For my birthday this year, before the celebrations in London with friends, I took myself up to Scotland for a couple days. I took the train, because I think I'd kick myself if I left England having not seen the countryside, so here are a few shots from the train ride...
I also managed to book two nights at a hotel in Sanquhar, Scotland, which is where my dad's family came from. I found this war memorial on my walk around the tiny, quiet lowland town:
and a few shots from the rest of the town:
this castle ruin was just outside the town limits in the middle of a field. William Wallace was here. and if there was spray paint in his day, i'm sure that would be etched somewhere in the wall....
this next one is a sunset behind the hotel i stayed in.
the next day it was on to glasgow, a 1 hour train ride from Sanquhar....
this is a university....can you believe that?!
then, after another month and a bit, it was thanksgiving, and this year, it was more than just myself and andrew who went for turkey feast in the maple leaf for canadian thanksgiving.
then at the end of october, after parting ways with my permanent job (it was really really really not working.....so as it stands now i'm back on daily supply), i said to hell with it, and went to berlin for 2 nights.
I saw pretty much everything i wanted to in the 1 day and 1 evening i spent in this city.
the brandenburg gate:
these bears were not on my list, but they were everywhere, and they were all different!
checkpoint charlie:
the berlin wall:
another site where the berlin wall is still partially standing
a memorial park:
alexanderplatz:
then it was halloween....!
Some of you may know, I work some weekend shifts at a bar in Camden Market now that i'm just doing daily supply to kind of supplement my funds (read: pay for lunches and stuff while I'm working during the week). And if you look back far enough in blog entries, you'll have met Jesse, my Australian flatmate (who is now home in Brisbane...sad face).
Anyways, Jesse and I like this show, the Mighty Boosh, so this year we went as characters from that show. Old Gregg is Jesse's costume, and the Crack Fox is my costume....
I love the people I work with (below, we have Peter, looking up Jesse's tutu, and Marcus, with lots of blood on his face)
The Crack Fox and Old Gregg....it took until the wee hours of the night for people to recognize our characters.
the very next day, slightly hungover, and me shaking like a spastic colon (because driving in London in a manual car that has had the gear box driven to the ground is scary) for a little while, Jesse and I drove to Stonehenge. Wait, restate that, I drove to stonehenge and jesse used my phone's google maps to get us there - because the satnav got us completely lost in Chiswick for over an hour.
As a result of being almost hopelessly lost for that hour, we got to stonehenge after it had closed up for the day. So we stood outside the fence. On the 31st of October. it was spooky. the stones as you'll see are not lit up or anything. they're just there, big, black, and imposing. AND HUGE!
this is the best we could get with my camera. but next time i go, hopefully the sun will be at least in the sky (if not covered in clouds).
bonfire night happened, as it does every 5th of november, but it poured rain, so we had to run back inside and dry off. that somehow lead to jesse, myself, and pia trying on hats...?
then in december, the SNOW came, and the nation had a panic attack. BUT LOOK AT IT! I was working at lockside this particular day. and we ended up rather bored. The most we sold was hot drinks, because tourists didn't seem to understand, that you don't go out in england in the snow. no one does.
after walking to work in the snowstorm (which you can see in the background), amy looked like this, but still really excited for the snow!
then Laura left our little pub family, and we had a night out. The lockside girls...!
one day, i didn't get some work, and I was awake and dressed, so i went with some mates to Greenwich park. Here I am, standing on both the eastern and western hemispheres at the same time, and not standing in a more awkward manner than i normally would....!
the view from the observatory:
could we have actually asked for a nicer day to be out?! I don't think so.....!
then i was playing tour guide, so i took my friend to see buckingham palace. and we were in luck, someone was IN this coach. but we couldn't see or tell who it was. too bad.
My guess is that it was someone important.
Well, I have managed to upload all of these images, and write all of this text in the time that I was waiting for a phone call to go to work today. Luckily I have work lined up tomorrow, as I have itchy feet again, and want to do some traveling during the break in february. I'm not sure where yet, but what I do know is that I need money to do that. Here's hoping....!
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