Harry Potter!! Its where JK used to write before she became famous. You can see how she would have been inspired, the window looks out over Edinburgh Castle. Its so cool.
This is a picture of us drinking coffee right where JK did! Eeeeep!
The people in the photo are left to right: Me, Arrtu (from Finland), Trond (from Norway), Jess (Melbourne), Cliff (Oklahoma), and Deborah (my flatmate from Canada).
Then we walked up the royal mile past a billion touristy gift shops. A lot of tartan. And bagpipe players everywhere. We walked up the castle but didnt go in becasue its pircey and we would have spent most of our time there so we think we may come back to do it. This is a picture of a bunch of us outside the castle entrace.
Thats Cliff again on the left, being a dick with Phil (Sydney), then thats Jacqui (Melbourne), Trond, Gowri (Brisbane), Me and Deb.
We had lunch in another fantastically British pub, Deacon Brodies. Mum might know it? Then we went vintage shopping. Some gorgeous stuff, but the boys got tired of us so we didnt spend too much time in there. W.Armstrongs Emporium it was called. Heavenly. Then we went walking again around the bottom of the Castle. So beautiful. Cant get over it.
Today was a taste test really, didnt do any touristly things but will go back, and hopefully see some gigs there too while Im here.
Tomorrow is our Scottish film day! We are going to Trond's flat and watching Stone of Destiny, Trainspotting and Braveheart! And drinking Irn Bru. Gooood.
One final picture, for the road.
How British am I?
xx
Friday, 15 January 2010
Glorious glorious
So the no exam news gets even better. All internal work has to be handed in before the break, which means that from the 27th of MARCH I am finished!! You all will be not even a month in and I will be done!
So plans from that point at the moment are: 1. Rent a Castle for a week and live there lighting fires, playing board games, wearing tweed and having sword fights. 2. Go to Barcelona 3. Travel around Scotland more 4.Go to Russia 5. Eastern Europe generally.
And.. Im writing my history dissertation on Scottish Nationalism and the Stone of Destiny! I love this place.
May of had a wee encounter with a bottle of red wine last night, so not feeling the best today. Went to this thing called the Hive at one of the Unions. Its a big deal here. Having done it once not sure if I will feel the need to do it again. It was certainly a very stressful environment.
Edinburgh tomorrow so more photos soon.
xx
So plans from that point at the moment are: 1. Rent a Castle for a week and live there lighting fires, playing board games, wearing tweed and having sword fights. 2. Go to Barcelona 3. Travel around Scotland more 4.Go to Russia 5. Eastern Europe generally.
And.. Im writing my history dissertation on Scottish Nationalism and the Stone of Destiny! I love this place.
May of had a wee encounter with a bottle of red wine last night, so not feeling the best today. Went to this thing called the Hive at one of the Unions. Its a big deal here. Having done it once not sure if I will feel the need to do it again. It was certainly a very stressful environment.
Edinburgh tomorrow so more photos soon.
xx
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Courses
Sunday was lovely. Did some stationery shopping - my all time favourite shopping activity. Then had Indian food with everyone. Doesnt seem to be any BYO here. No cask wine with dinner... :(
Monday, sorted out all my courses - that was a mission. Glasgow has the stupidest system ever. As in they have no system. Nothing is online and generally it was ridiculous. But.. all sorted now. Im taking: History - 'Scotland the Stateless Nation'; Politics - 'The Politics of the Left in Europe'; and a short course designed for international students that gives an overview of 2000 years of Scottish history at literature. AND the best bit.... NO EXAMS!! So will be all finished and free as a bird from the 27th of April. Thats 2 whole months to play. Very happy about this fact.
Just watched Vicky Christina Barcelona with Jess and Deborah. We want to go to Barcelona now. And hopefully will. Drink red wine... eat nice food... find some artistic boys...
