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Apr 2007 |
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April 2007
Sun 1 Apr
We both felt surprisingly decent this morning – had expected to feel far worse after last night’s drinking! I headed down for a late breakfast but the queue was too long and instead I got the £25 cost refunded to our credit card (let’s wait and see!) Our plan for today was to visit some more museums. Ness and I walked through smart Knightsbridge to the museums at South Kensington. We visited the Science Museum, where we hadn’t been for a long time, and took our time to explore the galleries. For some reason I got fascinated by the rather ordinary displays on heat and temperature and it took me ages to work my way past the display cabinets, while Ness was exploring elsewhere. We also explored some other areas, and had lunch at the smart futuristic café in the launch pad area, backed by a massive blue translucent wall. For dinner we returned to South Kensington, walking from our hotel, to which we had returned after our sightseeing, and went to Daquise, the old Polish restaurant we had been to many years ago when we first moved to London. It was pretty much the same place still, although perhaps smartened up a little. The cooking was excellent, uncomplicated but very tasty Polish fare – stuffed cabbage, potato pancakes, etc. Superb.
Mon 2 Apr
We got up early (my cold still getting worse), grabbed a bite of breakfast in the hotel and caught a cab to Victoria for the train down to East Croydon. Somehow it feels as if we’re finally completing our world trip now, completing the circle back to our starting point. East Croydon had an unpleasant atmosphere – probably much the same as when we lived there but we simply chose to not notice it, but it’s very different from central London. It certainly didn't prompt any feelings of nostalgia. I sometimes wish we had done things differently and that we had bought the flat in Comeragh Road to provide us with a platform for London living rather than move out towards the fringes of London. Still, we had some advantages too – a garden and more space than we would otherwise have had, and what’s done is done. We hopped on the tram, and walked the familiar route down Addisombe Court Road, little Heron Road connecting to Tunstall Road, and there was our old/current house, with its friendly yellow front door. We had both thought we might find this a slightly nostalgic experience, seeing what had been our home for eight years again, but instead we had quite a nasty experience, finding our old home dirty and unpleasant. What greeted us inside was no longer our home. It smelled differently (and rather unpleasantly), and the tenants had left it dirty, with cobwebs on the ceiling and grease marks in the kitchen, with unsightly Telewest broadband cabling. Gone were the warm terracotta walls in the lounge and cheerful yellow in the dining room, painted over in white, and the grass and borders in our small but pleasant garden had been left to run wild, and one of the windows of the garden shed had been broken, replaced with a bad bubblewrap repair. What a disappointment to see what used to be our home in this state. We made some calls, and the guys from James Removals were able to get into the shed despite the padlock that had been placed on it. Before long we were on our way again, leaving Tunstall Road behind. We were glad to leave Croydon again and our spirits lifted when we got back into the centre. We weren’t entirely sure what to do with the rest of the day, but my idea of visiting the Houses of Parliament gave us a purpose. Unfortunately it was closed, Easter recess. Instead we went to visit nearby Westminster Cathedral, and the audio guide took us a couple of hours to complete. Inside it was much more colourful, the chapels particularly, than I had expected. Definitely a place of history, like the Wawel in Krakow. Next we headed over to Buckingham Palace – only the Queen’s Gallery was open as the palace is only open to the public for a brief couple of weeks during the summer. The Queen’s Gallery had an exhibition on Italian baroque, not something either of us is particularly keen on but we still spend a fair amount of time in the exhibition. We returned to our hotel to collect our suitcase and then took a cab to Victoria again, and caught the Gatwick Express. On the train we overheard a young guy receive some good news – a job offer – and got chatting. He was clearly delighted and I could sympathise with him as I hope to be in the same position soon! We were very early for our flight, and made our way to the North terminal where we grabbed dinner at the Chez Gerard, tasty lamb steak for me and lamb burger for Ness. Both looking forward to getting back to North Berwick again. I was still full of cold, and couldn’t unpop my ears on the descent to Edinburgh. Ness drove us back North Berwick and we promptly crashed out in bed.
Tue 3 Apr
Still full of cold. Ness went out to buy some bread and cheese, and came back with kidneys as a bonus! (Tuesdays is kidneys day at Andersons) As I was slowly getting ready, Caldew called with “good news”: very positive feedback from IBM. It’s all heading in the right direction – fingers crossed! The morning flew by and at noon we went over the Halifax for our appointment with Betty, the mortgage adviser, who was very good at explaining the options. Back to our flat, soup for lunch (Midsomer Murders in the background, as usual), and afterwards Ness trooped upstairs to do some work, looking for reading to prepare to her Standard Life interview and going through the inventory and checkout report for Tunstall Road. We’re both very disappointed at how badly our house has been left – combination of the tenants not cleaning it properly before checking out and Townends, I suspect, doing very little “managing”. Later in the afternoon we went out for a short beach stroll – the light was absolutely beautiful, clear late afternoon sunshine lighting up the waves and lovely fresh air. We sat on the rocks by the harbour for while just soaking it all up for a while and then returned to the flat. Chili for dinner, Ness called Caz, and we watched Da Vinci Code on DVD.
