Edinburgh: Haggis, Hikes and Hairy Coos

Hello everyone! I am coming to you live from my sofa, on the final day of half-term break.
Tomorrow it's back to school for me -- specifically, back to the Year Two class that I will be teaching for the rest of the school year. More on this later. For now, I'd prefer to dwell on the break for a little bit longer before thinking about the reality of working life again.

It's been a pretty exciting half-term for a couple of reasons:

 1. We moved to a wonderful new house that was a huge step up from our previous place, and:

 2. Beth was able to get time off work, meaning that the two of us could finally have a good old fashioned adventure together again. Note that this has not happened since we went to London for Halloween, so basically forever ago.

This time around, our adventuring took us to Edinburgh, Scotland. This excursion had been a long time coming. Beth has a friend who lives there, and we had been vaguely discussing a visit pretty much since we got to the UK.

I'm going to try a bit of a different format to talk about our trip, as I find that going through the whole thing chronologically can be a bit tiresome. So instead, I'm gonna sum everything up under some nice, neat little subheadings. Here we go:

Travelling

• We decided to fly out at night, and arrive to our hostel around midnight. This way, we could check in, have a nice sleep and then have a full day the next morning to explore. I would reccommend this system -- the flight is generally cheaper without having to book it for 8 AM or some other ungodly hour. Yes, it means paying for an extra night's accommodation, but it's worth it, as you don't waste half a day napping off your travel exhaustion.
• Somehow, Beth and I always end up getting stuck beside a really chatty individual when we are travelling and really tired. I mean, it's great that people are friendly. However, when it's 11:30 PM and you're falling asleep on the airport shuttle bus, you're not neccessarily in the mood to explain your whole life story and clarify that bears don't just walk into our houses all the time in Canada and casually eat our food.

Hostel Life

• When choosing our hostel, we took many important factors into consideration. Is there an all-female room? Do the beds have outlets beside them to charge our phones? When you step outside, are you immediately looking up at a huge castle perched on top of a massive rock formation? We chose one that fit all of these criteria. It was called, appropriately, Castle Rock hostel. It was pretty much everything that you could want from a hostel: cheap but filling breakfast, nice rooms with lockers for your valuables, several cozy lounges, close to all the touristy things. It pays to read the reviews on Hostelworld.
  
  

  

  View from my room.

  

  Medival Times?

  
  

  

  Well. There it is.

  
  

  

  The "Groovy Lounge"

• When you are staying in a room with multiple other people, you have to account for the fact that sometimes, people are the worst. I was all tucked into my bed on the first night, exhausted, ready for a solid night's sleep. And then it began. It sounded like someone was sucking the last bits of soda out of a McDonalds cup. Or perhaps a baby elephant with a sinus infection attempting to blow its trunk. But it was neither of these things, no, this horrible noise was actually being produced by someone's nose. Look, I know that sometimes people can't help snoring, but this fact didn't make it any less awful. By the second night, I couldn't take it any more and stormed down to reception in the middle of the night to ask if they sold earplugs. I think I must have looked really pissed off, because they just handed me a pair for free. Bless them.

Touristy Things

• Edinburgh Castle: When we first tried to go, they were closed due to an IT issue that prevented them from printing tickets. So like the technological geniuses that we are, we followed the castle on Twitter and subscribed to live updates so that we would see when they tweeted about opening again. The castle was, in not so eloquent words: really really cool. I expected it to mostly be an indoor experience, but I was wrong. There were some indoor exhibits, but the coolest part was probably the way that the castle walls seemed to emerge from piles of stone, as if it were a naturally occurring part of the landscape.

• Arthur's Seat: "What a perfect day for a hike!" we thought. "The sun's out, the weather is mild!" we remarked. But as soon as we started making our way up the steep incline of this ancient volcanic peak, the clouds rolled in. The wind began to grow stronger, and we started feeling raindrops. Also, just a note that getting to the top of Arthur's Seat is not just a gentle stroll. We were definitely "feeling the burn" (in the 'my calves are on fire' sense, not in a "voting for Bernie Sanders" kind of way). But it stopped raining almost as soon as we reached the top, and we were rewarded with an incredible view of Edinburgh and the ocean. We then "mountain goat-ed" it down the opposite side to reach The Sheep's Heid Inn: the oldest pub in Edinburgh. Then, like the 21st century girls that we are, we decided against the 40 minute walk back to the hostel and hopped in an Uber instead. Don't judge us.

