All in a day's walk

We have a beautiful walking trail behind our home along the Waters of Leith. The trail itself is about 12 miles long. Everyday once the kids are in school I head to the trail. I don't walk the 12 miles but I do try to walk about an hour. I thought I would post some pictures of things that I see along my walk. The pictures are in no particular order.

Kim

A Grrret Dee in Glasgow

Hiya! Yes, its a strange little greeting that the Scots always seem to give. Although Sophia has started to use this on a regular basis, I make a point of sticking to "Hey", or "Hello there". I might even try "Howdy" one of these days.

Anywho, this last Saturday, we rode the train and spend the day in Glasgow. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, about 1.2 million compared to the 450,000 in Edinburgh. A much different feel to the city, but we had a great time. Definitely not as much to see of historical nature, but we had a great time exploring the city. The city seemed to have a lively vibe to it, and it was interesting seeing old picturesque buildings adjacent to new shiny buildings, not far from decrepit abandoned buildings. We spent some time down by the beautiful River Clyde, an area that our guide book clearly advises NOT to visit past dark (due to thugs and people of ill repute). We wandered up into the city and took in the lively George Square, where people were hanging out, watching bungee jumpers dive off a crane platform, and generally having a good time. Interestingly, there were very few shops catering to the souvenir hunter or tourist. This was actually quite nice! We happened to visit on an "open doors day", where numerous cathedrals, city building, and galleries were open for free public visits. We enjoyed visiting the Glasgow City Council building, the beautiful stonework, staircases and woodwork inside reminded me quite a bit of our own Parliament buildings in Victoria. We also walked up to the highest point in Glasgow to look over the city from their Necropolis - a grand old graveyard on the top of a high hill. Many impressive memorials to people - mostly merchants - but the largest by far was a beautiful tribute to John Knox, the Scottish champion of the Reformation. We also enjoyed visiting the huge Glasgow cathedrel and several smaller museums, including the oldest house in Glasgow, from the 1400s.

Enjoy the photos below!

Me sitting in an important desk in the City Council chambers (would the mayor sit here? or just the "speaker") Who cares - I plan to make my desk area at school look like this.


Just a funny shot of the family. Remind me of a Norman Rockwell picture, where everyone is doing their own thing in a strange manner.

Emma walked out the wrong door and oops... how do I get down from here?


A nice view of a quiet area close to one of the universities.

A cool statue with a cooler hat!

Isaiah outside the back door of the oldest house in Glasgow. Did he grow, or is this door a little small?

Okay - I guess the door is a little small. But this actually was the back door!

On the left is the Glasgow cathedral; behind it is the Royal Infirmary.

The John Knox monument in the Necropolis.

Craig is buried here.

See you soon!

Jimy Macjohnson

Our London Adventure - Day 2

If you read the last entry, then you'll know that we started with a great day at the Zoo on Friday the 4th. This picture was in the evening at a beautiful coloured fountain in Hyde Park. It actually looked much more impressive than in the photo, but we love our kids too!

It was Saturday morning and we were off and running for the day. Armed with oyster passes and a guide book we headed for the tube. First stop -Buckingham Palace, of course. There was no changing of the guard to see but the royal cavalry rode by. This was pretty cool as well. We ran into another exchange teacher and family at the Palace and spent a good amount of time chatting.

Next stop the Museum of Natural History. Here we learned about dinosaurs, the earth and the fact that James should not take Isaiah into a busy washroom when James has a plugged ear. Isaiah doubled back into the washroom when he and James were ready to leave. James thought he left and, since one of James' ears was completely plugged, he could not hear Isaiah answer when he called. It didn't help that the doors of the stalls were from floor to ceiling either. After 5 minutes of anxious looking, Isaiah wandered out of the washroom totally oblivious to what was up.

After the museum we headed to Piccadilly Circus for, you guessed it, hamburgers! James had read about a place called Ed's that was supposed to have amazing food and wonderful milkshakes. The book was right!!! A bit of souvenir shopping and then we headed back to the tube.

Next we went on to Big Ben and the Westminister Bridge. It was at this point the kids got a look at the London Eye (sore). I am historically opposed to the London Eye as I think it takes away from the historic feel of London. I have seen London before the Eye was ever there so I know what it looked like before. With much pleading from the kids, we took out a small loan to ride this popular attraction. The kids and James loved it. I was not convinced but then again, I have been known to have a stubborn streak. After the London Eye we headed for the Tower of London. We were too late to go in but spent some time walking around it before deciding to head back to the hotel for the night. All told, 9 hours and countless tube rides later, it was a fantastic day in London.

The adventure should have ended there...

Sunday morning we headed home on the train. It was a perfectly uneventful trip until we got to Berwick upon Tweed. It was here that the train company told us they could not continue as the signals up ahead were not working due to flooding. Everyone got off and waited. Another train came in and everyone got off only they all headed to the car park as they had been told buses were coming to pick us up. The people from the first train joined the people from the second train in the car park in front of the station. We waited for some time and then all of a sudden people started going back towards the train platform by way of an overpass in the train station. Apparently trains were starting to go through, but it was standing room only so people turned and headed back to the car park. We continued to wait in confusion as to what to do. Apparently, the buses were still on their way so we decided to wait and get the bus back to Edinburgh Waverly Station. All went well once on the bus and we arrived back in Edinburgh, a few blocks away from the station and four hours past our arrival tiime. Good Times!

Mid-morning in Hyde Park.

The gates of Buckingham Palace. I think the guard was opening for us...

The fountain and statue in front of Buckingham Palace.

All of us in front of Buckingham Palace

A tall dinosaur in the Natural History Museum.

A big T. Rex smiling for the camera.

A large animatronic T. Rex. Very cool!

The Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus.

Sophie pointing at some lady's nose!

All of us in a classic London location.

Big Isaiah and Little Ben.

The huge London Eye.

Looking over Big Ben and London from the Eye.

Kim enjoying her flight (NOT!)

Classic double decker shot. Not many of this style left in London. This one's for Steve and Mac!

James about to lose his head...

The Tower Bridge!

Sophie and Isaiah in front of the Tower of London.

The Big Pickle! Kim doesn't appreciate this beauty either!