Hogmanay 2007 - Fireballs in Stonehaven - 31/12/2007

To celebrate Hogmanay and belated Christmas, Brian took me to Stonehaven to catch up with his family and chase away the bad spirits of 2007 at the Fireballs.

Still suffering from the flu, we waited to the 31st to make the journey north, opting instead to sleep through most of the period of the 27-30 Dec in hopes of recovery. It helped somewhat -- most of the congestion was gone by then and both of us were hacking often enough that we turned it into a bit of a competition. Being out in the cold for Hogmanay wasn't the most sensible thing we could have done.

The wikipedia page for Hogmanay mentions the Stonehaven Fireballs in reasonable detail. Brian and I had a handful of bad spirits to chase away. We joined Brian's sister, her boyfriend and her friend Jill and I think we met up with some other people that they knew at the Fireballs procession, which began promptly at midnight. The basic tradition is that wire balls are filled with flammable things, lit and swung overhead by nominated Fireball swingers as they walk up and down the High Street. At the end of the burning, the remnants are chucked into the harbour and the bad spirits of 2007 are chased away. Fireworks and First Footing follow.

We first footed Rod's granny and I guess his mum, too, though she and Ken were asleep after a good night of dancing in the New Year.

On New Year's Day, everybody gathered at Brian's mum's house for a big meal, more drink and much merriment. Ron and Arshiya phoned from Rome and spoke to a mostly asleep Brian. He doesn't remember much of the conversation. We returned to Edinburgh at a leisurely pace the next day.

At the stroke of midnight, the procession of Fireball swingers made their way down the street. Apparently, we were among a crowd of 12000 that gathered to watch the procession and chase away our evil spirits of 2007.

Ahhh, the sweet smells of tar and kerosene.

Even with the barricades, some of the fireballs swung a bit too close to comfort.

The Fireballs offered a great opportunity to fiddle with my camera. Most of my photos were taken with the "fireworks" setting. This one was taken with the "available light" setting.

New Jersey - 12/2007

When we weren't gallivanting around Nashville, Philadelphia and New York, we spent some quality time with my family and especially my sweet little puppy in the burbs of New Jersey. Brian and my puppy played epic games of fetch the stick in his yard, where my dog savaged him with slobber. Indoors, MacCool was more interested in trying to kiss Brian's scruffy chin. In addition to quality puppy and family time, we saw Will Smith frolic with the zombies in New York in I am Legend. And we spent way too much time in a car on Christmas to share the flu with my extended family.

My sweet little puppy was all wound up with anxiety the day that we left and it was impossible to take a picture of him looking at the camera. Oddly enough, he didn't care when my dad carried the suitcases out to the car. Us putting our coats on? No such luck. I was very sad to say good bye.

New York, New York - 21/12/2007 - 24/12/2007

Brian and I spent the second weekend of our trip in New York! In my list of homes, New York is at the top. I consider it home for ancestral reasons -- I was born there, as were my parents. I'm always happy to spend time there and I was even more excited for a long weekend there.

The first half of the trip was excellent. Our hotel room in midtown sort of overlooked Times Square and the other taller buildings around. We enjoyed a wander around the city, visiting Grand Central Station, Fifth Avenue before the glut (and only during the rush) of shoppers, Rockafeller Center and St Patrick's Cathedral before catching up with Alane for a few off-the-beaten-track sites in Greenwich Village and the East Village. After dinner at a vegan cafe called Angelica's, we caught a show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. The group was the Stepfathers and they were ok but not spectacular. I finished my Christmas shopping at Macy's also before the glut of shoppers. Thank you 24 hour shopping, even if it is retail hell.

Saturday day was wet and foggy. Our plans for seeing New York from the top of the Empire State Building were thwarted. We wandered more of the city, saw the city from the Top of the Rock, which wasn't as bad as the Empire State Building. We took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on a free harbour cruise. Lady Liberty was easy to find but Ellis Island wasn't nearly so bright to see. I could make it out on the return cruise.

Saturday night began the unfortunate part of our Christmas holiday. I got a sore throat which became the flu for both of us by Sunday morning. We spent Sunday in bed hoping to ward it off but to no avail. We slept and watched lots of rubbish TV that I don't remember. Mercifully.

Monday morning, we were due to head back to the burbs but first took advantage of the break in the weather for a clear trip up the Empire State Building. Sniffling and hacking, unfortunately, but we did get to commune with some brave pigeons up there and tell the fake photographers to leave us alone. After a trip to B&H Photo, we caught the express train to NJ where my father got to drive the plague wagon home. We went back to bed to continue our efforts to sleep it off, but unfortunately not quickly enough. We still have a lot left to see of New York, but return trips are inevitable.

The big tree at Rockafeller Center

Brian and the United Nations Security Council chamber

United Nations General Assembly

A foggy Empire State Building and midtown Manhattan, as viewed from the observation deck at the Top of the Rock, Rockafeller Center

Brian's photo of a brave pigeon atop the Empire State Building, with Queens (Long Island City) in the background

Midtown Manhattan and Central Park, as viewed from the observation deck of the Empire State Building

The Rocky Run and Our Philadelphia Story - 20/12/2007

The plan was to meet Jeanne in Philadelphia in the evening so we made a day of seeing its touristy side. Brian and I took PATCO, which seemed no different from my high school days, unfortunately, across the river to 8th & Market and headed toward the old stuff. We saw the Constitution Center, Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We thought the Constitution might be at the Constitution Center, so we went there first. It wasn't. They had a copy of the Constitution that appeared in a newspaper, which was pretty cool. The Center's Ipod tour was a bit annoying. I got yelled at by the security guy for taking a bad camera phone photo of Brian taking the oath of office to be the next US President. Sadly, we have no evidence, so the election nonsense continues full bore. We had a chatty tour guide in Independence Hall who made Brian envy his job ("I want a job like this. I could rant!"). Sadly, we missed the actual "official" Constitution because the building shut just after our tour ended.