Wed 4 Apr
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Thu 5 Apr
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Fri 6 Apr
I did the shopping for next week, taking a long time to do a big Sainsbury’s shop and getting mixed up with where to get refill printer cartridges from (drove to Haddington, but should’ve just gone to PC World) – anyway, it was late in the day by the time I got back home. Ness had spent most of the day reading and preparing for her interview with Standard Life next week.
Sat 7 Apr
Caz, Andy, Joe, Ben and Bud arrived today, reaching us late in the afternoon, after a six hour drive up from Scarborough. Ness and I spent most of the day getting the flat and rooms ready.
Sun 8 Apr
Andy couldn’t resist doing the Law first thing, while we were still enjoying a lie-in. We went for a walk along the beach.
Mon 9 Apr
All out for a beach walk out at Ravensheugh Sands, beautiful and very windy. In the afternoon we went to the races at Musselburgh and all managed to get a couple of wins in, a very pleasant afternoon.
Tue 10 Apr
Caz and Andy got up very early, Caz driving Andy to the airport for his flight to Amsterdam – he’s on a training course in Lelystad this week. Later we went out to the Museum of Flight today, to see Concorde. While we were there I received a phone call from Tara Gill from IBM, making me a verbal offer – yesss!!! Not only that, but it was at a higher salary than I had expected and pitched for. What a relief, finally, finally the job hunt is at an end and this is the catalyst for all the other elements of our lives that we need to sort out – house first and foremost. Naturally I was over the moon, as were Ness and Caz, and Joe and Ben were happy for me too, if a little puzzled. We continued our visit to the Museum of Flight, going into Concorde – third time for Ness and me. I had more phone calls that afternoon, with Caldew – the agency “involved”. It turned into a very good day and in the evening we celebrated with a glass of bubbly.
Wed 11 Apr
In the afternoon, I had my telephone interview with Sabrina Wagner from HP in Germany. The interview was a comparative cake-walk. I mentioned I had received an offer from IBM and this certainly expedited matters. The interview almost felt like a formality. Big ego-boost naturally, and only sensible not to discount anything until I get confirmation of the IBM offer.
Thu 12 Apr
Ness had her interview with Standard Life this afternoon, and spent the early morning doing some more preparation and reading. Meanwhile I went for a walk up with Law with Caz, Joe and Bud (Ben preferring to slouch in front of the tv). It was sunny but a bit hazy, and a lovely walk up to the top, where we could see the makeshift imitation whale jawbone, a bit of plastic tubing. In the afternoon we drove into town, Ness now dressed in a smart blue office suit and looking the part. We dropped Ness off near the Standard Life office on Brandon Street, in the New Town. Caz, Joe, Ben and I then parked on George Street, finding a “little German” (i.e. parking space just vacated), and visited Waterstone’s, then doing some half-hearted shopping on Princes Street, and then Caz and I plonked on a bench with an ice-cream while the boys did a bit more shopping. We wrapped up with a drink at Tiles, on St. Andrew Square – I couldn’t think of anywhere suitable to go and sat outside Tiles with the traffic whizzing by in the middle of the rush hour wasn’t the best spot, certainly not with the boys. Then it was time to go and pick up Ness who had called to say she had finished her interview. We drove to Brandon Street, and Ness seemed pretty positive about the interview, so hopefully that’ll lead to something. We drove straight home, back to North Berwick. It was sunny and bright, and we decided to have a beach barbecue for dinner, so stopped at Somerfield to get some essentials. It turned into a memorable evening, exactly the sort of uncomplicated evening I had imagined. We found a good spot among the rocks, the wind was very light, we got a successful camp fire going and the braai and grill provided perfect service for cooking the lorne sausage and lamb steaks. Glad I had insisted on taking our yellow paraffin lamp (which Ness and Caz had joked about earlier) as it was very dark by the time we had finished our meal. Joe was on ball-throwing duty to keep Bud entertained, while Ben tucked into the food. Caz commented the next day how this must have been one of the most enjoyable and memorable evenings of her life – great praise indeed. An idyllic evening.
