Back in NYC

A conversation with Michele has put new purpose back into my blogging. Well getting back into it is the idea. We were talking about a reminder of an event and she had looked back at her blog and realized that it was around this time that our new kitchen was installed in 2011. Then she had looked at other things happening over the past couple of years.
I've been thinking about that conversation and since thought that I really should get some retrospective use of my photos and my blog so hopefully I'll be able and inspired to continue to do this and get things up on here.

Some of my fellow commuters

Having returned from the USVI I've spent a couple of days writing for work and it was the day to go and present some of the writing to the school. This journey involved a trip on the J train which goes over the Williamsburg Bridge. Great views down the river on the Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridges. All around me people were on their phones reading playing games and chatting to someone. I watched one woman who was holding her phone to her ear and I wasn't sure if someone was on the other end of the line as she was talking very quietly and chewing gum so it appeared she was talking constantly. This made me think (again) that some of those people one sees on the streets of NYC who are always talking to the voices they hear only need to hold a phone to their ear or even just have one of the blue tooth things in their ears to fit into the city people-scape.

I stopped off at 34th street and heading to the office from the N train. This bridge between buildings caught my eye. I've since looked it up and found the follwoing on the "Forgotten New York" website
Filigree and decoration like this would be deemed unnecessary, ostentatious and needlessly expensive in ensuing decades. Since 1925, when the overpass was built, inter-building bridges have gotten ever more utilitarian and boring.
But, when Gimbels’ Department Store, Macy’s great rival, decided to bridge West 32nd Street at its 6th Avenue flagship, they hired the Shreve and Lamb architectural firm. A few years later, the same firm designed the Empire State, the King of All Buildings.

I needed to get some pages printed off for the house purchase. A simple matter one would think however for who knows what reason the US still use feet and inches and also has paper sizes that no one else in the world uses. So having something printed on A4 was an issue. However I found via the web a  place where I just emailed my attachments and they printed them off on A4 paper (or perhaps they cut some paper down who knows).
I could have had the pages sent back to me but i chose to walk to 55th and Lex. A pleasant day to enjoy the sights and sounds of the city.
The difference in walking around the city during the working week is that there are so many more food trucks out offering a huge array of "cuisines". The "Halal Guys" have two carts on either side of the corner of 53rd and 6th. The queues are always long- apart from anything else i couldn't be bothered with the queue. I found a review/comment online about it....

The yellow umbrella is the food cart

 As it accompanies all places that are super hyped, I was bracing myself for some disappointment. It was a little cart at the corner of an intersection, and the line was short: only about half a block long. My friend got me a classic chicken and rice bowl, which was basically.. a bowl with chicken and rice. Nothing more nothing less, exactly what the name implies. After I got my bowl, I was instructed to a section devoted to the sauces. There was a thick white sauce, and a lighter red sauce. Do not be fooled by this "lighter" red sauce. It is one of the spiciest sauces I've ever put on anything ever.

I think the white sauce is where the money's at for this place. It is a mayonnaise-based sauce that is simply delicious with the food in your bowl. Most people drench their bowl in this sauce, and I followed suit. I have to admit, the seemingly mediocre bowl of chicken and rice suddenly tasted unique and delicious. However, I think the bottom line is that this place depends 100% on their white sauce, while their rice and chicken is nothing special. Still not a bad deal for like 6 bucks, and they give you a lot! Overall, these places never live up to their hype, but I think Halal Guys comes pretty close. It is a place you definitely want to check out if you're in the area.

From Dornie to Oban

 We left Dornie after the B&B baked goods breakfast. We drove in the opposite direction from our end of day destination as we wanted to visit the village of Plockton.

Winding narrow roads and little villages and thirty minutes later we were in Plockton.

We had settled on going there because of its name more than anything. We read that it was a pretty little place and then we heard of some of its fame.

 The village is a popular tourist resort, especially because the TV series Hamish Macbeth, starring Robert Carlyle, was filmed there, substituting for the fictional Lochdubh. Plockton was also used for various scenes in the film The Wicker Man and the Inspector Alleyn Mysteries TV series.

We saw some small yachts on the water and spoke with a local about the sailing class that was going on. Young kids learning to sail in such a safe and picturesque environment.

We drove much of the morning and early afternoon arriving at Lochnell Hotel and booking in early enough to enjoy the vistas.

Reflections

 Having spent a day thoroughly enjoying the sights of Skye we retired to our room at the B&B and i was doing a little work, glancing up I noticed how the light had changed.
We rushed out with our cameras and drove to various points in and around the castle and were lucky enough to reflect on the castle beauty and the late evening light.

 As one of the most iconic images of Scotland, Eilean Donan Castle is recognised all around the world. Situated on an island at the point where three great sea lochs meet, and surrounded by some majestic scenery, it is little wonder that the castle is now one of the most visited and important attractions in the Scottish highlands.

