on holiday
Aug. 31st, 2014 06:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird1Edinburgh!
My sister has been known to grumble about the weird British taps, and now I know why: it seems impossible to select both the water temperature and the water volume, simultaneously. You pick your favourite, and try to endure the other one.
We went to Edinburgh Castle yesterday, which was very cool. It's the first time I've seen a castle that has always (pre-museum) been a fully functioning thing, as opposed to being semi-ornamental, and it shows. Rather fascinating. It also afforded me the chance to drink my very first British cup of tea, which was as yummy as I was hoping.
The streets up to the castle could not be more clearly tourist-centric if they tried. If we wanted, we could have bought tartan (kilts, hats, bags, wellies, towels...) at twenty different shops. I was tempted, but refrained. The other standard souvenirs seem to be shortbread and whiskey. I even saw whiskey flavoured tea... which strikes me as slightly gross.
Today, we're going to Hopetoun House, where we will wander the grounds and have a traditional afternoon tea (scones and all), and then to Hadrian's Wall.
My sister has been known to grumble about the weird British taps, and now I know why: it seems impossible to select both the water temperature and the water volume, simultaneously. You pick your favourite, and try to endure the other one.
We went to Edinburgh Castle yesterday, which was very cool. It's the first time I've seen a castle that has always (pre-museum) been a fully functioning thing, as opposed to being semi-ornamental, and it shows. Rather fascinating. It also afforded me the chance to drink my very first British cup of tea, which was as yummy as I was hoping.
The streets up to the castle could not be more clearly tourist-centric if they tried. If we wanted, we could have bought tartan (kilts, hats, bags, wellies, towels...) at twenty different shops. I was tempted, but refrained. The other standard souvenirs seem to be shortbread and whiskey. I even saw whiskey flavoured tea... which strikes me as slightly gross.
Today, we're going to Hopetoun House, where we will wander the grounds and have a traditional afternoon tea (scones and all), and then to Hadrian's Wall.
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Date: 2014-08-31 05:32 am (UTC)Gabrielle
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Date: 2014-09-05 07:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 07:44 am (UTC)Tartans, whiskey and shortbread are definitely items being sold all over Scotland, I remember it well.
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Date: 2014-08-31 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 02:15 pm (UTC)Some hotel taps can be very odd - often you turn left and right to alter temperature, and tilt up or down to alter the flow rate. In real life most of us have separate taps, or mixers.
Whereabouts on The Wall are you going? My favourite bits are Chesters and Vindolanda, although Vindolanda is just off The Wall itself -Housesteads is good, too, but a bit over-visited!
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Date: 2014-09-05 07:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 04:39 pm (UTC)If you're still about and have walking feet, the two National Trust for Scotland things in Edinburgh are brilliant (and small, not overwhelming): the Georgian House in the New Town versus a tenement in the Old Town. It tells you a lot about how the city developed.