Good times, good food, good friends

Rik here ...

I figured I would catch up on some picture loading and story telling.  

First some shots from the Christmas Eve party we had at the Stubbs.  Good fun had by all.

Next a couple of artsy shots from our Boxing Day walk in Hazelhead Park.  Guess who took those?

And finally some shots from the Snow Ball, which was a load of fun.  It was held at the Beach Ballroom, which is, funnily enough, right on the beach.  Everyone was dressed up - lots of ballgowns for the ladies and tuxedos for the men.  I would say about half were brave enough to do the kilt.  Dinner was quite nice and some decent raffle prizes were awarded.  We kept with our longstanding tradition of never winning anything and left empty handed.  The real fun started up after dinner when the band started playing.  The majority of songs were for traditional Scottish dances.  It was fun to get out there and try and figure out how to do them.  A great many are group dances, so you kind of tucked yourself in on the end and hoped that by the time it got around to you, you had figured it out.  Fiona and I managed quite well to "Strip the Willow" but had a harder time with some of the reels.  These songs are like marathons, they just keep going and going.  You either need to be in good shape or well fortified with your alcohol of choice.

We rounded off our weekend by having the Stubbs over last night.  We broke out the Yahtzee dice (I was the overall champ) and one of our new faves, Pit, a commodities trading game (I ended up looking for a government bailout by the time that was done).  A little vino and a little prosciutto with melon and it made it a pleasant way to ease out of Christmas and back into work.

We had a great "We love Aberdeen" moment tonight.  Getting a little sick of leftover turkey we wandered into downtown, walked past several good restaurants and settled on this nice Italian place that we had been to once before.  Service was great, food was delicious and price was very reasonable.  And we could walk there and back.  Just a nice little reminder of the good thing we can get here.

Cheers,

Rik

Christmas Tidings

Rik here ....

To our faithful blog readers, it may be a day late and a dollar short, but we hope you had a Merry Christmas, or as they say here - a happy Christmas.  

We tried our best to make one here in Aberdeen.  On Christmas Eve we went for dinner at a friend's house.  Fondue was served, wine was enjoyed and games were played.  Our efforts to keep it in the realm of a friendly game were foiled by our choice of teams - boys vs. girls.  Although it was close, the eventual winner was ... the men.  We had a really good time and it feels good to know that no matter where you go, you can always find nice people that you can turn into good friends.

We had a refreshing walk home (I never once got the opportunity to say that in Houston!), but unfortunately were to tired to get into the lovely sausage rolls that Fiona had picked up at the butcher shop.  They are now in the freezer awaiting an occassion grand enough to warrant sausage rolls.

Christmas day started well enough.  We had a little bit of a sleep in before tumbling down the stairs to check out the Christmas tree and its full load of presents.  Fiona had a good day, picking up a Nintendo DS (a portable game system for the non-initiated), a series of books on psychology, our favorite British series "As Time Goes By" on DVD and a panini maker.  She had earlier intercepted her jewelry box as it was being delivered.  I was similarly spoiled with a Blu-Ray player to replace the one we left in Houston, some movies, a couple of Rothko prints (look him up, you'll either love it or ask yourself what anyone could possibly see in them), some reading material and a new blue bathrobe.  I guess it was our attempt to keep the British economy afloat.

We set a nice table for dinner and Fiona turned out a perfectly cooked turkey.  She spent a considerable amount of time trying to convince me that she hadn't and that it was either undercooked or overcooked, she had a hard time accepting her own brilliance for some reason.  Anyway, we had all the trimmings, Brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, home made stuffing and some nice potatoes.  Fiona had decorated the table with candles and tinsel and we listened to our 1000th Christmas carol.  We missed our families, but it was nice to have a meal like that just the two of us.  Before I get too sentimental, we then broke out the blow torch and finished off our creme brullee.  Fabulous.

We hooked up the Blu-Ray and were happy to note that it played discs we had purchased in the States.  That was nice, because most DVD's purchased there won't work here, and vice versa.  Glad to see something go our way on that front.  It has been frustrating to have to go out and buy new stuff to replace perfectly good stuff we had in Houston just because the plug is wrong or the TV signal is different.