• The Scotch Whiskey Experience: We were unreasonably excited for this one, and not because we are whiskey connoisseurs. Not even close. However, we are big fans of riding in a giant barrel while the ghost of an old dude teaches us about how whiskey is made. We are also fans of swirling our glasses and pretending to detect hints of banana, when really, it just smells (and tastes) like booze. We never claimed to have refined palates.

•  Underground Vaults Tour: This was extremely interesting. Our guide took us beneath the South Bridge, into the damp, cold vaults that were apparently once a hive of activity -- both legal and not. Note that we very specifically sought out a "non-scary" and strictly informative tour because we are babies. No ghost tours for us, thanks.
  
  
  
  
• The Royal Mile: This is where all the touristy shops live. Want to buy a kilt, or perhaps a stuffed highland cow (or as they call them, "hairy coo")? Fancy some shortbread? Want to hear a bagpipe cover of "Fix You" by Coldplay? This is where you'll find it. Lots of tacky fun. I don't usually buy a lot in the way of souvenirs, but the cool and windy weather encouraged me to buy an Edinburgh bobble hat. I later realized that due to the seam placement, the front of the hat says "EDINB", which is not a word, but the back very clearly says "URGH". Also not a word, but it is a frustrated grunt. I think if I'm having a particularly grumpy day, I'll wear the hat backwards.

  

  Typical sight on the Royal Mile.

  
  

  

  Just a casual invisible man.

  
  

  

  Why are these so funny and passive aggressive?

  
  

  

  URGHHHHHH

• Princes Street: The main shopping street with the usual high street type shops, and some cool monuments along the way. But I mostly included this so that I could add photos of the random dog we saw in a Union Jack sweater carrying a flashlight. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Food:

Beth and I have determined that we suck at eating like normal human beings.

•  Example 1: Before I left, I found a Buzzfeed list of the best vegan food in Edinburgh, and we planned on hitting up a few of the places. However, I somehow overlooked the fact that going for GIANT JACKET POTATOES for lunch and THE BIGGEST NACHOS EVER for dinner is maybe not the best idea, and definitely does not scream "I am a responsible adult who knows how to eat in moderation". Post-nachos, we waddled back to our hostel rooms and pretended to be "just laying down for a bit" before going to watch a film in the hostel's movie room. We did not leave our beds for the rest of the night.

  

  Vegan curry "medium" potato. It was actually one big potato and one baby one beside it.

  
  

  

  We tried.

• Example 2: The day after the potato/nacho incident, we decided that we would have breakfast, just grab a light lunch from Sainsburys before hiking Arthur's Seat, and then stop into The Sheep's Heid Inn for a snack before heading back into town and getting a light dinner later. What happened instead was: We had breakfast, grabbed a light lunch from Sainsburys, grabbed some starters and a pint AND a dessert each at the Sheep's Heid Inn, and then decided to try haggis and veggie haggis with all the fixings for dinner before joining our hostel's pub crawl. Tottering up the stairs to our hostel, post-haggis, we realized that we had failed once again to eat responsibly and were a hopeless case.

  

  Veggie "haggis", neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes).

All in all, Edinburgh is a beautiful city with tons of history, lots to do, and even more to eat. Exploring a new city is my favourite, but travel is exhausting. I'm glad that I left myself a weekend to rest and recover before heading back to work, because I've definitely needed it. That being said, I'm off to go do nothing in particular -- and I'm very happy about it.

Until next time,

C.

Teaching is a Rollercoaster.

Sometimes, supply teaching can be a real rollercoaster. I know, it's a pretty cliched saying, and part of me doesn't really think it makes sense in the context that most people use it. I mean, sure, I get the whole "ups and downs" bit, but I mean... isn't the "down" part of the rollercoaster the best? Isn't going up the hill still pretty thrilling? Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it just doesn't quite match up.

What I guess I'm trying to say is: teaching is a rollercoaster in that there will probably be a lot of screaming for some reason. Someone might throw up. And no matter how much you have to pee, you can't until the ride is over (or until the bell rings for break). At the end of it all, you're frazzled, your hair is a mess, your voice may be sore...and yet, you get right back on and do it all over again.

Last week started with a much less thrilling kind of ride: an hour long commute on the good old Bristol bus. I don't have too much to say about that which hasn't already been expressed in a very sassy email to the bus company, so let's just go with "it sucked". I was placed for the whole week in Year Six at a school on the outskirts of town, so getting there was more of a chore than normal.

When I showed up, I was greeted with the bane of every supply teacher's existence: no plans. On top of that, the TA (teaching assistant) was off on Monday. The deputy head hurriedly helped me to photocopy some worksheets for the morning and I scrambled to remember the difference between an adverb and a preposition and to mentally sort out the various methods of division. Put simply: last minute prepping for Year 6 is much more difficult than say, Reception. I mean, I generally don't have to remind myself what sound "ch" makes. Anyway, the morning was somehow sorted just in time, and I was able to slog my way through.