We met Jeanne at her hotel and went for a four mile out and back run from there to the riverfront and up to the Art Museum. She and I both fiddled with gadgets that took their time to find their satellites as we ran. We reached the Art Museum and did a lap looking for the famous steps. You know the ones. Sylvester Stallone aka Rocky Balboa has his famous training montage that culminates with a run up the Art Museum steps to the tune of "Gonna Fly Now".

The wikipedia article breezes through the squabble of where to put 1900lbs of bronze Rocky. The Art Museum didn't want him. I think City Hall was supposed to get him, but they didn't want him. The Art Commission said it was a movie prop, not art. Rocky lived outside the Spectrum for a while and made another temporary reappearance at the Art Museum for another of the sequels before returning finally to a permanent home beside the steps and behind a reasonable amount of foliage.

We celebrated prematurely with Rocky and then made the famous run up the steps, celebrated again with the view and ran back to the hotel. We had a nice dinner at a Mexican place that unfortunately had limited vegetarian options. Unfortunately early flights and trains meant we had to say our good byes. The next morning, Jeanne had to get home and we had a play date with my puppy before heading to New York.

Brian, Rocky and I pose outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art before running the famous steps. Er, well, Brian and I ran them. Rocky continued to guard the semi-hidden corner where the Art Museum put him. Thanks to Jeanne for the photo, and for carrying the camera!

Jeanne, Rocky and I celebrate our triumph! Photo credit to Brian, with Jeanne's camera.

Viva Nashvegas! - 14/12/2007 - 17/12/2007

I have to admit, I miss Nashville and especially my friends in Nashville. Brian and I spent our first weekend of our big US trip in the unseasonably cold South. Beth and Henry were kind to offer a roof over our heads and a dinner party Saturday night. The rest sort of worked itself out.

Not a big surprise for Continental or Newark, we were off to a late start with an hour or so delay getting to Nashville. We arrived to Beth and Henry's after their bedtime and were welcomed by all, including Suzy and a bigger and more vocal Spooky. The next morning, shy Spooky overcame his bashfulness for a biscuit. Every dog has his weakness.

With bad weather, Brian and I decided to show him Nashville's touristy side. We headed for downtown, a place I hadn't visited since Sarynna and Chase got married in December 2004 and insisted on honkytonk wedding pictures. Let's just say that Brian can now use the word honkytonk in a sentence, too. We had drinks and listened to country music at The Stage and Layla's Bluegrass Inn. Much to my (and the bartenders') entertainment, Brian attempted to order high brow drinks from low brow establishments. The Stage's idea of good whisky was Gentleman Jack but he was able to get brandy. The Bluegrass Inn had no such fancy stuff, the bartender got a few laughs and Brian had to settle for bad vodka. In consolation, my juice there was pretty terrible, too.

Cold, wet and honkytonked out, we stopped by Tony and Kristen's to catch up in the peace and quiet. Then we headed back to Beth and Henry's for the dinner party. A few earlybirds beat us there, but otherwise we were ahead of the crowd. It was great to catch up with everyone, many of whom I hadn't seen since our going away party in August 2005. With the exchange rate being very anti-American these days, it's not so easy for visitors to head in this direction. After some of the earlybirds left, Brian offered a lesson in whisky tasting for everyone who was interested. He hasn't converted me yet but others enjoyed it. More importantly, to Brian especially, they appreciated that there was more to whisky than Dewar's and Chivas Regal.

Sunday's weather was a bit better, cold but dry, so we took the dogs for a walk with Beth and then met up with Sheila, Gene and Rachel for a walk at Radnor Lake State Park, a lovely little park in the south of Nashville where the draconian little old ladies rule and there will be no running, dog-walking, cycling or other offensive behavior, as listed on the park signs. The fine for any of these offenses is $196.25.

Brian surprised me by not only admitting that it was cold but accepting a hat and gloves from Gene for the walk.

On the way down from the first ridge, we spotted a family of five deer munching happily on the brush just beside the trail. One doe and a number of not-quite babies but not quite yearlings. They seemed completely indifferent to our presence and the noise we were making. I got within about 10 feet of one of the smaller ones before the group ran off.

We ended the walk and rewarmed ourselves at the Whole Foods cafe in Green Hills.

Lunch was late and dinner later. After some semi-successful Christmas shopping with Rachel, we met up with Brit and Bill and baby Jaq in Murfreesboro. Dinner was at their favourite Indian buffet in town. It was great to catch up, if only briefly, and then we headed back to Tony and Kristen's for a bluegrass picking party.

We got back to Beth and Henry's pretty late and headed for sleep after convincing Spooky that we really were still ok.

Monday morning was earlier than the previous two so we could catch up with Beth before she had to work. Then we headed to Vanderbilt to catch up with the Civil and Environmental Engineering current staff a certain escapee.

After lunch and more catching up, we headed for the airport and a long delay to get home. High winds (25-35mph... ha!) closed Newark airport so we were rerouted to Philadelphia and, as a consequence, placed on the "special" list for security screening. That killed about 20 minutes of our 4 hour wait. Brian got me drunk and then I got a laugh watching him test the massage chair. Video of that should be forthcoming.

Admitting that the ridge might actually be cold, Brian accepted Gene's loans of both hat and gloves.

A young deer at Radnor Lake State Park showed little fear of people.