We did manage to finish our Christmas puzzle, which was actually our second Christmas puzzle.  As Fiona solved puzzles on her Nintendo I got to lay in the last few pieces.  Always satisfying.  I do sometimes regret not picking up the 18,000 piece puzzle we saw that one time in Las Vegas.  I can't imagine the arguments we would have over that: "Rik, you have to move your puzzle, I need the dining table back", "I can't move it now, I only have 4000 pieces to go!"

We spent this Boxing Day catching up on sleep and laundry.  We went for a walk in Hazelhead Park, a great recreational area on the edge of Aberdeen.  It helped clear our heads a bit.  We broke in the pannini press with turkey, brie and cranberry panninis.  And we watched the incredibly awful last installment of the Mummy movies.  I'm hoping to take advantage of Fiona's new Nintendo obsession to finish reading my book - a recommendation from my sister Linda.  It's David Starkey's "Monarchy".  Anyone with PBS might recognize him as the bespectacled Englishman with a similarly titled show.  It's a great read, full of interesting tidbits about the zany kings and queens that have ruled Britain for the last few hundred years.

We've got the Snow Ball to go to tomorrow and we're both looking forward to that.  Any chance I get to be seen dancing with the most beautiful woman in the room, I take.  I do have to put on the tuxedo, though.  That feels like a photo opportunity to me.  Keep your eyes on the bog, I'll try and convince Fiona to post at least one.  The Internet deserves to have our good looking mugs on it.

Cheers and Merry Boxing Day.

Irn Bru Commercial Update

Rik here ...

Enjoying a half day off and relaxing a little before a dinner party tonight.  Fresh sausage rolls are in the kitchen waiting for a midnight snack to be had with hot chocolate and Baileys.  Does it get better than that?

Fiona and I were watching the telly this afternoon and caught a traditional Christmas show called "the Snowman".  Apparently it is an institution here, just like Rudolph and the Grinch are in North America. 

About half way through the show there's a flying sequence that was obviously the source for the Irn Bru commercial we posted earlier this week.  It just reinforced the brilliance of the commercial.  And as much as we mock the power of advertising these days, I really want to try an Irn Bru now.  I'll actually think less of myself if I don't like it ...

Fiona just poked me when I wrote about the Grinch.  She hasn't seen it this year due to the inability of British broadcasters to "get with the program" and the fact that our DVD version is North America format (and packed into a box in a storage locker in Houston).  I for one was never as enamored with the Grinch as Fiona and my sister, Hanneke, always were.  For me, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was tops.  An elf who wanted to be a dentist?  A creepy talking snow man?  I have a feeling you could probably teach a college level Visual Arts class on the content of that cartoon.  So it's time for an informal poll: which was your favorite - Grinch or Rudy?

Cheers and Merry Christmas,

Rik and Fiona

Recovery

Rik here ...

We've had ourselves a pleasant little weekend.  We did some more shopping on Saturday morning, buying some bits and bobs to get ready for Christmas.  We went out to the staff Christmas party on Saturday night and had a thoroughly enjoyable time.  We did quite a bit of dancing and the raffle we organized went quite well.  

We spent most of today recovering, with lack of sleep making us drag our feet somewhat.  We did get the rest of our grocery shopping done, so everything is ready for the holidays this week.  

I'm looking forward to our first Christmas here.  It looks like everything is in place for a nice relaxing, festive time.

Cheers,

Rik

A little Christmas Cheer?

There is a beverage here that is as Scottish as the kilt and Loch Ness.  Proudly thought of as a surefire hangover cure, it is a slightly radioactive orange color.  It is called Irn Bru.

While Rik and I have not actually tried it and so cannot speak to its taste, we immensely enjoy some of their very creative ads.  Here is the Christmas one... Make sure you have your sound on and listen to the words of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfiqrkV_Zql

Enjoy!

Edinburgh

So we decided to head out this weekend and go for a little trip.  Our destination was Edinburgh...

It is a really pretty city, very green and full of amazing architecture.  We arrived on Friday, and after a pretty harrowing drive (it was very windy and very rainy and pitch black at 4:00pm) we headed out on the town to find some dinner.  We ended up at a small Greek place not too far from the hotel.  The tzatziki was delicious.  