For the afternoon though, I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I was given a very brief "week at a glance" type schedule that essentially listed subjects and times but nothing else. I was told "They have RE (religion) and then Music... usually the TA helps with those but she's not here obviously. I wouldn't do music with them as a supply. You don't have to stick with this though, you can do whatever you'd like."

Great. 20 minutes left of lunch to figure out an entire afternoon, and all I've got is "do whatever" basically?

Naturally, I chose art. By some miracle, I was able to find an art lesson online that used a concept from their maths (rotational symmetry) and that didn't require many materials. It went okay... but I still left that day feeling like I had just come off of the metaphorical rollercoaster after eating too much funnel cake. It's not that the kids were bad. They were your standard Year 6 class -- noisy, obsessed with internet humor, a bit "too cool for school"... but nothing that I haven't handled before. It was just the uncertainty and stress of coming into a day with minimal planning, combined with a stressful commute that really threw me. And it was my birthday.

Luckily, the week did get easier. The TA showed up and was an absolute lifesaver. I saw the kids all dress up as book characters on World Book Day. I got to do another really fun art lesson with the students. The commute was still killer though -- I was often so tired in the evenings that I would be falling asleep before 10 PM. And the kids weren't always perfectly behaved. They seemed to have no concept of a noise level between "absolute silence" and "absolute chaos". But when Friday rolled around, it all became worth it.

One of the quirks of Year 6 is that it's hard to tell whether the kids actually like you or if they think you're the worst teacher that has ever walked the planet. Kids in Reception or Year One will give you hugs or outright declare their love for you, whereas Year 6 is a little more subtle. On Friday, I'd had to give a few talks -- about working quietly, about not passing notes in class, about not standing up and bugging someone else when they're trying to do their maths. That kind of stuff. But at least the afternoon was more relaxed -- I gave them time to finish their art and even put on some (school appropriate) song requests on the Smartboard.

At the end of the day, as everyone packed up, three of the boys came up to me a bit bashfully. "We actually had something to tell you" one of them said. "When you told us to stop passing notes around class, well, we were actually passing this around:" They handed me something from behind their backs.

I couldn't believe it. They had somehow managed to make and pass around this card, unnoticed by me, and get everyone in the class to sign it. Shows how observant I am. "We thought you were really good" one of the boys said. "We don't always like supply teachers. Mr. Jones (name changed) treated us like dogs, he had this little clicker that he would click at us when we were being bad." Note to self, do not use a clicker on the children. The impact of their little gift was not lost on me. "You guys, thank you so much, this is amazingly sweet" I told them, and I meant it. "I'm going to keep this and look at it whenever I have a bad day". And yes, bad days will happen again, but this was not one of them. I felt appreciated and proud. This was one of the days that makes it all worth it.

Let's return to our cliched carnival ride metaphor one more time: Sometimes, rollercoasters have those little cameras that snap a photo of you at the very top of the very highest hill, so that you can laugh at it afterwards. Well, if this week were a rollercoaster, I think that photo would be of me with a ridiculously goofy smile on my face.

Until next time,


C.

Half-Term Shenanigans in Dublin and Bristol

Hello all,

First off, isn't 'shenanigans' just the best word? I realized it's been over a month since my last entry. I suppose sometimes life happens, and doesn't always leave time for timely blogging. However, since it's a post-term-break week, work is a bit slow... I don't have work until the afternoon and blogging doesn't involve leaving my bed so here I am!

Over the half-term break, I was lucky enough to have my mom come to visit me all the way from good old Newmarket, Ontario. It was the first time I've seen any family since moving here all the way back in September, and I was excited to show her around -- it was her first time in England, well all of Europe technically! So I had to cram as much into the week as possible. It also gave me a chance to re-experience Bristol as a tourist.

Last time Beth and I had a guest visit, it was gross and pouring rain and windy the whole time, so half of our plans fell through (sorry, Charlotte). Well, Bristol did not hold back on the rain and wind on the first day my mom arrived either. Honestly, it was a pretty realistic welcome to England -- thanks a lot, Storm Imogen. Considering all this, we went somewhere really cosy for brunch on the first day: Cosy Club. This place really drove home the point that almost no matter where you go in Bristol, hipster-esque or not, you will most likely find a vegan or at least vegetarian friendly breakfast.

