This is one brilliant ad

Good girls go to heaven, Bad girls go to Govan, and Breahead and IKEA

I just have to blog about my day, even though it is almost 2am in the morning.  Árdís had obviously seen my blog since last night because she texted me this morning, asking if she couldn't come with me to Breahead.  Of course she could, it is always fun to have someone to shop with.  So we decided to take a taxi to Breahead, but when we saw how many were waiting for a taxi, we decided to go on to Byres Road and hail a taxi from there instead.  When we came out of the Botanic Gardens we saw this huge line of people waiting for taxis, so there went our brilliant plan for the day.  I finally realized what was going on, a game between Celtic and Glasgow Rangers, not a good day to rely on taxis.  We ended up outside the subway station and Árdís was clever enough to go and ask them how they thought we might have the best chance of getting to Breahead.  She told us to go to Govan and take a bus from there, there were frequent bus trips to Breahead.  Both Árdís and I weren't quite sure if we wanted to go to Govan, not really the best place to be in, but since it was daylight we said what the hell and got on the subway.  Thankfully the bus station was just right outside the subway entrace so now we only had to find the right bus to take us the rest of the way to Breahead.  It worked, we went even past IKEA superstore, which I must say, is quite bigger than the IKEA store back home.  Finally, we were at Breahead, and we could begin shopping.  We had lunch and then we did some massive shopping, .... well, Árdís did so a bit more than I did, although not by much, for now anyway.  Well, we had finished going through all the interesting stores in Breahead and were heading home, when Árdís wanted to stop by in IKEA as well and buy some much needed items for ther room.  So we took a little walk over to IKEA, and entered a huge, massive building on two floors.  We had to take a number of turns around the store for her to find what she needed and some of the stuff wasn't even in stock, that's frustrating, especially when you are unlikely to come here again (at least not right away).  But in the end everything worked out for her, and I even bought myself a new lamp for my desk, much smaller and lighter than the monstrocity that I had before it, ... and it is pink.  And finally we found our way out.  Took a taxi home and got home just after 7pm.  Which means we were walking and shopping for almost eight hours.  Not bad, you might say I have lost a few (quite a few) pounds today ;) It truly was a brilliant day, and I was so proud of us with our bags scattered over the floor of tha taxi on our way home.  This is what I call shopping.

Collision course

"Ég fékk flugu í höfuðið í dag"  I got a fly in my head today.  Doesn't mean that I got a bright idea, but that I actually got a big waspy buzzing fly in my head.  Collision course with a big black noisy thing.  Luckily it didn't stick to my head and flew away afterwards ... I think.  But damn I nearly got a concussion from it.  Flies, are remarkably noticeable when they fly into you.  And the feeling is quite revolting and disgusting, almost felt like I had to go home and take a bath.  Creeepy.  Luckily I didn't meet up with my neighbour "the squirrel" in the garden on my way into city center.  Lord knows what he might have done since a fly was bugging me.  Probably he would have eaten my shoe.  Scots ... strange beings.

I must say I haven't been doing much since I came to Glasgow.  Been a real cow really, because I haven't even gotten in contact with any of my friends yet.  I am just sooo lazy, I can not be bothered.  Right now I just feel like I need my space before the hassle of school and essays starts.  It's sort of like one of the headlines in one of the newspapers today "I have the spirit of a lie-in", brilliant quote.  But I have been spending like crazy, although I do feel the prizes here have been going up.  Scotlands economy is obviously doing so well since I came here, they think people can actually afford to spend now, so they have increased prizes to line their pockets.  Are they in for a surprise next year, I think.  Actually it is quite disturbing what I saw on the news last night, apparently if you are a Scot and want to buy your own home, it's not going to be that easy.  A home (not necessarily a house, could be a flat) today in Scotland costs more than 4 - 6 times more than the average wage in Scotland.  (4 - 6 sinnum meira en meaðllaun Skota yfir árið er).  Shocking!

Tomorrow I am thinking of breaking out of habit and actually do something I haven't done since my first year of studying here.  And that is to go to Breahead.  It is a huge shopping center just out of city center, near the airport, which means the taxi fare is going to be steap, but I really want to go there.  I sort of decided that I would go there this year, sometime this summer and I feel like I should go before school starts for real, so that I don't feel like I am slagging off.