We then wandered out into Edinburgh and quickly stumbled upon a Christmas street market.  They had all sort of booths selling toys, food and drinks.  We had to get some gluhwein.  It had quite a kick, so I think something extra had been added.  Beyond the fair was a carnival that lit up the street.  They had a ferris wheel, merry-go-round and swings.  It was a cool atmosphere, with lots of fashionable people wandering about.  Wed did our best to blend in.

We woke up the next morning and wandered on up to Edinburgh castle.  Edinburgh seems to be all about the statues, as we passed many on the way.  And not just for famous politicians or military heroes.  Sir Walter Scott has several, and we saw ones for James Clerk Maxwell (bonus nerd points if you can tell me what he is famous for without consulting Wikipedia) and Adam Smith.  Poor Mr. Smith has apparently borne the brunt of some people's frustrations with the credit crisis.

The castle is truly spectacular.  Situated on the hill above Edinburgh, it gives great views of the surrounding city and into the firth.  It has been well-kept and the facilities within are well worth viewing.  We particularly liked the Scottish Crown jewels, the great hall, the dungeons and especially the National War Memorial.  The Memorial is an example of what memorials should be.

We then went out for a short but delicious lunch at the Witchery.  Next came the Royal Mile, with a piper on the corner near St Giles Cathedral.  We went in and toured around.  It was very impressive, showcasing a lot of Scottish history from around the time of the Reformation.  The best part was easily the Thistle Chapel.  The carving is incredibly ornate.

We had a great dinner out - Fiona had Scottish lamb and I had a great salmon starter.  We're really starting to appreciate Scottish cuisine.

Sunday morning we made our way to the Palace at Holyrood house, the Queen's residence when she's in Scotland.  The tour was great and the grounds are suitably grand.  They had several displays and rooms set with the possessions of Mary, Queen of Scots.  All very well done and conveniently wrapped in an audio tour. 

Across from the Palace was the new Scottish Parliament Building.  While Holyrood house was classic and grand, the new architecture of the Parliament was not.  Someone needs to describe the art nouveau thing that they have done there, because I don't get it.

Anyway, we'll be back to Edinburgh soon, I think.  There seemed to be so much that we didn't get a chance to do.   

Potpourri

Rik here ...

We're off to Edinburgh tomorrow for a nice weekend out.  It's been a tough week at work, so I'm looking forward to tramping around another castle and sampling some high end Edinburghian cuisine.

I've been doing some more driving lately.  Still a little scary, especially for Fiona in the passenger seat.  Getting used to shifting with your left hand is harder than adjusting to the modified rules and all the roundabouts.  Hopefully by the time we get some visitors I'll be comfortable acting as chauffeur.

I was fitted for my tux today.  Fiona and I are going to a Snow Ball on the 27th.  It wouldn't do to have such a good looking lady accompanied by a hobo in his own suit.  We almost talked ourselves into a formal kilt, maybe next time.

We thought we had stumbled on the world's worst chip flavor here - Prawn Cocktail.  I think Fiona's sister Adele will back us up on that.  But straight from Singapore, Christian sends us proof that you can never claim any particular item is the best/worst of anything.  You can try, but it probably means you just haven't been to Asia yet.

I was Googling a work related item today and came across a Geophysics blog.  I thought, wow, what a horribly bad idea.  With everything that the internet has to offer, why would you stop and read about geophysics?  Anybody looking for more geophysics in this blog?

Gotta go, Beverly Hills Cop is on.  Clearly a top 5 Eddie Murphy movie.  In no particular order: Beverly Hills Cop, The Golden Child, Coming to America, Bowfinger and Another 48 Hours.  Try and argue.  You can't.

Cheers,

Rik

What's Occurring?

Rik here ...

Today we went off to Crathes Castle - a manor house not too far from Aberdeen.  They had the inside set up as a true Victorian Christmas, down to the oranges and cloves.  People wandered the house in character and you could partake in mulled wine and cheese scones.  The gardens looked pretty elaborate and I think we'll have to go back when they're blooming (and when it's not dark at 3pm!)  They had a giant sequoia on the grounds that truly boggled the mind.  Another castle to add to the itinerary, should anyone choose to visit.  Enjoy the pics...