(Photo from TripAdvisor, no credit to me)

Like, look at this place. Looks really nice and posh -- nothing hippie to be seen: no blenders with remnants of kale smoothies, no chalkboard listing the craft beers on tap, no community artwork adorning the walls. And yet, they have a WHOLE MENU for vegan (and gluten free) options. Including this beautiful breakfast. Two for you, Cosy Club. You go Cosy Club.

Beans. Toast. Hummus. Potatoes. Peppers. Greens. Tomato.

We also browsed around Cabot Circus -- Bristol's lovely "Is it indoor? Is it outdoor? How is this place even laid out?" shopping centre (which is actually quite nice). My mom fell in love with Tiger, a shop originally from Denmark that can be described in a word as "quirky" and in several more words "everything has faces on it" and "this is adorable/hilarious, I never knew I needed it until now". We bought a pack of chocolate covered rice cakes solely because the packaging had rice cakes with little moustaches and glasses on the outside.

At night, I took my mom out for her first British pub experience on King Street -- a cobblestone paved stretch of Bristol that is always packed with pub-goers on a Friday or Saturday night. Luckily, it was relatively quiet on a Monday, though still lively. We first stopped at The King William -- a really comfy and traditional feeling pub dating back to 1670.


We made our way to the river and checked out The Apple: A cider pub located on a moored boat. I mean, come on. You can't visit Bristol and not drink cider on a boat. The small two-level pub was packed despite it being a Monday, never mind the gale force winds and rain of Storm Imogen that had been battering the city. I mean, I suppose we still went out but...

The Apple

The next day was thankfully bright and sunny, so we set out for a full day of adventuring. We took a little walk around my neighbourhood through Arno's Vale park, and took a roundabout path to Arno's Vale cemetery -- one of my favourite places in Bristol. Yes, it's a cemetery, but it's also like a really big park with ivy-wrapped gravestones that look like nature is trying to reclaim them.

(Full disclosure -- photos from another day, because I was lazy about taking any this time.)

Afterwards, we briefly walked through St Nick's Market (part covered, part uncovered daily market in town, home to many delicious smells) and ended up busing to Cafe Kino. This vegan co-op cafe actually does look super hippie, and is located in the Stokes Croft neighbourhood. My mom commented that looking out the window felt like sitting on Queen Street West in Toronto. I ate my veggie burger too quickly to take a photo apparently, but mom got the small vegan brekky and even enjoyed the veggie sausage!!

ALL of the vegan breakfasts.

From there, we ventured up to Clifton Suspension Bridge. I've been there a couple times now, but the views over Bristol are still amazing. We also walked through Ashton Court Estate -- once home to some very rich folks presumably, but now a historic mansion and massive park that also happens to be home to many deer. We didn't spend a ton of time here as the rain was beginning to roll in... also, it was super muddy from last night's storm, and my idea to take a shortcut off the main path resulted in me slipping and falling and getting my whole leg covered in mud. Nice. Well done, me.

Bridge.

Manor.

After a lovely dinner at Curry House, we had plans to visit my OTHER favourite place in Bristol: The Bag of Nails! If you are friends with me on any form of social media, you have probably seen me excitedly posting pictures of this place already. Basically, it's this little tiny pub that looks pretty unremarkable from the outside, but then you wander in and realize that CATS LIVE HERE. LIKE 15 CATS. They hang out on the pub in boxes and weave around your legs as you enjoy a pint or take part in the pub quiz on a Tuesday night, as we did. If you know me at all, I don't need to explain why this is so exciting.

Mom, cat, background lurker.

Cat being a jerk to other cat.

The next morning, we were up bright and seriously early to catch a flight to Dublin, Ireland! It still feels really amazing to be able to take a quick 45 minute flight and be in a whole new country with different sights and culture. But I suppose it doesn't take much to amaze me, considering I was pretty excited about these weird coffee cups on the plane that filter the coffee for you! Whaaaat.

Sippy cup for adults?

Bye Bristol!

It's also amazing when you book a hostel and it turns out to be super nice. I highly reccommend the Generator Hostel. Dublin is still an expensive city, but I found that I got much better value for the price of the stay than at similarly priced London or Oxford hostels. I also recommend carefully reading reviews on Hostelworld before booking. I did, and most sounded really favourable and I was not disappointed. 

Sewwww hip.

Fancy chandeliers + pool.

How cute is the wall art in the room?

We had lunch in Dublin at a slightly unconventional place -- it was not a traditional Irish breakfast, but a moroccan style meal at a cute restaurant called Brother Hubbard that boasted fresh, local ingredients. I am mildly obsessed with food, so I pride myself on being able to quickly and efficiently scope out a nearby, affordable and veggie-friendly restaurant on short notice. However, I did not stick strictly to my usual vegan diet in Dublin -- I give myself some leeway when travelling. There's only a certain amount of my life that I can devote to worrying about eggs, and on holiday is not one of those times.

