Linda's model of an interior of a flat used for both work and home.
This is the entrance to Brunel's tunnel under the Thames from Wapping Station.

Had a fab weekend. Scott has been working very long hours these past weeks, so it was lovely to be able to spend some time with him on Saturday! We went to the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe. They were running tours of Brunel's tunnel udner the Thames. It was the first tunnel in the world under a navigable river. Started in 1825, it was not finished until 1843 due to several floods and a dwindling interest from the public. It is now owned by the East London Line, a branch of the underground system in London. The train driver slowed the train down as he drove through so we could all see the archways between the two halves of the tunnel. We had a guided tour from Rotherhithe to the other side of the river at Wapping and then back again. All free as well. It was fantastic, really well organised and a credit to the Brunel Museum.

The tunnel was originally built to transport people, troops mainly, underneath the river, as the river itself was crammed full of traffic (I sound like one of the videos at work) and to get from one side to the other was a complicated and sometimes costly exercise. By the time the tunnel opened, the congestion had not eased, but the tunnel became more of a tourist attraction. A white elephant, like the Milennium Dome, we were told. It was sold to the East London line after both father and son Brunels had died, so they never saw the tunnel go on to good use. It's a shame, because that is of course why it was built - to transport people. And that is what it is doing to this day - 163 years later!

After that we took a train to London Bridge station and walked to the Rose Theatre, or the remains thereof. They are in the basement of an office building. The remains themselves are completely covered up by mud and water, and are environmentally monitored by English Heritage. The outline of the inner wall and the outer wall as well as the two stages (two because it was remodelled twelve years or so after it was first opened as a theatre) were lit up by a line of red lights. This was explained to us by a guide they had there, who also gave us a lot of information on the site and what was where. I am really glad I went to see the Rose, as I had proof read a masters dissertation on it the previous week at work.

Yesterday was a quiet day. Scotty went off to the football with two mates from work. Had an absolute blast and really wants to make it a regular thing. I think it's great. He came home really happy and bouncy which is nice to see after several long hard weeks at work. He even bought a West Ham jersey so he would not look out of place. :-P

TodayI am working til 7:45pm as we have corporate people in til 7.30 or so. Then it is off drinking with work peoples as someone is leaving and it is a good excuse for a drink!

A few days after we came back from Scotland I ran three workshops at the museum. They were archaeology workshops, bascially about mudlarking, which I have mentioned before. We have a reconstructed beach/foreshore area in the children's gallery, in which I planted some 90 artefacts such as pottery pieces, clay pipes etc. The kids then had to find these artefacts and identify them and date them using large books we have.

All three sessions went well. In one of the sessions I asked the kids if they had any questions for me. One kid puts up his hand and asks.....

"How come you know so much?"

Best question ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Made me feel on top of the world.

I am in the call centre today. It's not too busy at the moment (now that I have said that of course it will get busier!!). I am covering for someone who has today and Monday off work.

Last night I went to a Masters final show. A friend from work, Linda, has completed her Masters degree in fine arts, and her subject was interior design. The show was her (and her fellow students') chance to show off what they had been up to for the last two years. Very interesting stuff. Her project was on interior design of spaces that people use for both living and working. She had made four models of the apartment she designed and had four different ideas on how the space could be used. There were about 8 of us from work who turned up to have a look. The other students' work was interesting as well - everything from furniture design to jewellery.

I met Scott at his work afterwards and we caught a cab home together from there (he gets a cab home from work if he works til 9pm, paid for by the client on whichever case he is working on!). I used this opportunity to have a conversation with him, as he has been working very hard and very long hours, and I have not seen all that much of him of late.

At the end of October it will be two years since we left Australia. I can't belive it has been that long. I am really enjoying my time here. I am used to living in Lodon now, travelling when we can. I am used to the millions of people on the tubes, so squashed in that you can hardly breathe, the fumes, the smells. I am also in a way not used to the history. I mean that in the sense that things still amaze me, that things have surviced for so long. Many of the streets in the City of London (the square mile east of Westminster) have the same layout and the same names from around the time of the Great Fire in 1666.

I had a lovely day off yesterday. I had a chat to dad on the phone, dyed my hair (not red enough though) and went off to Romford in Essex just out of London to meet Sarah and Orlaith. I met a very grumpy Orlaith and a tired Sarah, we bought some lunch and had a picnic on Sarah's loungeroom floor. Twas fun. Orlaith smooshed avocado all over her face and into her hair which was very amusing. Sarah and I knitted (me some more on my funky stitch scarf, her on a pair of gloves) and generally hung out and chatted. Yay!

