Chatiryworld

Moving, not moving, leaving...

It's been an odd week, first we were moving and getting very excited, then we weren't moving, then we might have been moving and then we decided definitely not to move.  It was all to do with money and sums and mortgages and other really grown up stuff.  On top of that it was my last week in my current post (I start my new one tomorrow, hurrah!) and whilst I have really been wanting to get out, I will really miss the people.  So an emotional week too.  Here's some photos from our honeymoon in Cornwall, I'll blog about that another time, but just thought I should check in.

Quirky travel books

Via a couple of the too-many-design-blogs-I-read, I saw a new guide book for Paris yesterday, Paris: Made by hand.  I ended up having a little explore around the publishers (The Little Bookroom) website and they seem to have a good selection of slightly quirky travel books.  I've already had Chic Shopping Paris down as one to look out for, and The Patisseries of Paris sounds like something we should check out (no actual plans to go to Paris, but we probably will in the next few years).

The books aren't all for Paris and France though, The Civilised Shopper's Guide to Edinburgh and Glasgow sounds like my kind of thing, and I think Jon and Hugh would both enjoy The Traditional Shops and Restaurants of London (as an aside, do other Edinburgers remember that shop on Victoria Street that seemed to sell brushes and broom handles?).

If you're looking for more travel book suggestions for the UK, Anne at I like has a very interesting Amazon store.  As well as a very interesting blog of course, that I found via Amateur Ramblings a couple of years ago.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Especially when it's only a half hour train journey from Edinburgh (that's commutable, folks!).  God knows why it's taken us 4 years to get round to going out to North Berwick, but it has.  On Saturday the sun was shining and we decided to make the most of it, jumping on a train and marvelling at the East Lothian countryside.  Five minutes after stepping off the train and we were on the beach, not long afterwards we were eating cake at the Seabird Centre.

Following lots more walking along the beach we had a terrible lunch at the County Hotel before doing a bit of window shopping.  We finished off our day sitting on a bench people watching then journeyed home.

We're both feeling a bit blergh today, so we're just going to enjoy sitting around in a sunny flat.  Hope you all had good weekends.

Catching up

So last weekend was spent down at my mum's in Yorkshire.  I took the opportunity to have a little hen lunch with two of my sisters, two of my cousins and two of my friends at Browns in Leeds.  I was able to join in the cocktail fun with a mocktail, which pleased me, and we all ate delicious and filling food.  I had a vegetable tart and shared some chips with my sister Ellen.  We couldn't resist pudding and I went for chocolate ice cream that was served with a cookie.  I didn't finish it.  It was really lovely to sit back, relax, chat and eat some good food, so thank you for coming ladies.

On Sunday afternoon my mum drove Ellen, Martha and I to one of my favourite places, Saltaire.  I haven't been since I moved up here so it was great to get reacquainted with Salts Mill and see how much the shops in the main street had changed.  No more second hand bookshop, but plenty of vintage places.  We went to a craft and vintage fair at Victoria Hall, complete with cafe serving from pretty teasets (despite not drinking tea I do like a nice teaset).  The fair had some good stalls, and some not so good, and I was pleased to see that Hannah Nunn (whose lamp I blogged about a while back) had a stall, also selling tealight holders and vases by Karin Eriksson.  We had a little mooch in the shops in the mill before heading home.  If it hadn't been so cold I would have taken more photos of the village.  It's a planned industrial village in the same ilk as New Lanark, only less touristy (which is not to say that it isn't touristy, it just doesn't have the big attractions that New Lanark does). 

I had a great weekend but it was wonderful to see Jon again back in Edinburgh.  He'd spent the weekend in Brighton.

East Coast

We spent some time yesterday in Gullane, East Lothian, about an hour's bus ride from Edinburgh.  I'd been wanting to go for a while, as it involves the seaside and a Falko Konditormeister cafe (although we do now have one of them nearer to us) but it was only yesterday that we finally got round to it.  We were hoping to find out more about a potential wedding cake idea that we had but the meister himself was of course over in the Bruntsfield branch, a 15 minute walk from our flat...  Never mind, this branch was more relaxed and less crowded (yet still busy).  I was glad I had worn my Boden cardigan, seems to be the brand to wear in Gullane.

After filling up on cake we walked down to the beach, the wind blowing sand into our faces.  We spent a refreshing few minutes (it was cold!) down there before wandering back up to the main street picking out the houses we'd like to live in.  A quick drink in the Old Clubhouse before browsing in the charity shop and the deli before getting the bus back to the big city. 

It was nice.

Sea change

Just going through my pile of magazines to see which ones I can live without (and give to Jon's mum and sister to read on the train).  One of them is the October 2008 edition of Coast, which has got to be one of the most self-indulgent magazines out there, but I like it.  There's a photo shoot that's themed around a lovely poem by Cromarty poet Jane Verburg, Sea Change.  You can read it over at Cromarty: Living by the sea.  I think it sums up living by the sea very well.

Waffled up

NOW WE FEED! NYARRRRH!, originally uploaded by Falling Sky.