Well, now I am off to watch the telly. 

It pays to be early

Well, I am back in Glasgow now.  Left home very early this morning and got to the airport among the first travellers.  It truly does pay to be early.  Mom and I spent last night trying to fit everything I was going to take with me into one suitcase, but in the end we decided to distrubte things rather evenly in two suitcases.  And it turned out that I was fifteen kilos over in luggage, and at any other time it would have cost me a fortune but thankfully the office was closed so she let me through without paying for the excess weight.  She was also very understanding when I said to her that I was going abroad as a student.

I arrived at my room around 11:30 and sort of managed to plug the computer in and let mom know that everything went as it should have.  I also saw Árdísi for a few minutes before I crashed.  Now, usually I don't have a problem with the time zone difference, but somehow today I was totally out of it.  I put the alarm for two o'clock so I wouldn't sleep through the day and wake up tomorrow.  But of course I hadn't thought of the time difference, which meant that I would be waking up at three o'clock instead of two.  Fortunately Árdís woke me up half past two with a message.  So I managed to drag myself out of bed and into town with her to shop for the most necessary things until tomorrow.  I really hope that I will be more lucid tomorrow.  There is still so much that I have to do.

I have glimpsed one of the new guys that will be staying with us.  He doesn't seem to be very ... social.  But that might change, once we get to know each other ... maybe.  Also, I think the French guy is still here, not to pleased, because he seems to be hogging the fridge and many of the cabinets in the kitchen, the problem when you are left alone here for the summer you tend to spread out.  And Dinesh is gone, he has moved out and a girl has replaced him in his room.  I don't know yet, who or where from or anything or if she is a Senior Resident like Dee was.  So, all in all, this seems to be the start of a quite interesting summer.

This is going to be it for now, the food just arrived.  I am going to see how much I can manage, my stomach hasn't quite landed yet, and I am sort of queasy right now, but I think it might be because of lack of food.  Write you later...

I love comments

I just love reading the comments about Rockstar:Supernova.  It has the most hilarious spelling of words ever.  I know people are in a hurry to get their points of view across the message board and some are not as good in english as others, but it is still funny.  I have three comments here that I read sometime last night and tonight about the show and especially about Magni's performance.

This one obviously from Iceland ,,I watched the Vake"  which is just brilliant, and thankfully not written with a w because that would mean Magni was dead and we were watching his coffin on live television (wake = líkvaka).  But this is actually a reference to the tv channel Skjár 1 who had a "Support Magni" theme episode before the episode was aired.

I have no idea where this one came from, but funny none the less; "the hole of Iceland", and some fellow commentator asked if that was anything like the black holes found in the galaxy.  Could be a spelling mistake (the whole of Iceland) or something more.  A classic!

And now, last but not least. ,,He was just as grate as ever"  well... I truly hope his voice doesn't grate, I think he sings great!  He is after all Magni-ficent!

Saying goodbye to old friends

I don't know what to do anymore, last night I finished watching all seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  I was watching the final minutes of the last episode and the tears just came and came, I cried a whole river.  It's just one of those shows you wish you could still be able to watch, like, what came next, how does this turn out and so on and so forth.  It just doesn't stop after seven years.  But I must confess, due to my watching Star Trek, I sort of missed watching Rockstar:Supernova ... but I still managed to vote.  I voted for an hour and managed to vote 150 times.  I know, I truly am that weird, that I would actually count how many times I voted.  But it will be curious to know if the power of Iceland has reached America again.  Iceland might not be big but it is powerful, go by a geyser and we will blow you away! 

But the funny thing is, I have heard it from more than one, that they won't vote for Magni in the final episode (if we even can) because, they don't want Magni to win and leave Iceland.  Rock on!

