A trip to London

For Tilda's 8th birthday, we went to London for 3 days (a 9 hr drive from Aberfeldy with Ian), to do a little sight seeing AND go to Harry Potter world at Warner Bros studios (which was a surprise birthday present!).  We had a great time discovering a little bit of London AND the Harry Potter 'experience' was fantastic!  There is SO much to do in London, a couple of days barely scratches the surface, but we got the hang of the buses and did a lot of walking.  I used Google maps to plot ourselves, which really helped get our bearings and re-familiarise myself with London.  And despite it's size and busyness we found Londoners friendly and helpful.  Would be happy to come back again, although stay a bit further out (tube so good) as Paddington apartment was small and expensive.

Ian was in London for work, so on Monday I took Tilda on a tour of a little bit of central London, focussing on locations that she's seen in movies (eg. 101 Dalmatians, Harry Potter and other shows), to make it more relevant and exciting for her.  We lucked it with a sunny morning and walked to Buckingham Palace and just happened upon the Change of the Guard, which was already a bit crowded but which we saw bits of.  Nothing too exciting really - the queens army band play and they march around a bit, but fun to just happen upon it since it only happens every 2 days.

Then we walked through St James park (101 Dalmatians) up to Trafalgar Square (Outnumbered), and popped into the National Art Gallery and b-lined it to the Van Gogh room to say hello to the paintings I used to visit regularly when I lived in London.  Fortunately Tilda likes art galleries too so she was happy to join me.  Lovely cafe there with good coffee!!  Yeah!!  First decent flat white in London!!!...

Then we did a part of a DIY mystery walking tour (brilliant online tour done by a dad - great!) of London streets tucked away off Leicester Square and Charing Cross Road that evoke a sense of Harry Potter, as well as some actual film locations.  Tilda enjoyed this.  So overall lots of walking!

On Tuesday, we went to Harry Potter world at Warner Bros (at Watford, outskirts of London).  It's basically a tour of the sets and behind the scenes art department, props etc, as well as fun interactive things for kids, like 'flying' a broomstick and sitting in the magical car etc.  It's a fantastic exhibition and we both loved it!!  Made me miss the film industry, and it really did come across from all the video interviews that this was a big 'family' and essentially the same crew working together for 10+ years.  Apparently the 1st AD couldn't say wrap on the last day of filming, he kept going off set to sob!

A bizarre thing happened on Tuesday morning...  as we were getting on the Tube at Paddington in peak hour commuter traffic, I bumped into the one person I know in London, Danny, an old (English) friend I knew in Sydney (I was going to text him that morning).  In a population of 8 million, we just bumped into eachother!!  He didn't even know I was in London at that point!  Bizarre hey!  We caught up at King Cross station the next morning before we caught our train to Scotland - a pleasant 4.5 hour express trip, beats doing it by car any day!!

Fiona had dinner and a cupcake with candle for Tilda, and we all sang a great rendition, with true operatic gusto, of Happy Birthday to her!

Dunskiag Cottage, Aberfeldy

We're enjoying our comfy warm cottage, Dunskiag, on the hillside just outside the lovely village of Aberfeldy.  We travelled up on Sunday - Fi, Mike and Angus travelled ahead, and Ian and Lachlan picked Tilda and I up en route from London - over the Forth Road Bridge up into the Perthshire region, and the foothills of the highlands.  
Today we have sunshine!  The Scottish landscape transforms in the sunlight, erupting into colour.  But even the cloud and light drizzle hasn't stopped us getting out each day for short walks up the hills or around nearby lochs - enjoyable in any weather.  
It's been a cool 4-8c most days, so alas no snow yet.  But today's clear skies have dropped the temperature to -0c this morning and very crisp underfoot.  Possibly flurry of snow forecast for tomorrow or Saturday.  Fingers crossed!

Vogrie Park

A short period of sun today so we drove to a nearby Vogrie country park with Fi, Finn-dog, and Tils.  Lovely grounds and excellent playground for kids.

I'm loving it here in Scotland - the light, the landscape, woods, architecture.  Even the cold.  It's rekindling a desire to try and live here for 6-12 months in the next few years. Tilda is feeling right at home too.  Not one complaint about cold, or any mention of missing home.

Happy Hogmanay!

Happy Hogmanay 2014!  Last night (30 Dec) we joined a few thousand people on the Torchlight Procession in Edinburgh.  This begins the 2 day Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh.  Tils and I met up with Fiona's friends and family (Katrina, Josh, Callam and Sarah) and walked from The Royal Mile (down the road from Edinburgh Castle) up the main street to Carlton Hill, where there were fireworks.  Everyone carries bees wax candles and when there are thousands it's quite a sight!  It was cold, but the weather held.  Got home by 10.30pm, after figuring out the bus route in Edinburgh (due to road diversions) and then missing our stop at Dalkeith.

New Years Eve has been a quiet one at home with Fiona, with a visit downstairs to Fi's sister Iona and hubby Gordon.

East Links Family Park - East Lothian

Yesterday, we spent the day at East Links Family Park at East Lothian (30km east of Fi's place, by the sea).  It was a beautiful blue sky day - very chilly, but no wind - perfect!  The family park is FANTASTIC!  I don't think we have anything like this in Sydney.  It has animals galore - all able to feed and pat - and a huge 4 level wooden play fort with ropes, slides, pedal go carts etc.  Tilda LOVED it!!  As we all did, as it's just as much fun for us big kids.  The beautiful day just topped it off.  This was Fi and Mike's first official big day out with Angus.  He was very accommodating and slept practically the whole time. 

Winter Wonderland - 28.12.2013

The Winter Wonderland in Edinburgh was magical!  It's a fair ground around Xmas/Hogmanay (New Year).  It's centred around Princess Gardens, just below the castle, and has an outdoor ice rink, German stalls (mulled wine and sausages), and a giant ferris wheel.  Dusk at 3.45pm it erupts into a mass of twinkling lights - it's everything new and novel about a northern winter/Xmas.  Such a wonderful contrast to a hot Sydney Xmas.  Over here, Xmas makes sense!  The ice rink with jazz playing felt like a scene from When Harry Met Sally in Central Park in New York - like a little filmic dream come true!   

We met up with Moira, Ian, and Lewis - Tilda and Lewis get on really well, and immediately resumed their friendship from our last visit (18 months ago).  They ice skated, then we rode on the ferris wheel way above Princess Street - magic!  It was very cold, but I love it!  With the hot wine, twinkling lights and decent cold weather gear on, it's wonderful.

Dalkeith

Today very dreich (cold, wet and windy).  But Fi, Tils, Angus, Finn (the dog) and I still ventured out for a walk to the Buccleuch Estate (in Dalkeith) - just down the road from Fi and Mike's house.  Here's a picture of it (the day before) in the sunshine with Tils.