|
|
|
Well today's the day. So long Brisbane, and hello United Kingdom! First up: a nine-hour flight to Hong Kong. Incidentally, I highly recommend Cathay Pacific :) |
|
Hong Kong International is huge. To walk from one end to the other takes no less than about 20 minutes, or maybe I'm just used to smaller airports. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jen gave me HKD$50 before I left, so I put it to good use - my tummy! Deep fried spring rolls and mango juice, yummy - thanks Jen ;) I ate two using chopsticks before I got sick of that and used my hands. From here it was a 13-hour haul to London's Heathrow Airport. I slept for half that time and spent the rest watching movies so it didn't actually seem long at all. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The weather was typical of the UK: gloomy. I didn't set out to see anything in particular (that's for when I return in a little over a month for a week), so I picked a direction and off I went. Ten minutes later I was standing outside Buckingham Palace! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
I was a bit early for the Changing of the Guard. How do you suppose this guy got this job (and how much he gets paid)? |
|
Palace security wander around wielding machine guns. I thought it inappropriate to ask him to point it at me for a photo ;) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Another 'guard' at Horse Guards. Again, I wander how much this job pays ;) |
|
No, you can't park here! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Can't go to war without your handbag! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Right across the road: Big Ben, and yup - he's big! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Another shot of the Houses of Parliament. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What started out as just a random walk ended up being pretty eventful! Oh, and of course there's double decker buses everywhere :) |
|
After walking around for over three hours I was longing for the bike! Anyway, train back to the airport, and plane up to Edinburgh! |
|
|
|
My first full day in Edinburgh, and it's sunny! This is Mo's street (her flat is in there somewhere hehe). Note the cobblestone streets - not looking forward to biking on these bumpy bastards! They're not all cobblestone but those that are sealed aren't exactly smooth and bicycle-friendly either. |
|
Mo showed me around the city for most of the day. This is looking north towards the Firth of Forth river, and the area of Fife in the distance. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princes Street, and city centre's main street, as seen from Calton Hill. |
|
|
|
|
Looking south from atop Calton Hill. The plateau pointed out on the left is known as ' Arthur's Seat' in Holyrood Park. One of Mo's workmates who I met later that night told me not to fall off this hahaha - good advice! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scott Monument on Princes Street (with a drunk guy admiring the the bagpipes on the left hehe). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is just one of several groups of native Indians that were pumping out some of their music, it was bloody great! |
|
Hehe welcome to Scotland. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Royal Mile is the name given to a succession of streets that run between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town part of the city. Despite the name, it's length is actually slightly than a mile. |
|
Today was the last day of the annual Fringe Festival - the world's largest arts festival. The Royal Mile was swarming with people and several road-side acts. Very cool! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
For example, this crazy bitch with a face full of shit putting swords through her tongue, and swinging disco balls from her nose. |
|
And these dudes pumping out the Celtic drumming - they were awesome! Spot the young girl dancing away on the right hehe. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Great day for a spot of cricket! |
|
Later on we ventured into the Royal Botanic Gardens on a squirrel hunt, but that was unsuccessful so we took a pic of me instead. Lovely. |
|
|
|
I clocked up several more kilometres (or miles now) on foot again today, and damn I'm missing my bike! This is the back of Edinburgh Castle. |
|
The Royal Mile, completely dead today compared to a few days ago during the Fringe Festival! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
At the top of the Royal Mile is a tartan weaving mill that is free to wander around in. This chick might look busy but from what I could gather her job is to just stand there and watch the clunky machinery do its thing. |
|
Big William Wallace swords, like in Braveheart - awesome! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Speaking of Sir William Wallace, you can put a penny into a coin-press here and it presses it into a "William Wallace Freedom" coin/souvenir, and as my wallet has about a million pennies in it at the moment I was sure I could safely spare one. |
|
The UK's answer to the $2 Shop back home hehe. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sounds painful ;) |
|
Not yet, but soon enough. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
There is absolutely no shortage of pubs in Edinburgh, and no shortage to good names for them either from Clever Dick's... |
|
...to Dirty Dicks... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
...to Filthy McNasty's... |
|
...to The Bad Ass hahaha! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Palace of Holyroodhouse. As I mentioned previously, this is the Queen's official residence when she's feeling like a pale ale at Dirty Dicks. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's dangerous work this photo-taking thing. At the summit of Arthur's Seat is a sheer drop to the scenery below (that'd be one way to get down). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Not a lot of Jap-crap over here - it's all European. I haven't seen a single Skyline since I got here! They are around though and they're reasonably priced (unlike in Australia), so one day maybe? |
|
Mo's flatmate owns a cat, Pistachio. She drinks out of the kitchen tap, and feels entitled to whatever you're eating. |
|
|
|
First day of autumn tomorrow so I've had less than a week of summer (ripped off), but it was freakishly warm today; it felt like a late-morning in Brisbane! Be that as it may, I'm not too sure how normal it is to sunbathe in a cemetrey hehe.
|
|
And speaking of not normal, Mo (who pulled a sicky today) and I were walking behind this dirty old drunk when he suddenly stopped, whipped out his old fella, and proceeded to take a piss on the footpath beside a busy road hahaha! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is The Meadows, just south of the city centre. Good cycle path too! Very reminiscent of Hagley Park in Christchurch. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Go grandma! I've been a little put off by how windy it is here, but if grandma can pump it up a hill then so can I! |