Monday, sorted out all my courses - that was a mission. Glasgow has the stupidest system ever. As in they have no system. Nothing is online and generally it was ridiculous. But.. all sorted now. Im taking: History - 'Scotland the Stateless Nation'; Politics - 'The Politics of the Left in Europe'; and a short course designed for international students that gives an overview of 2000 years of Scottish history at literature. AND the best bit.... NO EXAMS!! So will be all finished and free as a bird from the 27th of April. Thats 2 whole months to play. Very happy about this fact.
Just watched Vicky Christina Barcelona with Jess and Deborah. We want to go to Barcelona now. And hopefully will. Drink red wine... eat nice food... find some artistic boys...
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Aliens in Glasgow!!!!
Doctor? You home?
He seems to be on some epic Glaswegian mission because I have now spotted the Tardis at the Cathedral, the Botanical Gardens, and here on Buchanan Street....
Hope he has everything under control.
He seems to be on some epic Glaswegian mission because I have now spotted the Tardis at the Cathedral, the Botanical Gardens, and here on Buchanan Street....
Hope he has everything under control.
Ceilidh!
This is not the best representation of the night but kind of shows it a wee bit. Ceilidh party! So much fun. The two spinning are Jess and Phil, and the others are friends too but complicated to explain.
The Scottish definitely invented these dances for warmth. You get so hot!
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Breifly - some oddities
1. One and two pence coins. I have a million of them already. Such a pain.
2. Dont seem to get ID checked much. Havent been out properly yet but seems way less strict.
3. Most eggs are free range - apparently Jamie Oliver has a lot to do with that.
4. All Scottish bank notes are different depending on which bank issued them. This makes things awfully confusing.
5. You can buy vodka in the supermarket. Right next to the checkout.
2. Dont seem to get ID checked much. Havent been out properly yet but seems way less strict.
3. Most eggs are free range - apparently Jamie Oliver has a lot to do with that.
4. All Scottish bank notes are different depending on which bank issued them. This makes things awfully confusing.
5. You can buy vodka in the supermarket. Right next to the checkout.
What a magical day
Today a group of us went to the Kelvingrove and the Transport museums. Today I saw a Monet and a Dali. The Kelvingrove is amazing. Just to reiterate: I WANT TO WORK THERE!!
The transport museum was cool too. This was the best bit. Teheheee.
Hopefully you can all see Hedwig there on the back seat of Mr Weasleys car.
I love that I travel thousands of miles and manage to make friends with so many people that have an equally manic appreciation for Harry. Jess was talking about going to the actual castle that is near Edinburgh that is used as the base for the Hogwarts shots. Like they digitally make it bigger and add turrets and things. KEEEN!
Then we went for lunch in a cosy pub. So wonderful. On the way it started snowing! Jess, Phil and I (Jess and Phil being Australian) were so excited and danced around a bit. The Canadians and Scandenavians were not as excited. They found our excitement very amusing. Trond (from Norway) says its -30 at his home at the moment. Meanwhile its 42 in Melbourne. Crazy crazy.
This is me and Jess in the snow.
After lunch - we were inside for ages mainly to stay warm, but its so lovely inside all these pubs. But eventually we ventured back outside and Jess, Phil and I went vintage shopping. Oh so many beautiful things. All expensive but I am comparing it to the likes of the $2 clothing warehouse which I shouldnt. I bought a magnificent cardigan - Phil said I look like a stained glass window in it. It was about NZ$40, which isnt bad. Seriously some stuff is so much more expensive. I suppose the majorly positive thing about the vintage situation is that I hopefully wont buy so much that I cant bring it home.
One final image for the day - me in front of Hogwarts. aka Glasgow Uni. Isn't it pretty in the snow.
What a magical magical day. Tonight all the international students are going to a Ceilidh dance party!! ALL FOR MAIRIS WEDDING!! I have a feeling the mad skills learnt at Cathros birthday are going to come in handy.
Lots of love
The transport museum was cool too. This was the best bit. Teheheee.
Hopefully you can all see Hedwig there on the back seat of Mr Weasleys car.