We went to the butchershop down the street yesterday and ordered our Christmas turkey.  Minimum order was 5kg, so we'll be accepting your favorite turkey leftover recipes.  

We also saw a good looking leg of lamb, which we roasted tonight with rosemary and garlic.  Fantastico, as this odd Italian cook on local TV likes to say.  It also makes us feel good to be supporting our local shopowners, as well.  As cheap and high quality as the Wal-Mart cuts are, it just isn't the same.

My bus trip to work has been taking a little longer than normal the past few weeks, early darkness worsens the already horrible Aberdeen traffic situation.  The upside, small though it is, is that I have been getting caught up on my reading.  I've burnt through a few books lately, including a history of the Texas Revolution, Norman Mailer's last book (a horribly gratuitous and vulgar historical fiction of Adolf Hitler) and my brother in law's recommendation "Freakonomics".  Some interesting topics, but probably not everyone's cup of tea.  I'm currently going through a history of the Peloponessian War, which is quite interesting.  Sparta versus Athens, with good coverage of the changing methods of warfare and use of terror as a weapon.   Interesting parallels with current methods.  I've got a few more waiting on the shelf, including the new Salman Rushdie and a biography of Chairman Mao.  I would like some suggestions, however, for something new once I'm done.  Leave your comments with anything good that you've read in the last few months ....

Cheers,

Rik

Sinterklaas

Tonight is the eve of Sinterklaas. In the Dutch tradition, he will go from house to house on his big, white horse leaving presents for good little boys and girls.  For those who end up on the wrong side of the good/bad ledger, his assistant 'Zwarte Piet' or Black Peter comes by to give you a thrashing with a bunch of sticks, before stuffing you in a sack and taking you off to Spain (where Sinterklaas spends the rest of the year). Talk about trying to get your kids to behave!?!

In his family tradition, Rik and his sisters would spend the evening singing special songs and wait for that knock on the door that signified that Sinterklaas had arrived, and also send them into a screaming frenzy running around the house.  The door would then open a crack and Zwarte Piet would throw candies into the house.  Traditionally, they are mostly pepernootjes (small ginger cookies), they would find them all around and sometimes after a few months behind the couch.  Anyway, that night you leave out your shoe with an offering for his horse and hope that in the morning he has filled it with presents and even a chocolate letter.

This afternoon I did some searching on the internet and found some of the traditional Sinterklaas songs and learnt them to surprise Rik when he came home.  Here is one of the songs and a translation.

 Zie ginds komt de stoomboot

uit Spanje weer aan.

Hij brengt ons Sint-Nicolaas

ik zie hem al staan.

Hoe huppelt zijn paardje

op het dek op en neer,

hoe waaien de wimpels

al heen en al weer.

Zijn knecht staat te lachen

en roept ons reeds toe:

"Wie zoet is krijgt lekkers,

wie stout is de roe!"

Och lieve Sint Nicolaas,

kom ook eens bij mij,

en rijd toch ons huisje

niet stil voorbij.

Look here comes the steamboat

from Spain again.

It brings us St. Nicholas, 

I can already see him standing there.

His horse is a-prancing

on deck, up and down,

The banners are waving

back and forth.

His helper stands laughing

and shouts to us take heed

"Who is good gets candies,

who is naughty gets beat with my sticks"

Oh, Saint Nicholas

come also to me

and do not ride 

quietly past our house.

Happy Sinterklaas, Everyone!!

Christmas Puzzle

Rik here ...

It turns out we're getting a jump on the Christmas season this year.  Christmas cards are already done and out.  Fiona stumbled upon a Christmas delivery and now has a jump on present opening.

We also got an early start on our traditional Christmas puzzle as well.  Unfortunately either we've become really good at puzzles or this one was easier than we thought.  It seems we've squeaked in under the Christmas Eve deadline with only 21 days to spare ...

Potpourri...

We're catching up on some items that probably would have deserved their own post over the last little while.  We've been busy with a little side project or two, plus a lot of work, both at the office and here at home.

