Edinburgh Doors Open

While Alette was away at a storytelling workshop this weekend I had the opportunity to explore a little more of Edinburgh, thanks to Edinburgh Doors Open.

St. Cecilia's Hall was of interest to me due to its large collection of keyboards and stringed instruments. It certainly was impressive, and I learned a little too. For example, I learned (possibly re-learned) that a harpsichord differs from a piano in that it plucks a string rather than striking it, even though both instruments look quite similar from the outside.

I also visited the Scottish Parliament, which is located directly across from Holyrood Park (of which we've previously blogged). It actually wasn't participating in Doors Open ('Parliament House' in the Doors Open Guide actually refers to another area of town - apparently the home of the pre-1707 Scottish Parliament) but I thought it was worth a visit. I was able to learn a lot about the inner workings of Parliament and its relation to the UK parliament. It's actually somewhat similar to the distribution of powers to provinces in Canada - interested readers can find out more here. Though perhaps one of the more interesting items I observed on the tour was a video from the opening of the parliament as I think that Sir Sean Connery might have garnered more camera time than the Queen.

Catch 22 - Creating an Identity in the UK

Living in Canada my whole life, perhaps I'd begun to take certain things for granted. Nothing too earth-shattering; just things like letting a flat ('renting an apartment') or having a bank account. Moving to a new country has introduced a few surprises in this regard. Some of which, I suspect, are a continued fall-out of 9/11. And as a professional from Canada, I suspect that I might still get off quite easy.

The things that I thought might be difficult - getting a Visa to allow me to work in the UK, for example - were thankfully easy given Alette's UK citizenship. The predicted turnaround time of 12 weeks for my Spousal Visa turned into just 5 days.

Getting a mobile ('cell phone') should be easy, and this is true if you're ok with getting a 'pay as you go' plan. But since we'll be here for a while and didn't want to get a landline, we wanted a longer-term arrangement. However, to get anything more, you have to be able to pay with your debit card from a UK bank.

Unfortunately, getting a bank account isn't as easy as you might think. An ability to work and live in the UK isn't sufficient. You'd think that a job offer letter might do it? Close, but no (and not really close either). You have to provide one item to prove your address (see p. 10 examples from RBS). The one that I'm closest to being able to provide is a utility bill. Unfortunately, at our current short-term flat we don't pay the utilities. So, in about another month I should be able to get an account. It seems I'd be out-of-luck if we were only going to let flats short-term.

Well, it turns out that letting a flat can likewise be difficult. Letting something short-term is relatively easy as you just pay up front. Long-term letting (6 months or more - which is more affordable) seems to require that you have a debit account in order to pay your monthly rent. Hmmmm, do you see the catch-22? I can't get a bank account without utility bills, and I can let a flat (in order to get utility bills) without a bank account. Sigh ...

Luckily, Alette already had a UK bank account that was still active. So we were able to get a longer-term flat. I'm just not sure what other people do in a similar situation ...

The Glasgow Borders Iliad

We went to Glasgow today on a quest for the Iliad, which was reputed to reside at the Borders Bookshop. While there we took in a City Sightseeing double-decker bus tour (just over an hour), ate some Indian food and went to the Glasgow Police Museum.

I'm glad we took the sightseeing bus because the sights of Glasgow are spread out, very few of them seem to be downtown. If we hadn't taken the bus we might have left Glasgow with the impression that there wasn't much to see but a bunch of pedestrian streets featuring your standard global fare of shops. For example, we would have missed the University of Glasgow in the west end of the city, which looks exactly how a university ought to look if it possibly can.

Between taking the tour, eating lunch and going to Borders (on one of those pedestrian streets I've already dismissed), we only had time to actually go in one of the tourist sights, the Glasgow Police Museum. Fortunately it turned out to be a good choice. The museum is comprised of 3 rooms, two following the history of the local police force since its initial (aborted) beginnings in the late eighteenth century through to today. The police force was permanently established in 1800, making it the first police force in the U.K. (This needs to be taken with a grain of salt as the Scots are liberal with their use of adjectives like first, best, biggest etc.) The third room showcased uniforms and badges from around the world, including of course the RCMP. Badges were also displayed from the Ottawa Police and Sudbury Police amongst other Canadian forces. The most impressive though were a uniform from the Palestinian Police and one from the new Iraq force. The museum is the passion of two men, one of whom told us many stories about the acquisition of artifacts and about crimes mentioned in the displays. He'd been at the scene of many of the 20th century crimes when he was in the force himself.

