So after a lovely couple of days in Cambridge, (where I was constantly spoilt with Ellie's cooking), I parted ways with Josh and Ellie, but not before I
a) became the first person to break a piece of their wedding China set... *sigh*
and
b) they took me to lunch at a very picturesque pub called 'The Plough', right next to the River Cam. Or the Cam River. I forget what it's called.
A bottle of rose between us, and some lovely cottage pie (yummm) on the banks of the River Cam, was luuuuuuverly.
Ellie and Josh convinced me to start a restaurant/food blog in conjunction with this blog.So, stay tuned, I am in serious consideration because I think all the 'food porn', (so to speak) on my camera needs to be exhibited somewhere. And I will ATTEMPT to write about the food, and my impressions of the restaurants.
After we concluded lunch, and a little deliberation as to whether we had time for some pudding (Everything dessert in the UK is referred to as Pudding. Whereas in Indonesia, pudding is an agar jelly derived dessert with custard poured on top. "FOR GOD'S SAKE, Stop the train! Stop THE Train! I MUST HAVE PUDDING!!"), they drove me to the train station, and in true Rani tradition, we were cutting it fine for time.
Ellie got me to the train station on time, however, I did almost miss it, due to my curiosity about 'Prawn Cocktail' flavoured Chips, and wanting to capture, not one, but two brands of the damn things on my camera. In my search for a thirst quencher, I chose Strawberry Ribena, from a fridge where sugary juice imitation drinks and sports energy drinks outnumbered spring water, 5:1. I boarded the train, and 2 station transfers and 5 hours later, I was in Edinburgh.
From Cambridge to Ely, I sat next to a girl who worked in London but came from Ely. She worked in research for the Defence Department at their local hospital, for returned soldiers and mental illnesses. She was nice.
Ely to Peterborough, I sat infront of two toffee little teenage girls, wearing pearls and polo, talking about what model of Blackberry phones they were going to buy their boyfriends, and what they were going to sell on ebay that weekend. Meh.
I didn't mind riding the train; admittedly, the scenery was scenic (especially when the train was going through Scotland), however, the train seats were deceivingly uncomfortable. The carriages looked modern but they they were a bit stuffy, and from the untrained eye, the seats looked like the were an ergonomically obsessed person's dream, but they were awkward to lean back into, sit upright in, and slouch in.
I had purchased a 5 pound food voucher over the internet, for 4 pounds. I had bought it in Indonesia, when I had no idea how much anything cost. I thought 5 pounds might have gotten me a spring water and maybe a packet of tic tacs. When I got to the carriage with the bar in it, I asked for a bottle of spring water, and when I tried to pay for it with my voucher, he said I couldn't get change, and I would have to keep buying stuff to use up the voucher.
"Ok, how about a packet of cookies."
"Errm, yes that takes you to 2 pounds."
"Ok, add some cheese and onion chips then."
"3 pounds."
"A twix?"
"Just take a mars bar too." he said, and threw all these items in a shopping bag.
I was gobsmacked. I had just spent $10 on enough junk food to feed a ravished boy scout troop in the midst of a blizzard. Luckily, a little girl was getting on the train with her dad, crying her eyes out.
"What's with all the crying then?" The bar attendant asked her, pinching her cheeks.
Her father rolled his eyes, and said, " She's sick of trains. She liked the first one, but not anymore." She was also carrying a shopping bag of junk food.
"Here you go kid." I said, throwing the mars bar her way. Her eyes grew and the wailing stopped. Her dad looked gratefully at me.
"Better her chubby cheeks growing, rather than my ass." I thought, as I walked off.
At 8:45pm, with the daylight still in full force Fran picked me up from the train station, but not before I paid a visit to the most beautiful public toilets in the UK, at the train station. Fresh cut wildflowers adorned the reception area, and the toilets were pristine.
I managed to catch a conversation between two scottish tweens, and almost got a headache trying to decipher if they were speaking english or some ancient celtic language. Their accents were as thick as minestrone soup.
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Fran lives in the New Town area, as opposed to the Old Town area. She lives a stone's throw from all the major attractions and the town centre, about 5 minutes drive from the train station, and the Royal Mile, and pretty much everything. However, Edinburgh is pretty small, with only 500,000 people, and it's a 20-25 minute drive from one side of the town to the other.
All the buildings in Edinburgh are old. Like dating back to the 17th century in the New Town area, and the 11th - 12th century in the Old Town area. So are a few of the streets, some still narrow, and lined with cobblestone instead of asphalt.I found this both exhilirating and eerie. (More on this later.)
When Fran was driving me to her house, I wondered why there were so many people leaning out of windows, chatting and smoking, on the 2nd and 3rd stories of buildings, thinking that people were living in old banks, and this was quite novel.
Then I got to Fran's house, and she lives in the same type of building, massive, Georgian(??), stone buildings that have been divided into about 6-8 flats.
Her actual flat has ceilings that are about 15 feet high, with tall windows, and 5 bedrooms,kitchen, bathroom, and a gigantic living room.
We spent the night having some drinks, and listening to music, and chatting, before her boyfriend came to pay us a visit.
He asked me what I thought of the castle.
"What castle?" I said, in all seriousness. This is what I said, despite the fact that I had glanced over my guidebook, and it sort of rang a bell.
His face bordered on somewhat disbelief, and amusement.
"You know that massive fortress type building to the right of the train station?" he joked. "You can't miss it."
I furrowed my brow.
"No." I looked at Fran, "You didn't mention any castle, or point anything out when we were driving here."
The next day I realised that he was right, you can't actually miss the bloody thing.
We debated about whether we should go out, then I looked at the clock and realised it was 1 am. But the darkness had only fallen about 2 hours ago.
"All the pubs close at 1am, and all the clubs close at 3am, except for when it's Festival season." Fran said, so we decided to stay in since we were already pretty tipsy anyway.
The next morning, Fran made me breakfast.
She was preparing breakfast with her back to me, and I noticed a plastic wrapper on the dining table. "Genuine Scottish Haggis." I read.
My grip loosened in shock.
Fran turned around.
"Oh, by the way, you're having Haggis."
I started my day with Haggis, poached eggs on toast and bacon.
I quite liked the Haggis. It was sort of peppery and familiar. We mooched around the house a bit in the morning, wondering when the drizzle would stop. Fran advised me that it probably wouldn't. I not so quietly longed for the Australian summer.
Fran than took me for a drive around the Castle, and we walked down the Royal Mile, which is one exact mile from the Castle, and Holyrood Palace.
"Holyrood Palace, that's where the queen stays when she is in town."
"Huh? Why have they named it after somewhere American, and French? I mean, Hollywood Paris? That's weird."
"No Silly. Holy- Rood, PALACE."
"Oh."
Back at Fran's house, we solicited her flat mate to do a shop run while we watched DVDs on a tv show called Peep Show, and I requested a packet of Prawn Cocktail chips.
I report back that they taste like a tarter and sweeter version of Thins Light and
Tangy. I think they are supposed to taste like thousand island dressing, however, I wanted them to taste more like prawn.
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