Averagely Adventurous

I figure now is as good a time as any to write considering I cannot speak. I woke up on Christmas Eve with a sore throat that I tried to will away, but now it is Christmas morning, and I have no voice. Despite this, I feel extremely happy and grateful this Christmas. After months and months (eight to be exact) I finally landed a job. I remember finishing my final term paper back in April and filling out a job application right away. I thought I'd hear back right away but I learned as time went on, that the job market in Glasgow was rough at the moment. My searches were becoming wider in field and in location. I rearranged my resume a few times, changed my answers on many applications, just hoping to find the right combination of the ideal candidate. But something else I noticed, after a few (hundred?) applications, was that unlike in The States, all these job listings seemed to come from recruiters. Companies were hiding behind them, so half the time I could not tell salary, lo...

Last Sunday, the Christmas trees arrived at our local stores.  Pedro and I had already discussed that we wanted a real tree this year (our first), so we knew we'd be picking it out this weekend.  I lobbied for one short enough to reach the top, and we ended up with the perfect fraser fir. We got it from our favorite florist, Hyacinth House.  I've been walking by all week and loving the smell.  On the way to get groceries, we browsed their big selection.  I think we ended up getting the first one we saw, a 6ft fraser fir that was thick and chunky! The shop owner wrapped it up and set it aside for us, along with stand, so we could pick it up on our way back home.  Pedro did a quick lift test, since we don't have a car, and was confident he could carry it home no problem.  After our shopping, discussing lights and decorations along the way, we made our way back to Hyacinth.  I took our grocery cart and bags with the tree stand, and Pedro hauled the t...

 It's still a month away from official 'winter' but Pedro and I are already feeling it.  Now that the time has changed, the sun is gone by 4pm and the temperatures dip into freezing.  We've learned that winter is usually the rainiest season as well.  Besides the west coast being the wetter part of Scotland, now that it is getting later in the year, you can almost guarantee rain once a day.  Which is why whenever it is sunny, Pedro encourages us (or when he has to go to school, just me) to go out to a park or somewhere to enjoy the weather and take some nice photos.  Yesterday was one of those days.  We could see patches of blue sky and it hadn't rained yet.  Pedro had to go to the school but shooed me out of the house to enjoy the day.  I decided on Dawsholm Park to visit the cows, because, well, cows.  I grabbed all my gear, including the rare tripod and set out.  It was only 1p when the 'golden hour' sunlight was streaming through...

Today we had nothing planned but tea and pastries, and Pedro got to come along for the ride since it was Sunday.  We had our order in at Beefcake (which doesn't open until 10a), so we had a nice lie in to start the day.  Since we were having tea and cakes later, we had most of our pastries to go and enjoyed some coffee and hot breakfast there. We went back to the flat, where my mom checked into her flight and ordered a taxi for the morning. I reserved us a spot for afternoon tea at the Hidden Lane Tearoom at 1p.  It was aptly named, as it took us a couple wrong turns to find it, but it was a very cute spot.  We had our choice of loose-leaf tea and were brought one of each of assorted desserts and mini sandwiched. It was very good, and the whole aesthetic was delightful.   Leaving the tearoom, we had our little takeaway boxes in hand as we window shopped on the way back to the train station. One more souvenir for my mom and a new dress for me, and we headed ...

 Today we'd finally get a day with Pedro along for the adventure! We started early, because we already knew the rail strikes may cause disruptions, getting to the Anniesland station in the hopes of getting on an earlier train to Queen Street. Funny enough, the earlier train was cancelled, and ours was late so we got an earlier train that arrived when our should have. Either way we made it to our Edinburgh train in time. Throughout the journey, it was steadily getting foggier and foggier. At the Edinburgh Waverly Station, we all grabbed coffee and headed to the first stop, Calton Hill. Pedro and I kept saying things like, "Here is where you would see ___" because the fog was so dense you couldn't see the famous structures in the distance.  Unfortunately, that also meant the views from Calton Hill were a bust. Pedro did pull up his photos from when his brother was here for comparison, and I feel like I need to do the same here for effect.  This raven kept cawing at us...

Today was another chill and relaxed day, since we had such a long day yesterday and will have a lot of walking to do in Edinburgh tomorrow.  We got up around 9am and got ready to go out for breakfast.  Pedro and I had planned to take my mom to Beefcake Cafe, but they were closed! We were so sad until I saw they would be open Saturday and Sunday.  So, we put in our order for Sunday and decided to go to Annie's Coffee House instead.  We could see the tattoo shop across the street where we got our tattoos and decided to pop in to see if they could fix my mom's tattoo before she had to leave for The States.  She had bled so much that the artist missed a little line on her design, so she just needed a tiny touch up, and they were kind enough to do it really quick.   We took the train to High St, heading for the Necropolis, enjoying a bit of rare sunshine (though it doesn't look it in the photos).   When we entered the Cathedral, the organ was play...