BTW, all museums in Glasgow are free.

But back to the quest. Unfortunately the demo Iliad at the Glasgow Borders was busted. The staff kept reassuring us that it was broken only because of the abuse it received at the hands of staff and customers, but in the end we returned to Edinburgh without one. We saw the busted one and it is a lightweight eReader with a nice big screen, but the price is still a little pricey. It remains the only ebook reader that lets you annotate what you read, however, so I may end up buying one in the end, but not today. Incidentally the Glasgow Borders has to be one of the most beautiful Borders in the world. It's housed in an old bank with sand stone columns and a large domed ceiling.

Happy Fall Equinox Everyone

In honour of the turning of the year towards the darker half, I've posted a photo essay of our nightly walks on Picasa (just click on the photo above). Given how far north we are here (further north than Happy Valley-Goose Bay Labrador), I'm sure there will be many more night photos posted over the coming months.

Local Walk - Pentland Hills

Today was our first visit to the Pentland Hills, just south of Edinburgh. The Hills are yet another wonderful space for walking that is only about a 20 minute bus ride from downtown Edinburgh. Today's walk was about 12km, hilly and slightly wet and muddy. Our guide book referred to it as 'Bonnie Bonaly and the Reservoirs' and it started, and ended, in the suburb of Bonaly, in addition to passing by several reservoirs. It was a great escape from the city with some wonderful views as shown in the photos below. And if you look closely at the pic with the dyke (wall) in the foreground, you'll notice the small white and black dots on the side of the hill - they are indeed some sheep and cows.

Local Beer Showdown - Trade Winds vs. Red Smiddy

In order to compensate for my immature palate and inadequate beer reviews, my purchase of two beer this evening inspired me to blog as to my preference for one beer over another. After dinner at home this evening we went for drinks at the Malt Shovel, where I had a pint of Cairngorm Trade Winds followed by a Kelburn's Red Smiddy, both real ales from independent Scottish breweries. I found the Trade Winds to be a better, fuller tasting beer, though appreciated the stronger flavours of the Smiddy. I'd have to give the nod to the Trade Winds.

Poodle Unimpressed with Quality of Service at Scottish Veterinary Surgery

Despite constant whining and other helpful hints, Japhur was unable to convince the vet visited this morning that his main role as healthcare provider was to give out multiple treats. The vet's assistant was a little more clued in but still stingy in this regard, giving Japhur only one small dry doggie biscuit. Japhur misses Dr. Mamdani and Kim.

We took Japhur to the local veterinary surgeon to sort out what vaccinations and preventitive medications he ought to be on. Turns out Heartguard is unnecessary here since they don't have heartworms, but that ticks are a problem and that it is standard practice to de-worm dogs every three months for intestinal parasites.

The vet gave Japhur a physical exam and pronounced him to be in good health. He was particularly impressed by Japhur's slim physique, which is ironic considering Japhur's views on what vets are for.

Local Beer - Bonkers Conkers

Monday was apparently a holiday here, despite most stores appearing open. The University was closed, making it a holiday for us, and during our trip to the letting agent to fill out some papers we stopped again at the St. Vincent. This time I sampled the real ale Bonkers Conkers from Greene King Brewery (that also brews other ales such as Old Speckled Hen, of particular interest to some of our readers). Understanding that I now believe real ales are far superior to other beers, this beer was good (so, better than most other beer), but nothing terribly special as far as real ales go.

Local Beer - Joseph Holt Pioneer

I was able to sample another fine real ale today, this time at the St Vincent Pub located in New Town in the northern part of Edinburgh. It was a pint of Pioneer brewed at the Joseph Holt Brewery in Manchester (the observant reader will note that I'm liberally using the term 'local' to include beer brewed in the UK). I'd say it was slightly bitter for my preference but still a tasty ale.

As a side note, the St Vincent had four real ales on tap and apparently bring in new ales weekly. Suffice to say that you can expect more upcoming posts from St Vincent.

I J Mellis Cheesemongers

Had we not already had the recommendation from David and Janet, I like to think we would have been drawn in by the wonderful odour of ripe and pungent cheeses of I J Mellis Cheesemongers.



Today was our first of many visits where we purchased some Smoked Lancashire and Brie de Meaux Donge cheeses. The Lancashire is smoked over chicory when still young so that the cheese ages with this additional flavour. The Brie was described as "old fashioned, rustic and pungent." It certainly made my tongue tingle, but other than that the taste wasn't too overwhelming.