My croissants ... beautiful aren't they

 

Half-baked

Oh'boy, what a day this has been. It started early, to say the least, well at least it started early on my scale. Some idiot had ordered a telephone wakeup call that was put through to our telephone instead of his, so I truly hope the (adjective too foul to write down) slept in. Then I got barely an hour or so more of sleep before I had to get up and get ready for the first appointment of the day. A documentary about genealogy and I was in it. There are some German guys here making a documentary about Icelandic genealogy and family gatherings. I was only there for about two hours where I was in the background while they were filming and photographing the genealogist I work with, Oddur. Just before I arrived at Odd, I got a phone call from the location of my next appointment ... THE DENTIST! Dreaded word in my vocabulary. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my dentist, he is a wonderful man, I just hate going to see him in the official capacity, although that is the only time I see him. He's been my dentist since forever, has seen my best and my worst, well ... mostly my worst. I am quite skittish around dentists, or the drill, actually. Yes, well, back to the phone call. I had to reschedule today so I was quite pressed for time, so I had to run from Odd, back home, have some lunch, brush my teeth and then get to the dentist. I spent nearly an hour at his office, thankfully most of the time in the waiting lounge and only about ten minutes with him. He had to remove some tartar that had gathered around my teeth, it was so much I felt like he had removed my teeth and not just the tartar. Took some pictures of my teeth and said that I was getting away for now, I just have to be a good girl and keep my teeth happy and healthy until the next time he sees me.
After the dentist I hurried back home, and then later took mom to the doctor, because she was feeling very poorly as a tendon had knotted or clamped together in her lower back and it led straight down her leg so it was very difficult for her to sit or walk or do anything really. The doctor fixed her, or at least he stuck her with a needle a few times with a muscle relaxant and a small amount of local anaesthesia so she is feeling better.
When we arrived home I got the very bright idea to save todays dinner and bake. I baked croissants with beikon-cheese, ham, and chive filling. Just brilliant.

Ps. Now the plan is to stay awake ... AGAIN and watch Magni on Rockstar: Supernova. I am also going to do my part and vote for the guy. Then we will see what happens tomorrow night. This is getting quite exciting.

Something to blog about

Just came hom from the cinemas and now I have something to blog about.  Last night I stayed awake until 3 am to vote for Magni on Rockstar, like any true Icelander should have been doing last night.  And then, of course, it was buisness as usual ... work! at ten in the morning so I was not sleeping beauty this morning when mom woke me up.  Shortly after coming home from work the sms messages started pouring in.  My friend Árdís had two tickets for the opening film for the Icelandic Film Festival, it was to be a gala event.  Two big Hollywood movie stars were going to be there along with two guys responsible for the movie being made.  So, now I can say have rubbed elbows with some pretty big names, or more like been back to back with one of them.  The film was Factotum starring Matt Dillon ... and Marissa Tomei (although she is only about five minutes in the whole of the film) they were the ones that showed up ... nice PR job.  Lily Tomlin was also in the film, a much bigger part than Marissas but she wasn't there.  A few of the Icelandic film and acting elite were there as well, Friðrik Þór director and producer and then Randver Þorláksson from Spaugstofan was in the row in front of us.  For me that's like meeting Robin Williams so I was more impressed with him than the big Hollywood names. Now my friend loved the film, couldn't find a fault, loved it to pieces and noticed every little detail.  Me! I am not so deep thinking about films .. and can sum up critisism in three words IT IS CRAP, and a good way to prove that I should never ever go to anything that is labeled as a film festival, it just doesn't agree with me.  But Árdís my friend, thank you for the invitation, I always enjoy going to the cinemas with you even though it is sometimes not really my cup of tea we are viewing.  You can drag me along anytime, and this evening was a good start to what is to come this winter.

 

For now I am staying awake to find out how the voting went and see if we (the whole population of Iceland) managed to keep Magni from the bottom three and see who is really going to be sent home.  This is getting interesting people1

Strange dreams

I don't know what to think anymore. Last night I had the weirdest dream of all. I was going camping! Yup, it just doesn't get any stranger than that. That is something anyone who knows me will know that will never ever happen. And it didn't happen in this dream either. I had the camping equipment ready... I thought. Went to the spot with the people I was camping with, but as it turned out some parts of the tent was missing and all sort of stupid idiotic thing that could go wrong when camping. So I was in some strange way always rushing back and forth trying to get all the right things for this durn camping, with not so much luck. I was getting frustrated as hell and was mumbling all through my dream, that I was never ever going through this again. I think I was almost home, having forsaken going camping that I finally woke up from this nightmarish dream. Me ... camping, not until hell freezes over.
I like to think of myself as one of the few humans that evolved from sleeping on the cave floor to sleeping in a bed. It's like ... progress! The of survival of the smartest.
And if ever I go camping, I will not accept anything less than this sort of thing:

