St. Andrew's day - Edinburgh Castle

 In St. Andrew's day, Edinburgh Castle entry is free!

Around Edinburgh

Scottish cows (but not the famous Heeland Coos) 

Nunraw (Sancta Maria Abbey)

Wine reception

Something I really love about Scotland: all academic events hosted by the different study groups in the University finish in a wine reception!

The main reason why I like it is that if there is an academic event, there should also be a moment to discuss ideas in a more informal setting. These ideas may or may not be related to the topic of the event. Sometimes it may merely be a time to relax and get together. All in all, these wine events make the academic community a real community, not just a theory...

Oh yes, and I also like the wine!

Robbed in Edinburgh!

I've just been robbed in broad day light in Edinburgh! In a hairdresser...
So, story goes like this. I wake up in the morning, my hair is way too long so I decide to cut it. I look for a hairdresser in my area in my snap fax. Now, for those who don't know, snap fax is a discount card for a lot of different shops in Edinburgh. So, snap fax tells me that in a hairdresser very close to my place where I'll have a 50% discount, so I call, I book and I go.
Things started to go wrong as soon as I got in because the person cutting my hair was going to be a woman. Now, I'm not sexist, and believe in equal opportunities for all and all that, but I had never had a woman cutting my hair before. That's ok, I thought, it would be a nice morning adventure.
Second trouble, she insists in shampooing my hair. Now, I had had my hair shampooed this morning by the person who does it better: me. I said it but she insisted and I'm not the kind of person to create problems, right? So my hair got the second shampooing of the morning.
The third and real problem, however, came in the end. I went to pay and she told me it was £15.25. I think to myself "dear mother of God! thank God I have the snap fax!" So, I showed her the snap fax, smile and say: "but I have the snap fax with 50% discount, as I said on the phone..."
- Yes, yes... - the woman tells me - £15,25 is already with the discount!
I had heard this price on the phone but the guy I had talked to had a very strong Scottish accent so I assumed that was the price without the discount! Who on earth is the male idiot who pays £30.5 for a haircut!!! The idiotness of paying this price is that hairdressers start assuming that to cut the hair to a man is the same as to cut to a woman. And, once again, I'm all in favour of equal opportunities and all, but a man cuts the hair to have it shorter whereas a woman cuts it to have it pretty. It's the same reasoning of paying more for a painting than for a fixed pipe.
I'm going to be in a bad mood the rest of the day, being robbed like this in the morning!

The Brits and EU

I really admire the British attitude towards the EU! Now, mind you, that what I admire is not exactly the Euro-scepticism, is more that British think about European problems. And, even better, when trying to come up with answers they regard EU with an extremely pragmatic view: they see the EU as a mean to favour UK and not as an end in itself.
Today Nick Clegg is in the Parliament answering questions posed by some more Euro-sceptic members of the governmental coalition parties. It is true that some of the suggestions of the Euro-sceptics of these Islands are quite absurd. To start with they tend to want all the benefits of a single market without its obligations considering that us, the other Europeans, would be more than willing to concede that. Also, they don't realize that a single market needs single market rules, otherwise in matters of environment, labour or tax, there will be a race to the bottom by the member states to make their products and services competitive.
But if some of the suggestions are absurd, others are quite obvious. Why are EU organs increasing their expenditure when many member states are facing budget cuts? This is a specially relevant question for the Euro-zone, given proposals to give Brussels budget supervisory powers over member states. Are the extremely detailed regulations really necessary to achieve a single market? Is the principle of subsidiarity to be forgotten? This question is an obvious one in a country that prides itself of its Democratic institutions and regards the growing interference of Brussels as weakening the power of Westminster.
To sum this up, the British do what few people in the "Continent" do: they discuss the EU, its objectives, policies, strengths, weaknesses, etc.. As in most discussions, there are a few bad ideas... But at least there are ideas.