Today and the rest of the week I am hanging around at work. I am looking forward to the weekend. It is Open House London again and tehre is plenty on to see. Hopefully we shall go see the Brunel museum and then see the remains of the Rose theatre from 1587, which are under an office building. Scotty is off to watch football on Sunday (ie soccar for the Aussies reading this). Hopefully I shall get soe knitting done as well as some sightseeing!

I shall try and post some photos of my mad colleagues who I went out to dinner with on Monday night. A very entertaining night was had!

Hello All!

Today is my day off, so IthoughtI would write a quick post. I will be having lunch with Scott today. He is working very long hours at the moment (home well past 10pm) so it is a chance to catch up!

There have been a series of walks run by staff members of my museum this year. They are very interesting, and the most recent one was on Tuesday this week. About 18 of us wandered about Wapping, a riverside suburb in East London, learning about the goings-on there in history. The area is interesting, and is one of the areas that used to be filled with docks, sailors and general bawdiness, but is now being gentrified. The docks closed, the sailors and dockers moved away and now the yuppies and the immigrants have taken their place. Scott and I love the area, as there are some great riverside pubs. And I have been mudlarking down there. I invited my mum's cousin Judy along, and she enjoyed herself. She met all my crazy colleagues!! I genuinely believe you have to be mad to work in a museum, not quite padded walls mad, but almost!! :-)

Off to get ready for the rest of the day. Exciting things to do! :-)

xxx

Haggis, neeps and tatties!! Or to the uninitiated/non-Scots amongst you - haggis, mashed potato and mashed turnip. YUM YUM YUM!!
Part of Edinburgh Castle, I think. :-)
I love this view. This was on our drive to where we stayed the night beside Loch Ness. The heather on the hills is reflected in the water. Everything looked double.
This is Urquhart Castle on the side of Loch Ness.
More stunning Scottish scenery.
The Scottish flower, the thistle.
The grave of Rob Roy, which had money sprinkled all over it, including an Aussie 50cent piece. I do not know why there was money on a grave though, I have never seen it before. Can anyone shed any light on it for me?
Sir Scotty! In the Bannockburn visitor centre you could dress up, so I helped Scott into this outfit. He really did need help as the chain mail quite literally weighs a ton! Well, maybe 15 kilos or so.
Stirling castle. Really lovely place to visit, again with great views.
.

Scotland Pics - No order whatsoever!

Statue of William Wallace on the side of the Wallace Monument (is there anything under yer kilt Wallace??)
The Wallace Monument, taken from Stirling Castle.
The inside of Rosslyn Chapel. Almost every surface was carved.
The protective roof over the chapel.
Bye bye Edinburgh! This was the rain on our first day in Scotland.
So many posters!! All of these are advertising something to do with the Fringe Festival. Not sure how many layers are there, but the shape is rather bulbous! The dog cemetery at Edinburgh Castle - mascots and regimental dogs were buried here.
Ooops!

Our cabin in the sleeper.

Scotland!

It has been a while, but we had a great time in Scotland. We arrived back nearly a week ago, but I have been busy with work, and not mentally with it enough to do justice to a proper entry, so I hope this goes ok!!:-) [Please note that this entry has been written over several days, and is in fact being posted online on the 3rd of September]

We left London on the sleeper train at 23:45 on Thursday evening. The train was excellent. We had a drink in the bar to start off our trip (Scotch for Scott and a Baileys for me). Then it was to bed! The beds were narrow, as was the whole cabin, but they were nice and long. I slept well. We arrived at 7.30am or thereabouts. We had a small breakfast given to us on the train, which was a nice bonus! We dumped our luggage in the left luggae bit of Edinburgh Waverley station, then it was off to the Scotsman's Lounge. We were told to go here by a Scottish colleague of mine form work - mainly to check out how many black eyes the barman had and to report back to John! The barman seemed to be without black eyes, and we moved on. We wandered up and down the main drag - the Royal Mile for a bit.