 

Food.

Cute semi-patio type deal.

Afterwards, we walked around and saw Christ Church Cathedral (mostly the outside as we didn't want to pay to wander around inside), Dublin Castle, and a wonderful little place called Chester Beatty Library. It's less a library and more a museum dedicated to really old and fascinating books, also including a peaceful rooftop garden. We also found some cute outfits at a charity shop near the hostel, because obviously we had to look. 

Old and gold books.

This makes me so mad.. how is this even humanly possible...

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. So cool.

The inside of the museum/library.

For dinner that evening, we decided upon the oldest pub in Ireland (go old or go home I suppose). It's called The Brazen Head and looks pretty much as close to an old Irish pub as you could imagine. Warming up by the fire with a hot bowl of soup, some thick-cut chips and a cold Guinness? Amazing. I could tell that this was a popular tourist destination, as the majority of accents overheard were of the North American variety.

Everything is so old here...in a good way.

Do you believe in love at first sight? I do.

Dublin in the early evening.

Speaking of fellow tourists, a hostel can be a great place to make new friends. It can also be a reminder of just how small of a world we live in. In our 6-person female dorm, I met a girl from Ottawa as well as an Australian who is -- weirdly enough -- also a supply teacher in Bristol. Mom was a bit tired and jet lagged, but I got chatting with the fellow Canadian, and we soon had plans to check out the Temple Bar area, a famous stretch of pubs well-known for it's party atmosphere.

Instant Canadian friends.

We chatted, danced to Irish music, and ended up out just sliiiightly later than intended. However, the Temple Bar area definitely lives up to its reputation and is tons of fun. 

Mumford and Sons, is that you??

Sup, Guinness factory?

The next morning, I was... a bit tired, to say the least, but my mom and I still checked out the hop-on-hop-off bus tour. There are a couple different tour bus companies in town, but definitely go with the one that includes three free drinks at various locations... that is, if you didn't party a bit too hard the night before. The tour showed us just how small Dublin really is, but how packed it is with history -- Trinity College, Oscar Wilde's house, Phoenix Park (where the Prime Minister lives), and the Guinness Storehouse are among the sights that you will see. Mom and I went back to the Temple Bar district that evening, and this time she outlasted me for energy -- I sat at the bar drinking tea like the old lady I am.


The next day, we flew back to Bristol and had a pretty relaxed day. After making dinner at home, we met up with Beth for a drink and some food in the City Centre. It was a Friday night, and apparently, both the St. Nick's Night Market and a BBC music festival were happening downtown. We ended up at Walkabout -- an Aussie themed restaurant and pub that is now probably my mom's favourite place due to it's half-price-everything happy hour. We were also reminded of what a friendly city Bristol can be -- we didn't realize that the bus stop we were waiting at was closed due to construction, but a nice couple gave the three of us a ride home. Gotta love random kind strangers!

On Saturday, we hit up a vintage clothing fair near my house, and wandered up Park Street -- where Bristol University lives, along with many cute shops and restaurants. Beside Bristol Uni is also the Bristol Museum of Art and Natural History, home to many interesting things including a bird that looks like Donald Trump.

Vintage clothes EVERYWHERE <3

Trump-bird.

We also used a lost pair of gloves as an excuse to make one more visit to our feline friends at the Bag of Nails pub. We did not find the gloves, but we did find a couple of pints, so there's that.

With her bag bursting with British sweets, my Mom left for Toronto on Sunday -- the final day of half-term break. To sum up my thoughts on the week:

1. Having family visit is really nice. I hadn't seen any of them since I'd left and I was really glad that my Mom got the opportunity to visit. Now to figure out getting the rest of them over here...

2. Travel is exhausting. With all of the things I crammed into our week, I felt like I needed a second break after my break to just sleep.

3. I highly recommend being a tourist in your own town every now and then. This was the first real chance that I had to show someone around Bristol, which at this point, is pretty familiar to me. It's really nice to see things through a tourist's eyes again and get excited about the little differences between UK and Canada all over again (like the fact that everything here is SO OLD AND HISTORIC). Bristol has a ton to offer, so anyone from home who may be reading this -- come visit me. For reals. I will make you see all of the things and you WILL have fun.

That's all for now, have a great weekend friends! Unless you are reading this and it's no longer the weekend, in which case, have a good Tuesday or whatever (I've got a 1/5 chance of getting this right, it's worth a shot).

Cheers,


C.