Union Canal

When I studied History in high-school, I learned that the construction of canals gave a major boost to the early industrialization of the United Kingdom. This allowed an easier movement of coal and industrial products in Britain. This also allowed for raw materials from the colonies and else where to reach the industries. Until the introduction and expansion of railways, canals were the main way to achieve all this.

When I was cycling around Edinburgh this Saturday, I found one of these historical canals, the Union Canal. I obviously decided to explore it. After all, not only big cathedrals and castles played an important part of British history, right?

But the Union Canal is more than just part of History, it's very much part of the life of the city. I could see lots of people cycling like me along the canal, families going for a stroll, rowing teams (all feminine!) practicing in its waters, etc..

I read that this canal runs for 50kms until Falkirk and started wondering how long would that take in my faithful but old bicycle...

Blackford Hill (Thanks mom!)

Two weeks ago, while I was visiting Rosslyn Chapel, my camera stopped working. One minute I was taking a picture the minute later I couldn't turn it on for more than 10 seconds! Sad! Specially considering that Edinburgh, the entire Scotland actually, has so many great places to photograph.

Last week I went home for a few days and, having heard of this, my mother decided to give me a new camera. Today, in Blackford Hill, I realized the camera could take panoramic pictures and was having fun experimenting this. This is the result that I leave here with the proper thanks to the best mother of all, mine!

Lunch Concert

It's not common to have a concert during lunch time. At least it's not common for me, as I had never had such experience before this Tuesday at the Reid Concert Hall of the University of Edinburgh. I went to a very good performance by the Edinburgh String Quartet playing F. J. Haydn and Frank Bridge. The name of the event was, in fact, Lunchtime concert and that's how long it lasted: a lunchtime.
As such, I left the office and one sandwich and one concert later I was back at the same time as I usually had been. Very practical and a very good investment of a lunchtime. Certainly something to be repeated. (And specially in such good company)

I know, the photo is crap! But I wanted to be discreet and do it quickly 

while they were speaking and not during the concert.

Catherine, the Great, of Russia

Did you know that Catherine, the Great, of Russia wasn't baptized or grew up as Catherine? Or that she was not from Russia?
Well, if you didn't know that, I have bad and good news for you. The bad ones is that you're really ignorant! The woman ruled one of the biggest countries of her time (and ours) and you didn't know such simple facts?! The good ones is that until recently I also didn't know these simple facts but now I'm kind of an expert in her life. I enjoyed this great cultural leap forward just because I went to the exhibition about her life in the National Museum of Scotland.
Now, as my Roman ancestors used to say: ad augusta per angusta! I became an expert on the Great Catherine from being a poor wretched ignorant in only one afternoon but it cost me P7,5. And that's with a student discount! But it's worth it!
I was going to write more about the exhibition but now I need to go to Saint Petesburgh to a conference in which I'm going to talk about Catherine the Great. Now that I'm a world renown scholar... And all thanks to the National Museum of Scotland.

Old College

Old College is one of the many buildings of the University of Edinburgh and, as its name indicates, the oldest one. It's a Classical style building designed by Architect Playfair, from whom the beautiful library of the building takes its name. It's a very elegantly styled library but it's not in use anymore. Nowadays is used for ceremonies and events. Now that I think about it, it wouldn't be a bad place for a graduation ball...
It houses the School of Law, an art gallery - the Talbot Rice gallery - and other services of the University. People say that until recently this central patio was a car park, which, useful as it might have been, was a pitty! Apparently when I arrived in Edinburgh they had just finished renovations and that's the way it should be: everything ready to receive me in style!
Located between the National Museum of Scotland and South Street Street, it really is worth a visit.

Weddings in Scotland

One thing I used to love about living in Macau was to see couples taking their wedding photos in the streets. It's a very common sight anywhere in the historical parts of town to see couples dressed up taking photos with their best-men and mades-of-honour waiting and attending to them. I thought that was something I wasn't going to see until I could visit Macau again. I was wrong!