 Although first inhabited around the 6th century, the first fortified castle was built in the mid 13th century and stood guard over the lands of Kintail. Since then, at least four different versions of the castle have been built and re-built as the feudal history of Scotland unfolded through the centuries.

Dornie (Scottish Gaelic: An Dòrnaidh ) is a small former fishing village in the Kintail district in western Ross-shire Highlands of Scotland, with a population of 360 (2006 census [1]). Dornie
It is near the meeting point of Loch Duich, Loch Alsh and Loch Long.

First day out of town

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Our blue and silver Audi took a little while to collect due to the loooong line at the car hire place.

But it was worth the wait and we headed south to  Melrose a lovely little village with lots to see.

 Our first pub lunch for this trip. The women beside us had ordered a "healthy sald"- they were huge serves. Fortunately we ordered a sandwich which was a truly delicious meal and sufficient- so glad we didn't get a huge plate of food.

 Melrose Abbey is said to be the burial place of the heart of Robert the Bruce.
The abbey was founded by Cistercian monks and has a long and fascinating history spanning from the 12th century.

 Perhaps the first of the gardens for this trip

Day two- Edinburgh

 A delightful long visit to the National Portrait gallery.
I do love a good portrait gallery. i think it humanizes so much of the history of places and you get such a good potted history by seeing those of significance from the country.
Amazing contributions the Scots have made to the world and then equally interesting stands taken by different people.

In the library there were some fascinating "death masks". The rationale for doing these and then displaying them was beyond me

It wasn't until we explored the murals and portraits in this beautiful building that it occurred to me that of course murals are portraits of people.
Malcolm the Maiden was a tad fascinating title.

The ceiling of the hall was equally as glorious.

John Byrne's exhibition Sitting Ducks.
John Byrne was born on 6th of January 1940 in Paisley, birthplace of Alexander Wilson, Father of American Ornithology. He grew up in Ferguslie Park housing scheme - at the time pretty much the worst slum in Europe and was educated at the city's St Mirin's Academy. He quit school in Fifth Year, prior to sitting his 'Highers' and, having failed to secure a job painting cinema posters with Mr Brown, Paisley's only commercial artist, started work as a ‘slab boy’ mixing powder colour for the designers at A F Stoddard, carpet manufacturers in nearby Elderslie.  His work is held in major collections in Scotland and abroad. Several of his paintings hang in The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, the museum of Modern Art and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. 

In 2001 he was awarded an MBE in the Queen's birthday honours list for services to literature and the theatre but returned it in protest at the British Government's joining forces with the US Administration's invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. 

In 2004 he was made an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy and a full member in 2007.

Byrne is an Honorary Fellow of the GSA, the RIAS, an Honorary Member of the RGI and has Honorary Doctorships from the universities of Paisley, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Strathclyde. 

Unfortunately the catalogue of his work was not available, yet, but what an incredible artist. Loved loved loved his work. 

Strolling along we walked past the coffee shop where JK Rowling sat and wrote  the Harry Potter books

I wasn't going to but had to photograph Greyfriars Bobby

We walked around the corner to the church yard where Michele said "this is the kirkyard wherein I fell on my bum".
A little inspiration from the great writers we had been seeing blended with a nasty experience from a few days prior when the combination of rounded marble pillar and slippery pants and impossible footing resulted in her slipping off the pillar and landing upon the ground all done without an audience, or injury.

The Power of Ten exhibition at the Museum of Scotland was about John Napier the "inventor of logarithms.

Who'd have thought!

Day one Edinburgh!

 It was a bit of a flurry leaving NYC for the start of the journey.
The choices of places to travel to have been decided by a range of factors
 Michele's biennial Infant Mental Health conference in Edinburgh
the cruise of the Baltic for Anne Marie's birthday
the trip to Burgundy for Sharan's birthday- I'm not complaining mind you :)

 An overnight flight to Edinburgh from NYC- note to self make sure you notify the bank that you are going to be accessing your account- luckily I had enough USD to get the taxi into the hotel Michele was staying at.

Even though it was 11am here my body was saying you have only had at most 4 hours sleep and it is 6am and you've been awake far too long I still headed out on the trek. First to the Edinburgh Art Centre which was a lovely artistic start and view of both art in Scotland but also of the city itself and some "coverage" of history.

We walked round and round the centre of the city. Part of the round and round was in search of a pharmacy looking for sunscreen. The last thing I thought of needing in Scotland and the last thing the Scots thought we'd need too :). 19C & 20C temperatures and they are complaining of the heat. 

Grassmarket provided a little respite from the walking- steps and hills.

Looking down to Grassmarket from a a different nearby angle.

The cliffs!