Item number 1: our new car.  We were looking for something with four doors and little bit of room in the boot - we're expecting visitors, right?  Plus it had to be fuel efficient and easy to handle on these cramped roads.  And it had to be affordable, as we don't see much point in paying a lot for a c

ar if we're going to be moving on in three years.  So we abandoned my original idea of an Audi TT convertible roadster and settled on a Renault Scenic.  We had driven one as a rental and liked it quite a bit.  A co-worker of mine, soon to move on to Cairo, just happened to be selling hers.  So we closed the deal.  Attached is a picture of Fiona's new car ...

Item number 2: snow.  Last weekend we had a good old fashioned snow storm.  It starte

d Friday night and by Saturday morning a good foot of snow had accumulated.  It was the right kind of snow too, good for snowballs and snowmen.  In fact our neighbours soon started a snowman making competition, the Italians on one side and the Dutch on the other.  I think the Dutch snowman was superior, with a carved face and clothespin lips.  To be fair, I don't think Italians get too many opportunities to build snowmen as kids.  The next night it rained and all was gone.  It was cool while it was there, though.  Fiona managed some pics ...

Item number 3: today's activities.  In honour of St. Andrew's Day, Aberdeen hosted an International Market.  It was a beautiful day, what the locals call "sharp".  Nice and sunny but with a bite in the air that works on your ears.  The market was crowded but fun.  They had a few stalls from several European countries, although the German sausage guy apparently merited 2 stands.  The French guy was impressive with a 4 foot wide wok cooking something which I can only assume is what angels eat in heaven:  it listed the ingredients as cheese, potatos, bacon, cream and onion.  In order to resist temptations such as this, we had eaten just before the market, and weren't quite ready to take on an extra 14, 000 calories.  We had to stop at the Dutch stand, though.  They were selling poffertjes, little bite sized pancakes.  You could get them in the traditional sense, with butter and powdered sugar and non-traditionally, with heaps of melted Nutella.  We went traditional, of course, because we're traditional poffertjes kind of people.  We also picked up some chocolate sprinkles, hagelslag, for morning toast, and some gingernuts, pepernoten, in order to be prepared for Sinterklaas this week.  No pictures, though.

Steppin Out ...

Rik here ...

We went out tonight, to His Majesty's Theatre to see a production of the long running play The Woman in Black.  The theatre itself was a treat - opulent and decadent with gilded statuary and copious red velvet.  Yet it had comfortable seats, something Jones Hall in Houston couldn't boast.

We went with a group from work, which was nice.  Tickets were only 17 pounds 50, an amazing deal by North American theatre going standards.  

They play itself was a horror/thriller and I am hoping the small bones in my left hand recover sufficiently from Fiona's tight squeezes.  They played it quite well, with the foreboding sounds, good lighting and blood curdling screams.  Well worth the ticket.  I think we'll be seeing several more features in this particular theatre, as the Proclaimers are playing soon, as are several fairly interesting ballet productions.

We stopped at the Noose and Monkey afterward for a pint, as must be done after any social occasion - dinner, theatre, sports match, etc...  I'm starting to wonder if one needs to suggest that "we grab a quick pint" after grabbing a quick pint?

Anyhoo, it felt good to get out of the house and be active again.  We've been a little busy inside the house and work has been especially draining the last couple of weeks.  Tomorrow we're out again to celebrate American Thanksgiving with Fiona's American Women of Aberdeen group.  Never turn down turkey - my long standing motto.  Maybe I can wrap some up for turkey sandwiches on Friday.

Cheers,

Rik

Antiquing

I have joined a group here called the American Women of Aberdeen.  They have all sorts of activity groups... book club, mahjong, a discover Scotland group and lots more.  The discover Scotland group is the one that I went antiquing with.  We went to the Scottish Antiques and Arts Centre.  It was about 1 1/2 hour drive from Aberdeen. It was really fun, the system they have at the centre is pretty interesting, they have all these different stalls that belong to different people and they sell their wares for the sellers.

I wasn't sure I would like antiquing, but I really got into it, especially the furniture and the jewelry.  I found that I had a prett

y good eye for nice pieces that seemed to be priced well.  One such piece was a Edwardian games table that I thought was such an unusual table.  So after a bit of haggling (mainly done by my friend Vicki) I got 12% off and decided to buy it.

Here are a few pics of the antiques centre and of my purchase...