Suraj hua maddham

I fell in love with Bollywood films, about three years ago, when a good friend of mine Hamza, introduced me to Kabhie Kushie Kabhie Gham. A truly spectacular movie that I have watched so often, or listened to the music so often that I have lost count. So I wanted to invite you to get a sneak peak into the Bollywood world I have been sucked into. This is a very slow, compelling romantic song, that I just find wonderful.

Windows Live Writer beta

I always have to try out new things, especially when it is something tech or computer related.  So I was browsing through www.cnet.com when I saw an article about a new software from Windows.  I liked the idea and so now I am trying out the product.  It's the Windows Live Writer beta version.  Where, in a similar Word application you write your blog, can also insert pictures and maps (at least from Windows Live Local) and then upload them to your webblog.  I am quite curious about how this will work out.  I am just too easy when something new pops up on the technological horizon. 

Damn I wish Start Trek wasn't just a brilliant show.

The hi and goodbye weekend

Last night was fabulous although a bit strange. I went out to dinner with my friend Árdísi, whom I have barely seen this summer. Quite a change, from seeing her almost every single day of the week while we are in Glasgow. We went to Friday's, had nice dinner, although the service and the food are both drastically different from Glasgow. Then we went to the cinema which is in the same complex as the restaurant. I allowed my friend to select the movie and she chose Miami Vice. The movie theatre almost killed the movie off before it began, they played such a lullaby music before it began that it was amazing I wasn't snoring before the film began. The movie itself was ok, although I felt it was more like a lengthy televisionmovie rather than an action film. But all in all it was a wonderful evening.

Tonight was a bit different. I got a call from my friend Margréti, who is leaving tomorrow for Sweden, and she came over for a wee last visit. Oh, I miss her already. Her sister left last Sunday, so it has been quite strange, these last few weeks. On top of that, they are selling their childhood home, and won't be coming home to it at Christmas, for the first time. They are kind of homeless now. And I find this so strange to think about as well, since I trace my childhood roots to this home as well, so it is kind of saying goodbye to a whole era. And it is kind of hard, because when I moved, I didn't loose contact with my old home, because my grandmother moved into our old place and my friends were just across the road. Now the memories are no longer fixed within the confines of walls and windows and rooms, but only locked in our memories. Margrét and I spent quite a few moments remembering so much about our childhood and our antics, and how things can bring forth memories again. It is strange how things can make the memories more vivid and more tangible when holding them and how easy it is to loose them.
I just look forward to seeing my friends again at Christmas, they help to remind me that Christmas is about being with friends and family and not to worry about the future because I am blessed that I have them.

Good advice for the Verslunarmannahelgi

Friends are the riches of the world

Tonight was a sort of a goodbye time for a friend of mine Guðbjörtu. She is leaving for Norway on Sunday, early in the morning and tonight was sort of the only time available for us to get together for a goodbye ritual. They came bicylcing in the hot weather and were quite exhausted after the ride, which I can understand. I showed them pitures from the wedding and also the video clip of me dancing, I have to highlight that. There does exist proof that I danced at the wedding. Then for old times sake we decided to play a little game of Monopoly. But just before we started Margrét, Guðbjörts sister, drew a little notebook from their bag. It was a little notebook from when we were little girls. Everything in it was written by me, and I must have been around 7 or 8 years old when it was written. It truly is a most wonderful jewel of a present I could have gotten. We were rolling around the floor basically of laughter, as this was the most hilarious thing we had seen in a long time. The spelling mistakes, the word use, the seriousness of it. It was done during our time of newletter making, I probably have from them somewhere similar notebooks. We were obviously praticing our icelandic and trying to be a little bit grown up as well, playing news-reporters, with little less then success.
Oh, dear old friends, nothing is more precious, because they have all the same embarrassing stories from youth as you did, and you remember each other hickups while growing up.