We had an amazing time in Brussels, thank you so much to Marilou and Frederic for being such great hosts and letting us stay in their lovely flat.

We seemed to be on the move a lot while we there, but mainly we were wandering and talking, doing a bit of window shopping, deciding that Belgian children are much better dressed than British ones, that kind of thing.

My birthday on Sunday was lovely, I had a special breakfast complete with candles on a bread ring. Jon and I went to the Natural History Museum then slowly wandered back via the European Parliament, a few shops and a late lunch at Cafe Arcadia. That evening we went to see Sigur Ros who were fantastic. I'd never seen them live before, which made it extra exciting. We sat high up on a balcony which was a little unnerving but we had a fairly decent view of the stage. If you get the chance to see Sigur Ros, go go go!

Then it was back to reality and sitting around in London for the train. London is hard work, there are good bits, but it's hard work. We ate well in Leon though, and I enjoyed browsing in Muji and Liberty.

What an age

Just enjoying the free wifi on the train to London.  Not entirely sure why my Google toolbar has defaulted to Swedish, maybe it's trying to tell me something.

We're getting the first Eurostar of the day to Brussels tomorrow, can't wait.  My birthday present from Jon is tickets to see Sigur Ros on Sunday night.  I've never been to a gig Abroad, unless you count the 1998 Clarinet and Saxophone Society event in Krakow where I tagged along with my dad.

See you soon.  Now I've found out Liberty's opening hours I'll go back to my knitting.

Information is power

And if you are ever in any doubt just travel through the Midlands on Cross Country trains. 

Thursday - Travel down to Cheltenham.  Get to Birmingham, have an hour and a half to kill before next train so aim to get some dinner.  Fail and end up having M&S salad bowl.  Feel like hick from the sticks as Birmingham is so much bigger than Edinburgh.  Wait for Cheltenham train.  Doesn't turn up.  Display board has completely different train on it.  No announcement on tannoy.  Check other display board with all trains and see it's now running late but on the same platform.  This carries on for another 40 minutes until the train eventually arrives.  Absolutely no announcements about it at all.  According to the timetable sheets there should have been further trains to Cheltenham but these were never announced either.

Friday - Travel from Cheltenham to Peterborough.  Again first part of journey very straightforward.  Train from Birmingham to Peterborough arrives on time, reserved seat, all very good.  By Nuneaton the train is totally packed and doesn't seem to be going anywhere.  Apparently there is something wrong with the engine.  After 10 minutes people are getting off and there's a rumour that the train is only going as far as Leicester.  This is eventually confirmed and those of us going further are sent to the next platform for the Stansted train.  This is even more packed than ours was and looks like a Japanese Metro train.  We aren't allowed on.  Next train is in an hour but we are told to get back on the original train and go to Leicester because you can at least get a hot drink.  Dunkirk spirit is kicking in by now.  Wait around at Leicester for platform 2.  At one point this changes to platform 4 but by the time I get to the bottom of the stairs it's now platform 1.  Wonder if I hallucinated this but it's later confirmed by someone else that it did happen.  Train we got off is waiting at platform 1 and we are told to get back on it despite it being a bit dodgy.  Next train eventually turns up and pushes us to East Anglia.  Feel very glad I'm not going to some out of the way village in Norfolk where the trains stopped running an hour ago.  Several people in this position.

Sunday - Delayed journey home to Edinburgh but at least Jon was with me and we were in the quiet coach.

This is possibly one of the most boring posts ever written but I haven't experienced such a run of terrible journeys in a long while and I'm still in shock.  I think it was the lack of information that got to me most, no announcements and leaving people worrying on the platform - not fun.  Hopefully Eurostar will renew my faith in public transport on Saturday.  Birthday Brussels trip here we come! 

Je vais a Bruxelles pour mon anniversaire.

Grand Place - Bruxelles, originally uploaded by Spigoo.

A few weeks ago, as we sat down to dinner, Jon informed me that Sigur Ros were playing in Glasgow in November.

'We've got to make sure we book and go!' I said enthusiastically.

But Jon looked a bit odd.  He had to spoil a surprise, that was why.  He'd booked tickets to see them in Brussels on my birthday and this was going to be my present.  He had to tell me so that I didn't get suspicious as to why we weren't going to the gig in Glasgow.

I suppose it's a good job he told me, not least because I had to get another passport (application posted on Friday, received passport the following Wednesday, unheard of!), but also so I can do my usual reading up and plotting.  Not that we'll be there for that long.  We'll travel to London on the Friday, have an early night and get the first Eurostar to Brussels on Saturday morning, giving us a good chunk of Saturday and then Sunday in Brussels.  Back to London and then Edinburgh on the Monday. 

We're staying a with a very good friend, and I'm really looking forward to seeing her.  I'm not sure what we will do in Brussels, we'll be staying very near the centre in a lovely area.  Both of us have been to Brussels and have a bit of a soft spot for it.  I can see lots of just wandering around and stopping for waffles and hot chocolate.  Yum.  Jon's never been to the comic strip museum so I'm sure we'll end up there.

I love having an adventure to look forward to, especially when it involves one of my favourite bands and my birthday!