My wife is awesome

Rik here ...

I've been fighting through a cold I picked up on Saturday as we perused the shops on Union Street getting a head start on our Christmas shopping.  It's been compounded by stress at work and a late night on Monday (business related ... I was forced to go). 

Today I came home and the smell of chicken soup filled the flat.  Fiona had cooked up a batch from scratch.  It was wonderful and has put me on the road to recovery.  I'll call it a night early today, though, just to be sure.  What is it about the boiled carcass of a chicken and some winter vegetables that can do so much to cure a sickness?  Who knows?  I'm just glad it's chicken soup and not tomato soup that carries these restorative properties.

She's also been busy on the home front, going through the process of getting insurance quotes for our possible car purchase, a 2005 Renault Scenic.  Not a common car in North America.  We'll hopefully have a picture soon.  Send in your votes for which of us you would like to see posing on the hood.  Actually, come to think of it, I don't think either of us would fit on its small, steeply dipping hood (er, I mean bonnet).

Cheers,

Rik

New car maybe...

So we've finally cleared our bank hurdles and will be able to get a car soon.  Actually we are lucky that one of Rik's co-workers is trying to sell her car and it might be just what we are looking for. We'll keep you updated on that.

There has been a wintery feel in the air the last week or so and has rained quite a bit more which can be a little dreary.  Also, the fact that the sun goes down at 3:30 - 4 doesn't help.  It does feel like the Christmas season is upon us though.  They lit the Christmas lights in the city center last night and we have just bought a new Christmas tree and are starting our Christmas cards.

Hopefully I will have some new pictures for you sometime this week. Take Care!  

Interesting Tidbits...

So we were in the grocery store the other day and we were perusing the wine aisle... an interesting product caught my eye.  Wine in a glass, well a plastic one anyway... it was a package of two of those plastic wineglasses full with wine and covered with a sealed plastic top.  It was such a bizarre sight, good concept though for people who don't own glasses or cups of any kind?!?

Just below it was wine in a 2L plastic juice container.  I guess these are just variations on the wine in a box.

There is a bit of frustration when we go to the grocery store as things that we could easily find in the States and Canada are no where to be found or if they do have it it is in strange locations, to our minds anyway.

We went to see the latest James Bond (finally - Rik says) at the local theatre.  They have assigned seating and you can pick your seats when you buy tickets.  We also bought "premiere  seating" which bought us larger more comfortable seats on a balcony separate from the plebes. They also had a little table between us for our popcorn and drinks which were covered by the 3.50 voucher that was included in our ticket.  We did get forty mins of commercials and previews which got a little tiring, but we were comforted when they showed on the screen the actual certificate, signed by the appropriate committee members, giving the movie a rating of 12A.  Anyway, we both really enjoyed the movie.  Rik didn't think it was quite as good as Casino Royale but definitely better than your average Bond flick.

The average on the rainy day calendar has shot up the past few days as we've had some pretty strong storms blow through the area.  It takes some mighty wind gusts to rattle the inside of a three story granite house, but rattle it did!  The trees here must be used to it though, as some of the yellow and orange leaves have managed to hold on for another day.  Overall, though, we can't complain about the weather.  Aberdeen is ideally placed in a bit of a rain shadow, so it doesn't get the wet weather of southern and western Scotland.

Remember, remember, the fifth of November ...

Happy Guy Fawkes Day everyone!

As the fireworks explode around us, we are trying to wrap our head around the meaning of this festival.  Wikipedia and the movie "V for Vendetta" tell us that it is a celebration of the foiling of a Catholic conspiracy to blow up the Parliament buildings in 1605.  To celebrate, Guy is hung if effigy  and thrown into giant bonfires, and public fireworks displays are put on.

Here in Aberdeen the fireworks are on the beach.  Unfortunately it is rainy today.  The crowds don't seem to mind, downtown was pretty busy.

We're still working through the frustrations of moving.  Banking is proving to be the hardest thing to get a handle on.  Hopefully we can get it wrapped up soon.  We kind of need it to set off a chain of events ... get a car, pick up some extra furniture, clean up the rest of our our house and get you all the pictures you've been asking for.  

Fiona had her book club meeting today.  She powered through 800 pages in three days ... a true Brooymans!