First attraction of the day was The Real Mary King's Close. We thoroughly enjoyed this. When the government built the Royal Exchange building in Edinburgh in 1753, they levelled the buildings on the site and used them as foundations. In other words, there are part streets and houses underneath the building! They were called "closes" and they ran from the main street right down the hill to the then lake (which was drained later to become the main train station). I have ancestors who lived in Canongate, which is just down the Royal Mile a little, and according to one of the certificates I have, lived in Shoemakers Close. So for me, going to The Real Mary Kings Close really gave me an insight into what kind of living conditions my ancestors would have had to contend with.

From there, as the rain had set in, we went to the Whisky Heritage Centre. We were going to go to the Castle, but we figured that we could not enjoy the great views over the city due to the rain, so we would attempt it when we were back in Edinburgh on our way back to London. The Whisky Heritage centre told us about the history of whicky and how to drink it (I don't like the stuff, but it was interesting to see the difference adding water makes!!). After that we popped across the road to a tartan mill. It was a touristy place as well, but it was interesting to see the working tartan looms. It was lunch, then off to pick up the car. We had hired Nissan Micra. The car was black, compact and very economical. It was Scott's first time driving since we had left home (so this was the first time driving for him in a place other than Australia!). It was a bit of a stressful drive to Stirling as it was raining really hard, but we made it to Stirling. Found the B&B then headed back into Edinburgh. Seems like a waste, but we wanted to find the hotel while it was still light! Dinner was with my mum's cousin Veronica and her husband Simon. We were a little late for dinner, which we felt really bad about, but the traffic was something else! We had a lovely view of Edinburgh Castle throughout our dinner, except when it was consumed by a fog which apprently came off the see (called a har, but I am not sure how you spell it). It was fascinating to watch the very well lit-up Castle disappear into the fog, to re-emerge later on! Dinner was pleasant and it was lovely to meet more family on the other side of the world.

Saturday morning we headed off early to Roslin Chapel, which is 7miles south of Edinburgh. Of Da Vinci Code fame (well, recently anyway) it is popular with tourists so we were determined to get there early! We were successful in avoiding all the American tourists. The chapel itself is stunning. The carvings (absolutely everywhere!!!!) are detailed and very interesting - even supposedly one of corn which was carved before Columbus got to America. We listened to a very informative talk on the building and then had a wander about. The whole place is covered in a free-standing roof to protect the stone. The stone was covered in a thin concrete wash in the 1950s and todays conservators are getting rid of it. The concrete does not allow the stone to breathe or dry out. The roof will allow the stonework to dry out, then the concrete will be removed using lasers - not sure how this works, but it is very interesting!! We could see Rosslyn Castle (the ruins thereof) from the walkway of the temporary roof. From there, avoiding the incoming tourists, it was back to Stirling. We climbed the Wallace Monument, and had a look at Stirling Castle. The Wallace Monument is about 200 feet tall (with winding, narrow, stone spiral staircases) and overlooks the town of Stirling. Stirling Castle was interesting - we did a guided tour. We were able to see the restoration work they are doing there. The conservators are taking the castle back to how it would have looked in the 1500s. From there we had a look at the Bannockburn visitor centre and battlefield. And for dinner we ended up in a town called Culross - a town restored by the National Trust. It is on the northern side of the Forth river and was very pretty. We ended up in a charming pub by the riverside (well, the river was just over the train line!!). We ate haggis for the first time - much better than I expected it to be, in fact, Scott and I really liked it. In the ladies toilet, there was a man in my cubicle! Well, he was painted, but he had a kilt on that you could lift up!! ;-)

Sunday we left Stirling and headed north into the Highlands. Had a quick look at Doune Castle where they filmed one of the Monty Python movies. Saw some cute bunnies hopping about too! The first Loch we came to we stopped at. Amazing scenery - not just there of course but all around Scotland. We drove around Loch Leven completely - did not see Castle Lochleven but it was supposed to be in the middle somewhere. Did not drive into Fort William, but to a place outside it. There we could take a cable car up the Nevis Range (Ben Nevis is of course, the highest mountain in the UK). We had great views from the top of Fort William in the distance, as well as lots of green hills and mountains all around us. There was a mountain bike course that seemed very popular (almost straight down I would imagine!!). Briefly spoke to a guy who said a professional can do it in 4 mins, whereas he does it in 30 as he stops on the way down. Amazing. Back down the mountain in the cable car and then it was on to Fort Augustus as the southern end of Loch Ness. We booked a hotel for the night (our three year anniversary) on the eastern sideof the loch in Foyers. Until then, we checked out Fort Augustus with its 5 locks in a row (to move between lochs of course!) with its souvenir shops (bought a poster for our walls) and many tourists. Drove to le hotel (overlooking Loch Ness, very swanky), had dinner there and went for a short wander after dinner to admire the views.