Apparently in Scotland they do the same! Now, in China what they do is they take all these pictures BEFORE the wedding. That has at least two obvious advantages. The first is that guests can already see the wedding album on the wedding day, which is quite convenient. The second is that in the wedding day, couples only take pictures with guests, not making everyone wait for them.

Here in Scotland, they wander off from the ceremony, like this couple I saw in Holyrood this weekend. This probably means that all guests are waiting for them and getting bored to death. This also probably means that most guests will never get to see the pictures... Well, lets not be pessimistic, this is facebook's century.

My eugenic way home

I always opposed any forms of human eugenism and, especially, those that justify political systems. However I was forced to rethink my ideas today on my way home.
So, just imagine this scenario: 10pm in Edinburgh and this typically Mediterranean guy is going home after having a couple of drinks. Now the guy, that you may have guessed it's me, is freezing to death even though he / me is wearing his warmest winter jacket, gloves, etc. The wind, the cold, the rain... I thought that I would be lucky to arrive home alive! I stop in a traffic light and there is this Scott wearing a tshirt and a sleeveless jacket on his bike. Was the guy freezing and turning blue? No! The guy was texting someone on his mobile.
What does a Mediterranean guy like me thinks? This guy is playing with the wrong marbles!
Now crossing the Meadows I saw something amazing: this couple jogging with shorts and tshirts! Yes, it was night, yes it was freezing cold, raining and I almost fell from my bike a couple of times with the wind! Right after that another guy cycles past me in his rugby shorts and sleeveless jersey and after that I see another woman jogging in clothes I would find more appropriate for a sub-tropical weather than to this weather.
Of course, at that time I was thinking: "I bet they wouldn't resist five years living in a sub-tropical island with 40ºc and 97% humidity!" But then I thought in the days working by the pool... Days in which my biggest concern was to drink enough water not to dehydrate. I think they could survive that!
And I concluded that the Scotts and I are not made of the same genetics... Call them superior race, call them what you want, I just know that they are certainly not like me!

There's more to beer than just beer

Beer is not an easy thing to understand in this country for someone from the Continent.

One small pause in my text about beer in this country to notice that I still stubbornly wrote Continent. In fact, I grew up thinking the British Isles were part of that Continent in the end of Eurasia called Europe. However the locals, to my surprise, call Europe to the land on the other side of the Channel.

Going back to beer… I already alluded before to the fact that there are strange things happening with the beers in this country. Well, the first thing one needs to know is that beer is not just beer: it’s either lager or ale.

Now a lager is closer to what we, continentals, call beer: it has a more or less smooth flavour of… Beer! It is supposed to be cold just the way we are used to drink it in the esplanades of those continental cities less cold than this insular one.

Ale is something quite different. To start with it is usually served at a temperature between cold and lukewarm, which makes perfect sense in a cold country like this. Besides, ale has quite a different taste: it’s stronger and bitterer.

What do I prefer? Well, I’m more used to lager, which I grew up drinking. However, I’m trying to acquire the taste of ale. I think that it’s already an offense to locals that I don’t like whisky, I don’t want to risk a mob attack by also not drinking ale… And, in fact, now I’m beginning to like it!

Another important thing to understand is that one doesn’t go into a bar and orders a glass of beer. The measure here is a pint, which is more than ½ a litter. One can also order half pint instead.

Now, this is just a couple of things I learned until now but I know there is much more to learn. As such I need to go and learn more. I’ll now meet a country fellow who, despite being a complete stranger until now, already agreed to buy me a pint given that I forgot my money at home and still don’t have a local bank card. (Mental notes: always leave the money at home and write a post on how complicated getting a bank account in this country is)

Arthur's Seat

The path I used to go up to Arthur's Seat.

A view over Edinburgh

The Sea at my feet.

Another perspective. Every perspective in Arthur's Seat is a good perspective...

The ruins of St. Anthony's Chappel.

The lake.