I am still trying to comprehend the tragic fact that I haven't seen the new James Bond flick yet.  Tomorrow might be the lucky day.

Cheers,

Rik

Another Busy Weekend - Part Two

So today we were planning on going to Culloden Battlefield, near Inverness.  It is the site of the last hand to hand battle fought on British soil.  We were up early and ready to go but the site didn't open yet so we decided to take a walk in Inverness.

Inverness is situated at the tip of the Firth of Moray, attached to Loch Ness by the River Ness and with the snow capped Cairngorm Mountains in the background.  Needless to say it is a beautiful city.  There is a nice little walk that runs along the riverbank and over some small islands in the river.  It was a really nice morning to walk, cold enough to need a jacket but not so much that you felt uncomfortable.  At the end of our walk the church bells were ringing and groups of kilted men were gathering in front.  

We then headed to Culloden, it had a really impressive visitors center.  It was the most technologically savvy historical center that we have ever seen.  Touch screens, 360 degrees theatres, GPS driven tour of the battlefield.  Pretty cool stuff. And a good job as well staying neutral, splitting the center in half, one for the Jacobites and one for the Hanoverians.  We even saw a kilt dressing demonstration.  

Here are some more pictures, most from our walk in Inverness.  We have to say that anyone coming to Scotland has to put Inverness and area on their agenda.  And we didn't even get into the Whisky distillery tours.

Another Busy Weekend...

I decided that I wanted to go exploring again this weekend and thought that Inverness would be a good place to go.  So we packed up the rental car and drove there on Saturday.  We had booked a room at a really nice hotel just outside of the city.  Stopped off, checked in and headed to our next destination... Loch Ness!  

It is the perfect time of year to visit Loch Ness, the fall colours were absolutely gorgeous.  It is an impressive site, being that it took us about an hour and a half to drive around it.  We were a little disappointed in that we only saw the monster once - we were hoping to see a family of Nessies.  We actually skipped the Loch Ness Monster interpretive center and went to see another castle instead.  Urquhart Castle really drove home the fact that castles were pretty useless in protecting the inhabitants, as the video at the castle said " seizing the castle was the easy part, holding was more difficult". The castle, much like most of the castles here, passed hands many times and was destroyed and rebuilt many times.

The drive around the loch provided some breathtaking scenery, just when we thought we had found the most beautiful vista, over the next hill lay something even more fantastic.  

Here are a few of our pics.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

And it did!  Today we had probably our coldest day so far I think the high was about 3 degrees celsius/37 degrees Fahrenheit.  We woke up and there was frost on the lawn and it was snowing a little, big huge fluffy flakes that didn't last on the ground so it didn't stay white for very long.

I couldn't get a good picture of the falling snow, sorry.  I'm sure there will be lots more opportunities though.

I don't think we will classify a snowy day as a rainy day as it is not quite so dreary.

Our New Place

So as promised I will tell you about our new place...

It is what they call a semi detached house, we have the second and third floors.  We have a separate entrance that includes a fair number of stairs.  

On the first floor is the first of our three bedrooms, a bathroom, the kitchen, living room, and dining room, all of which are quite a good size.

The second floor is smaller with the master bedroom, ensuite bathroom and the third bedroom.

Our master bedroom is really big with a huge amount of storage and a super kingsize bed.  It has a couple of sky lights that offer a good view of the city and you can even see a little bit of the sea.

We have been working hard on getting everything in its place.  You don't realize how much stuff you have until you have to find a place for it all.

There's No Place Like Home : )

Yesterday was not what we had hoped for.  It started with the property management company telling us that they had not received the paperwork or the first payment from Rik's company.  I felt like crying, but fortunately they were mistaken and we were given the keys to our new place.  So we took our first load of stuff to the house and explored a bit.  It is a really great place, more about that later though.

So after we moved all our stuff, we went shopping.  We bought lots of things we needed, including sheets for our bed.  We were gone for a long time and were exhausted by the time we got home.  So we popped the new sheets in the wash and made dinner.  Then we went to make the bed, hmmm, these sheets do not fit our bed.  Apparently there is a difference between kingsize and super kingsize.  In the words of Homer Simpson... "D'oh!"