Monday morning we had breakfast at the hotel (which included haggis). We usually opted for a non-cooked breakfast as we are not used to it, but that day we thought why not. Well, we didn't need lunch!! We drove south around the edge of Loch Ness and around up the other side to see Urquhart Castle. It is completely in ruins as those occupying the castle set it alight to prevent the Jacobites from taking it over. Great views of the Loch. Our one grudge was there were too few interpretation panels. I am picky - I want to know what things were, what people might have done there. It gives me an idea, a picture, of what life was like, and what the castle might have looked like. Am I asking too much?? ;-) Anyway, that aside, we then drove north a little. Stopped off to do a cruise on the Loch - sadly no Nessie to be seen. Bought some souvenirs in the town, then continued on to Inverness. By the time we arrived it was nearing 5pm, so nothingwas open anymore. We kept driving and pulled off the highway to go visit the Culloden Battlefield. Again, very interesting (interpretation panels galore!!). Great to see how difficult it would have been for the soldiers to fight each other in the heather-filled marshy land. Heather is a lovely purple colour, for those who have not seen it. From the battlefield, we continued south (Inverness was the farthest north we got before turning south again) towards Aviemore. We had picked up a brochure the previous day about a steam train that ran from Aviemore, so we decided that we would stay there so we could take a ride. Had haggis for dinner in a local pub (shall be a picture somewhere!!).

Tuesday morning we were on the steam train at Aviemore for 10.30am. We went first class, and we had a compartment all to ourselves. The ticket included tea or coffee and shortbread, so it was tres civilised. The whole train journey was about an hour, going from Aviemore to Broomhill and back again. Broomhill, incidentally, was the station they used to film the Glen Bogle station in Monarch of the Glen. From there it was south to Blair Atholl. All the houses at PLC (my school in Melbourne) are named after Scottish castles. I was in Atholl house, so I had always been keen to see Blair Atholl. And I was not disappointed. The family Atholl are still around, and the castle shows off their collection of family heirlooms and the like. Tonnes of antler horns, knick knacks etc, but all very well presented. And we took a walk in the gardens and saw wild raspberries growing (I am such a city girl I had no idea how they even grew!!). From Blair Atholl we headed further south again, through Perth, and over the Forth road bridge (next to the Forth Rail bridge, a cantilever bridge that was the longest bridge in the world for many years, and a lovely bridge to see). Stayed the night (sniff, our last night in Scotland) near Falkirk. The lady in the B&B thought we were great, as all we wanted for breakfast was porridge!!

Wednesday we went to the Falkirk Wheel, which is basically an incredibly complicated looking lock which joins two canals - the Forth and Clyde and the Union canals. It is quite a spectacular piece of engineering. We did a boat trip up to the top and down again. Basically what happens is you drive the boat into the bottom of it like a normal lock, then you are rotated in a semi-circular motion, all the while staying upright in the boat and with no water slopping over the sides, up to the top. Once at the top, the gates open and you slide on through to the rest of the canal. Fantastic and really amazing to be inside as it is all happening. From there it was to Edinburgh, to drop off le car to Thrifty. Dropped off our spare luggage to the left luggage people again, and wandered to Edinburgh Castle. The views were great from the top, I am really glad we left it til then to see, rather than being disappointed on our first day. Edinburgh Castle was interesting, but we were really knackered by the time we got there. Once we returned the car, I think that signalled the end of the holiday in a way, and we started to grind to a halt! Our train back to London was at 5pm, or so I thought. Turns out it was at 5.30pm - no wonder someone else had our seats!!! So we got off the train at Newcastle and waited for our train! Hopeless ;-)

As I mentioned above, PLC's houses were named after Scottish castles. These are the ones we saw, or came very close to. There are 6 houses, so I think we did very well!! :-D
Rosslyn Castle
Blair Atholl Castle
Stirling Castle
Lochleven Castle

So there you have it, our trip to Scotland. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading! Sorry it has taken me so long to update.

Scottish family tartans

When we go to Scotland, I will be looking at all things Scottish, one of them being tartan. So I thought I would share which tartans I would be focussing on, as these are the two family names who I have Scottish links to. The Kerr tartan, in which my dad wants a tie.
The Herd tartan. I did not know this existed, but there you go! Hooray fo the internet!