ben nevis

Just back from a big weekend hiking with the hill-walking club. Four hours in the car out to Fort William on Friday night then up at 6am on Saturday for 9hrs "on the hill". Ably guided by Thomas we walked from the Glen Nevis distillery up Carn Mor Dearg (1220m) then along an amazing ridge to the back face of Ben Nevis (1344m), the tallest peak in the British Isles. Scrambling up that we found a bunch of other tourists/kids/dogs who had come up the main easier trail! However with the sunshine, views and occasional scare next to a sheer cliff face we were glad to have done it the interesting route. That night the pleasure of watching england go down in the rugby then 2 more good sized peaks on the Sunday in the Mamores, a region full of Munros next to Ben Nevis. No photos from Sunday but another nice walk if a *little* gusty (read: blow you off your feet).


Full photo set here

PS What's a Munro you ask? Good question. Some guy arbitrarily decided to name everything over 3000ft after himself and now it is a big deal to go and tick off munros as you walk them. Four down, 280 to go....

a few more ringlight shots

ringlight

Last night had a bit of a tinker with a Ringlight you make on your laptop screen. A cake cooler sits my camera in the middle of the circle and you can take these great photos with little halos in the subject's eyes, easier to see in the bigger versions if you click below. I'll take some more and lose the white floral shirt ;)

you know this boogie is for real

So the first 2 days of the week were a right-off. Had a bloomin assignment to do didn't I! But having handed that in on Wednesday and having watched Swingers on the weekend, a few of us took some inspiration to go take swing dance lessons. It's a bit harder than Jon Favreau (btw, where did he go?? biggest thing he did since was Deep Impact?!) makes it look but think we'll persist. Thursday was a typical pub acoustic gig then last night another massive Ceilidh (read the first post if you've forgotten already what this is). Fair bit more technical this time round with all sorts of moments requiring you to spin the ladies around, feet off the ground, trying not to clash like two ceilidh helicopters. These are monthly and it seems like we've got a big group of us keen for more.

This morning something more manly with a 2-1 win in the soccer. These guys had proper matching kit and all so we must be good. Plus a chance to practice my scottish. The ump asked me, "Can yeh geh n teel Chris Thomas, yeh ken Chris Thomas? so geh n teel Chris tha Tommy hanna turnd [insert lots of scottish]... Arthur's feet" This i dutifully relayed, "the ump says something about arthur's feet??". This was sufficient for Chris and everything was fine, but it made me realise i need to spend more time in suburban pubs at the bottom of a pint glass, listening to locals and refining my accent.

procrastination

Currently sloping around my house and trying to get excited about analysing Scottish energy policy but at least I have wheels now. Up unexpectedly early this morning to see a (polish) man about a bike, *my* bike it turns out! It is sleek, quick and fitted with impractically thin tyres with no mudguards, but i can sleep in an extra 10 min each day now, cycle home from the pub and paint big wet stripes up my backside in the rain. Good work me.

Working backwards, yesterday was the first interfaculty football/soccer match which was played with a particularly fine hangover. The other team arrived only 2min before kickoff with no subs, so they were going to either be casually brilliant or simply casual. Turns out the latter and we whupped them 8-1, those mugs. Last night a brief (and never to be repeated) glance into the themed Frankensteins pub in the city. A whole 3 floors senselessly devoted to Mary Shelley's monster with a climax at midnight where an animatronic frankenstein in a coffin is suspended near the ceiling and he sits up and says something spooky, or maybe tells you all to buy more drinks. I'm not sure cause we didn't last that long, but the subsequent house party we semi-crashed was much better.

Friday night was a french feast for a group of us, cooked at my place by a mate. Lots of dub, lots of tasty food, lots of wine and one goodbye for a friend who's heading overseas for 3 months, wish you well Nell!

Now a dreary 3 days of assignments as the magic elves must have missed my place over the weekend and they're still undone... those little bastards...


PS pic is me on arthur's seat on my birthday last tues

Go Lockie it's your birthday, gonna party like it's your birthday...

Busy times since last update, Sunday was indoor frisbee (tiny court, five-a-side and knee pads required), then an afternoon of rock climbing and hanging upside down, then dinner and beers at the restaurant where a mate works. I sampled the award winning haggis there and I can only guess it won an Oscar because it sure didn't *taste* too flash. First and last haggis of Scotland.

Yesterday Bill turned up via Iceland which sounds like a really fun place if a little pricey. It is definately an option if I tick of all the other countries in the next 12 months? So today we could cruise around on my birthday in the incredible sunshine. Easily the warmest and sunniest day since I arrived and I take back all my chat about cold Edinburgh weather (until the next batch). Up Arthur's Seat in the morning, then convinced Bill he needed to eat haggis (sucker) while we sat in the sun and drank whisky. More sun in the park (me, obsessed? no!), dinner and far too much spanish wine at a tapas restaurant, then a surprise birthday cake and bottle of whisky followed by a few quiet ones at a local as I try and shake a cold I must have picked up from the unwashed masses. I am genuinely spoilt to have such a fine day.

PS: thanks to all for the birthday sms and wall posts and emails!