We also purchased some James Grieve apples and assorted chutneys including Tracklements' Farmhouse Pickle (that went extremely well with our pasties, thank you very much).

Local Beer - McEwan's

Today I had the opportunity to sample another local beer: McEwan's. It's another in the line of beer produced at the Caledonian Brewery, though was previously brewed independently. While it was a good beer, I started to realize today that as important as the beer itself is the way in which the beer is delivered. On the way home from our walk to Holyrood Park, we decided to patronize one of our local pubs (before we move at the end of the month). Unfortunately, we're currently living in the touristy part of town. Perhaps it was that the beer was too cold, or maybe that they also sold Miller at this pub. Or perhaps I'm becoming a real ale zealot. In any case, to be fair I'll have to give McEwan's another chance someday soon.

Arthur's Seat

Because we had to run some errands today, we decided to take our weekly walk closer to home. Luckily, Edinburgh has a spectacular area for hiking right in the middle of the city: Holyrood Park. So, after our errands, which included a final look at two flats (aka apartments) we're trying to choose between, we walked to the park. The views leading up to the park are impressive, and from various points the hills in the park dominate the skyline. The highest point, to which we walked today, is Arthur's seat. Here's a photo looking up to Arthur's seat,



and two looking down at the area below, including one of Alette surveying the lands below.



The path we took involved a steep climb up, though a moderate climb down. There were quite a few people at the top, and dogs (though we didn't take Japhur today). And as we've come to notice often in the UK, seniors don't shy away from challenging walks or hikes.

Landscaping Edinburgh Style

Yes, this is the view from our current flat. If you look closely, you can see a couple of little yellow dots on the cliff. Those are the legs of one of the men doing "cliff scaling" under the castle. The other bloke is to the left of the first. They are up-rooting and removing all of the plants that have grown up on the rocks over the past few years. See how nice and black and lifeless the area to their right is. That's the part they've finished already. To their left you can see how messy the plants are. They definitely need weeding out.

As you can see, landscapers are pretty hard core over here.

Ban on Driving While Using a Mobile

As the letting agent was driving us to look at a flat (which was gorgeous, BTW), his cell phone rang (they call it a "mobile" here). He pulled over, parked and pulled his mobile out of his pocket. After he'd finished taking the call we asked him about local laws regarding driving and phones. He told us that he "could lose his license" if he was caught driving while talking on his phone. The moral of this little tale: it is possible to ban the use of cell phones by drivers and still have a thriving economy, a vibrant culture, and a community full of social capital.

Local Walk - Water of Leith Walkway

One of the reasons for wanting to come to Britain was the great walking trips we could take. In this vein, on Sunday Alette and I set out along the Water of Leith Walkway. It's a 12mi walk along a small river that runs right through Edinburgh. The walk was mostly tree covered and right next to the river. It also brought us through some potential neighbourhoods for renting over the next few years.

The pics are of the swan and signets (at least 6 of them I believe) and me enjoying my Deuchars.

Local Beer - Black Isle Organic Blonde

Black Isle Brewery is an "organic brewery in the heart of the Scottish Highlands" that makes a pretty darn good set of beer. I had the Organic Blonde when we ate out Tuesday evening at The Iglu. Especially good with Scottish lamb shank.

Local Beer - Deuchars

My first sampling of local beer was Deuchars (pronounced 'Jukars'), a real ale (was there really any other choice?) brewed right here in Edinburgh. I'll admit to not being an expert beer-taster, so forgive my lack of description (something I'll try to work on over two years). Suffice it to say that it was a very good beer and I will be drinking it again.

Our arrival

Our arrival was thankfully, and perhaps surprisingly, uneventful. Alette, Japhur and I have settled in quite nicely to our flat that is small (but bigger than anticipated) and actually does have a view of the castle.

We started in Ottawa on Wednesday, and dropped off Japhur at Air Canada Cargo 4 hours ahead of time.















David and Denice then brought us back to the airport where we checked in,















and met up with both Pat and Tanya (our friends who are living in Sydney, Australia for a year), and Mike and Jane (friends on their way for a two month European vacation). Mike and Jane were also on our flight.

After a flight filled with watching Ironman and Caddyshack, we arrived in London on Thursday. We spent the day in London and then undertook the long drive to Edinburgh the following day. Since obtaining the keys to our flat we've basically been settling in, buying a few necessities (including food) and looking for a long-term let starting October.

More updates to come.

They take food labelling and food localism seriously here...

We ate this pie, purchased at the farmer's market, for supper this evening. Yum.