I love that I travel thousands of miles and manage to make friends with so many people that have an equally manic appreciation for Harry. Jess was talking about going to the actual castle that is near Edinburgh that is used as the base for the Hogwarts shots. Like they digitally make it bigger and add turrets and things. KEEEN!
Then we went for lunch in a cosy pub. So wonderful. On the way it started snowing! Jess, Phil and I (Jess and Phil being Australian) were so excited and danced around a bit. The Canadians and Scandenavians were not as excited. They found our excitement very amusing. Trond (from Norway) says its -30 at his home at the moment. Meanwhile its 42 in Melbourne. Crazy crazy.
This is me and Jess in the snow.
After lunch - we were inside for ages mainly to stay warm, but its so lovely inside all these pubs. But eventually we ventured back outside and Jess, Phil and I went vintage shopping. Oh so many beautiful things. All expensive but I am comparing it to the likes of the $2 clothing warehouse which I shouldnt. I bought a magnificent cardigan - Phil said I look like a stained glass window in it. It was about NZ$40, which isnt bad. Seriously some stuff is so much more expensive. I suppose the majorly positive thing about the vintage situation is that I hopefully wont buy so much that I cant bring it home.
One final image for the day - me in front of Hogwarts. aka Glasgow Uni. Isn't it pretty in the snow.
What a magical magical day. Tonight all the international students are going to a Ceilidh dance party!! ALL FOR MAIRIS WEDDING!! I have a feeling the mad skills learnt at Cathros birthday are going to come in handy.
Lots of love
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Orientation Part 2
Met some lovely Australians who like similar music and are keen to travel around to see bands and stuff. Positive.
Found a great bar called Radio on Ashton Lane. (Look it up, its pretty and fairly lighted. Famous lane in the West End) Excellent music. FRIGHTENED RABBIT!! Can't get over it.
Met so many people today. All internationals, but the Brits dont arrive til next week.
Sweatshirt girl is giving the Kiwis a bad name. Will have to work hard to fix that. God. Cannot convey how bad she is. Man I hope she never reads this becasue she will know who I mean. Yikes.
More course sorting and orientation tomorrow then trip to Edinburgh on Saturday. Fun times! Hopefully the road wont close.
Sorry no more photos yet. Soon chickens soon.
xx
Found a great bar called Radio on Ashton Lane. (Look it up, its pretty and fairly lighted. Famous lane in the West End) Excellent music. FRIGHTENED RABBIT!! Can't get over it.
Met so many people today. All internationals, but the Brits dont arrive til next week.
Sweatshirt girl is giving the Kiwis a bad name. Will have to work hard to fix that. God. Cannot convey how bad she is. Man I hope she never reads this becasue she will know who I mean. Yikes.
More course sorting and orientation tomorrow then trip to Edinburgh on Saturday. Fun times! Hopefully the road wont close.
Sorry no more photos yet. Soon chickens soon.
xx
Orientation Part 1
First phase of orientation today. Tried to sort out classes. DIFFICULT. STRESSFUL. Havent finished.
So many Americans! At least they know where New Zealand is. This is positive.
Flat mate - Deborah is LOVELY. She's from Nova Scotia in Canada, she likes Harry Potter and Frightened Rabbit. This points to goodness.
Oh lordy - difficult to write mean things about people on the internet but, we shall call her sweatshirt girl (hopefully Sarah and Julia will know what Im talking about), HOLY MOLY. Horrific horrific. I just can't even put into words. Very criptic of me. I know.
Ok, this is breif becasue Im going out to a free food and drink event in a second. Always keen for a free food and drink event. :)
PS. I saw a real police box today!!
So many Americans! At least they know where New Zealand is. This is positive.
Flat mate - Deborah is LOVELY. She's from Nova Scotia in Canada, she likes Harry Potter and Frightened Rabbit. This points to goodness.