Fri 13 Apr
The haar was still dense and obscured everything except the closest buildings along the street. Caz took Bud for his morning beach run. Plan for the day was to do city sightseeing and Caz had arranged for a dog-sitter, the doggie-day-care number Ness had dug up, who came round at 9am (or was it 10?) to collect Bud. I was amazed how easily and effortlessly she established an immediate rapport with Bud, who meekly trotted along and followed her. All showered and dressed we drove into town and first visited the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, in a smart part of town (Bruntsfield), housed in a neoclassical stone building surrounded by elegant gardens. The museum had a nice collection, a variety of pieces, from abstract installation art to more conventional pieces, and a sculpture garden. We grabbed a bite of lunch in the museum’s garden café and then headed into the centre, parking on Market Street, near The Mound. Edinburgh, like North Berwick, was covered by dense cold mist. We took a look at the Royal Mile and visited the National Museum of Scotland, Scotland’s equivalent of the British Museum, housed in an imaginative building, connecting old and new, with all sorts of surprising angles and perspectives inside. The range of exhibits and topics was wide and varied and we just mooched around a bit in the sections on Industry and Empire, but it was clear that after a while we had all reached our fill and it was getting towards the time when Andy would be arriving at Waverley station. In fact he called as we were making our way there, and not long afterwards met up with him (bit of misunderstanding about where to meet but soon sorted), and went for another stroll along the Royal Mile, up to Castle Hill, the area in front of the castle, and then back down – Caz and I walked while the others went in the car and we met up again on George Street. Andy was keen to go for a drink on Rose Street – he had been told by someone it was the place to go in Edinburgh – and had a quick drink in a Rose Street boozer, before getting in the car and heading back to North Berwick, stopping off to collect a meek and relaxed Bud along the way. The haar still enveloped North Berwick. At home we had a tasty (but “down-chillied”) beef rendang with nasi goreng.
Sat 14 Apr
From 10am I started trying to get through the booking telephone line for the Edinburgh International Festival. Two and a half hours later we got through and managed to book tickets for all the events we want to go and see. In the meantime Caz & co got themselves packed up and ready and left us around 11am to drive back to Scarborough. Ness got a call from Townends with an offer for our house in Croydon at our cut-off figure, another bit of good news. After booking the tickets I had just enough time to make it over to the yacht club for the afternoon’s dinghy racing as I’m fulfilling the serious role of “AOOD” this afternoon. The haar has continued to linger but it was on the cusp of dissipating. With Bill and Grace Roberts, and most of those who had turned out for the sailing, I stood on the rocks at the harbour, while Bill was trying to decide whether to call the race off or not. Eventually it was decided to race at 14.30, but the OOD was going to lead the boats round the course – i.e. I needed to get myself a lifejacket to join them, but not finding anything that could fit me I ended up watching the races from the rocks while the others were on the water. I had popped back to drop of my rucksack and everything else, finding Ness cleaning the flat After watching a part of the first race I decided to call it a day and head home, but couldn’t get in without keys, and Ness was either out or couldn’t hear the bell, so I ended up going back to the harbour after all. Later I tried again and met Ness halfway, and we then went over to the yacht club where we met Bill, Grace and the others, and had a coffee upstairs, watching Bill work out the positions. We stopped off for a drink at the AH on the way back. At home I called Mama to tell her about my IBM offer and we had a tasty dinner of steak and fried potatoes, and watched Batman Begins, cuddled up under blankets on the settees.
Sun 15 Apr
Nice lazy Sunday morning, lie-in, slow breakfast, perusing the IBM offer, watching the Bahrain Grand Prix. We drove to Ocean Terminal to see Wild Hogs at the cinema, taking a little box of snacks and bottle of water (which spilled all over my rucksack and phone). Afterwards straight back to North Berwick, and we had a Cosmo’s pizza and salad for dinner while we watched Batman Begins on DVD again (fell asleep last night).
Mon 16 Apr
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Tue 17 Apr
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Wed 18 Apr
After a day of dealing with errands and some house-hunting (none suitable), in the early evening we drove into Edinburgh, to smart Morningside with its imposing stone houses and leafy lanes, to go to the cinema, to the Dominion cinema – Gold Class. We were early and had enough time to have a glass of wine and G&T in the cosy bar downstairs, and ordered some cappucino’s to take in with us. We had gone for the plush reclining seats, and you got a free small tube of Pringles. The film itself was excellent, George Clooney & Steve Soderbergh’s The Good German, a superb film noir in the best traditions, even shot in the style of the period, down to the “special effects” and camera angles, as well as the dialogue and everything about it. Afterwards we went for a curry at the local curry house, a Nepalese. To remember, lots of smart furniture shops in this part of town.