Beware, oh cyclists of Edinburgh

For those of you who might not know, it's compulsory to have lights on your bike when cycling at night even if you are in the middle of the city with a lot of lights. I know it because I was just stopped by the police without lights and was told the fine was 60PS! Yes, you read well: sixty quid! Can you believe that?
The police was actually nice and let me go (on foot) with a warning... Probably due to the fact that I'm foreigner, new in Edinburgh and was genuinely surprised. But actually it makes sense: even with the lights, Edinburgh's weather is not exactly like the Sahara's.
Two other things:
- If you're in a red traffic right, even if you're going to turn left, you have to stop like the cars (this rule, lets be honest, it's a bit foolish but dura lex, sed lex).
- Helmet is not compulsory but it's advisable to have it in case of accident because all compensations for injuries will be reduced to only 20% if not wearing helmet.
Cycle safely!

The meadows

The meadows is an enormous park in Edinburgh. It's a park with not so many trees or plants but instead large fields with grass.
I'm lucky enough to be living near the meadows, which allows me to jog there in the morning and cross it at different times of the day. Whenever I cross it, there it's always full of people playing with their children or their dogs, doing some sport from football to golf, not forgetting rugby or just pure and simply gymnastics, etc.. As such, the meadows is very much part of the social and sportive life of the city.
And that's precisely what a park is supposed to be for.

Farmers market

Every Saturday morning, in the Castle Esplanade, there is a farmers market. It it local farmers sell different products from meat, to fruit and vegetables not forgetting cheese or even soap bars made with local herbs. The diversity of products, the different odors and the liveliness of the sellers makes it a nice attraction of the city and a relaxed weekend walk. The high prices, however, may make it a less appealing alternative to supermarkets, unless for those willing to pay more for more organic and natural products.

Bicycles

For me a bicycle has always been a good for leisure. And I never really owned one as well. I would rent a bicycle when I'm traveling somewhere and want to explore the countryside. I would borrow from friends when in their places for a weekend or so. When I was little I shared a bicycle with my sister but I didn't like it because it wasn't manly enough - it was white, with a basket in the front and in the back wheel it even had a protection so that skirts would not tangle with it. Way too feminine for a boy!
Well, now I bought my own bicycle: blue, no basket, no skirt protection... Oh wait! I now live in Scotland. What if I decide to buy a kilt? Will it tangle with the wheel? Are kilts and bicycles incompatible? Google photos answered my question: it is possible!|

This bicycle will serve my daily needs for locomotion. Buses are too expensive and to walk everywhere would take a lot of time.

The Canny Mans

I heard from many people wiser than myself that living in Scotland would mean getting to know its pubs. Well, I humbly accepted this suggestion and yesterday I went for a drink in the Canny Mans. And was I happy to do so!

Entering the Canny Mans, is like entering a very cool museum. The pub is full of collections of everything one can imagine: postcards, pictures, keys, guns, memorabilia of the wars, etc.. The entire decoration is amazing, and I strongly suggest a tour around the pub.

Outside there´s a nice garden where smokers can head for their nasty habit. For the cold nights, customers can take one of the blankets at the door. 

It's suppose to have a great collection of whiskeys but I don't like whiskey so I can't testify it for myself (maybe I should remain anonymous so a mob of Scots don't attack me on the street after this confession). Instead I ordered a very good beer. I thought it was not cold enough but my friend, wiser than me on the subject, told me that that was the way experts drink beer. I've been drinking and enjoying beer for, at least, 17 years and always enjoyed really cold beer: I guess it's time to change habits...

One last thing: the entrance can be a bit threatening. It was a warning saying "No Smoking, No Backpackers, No photographs...". But don't let this intimidate you. Just don't decide to wear shorts and flip-flops to the place. Not that the Edinburgh weather invites to that, But I never know...

The beginning

I just arrived in Edinburgh to live for the next few years of my life. This blog is meant to register my impressions of the city as an outsider as well as the trips I do while living here. I hope you enjoy reading it!