Oh lordy - difficult to write mean things about people on the internet but, we shall call her sweatshirt girl (hopefully Sarah and Julia will know what Im talking about), HOLY MOLY. Horrific horrific. I just can't even put into words. Very criptic of me. I know.
Ok, this is breif becasue Im going out to a free food and drink event in a second. Always keen for a free food and drink event. :)
PS. I saw a real police box today!!
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Op Shopping Update
So I've found today on my travels - hunting for coat hangers actually - that the retro clothes shopping can be done on Great Western Road. Found three vintage boutiques - positive. Negative - they are Modern Miss/ Tete a tete prices. Eg Dress £18-£25. So mission not completely successful. However, they are fun for looking. And oh so glittery. And I found a cute bookshop too.
Biggest stress of the day: buying cheese.
Cream cheese does not exist. It is called soft cheese. Luckily I had been given a heads up about that one from Maxine. But as far as I can tell Edam, Colby, Mild, and Tasty are not part of the British cheese vocabulary at all. Ended up going for one called 'Mild Coloured Cheddar'. I don't have high hopes.
Biggest stress of the day: buying cheese.
Cream cheese does not exist. It is called soft cheese. Luckily I had been given a heads up about that one from Maxine. But as far as I can tell Edam, Colby, Mild, and Tasty are not part of the British cheese vocabulary at all. Ended up going for one called 'Mild Coloured Cheddar'. I don't have high hopes.
Op Shopping
Ok, so op shops first of all are called 'Charity shops'. The phrase 'op shop' is unheard of. I can't shake the habit of calling them that though. They are all affiliated with major charities - the Heart Foundation, Oxfam, Cancer Research etc.
Secondly, they are crap here. Mega crap. Ryan would probably keel over and die in despair. No $2 fill a bag here my friends.
Admittedly I've only been into five so far but everything is minimum £4. Thats what... $10ish. Not cool man. And the selection is very savemart. Stuff that is 'fashionable'. Hardly any retro sections. Bethy would also not approve.
This is the West End for god sakes! Hipster centre of Scotland! I must be missing something. I will have to search harder. Maybe the hipsters are just mega rich. But they are students! Ok, its only day 6 of 183. That gives me plenty of time to find the underground retro op shopping scene. I will inform you all the minute I find it.
x
Secondly, they are crap here. Mega crap. Ryan would probably keel over and die in despair. No $2 fill a bag here my friends.
Admittedly I've only been into five so far but everything is minimum £4. Thats what... $10ish. Not cool man. And the selection is very savemart. Stuff that is 'fashionable'. Hardly any retro sections. Bethy would also not approve.
This is the West End for god sakes! Hipster centre of Scotland! I must be missing something. I will have to search harder. Maybe the hipsters are just mega rich. But they are students! Ok, its only day 6 of 183. That gives me plenty of time to find the underground retro op shopping scene. I will inform you all the minute I find it.
x
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
It snowed again. The air tastes like snow.
Yesterday went wandering again.
Also, this is what I mean by tenements. Most of the streets look like this.
The jet lag situation is still ridiculous. Last night I slept fully clothed with the light on for about 14 hours.
Yesterday went wandering again.
Also, this is what I mean by tenements. Most of the streets look like this.
The jet lag situation is still ridiculous. Last night I slept fully clothed with the light on for about 14 hours.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Epic Blog Entry Number One
Glasgow is glorious.
Yesterday I was given a whirlwind tour by Wendy and Harry (friends of my parents) and George their nephew. The city is so pretty, and it was snowing most of the day. Big soft flakes too, none of this sleety crap we get in New Zealand.
Today it was time to negotiate the streets alone. This morning I woke up about 3am and was very very awake. The cursed jet lag. So left the flat at about 7am to play on the computers. Then about 8, left for an epica day. Oh it’s been such a good day. I forgot it was Sunday which caused minor convenience as the UK is much more into shops not opening or opening very late on Sundays. Desperate for the loo I went inside this old church. Had managed to forget again that it was the Sabbath, semi-embarrassing, but played the part of an ignorant tourist who was just interesting in historic architecture. After a 15min lecture from a chorister about the history of the building I cheekily used their loo and left.