Well, today has been a huge improvement.  Our movers showed up on time and were really great and quick.  We went and got new sheets and yes they fit!   

We made a really yummy dinner and have been enjoying some wine along with the UK charts music videos, yes they still play music videos here.  Our current favs are Dizzee Rascal - Dance wiv me, Katy Perry - Hot and Cold, Sugababes - Girls, Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire.  Most of these we on first hearing them dismissed them but they have grown on us like an annoying commercial jingle that you can't get out of your head - Rik says do yourself a favor and check out Dance wiv me, I actually had to convince him that it was a good song.  

For all the electronica fans out there, one word: Scooter!

We'll post some pictures of our place when we have cleaned up.  Also tomorrow we'll tell you a bit more about our place.

 

It's Moving Day!

We are super excited that today is finally moving day!  We get the keys around 10 am and then we have to move our ever growing pile of stuff from our hotel room.  Luckily we are moving just around the corner.

We are not exactly sure when we will get internet hooked up so it might be a couple of days before we can post some pictures.  Or it might give us an excuse to have a coffee at the local internet cafe.

We hope everyone has a great weekend!

Juxtaposition

Rik here ...

Fiona told me about an interesting lunch today.  She was in the local organic sandwich shop getting a good bacon-chicken-cheddar panini, when she was approached by a local who noted her fancy new coat.  They talked for a while before parting ways.  It was just a pleasant example of what a random act of kindness can do for someone's day.  Most people in Scotland are this way.  Maybe not as quick to approach you, but genuinely friendly when you interact with them.

That's why I find the juxtaposition of that experience with some recent signage to be odd.  In most stores you see signs at the register stating that:

"Verbal and physical abuse of our staff is unacceptable.  Any patrons can be refused service."

How much of a problem had to exist before someone decided that a full on ad campaign was needed?  Were store clerks getting beat up regularly?  Even scarier are a brand new series of bus stops ads showing women in ordinary situations with the caption:

"This is not an invitation to rape me."

Say what?  I hope it is only indicative of someone's over-reaction.  Anyway, we've only run into the friendly sort here.  The drunks you do see (and mostly hear) are easily avoided and tend to be more interested in getting to the next bar than hassling you.

Digression - I just saw an ad for a new Burger King burger here - two patties, cheese, bacon and ... pepperoni!  What?

I'm off to London for the day tomorrow.  Skype my wife if possible, she'll be lonely ...

Cheers,

Rik

Cabin Fever

We are approaching our move in date.  And as an added bonus our shipment is supposed to arrive on Saturday.  While we feel very fortunate that we have had a nice hotel to stay at we are looking forward to getting settled into our new place.

Our new place is in the west side of Aberdeen, close to the city center though so we are close to lots of the cultural events.  Mind you we are not far from the countryside either.  Aberdeen is a fairly small city area wise.  Rik is only about 6 miles from work.  I am very lucky because Rik has agreed to live inside the city instead of closer to his work. That allows me to be able to walk to the major shopping that is in the city center. Which is very important of course : )

Rik is especially happy these days as he has found out that the new Bond movie will be opening here sooner than in the States. 

Banff

Rik here ...

When we saw it on the map, we just had to go.  How often do you get to go to the original Banff?  It was also kind enough to be on the coastal trail which runs north out of Aberdeen along the ocean.  We thought it was a nice opportunity to drive away an afternoon and see some good scenery.  Our final destination was going to be Duff House, an old manor house in the town of MacDuff (a destination on its own for those inclined to literature).  We saw some amazing scenery and really put the old Renault Scenic through its paces.  Just outside the town of Crovie we were going up and down hills with 17 and 20 percent grades.  With the roads a little slick with rain, I was a little worried about slippage.   But Fiona managed to get us around safely and we finally made it.  Duff House (hard to resist walking around pretending to be Duff Man from the Simpsons) was impressive.  Fully restored and decorated with appropriate art and furniture, you get a real feel for how the other half (more like other one tenth of one percent) lived back in the day.  Not sure we'd put it on the list of things to do for other visitors, but we enjoyed it.  Another long day brought us back to the hotel.  We're really looking forward to moving into our own place ... nice as this is, it ain't home!