Glorious food

Oh, I just had the most wonderful time with my friends Margréti and Guðbjörtu yesterday. We haven't seen each other for quite a while, and soon, all three of us, are going to be in three seperate countries. They are going to be lucky enough to just be barely four hours apart, one in Sweden and the other in Norway, but I will be an ocean away again in Scotland.
We went out to a new restaurant here in Reykjavik, called Indian Mango, it is amazing. Wonderful indian food, we had fish and chicken and bread and rice and wine and beer and dessert and a lot of water as well. We stayed there nearly three hours and didn't feel rushed at all, just brilliant in all ways possible. We went in with stomachs rumbling and came out near to bursting, but the night wasn't over yet. We next headed to the best ice cream shop in Iceland Álfheimabúðina, where we had icecream ala Bragðaref with assortments of icelandic candy added to it. Then we sat in the car talking and laughing and reminiscing of old days and speculating about the future. All it all it was the best time in a long time we have had together.

Star Trek rediscovered

I started watchin Star Trek Deep Space 9 again, I am now on season two. It is amazing how I can watch these episodes again and again. I love the philosophy and the characters and the idea of Star Trek, and I just adore the Ferengi Quark, his philosophy is so bizarre but brilliant. I found this on the web, I was not nerdy enough to jot it down myself. THE RULES OF ACQUISITION

1. Once you have their money ... never give it back.
3. Never pay more for an acquisition than you have to.
6. Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.
7. Keep your ears open.
8. Small print leads to large risk.
9. Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.
10. Greed is eternal.
13. Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.
16. A deal is a deal ... until a better one comes along.
17. A contract is a contract is a contract (but only between Ferengi).
18. A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.
19. Satisfaction is not guaranteed.
21. Never place friendship above profit.
22. A wise man can hear profit in the wind.
27. There's nothing more dangerous than an honest businessman.
31. Never make fun of a Ferengi's mother ... insult something he cares about instead.
33. It never hurts to suck up to the boss.
34. Peace is good for business.
35. War is good for business.
40. She can touch your lobes but never your latinum.
41. Profit is its own reward.
44. Never confuse wisdom with luck.
47. Don't trust a man wearing a better suit than your own.
48. The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.
52. Never ask when you can take.
57. Good customers are as rare as latinum -- treasure them.
58. There is no substitute for success.
59. Free advice is seldom cheap.
60. Keep your lies consistent.
62. The riskier the road, the greater the profit.
65. Win or lose, there's always Hyperian beetle snuff.
75. Home is where the heart is ... but the stars are made of latinum.
76. Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
79. Beware of the Vulcan greed for knowledge.
82. The flimsier the product, the higher the price.
85. Never let the competition know what you're thinking.
89. Ask not what your profits can do for you, but what you can do for your profits.
94. Females and finances don't mix.
97. Enough ... is never enough.
99. Trust is the biggest liability of all.
102. Nature decays, but latinum lasts forever.
104. Faith moves mountains ... of inventory.
106. There is no honour in poverty.
109. Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.
111. Treat people in your debt like family ... exploit them.
112. Never have sex with the boss's sister.
113. Always have sex with the boss.
117. You can't free a fish from water.
121. Everything is for sale, even friendship.
123. Even a blind man can recognize the glow of latinum.
139.Wives serve, brothers inherit.
141. Only fools pay retail.
144. There's nothing wrong with charity ... as long as it winds up in your pocket.
162. Even in the worst of times someone turns a profit.
177. Know your enemies ... but do business with them always.
181. Not even dishonesty can tarnish the shine of profit.
189. Let others keep their reputation. You keep their money.
192. Never cheat a Klingon ... unless you're sure you can get away with it.
194. It's always good business to know about new customers before they walk in the door.
202. The justification for profit is profit.
203. New customers are like razortoothed grubworms. They can be succulent, but sometimes they can bite back.
211. Employees are rungs on the ladder of success. Don't hesitate to step on them.
214. Never begin a negotiation on an empty stomach.
218. Always know what you're buying.
223. Beware the man who doesn't make time for oo-mox.
229. Latinum lasts longer than lust.
236. You can't buy fate.
239. Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
242. More is good ... all is better.
255. A wife is a luxury ... a smart accountant is a necessity.
261. A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience.
263. Never allow doubt to tarnish your love of latinum.
266. When in doubt, lie.
284. Deep down everyone's a Ferengi.
285. No good deed ever goes unpunished.
286. [Quark's rule] When Morn leaves, it's all over.