Such a great cliché by the way that there are scrumpled Iron Bru cans in most of the city’s gutters. I really appreciate that.
I’m not finding things very expensive. Went to Primark, which seemed in appearance to be like a Farmers but in prices was more like a Warehouse. Bought incredibly large and warm scrunchie socks for £1. Sweet deal. Coffee thankfully is about the same price as at home. I have discovered that the closest thing to a flat white in the UK is an “Americano” but then you ask for a jug of hot milk to go with it. Generally that’s pretty ridiculous in my opinion but whatevs.
So then I walked to Kelvingrove garden via the ritzy part of town. The tenement buildings are not very different from the outside in the wealthy and less wealthy parts of town but it became very obvious I was not among my own kind by the ridiculously expensive cars parked outside each building. And they had city views of course. I walked along the streets hoping to bump into
someone famous. Billy Connolly maybe? Alex Kapranos? David Tennant unfortunately is not from Glasgow, but that thought crossed my mind too.
This is a photo through the trees of the Kelvingrove park of Glasgow University. Hogwarts much?
I saw a group of squirrels (what is the collective term for squirrels?) in the park and shrieked with excitement. I was then stared at. Fair enough I guess. I don’t think I shriek in a particularly Kiwi accent. But how cute is Mr Nutkin?
And then…. To Kelvingrove Museum. Heaven.
Isnt it amazing? The first picture is it from the outside but the camera couldn’t get all of it so that’s just most of it, and the second picture is the hall of busts. It’s a museum and art gallery. The photos fail at showing just how magnificent it is.I WANT TO WORK THERE‼ It was opened in 1901 and is built out of the red sandstone that is typical of many buildings in Glasgow for the grand sum of £100,000. Actually I could live in there. I didn’t see much of it today as by the time I had walked there I had mega blisters and thought I would save most of it for a day when there wasn’t blood in my shoes. This was also the home of … drum roll….. the Doctor Who exhibition! Oh man. I cannot describe how awesome it was.
I look ridiculous in the picture but who cares?? I’m standing next to a Dalek‼ The video will hopefully be greatly amusing. They had every creature ever. And lots of actors costumes. The trench coat of course. And in their very own display cases were his chucks and sonic screw driver. Glorious glorious.
And there was this interactive Dalek that was child size and children would go inside it and say things like “Exterminate” or “Open the genesis arc” and their voices would sound like a Dalek. I wished very much that Rachel had been with me at that moment. Things like that are mortifying alone, but hilarious with a Dyke Pikelet. The best one was when a teenage girl went in after her younger brother and the Dalek said “I don’t want to be here”. That was great.
So I intend to finish exploring Kelvingrove in at least three other trips.
My walk home was right up the main street of the West End, Byres Road– the West End being the area where the uni is and where I live. I got stopped and asked for directions! Clearly I fit in here. I couldn’t help them at all though.
Also all warnings Mum gave me about the Glaswegian accent still failed to adequately prepare me for it. Eavesdropping on locals talking to one another inevitably leads to me laughing out loud in the street like a complete freak. It’s so absurd. I heard an entire conversation at a set of traffic lights and all I could understand was “Happy New Year”. Seriously, I have never heard anything like it.
Best find ever on the main street – a record store called Popp. I died and went to heaven for the second time in one day. Animal collective, Postal Service, Camera Obscura, Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, Fleet Foxes – albums all £5. And there were loads of other artists I can’t remember at this second that were equally cheap. And they sell cheap books and DVDs as well. I’m going to have to be very careful.
So having just wiped the blood out of my shoes I’m going to make some lunch and have a nana nap I think. And all of this before 3 o clock!
I apologise for the length of this post - I imagine these entries will become shorter and less frequent as the novelty of this place wears off.
Love to all from a wintery wonderland. xx
Thursday, 31 December 2009
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