Thu 19 Apr
Started the day with our “traditional” beach walk to “Tea Rock” (with flask of tea). A pretty busy day, dealing with “stuff” – e.g. sorting out Harburton accounts, to close the company down now that it is no longer needed as my contracting vehicle, checking on where my medical record might have got to (after registering with the practice last November they still haven’t got my details – and Ness’s were only received in February!), sorting out a reference for IBM, and so on. We also headed into Edinburgh for some shopping as I could do with some more shirts for work, and Ness was going for a haircut. We split up and I walked across St. Andrews Square to George Street, passing IBM’s office on the corner of St. Andrews Square – a smart stone building with character (from the outside…) and in a superb location, although it’ll be interesting to see how often I actually get to see its inside! In the evening, tasty lamb meatballs with couscous and roast Mediterranean veggies, with the magic ingredient, Ness’s preserved lemons. We have decided on a short break before I start work, and having cast around for ideas (last minute Mediterranean, etc.) have come up with the inspired – hopefully – idea of going to the Wadden Islands along the north coast of the Netherlands, for some sand, sea, fresh air and cycling!
Fri 20 Apr
Fried kidneys for breakfast, dee-lish! Afterwards we had a frantic morning sorting out “stuff” before we could be on our way to Holland for a week. Ferry tickets booked yesterday and confirmed this morning, hotel booked yesterday, all set. In the past couple of days Ness has finally made some progress with the health board and various organisations/individuals involved (the Brits and their health “system”…) and has been receiving correspondence from various quarters about funding for primary lymphodaema treatment, which has for some reason not been recognised by the local health authorities as something that requires/deserves treatment. I find it all very puzzling, but am glad Ness is making some progress with it. We completed our essential chores, packed the car and set of for Newcastle. Ness drove while I called local estate agents/solicitors to register. It’s clear you need to get on the inside track to find out about desirable properties as they are about to come on the market. We trundled on through Northumberland and got to Newcastle ferry terminal in good time. We queued and boarded the DFDS ferry, the King of Scandinavia, and settled into our comfortable cabin (“standard outside”). I was in need of a kip (already stole forty winks while queuing) and got into the comfy upper bunk while Ness went to sort out entertainment (film – Notes on a Scandal) and dinner (themed night in the posh restaurant – “Arabian Nights”). When Ness came back I got up and we went out for a walkabout, a drink, the film and followed by dinner. On board was the usual complement of rowdy/drunk/eager to get drunk working class Brits, various stag-/hen-/booze-cruise parties. When we asked the waiter in the restaurant whether it (the restaurant) was usually so quiet he summarised it very effectively – he basically told us the ship was on a “British trip”, leaving Britain on the Friday and returning at the end of the weekend, as opposed to its sister ship, the Queen of Scandinavia, which this weekend was on the “Dutch/Continental trip”, the other way round – the two ships swap over every other week. So the waiter summarised it by saying that on a “British trip” the restaurants are empty and the bars are busy, whereas on the “Continental trip” it’s the other way round. Our “bunks” were very comfortable and we nodded off easily, lulled to sleep by the motion of the ferry as it corkscrewed gently through the waves.
Sat 21 Apr
Excellent night’s sleep, if a little hot (thick duvet). Soon after breakfast we were coming into IJmuiden, with it’s landscape of industrial “hoogovens”. It took a long time to disembark, mainly because there were some smart new digging machines, destined for Slovenia I think the signs said, that had to be unloaded first. But then we were on our way, driving from IJmuiden north towards Alkmaar and beyond to Den Helder for the ferry across to the island of Texel (“Tessel”). We made a stop in Alkmaar, to get some euros out of a cashpoint but also to take the chance for a brief walk around. We parked in a car park near the kaasmarkt, and strolled through the shopping streets. Good to be back in the Netherlands again – even though I have never actually lived here it does feel like home, much more so than either Belgium or the UK, the two countries where I have lived for roughly twenty years in each case. Anyway, Alkmaar looked glorious in the clear sunshine, and there was an unhurried relaxed atmosphere about the place. No hordes of tourists either, just a few here & there. We stopped for a “kopje koffie” and “appeltaart” at a café with decking on a bridge across one of the canals. We drove on, passing through some tulipfields in full bloom, which I have never seen before, with bright strips of yellow, red, purple, fields of colourful tulips. We had a Uruguay-style picnic lunch (i.e. out of the back of the car while parked up along the side of the road), and then drove on to Den Helder where we joined the queue for the next ferry. A short little hop across to Texel (“Tessel”), the first and largest Wadden island. Th |