The Big Day

We took it easy in the morning, woke up slowly and just enjoyed relaxing a bit. Took a shower and around 11am started dressing and putting make up on. The Wedding started at 2pm so we went to Chows on Byres Road first for lunch and then headed to the church. The weather was really nice, although it was a bit windy, which is quite unusual in Glasgow, but as long as it isn't raining everyone is happy. We arrived at the church, a beautiful church, and stood around not knowing what to do with ourselves, I didn't know anyone. I had seen his parents once three years ago, and they were dressed decidedly different then than now. So it wasn't until Lewis showed up that I actually felt relieved, we said our hellos and I introduced him to Hrafnhildur. It was obvious that he had been practising with her name and it was quite impressive to hear him say it, he got it in the first attempt. The ceremony was nice, although way different from back home. The priest didn't allow any pictures to be taken during the ceremony, which was not very nice, because, even though the guests didn't take photos he might have allowed the hired photographer to snap some pictures but NO. We felt the priest was a bit creepy. The hymns sung and the passages read were really weird and I am sure there were a few things gone awry in translation because some of the verses really made no sense. Also it was all a bit chauvinistic, where she should obey and sit in his shadow and all that kind of stuff, and the priest actually stated that this was the right kind of wedding ... a heterosexual union. All very really religious stuff and all, something that we as Icelanders (unless we belong to the Krossinn) kind of shy away from. Not very up our alley so to speak. But it was nice and probably something that they are used to. I managed to take a few pictures of the bride and groom .. or Mr. and Mrs. Meek outside the church in the wedding car (Brúðarbíl), really cool, car and the Bridesmaid and Best man also had their car. Then Hrabba and I grabbed the first taxi we could hail and went home to collect the presents and Hrabbas camera before going to the reception and dinner. The reception was held in the Hunter Halls at Glasgow University, which for more than just strange for some of us because we were used to sitting there during our exams and this was something new. We sat at the Crocus table, every table was named after some flowers. We sat eight at our table, Hrabba and me, and Jo (a girl) from Australia, Alaine (pronounced Alan), ? (can not for the life of me remember his name), Naomi (called Nimh), Monzie Olaf Ragnar (half Irish, other half both Norwegian and Swedish) and then there was Fraser who sat on my right at the table. The first course was a starter course of Salmon paste and salad, with oat bisquit, bread and butter. The main course was chicken wrapped in bacon and cheese filling wiht mustard sauce, also potatoes and vegetables. The dessert was just heaven, it was a chocolate dessert in a wee cup, not quite a mousee because it was much more smoother than that and with bit of whipped cream as well. Lovely. You would think that this was enough, but no, there was also coffee, tea and after dinner mints. After that the fun started. It was a bit daunting to watch, but after the first two dances, I hurried out onto the dancefloor, because I wanted to try it, and Alaine was nice enough to draft Ewan into service as my dancing partner. I got to dance the Highland Fling dance, called "The Gay Garden" (translated as Glaði Garðurinn and not the other way). It was incredibly fun, but darn it, I was not exhausted after it, I was dead. I felt a few times like my legs would cave from under me, this dance lasted like five or six minutes, but it felt like it was never ending. I really wanted to dance more, but decided not to because I felt me knee go wonky, also a few minutes after my dance I started to get bruises on my knee, not too good. Hrabba got to try as well, her partner was Fraser and she got to dance the "Spin the Barrell" which was one of the first dances I got to try a few years ago. It was fun watching her being twirled away like I had been then. Then there was a small break where they served the wedding cake and sandwiches. The bar had also opened, so people could by cokes, wines and spirits, not to mention water. This is probably the only wedding I have ever been to where water was the most popular beverage. 2 litre bottles were just flying off the shelfs by the dozens. Then we said goodbye to the newly weds and then started dancing again, or watching the dancing at least. The ceilidh lasted until 11:30pm and then we said goodbye to both sets of parents and headed home to pack for our journey back in the morning.

