Lauren in London Edinburgh bar awards

We found a lovely bar in Edinburgh called The Voodoo Rooms. I don't really have any wacky anecdotes to relate about our visits (although Ted did spill an almost-full Kronenbourg there), but some sort of atmospheric photos are below. We found it completely by accident on our first night there, and then when we were back in town a few nights later we took our friends there for a pre-dinner drink. It's upstairs above another pub so it just looks like some stairs with non-existent signage.

I don't really approve of the name but the decor is excellent. Also they make Bloody Marys just how you like them, which for me is with lots of lemon and tabasco. You can the friendly bartender in the process of making one below.

So my award is a trifle unfair as we only visited this bar and Edinburgh's understated attempt at a goth bar, The Rose Tavern, but I still say this is the best bar in Edinburgh.

Things to look at

I am at about zero creativity right now after several very late nights at work. (Also, sitting at a desk for 14 hours a day is not what I would recommend for a cracked coccyx. Shocking, I know.)

I am pushing through the last bit of property law torture right now and am looking forward to tonight, when I will come home to my beloved couch and zone out for as long as possible.

In the meantime, here is a bit of Edinburgh Castle to look at.

Mons Meg, 15th century siege cannon. Not the sort of thing I would usually be excited about but it gave me a chance to do some arty photography with the frosty rock face in the foreground.
Ted in traditional posture, on the battlements


This is a 19th century cemetery for soldiers' and regimental mascot dogs.

The view to Arthur's Seat
I suspect that's it for me this week but next week I'll post some atmospheric Scottish countryside photos. Hold on to your hats!

In which I and other people spill things

A few months ago I had a pretty special night of dinner at The Landau* with The Boyfriend, our mutual friend who sort of introduced us (and was also one of the guilty parties in that unfortunate incident in Spain) and her parents, who were visiting from Brisbane. We had an amazing five courses along with a great deal of excellent wine.

We were presented with a welcome complimentary champagne when we sat down at the table. Unfortunately my stand out memory of the evening is alarmed waiters discreetly rushing over when my neighbour knocked her almost-full glass of champagne on to my lap. Even though I was, for once, not responsible for the spillage I felt bad about the way that the beautiful and probably heritage flute shattered on the floor. Luckily, the next course arrived to distract us with its deliciousness and the staff were left to (probably) grumble amongst themselves about those uncouth Australians who didn't order the set menu.

I then had to attend the dreaded work Christmas lunch a few weeks ago and was again plagued by falling glassware. Longtime readers will know I have not found many boon companions at my workplace and I only went along to the lunch this year because I wasn't quick enough to think of an excuse not to attend when I was asked directly whether I was coming. It's a bit hard to have convenient "other plans" when the lunch is held on a weekday, i.e. when I should be at work.

So first, the flustered waitress managed to spill half a bottle of red wine on the table as she was attempting to pour a glass for my neighbour. Because her clumsiness was accompanied by yelps of horror from the few onlookers, everyone who wasn't already looking turned to see what was happening, and it was then that I involuntarily held out my hand to help her... and somehow made it look as though I had spilled the wine. Silently accepting the blame seemed more graceful than loudly proclaiming that I didn't do it.

And then later in the meal, in a rare moment of animation while talking to my colleagues, I really did spill my own glass of wine. And then I slipped on some water while trying to clamber out of my seat (the pokey restaurant was so full we were placed on one side of a long table so that everytime someone needed to get up, everyone else had to slide out first). So I looked like a complete lush and/or klutz, which made my restraint with respect to actually drinking the wine that day completely pointless. Given that performance, and especially considering I'd resigned by this point, I may as well have gotten wasted and gone out in flames.

*Websites with annoying flash intros and music are second only to pop-up advertising as one of the scourges of the internet. The difference is that pop-ups are almost intentionally annoying - as long as they get your attention, their job is done. Lengthy flash intros, especially ones that don't give you the opportunity to skip them, are obviously supposed to be impressive - but really they're just a big waste of your web design dollars. Says me.