Bollywood Scotland

The fourth and last day of shopping started with us in Marks & Spencer, sort of where we left of from yesterday. Hit a few of the nearby stores as well and then had lunch at the Pizza Hut, where we got a starter course, main course and dessert with pepsi and free refills for under ten pounds. When we had finished all our shopping in the city center we hit the Little India part of Glasgow. Always such fun to go there and browse through exotic material and clothes. Hrafnhildur even did some bargain shopping, she now has material for two Salwar Kamees, one royal blue and the other light peach with white as well. Since we finished shopping we came home around five-ish and while Hrafnhildur was browsing on the internet I fell asleep. Woke up around seven and she was nowhere to be seen. She had snuck off to her room for a wee nap as well. We then got dressed and put on our pretty faces and went out to eat at a very nice and cozy restaurant called Ashoka on Asthon Lane. Brilliant food and brilliant service. Hrabba said she was waiting for the moment when everyone would start singing and dancing on the tables and chaning clothes a la Bollywood films, it was that nice. A few days ago I saw in a bookstore that they had The Ashoka Cookbook, and really wanted to buy it but decided not to. Well, they were selling a copy at the restaurant so we decided to buy a copy each. Now I decided to be a pushy tourist and asked the waiter (who was just funny and very nice, and misunderstood me whe I was telling him that I wanted to buy the cookbook and he brought me a toothpick instead), but yeah, I asked the waiter to sign my book and he did, the manager signed Hrafnhildur's copy. And possibly because we left a very generous tip we got the cooks autograph as well and his picture is on the back of the book. So this was just brilliant dinner for us. When we left the restaurant it was starting to rain so we basically ran to the next bar, not much else to run to there, it was kind of crowded, possibly because they had live music and it was a tiny bar (didn't know they had tiny bars in Scotland), so we went to The Loft, huges place and hardly anyone in there but a nice respite from the rain and we had one drink before we went home after a very satisfying day.
At home we wrapped the wedding presents into beautiful wrapping paper and than I got gray hairs trying to figure out something nice to write in the cards. No wonder they invented Hallmark.
But tomorrow is the big day and I have go my camera ready, my clothes all picked out and the are presents are waiting for delivery. By Gods might and will it is gonna be a beautiful day.

Fortune for 30p

Day three of shopping went better than expected. We started by walking to the Subway, because even though it looked like it might rain it was nice enough that we wanted to be out in the nice warm weather. We stared in Buchanan Galleries, where we had light lunch and then we hit the shops. The shopping bags soon started to pile and we went through all the shops in the Buchanan Galleries and then down Buchanan Street all the way to Marks & Spencers on Argyl Street. At that point the shops were starting to close so we decided enough was enought, since continuing would mean breaking and entering, not to mention looting. Because we were at the complete opposite end of town where we wanted to go for dinner we took a taxi there. The destination was All You Can Eat China Buffet, where we spent a good while of the evening and took it slowly. On the way out, we saw a jar full of Fortune cookies for 30p so we had to have one each. But we didn't open them yet, because we had an appointment with Cineworld to keep. We bought tickest and got really good seats where we fit with all our shopping bags and sat and waited. It was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest that we were coming to see and boy it is great. I laughed myself silly, probably someone noticed as well. Oooh, and Árdís! There is a new Orange Wednesday's add with Steven Segal, brilliant, they also had the classic of "Bob, c'est ton oncle". From there the evening and the film just got better and better. Don't regrett these three hours of my life.
When we came home we opened our Fortune cookies, mine read "You will soon be surrounded by good friends and laughter", I liked that one, Hrabbas read "Take advantage of an upcoming opportunity" so it will be interesting to see what is in store for her. So, can you trust a Fortune bought for only 30p, but whatever the outcome it was worth it and also just for fun.
Well, am off to bed now, have to get up early tomorrow again for the last day of shopping.