Hi folks,
here we are the BIG DAY. While Manuela is at the hairdress I've had some time to write this post. Well below the link to the live:
http://qik.com/manuelamarco2008
actually Marco is getting ready whilst I, Tom, best man, am doing the job. We got to rush, Manu is coming and we are not suppose to see…more later…
At just three days from the wedding, the weatherman decided to change his forecast pretty radically! Now in fact he's saying that Saturday will be a rainy day with a lot of wind….
Disappointed? Please don't be. The weather over here is notorious to change constantly. So let's cross our finger and see what happens on the day.
Our wedding ceremony will be something completely new for some of you. I am sure that you all know how it works in church, but our ceremony is going to be a Humanist one. To know more about the Humanist movement you can visit the "Intro" section of our website.
The ceremony itself can be as simple or complex as bride and groom wish. Considering that it is going to be a legal ceremony there are a couple of sentences that we must say and sign some papers. In other words it can take as little as 10 minutes to complete. We on the other hand preferred to add some interesting things to it. In fact it is going to include readings and music. All will be lead by our celebrant Juliet, that as you'll see for yourself is a very sweet person.
I don't want to tell you anything more, so you can still enjoy the surprise.
This is Juliet blog with some nice pictures and comments from previous Humanist Weddings
Here we are, just 4 days to go. You'll be happy to hear that everything is more or less done here. So, what is missing is just YOU!
I can only imagine that you are about to pack up and just in case you are wondering what the weather is going to be like , below the BBC 5-day forecast.
As you can seen is kind of cold, but the wind is not too bad. And for the wedding day … sleet. I am excited about getting married surrounded by white snow.
I know what you are thinking, we are going to spend few days in Edinburgh and except for the parties and the wedding what can we do? Well I've got the answer to you question: everything! I'm not joking, after the quite post summer months the Scottish capital is back buzzing!
Let's go in order, the first big event that is just the day after the wedding is St.Andrew Day. The patron of Scotland is celebrated every year on the 30th of November with dance, music and much much more. Edinburgh will host a variety of events from 10 in the morning to midnight in the Princes Street Gardens. This website lists everything that you need to know about this day of celebration. NOTE: That on that very day (Sunday) the entrance to Edinburgh Castle will be completely free - a whole tenner saved!
The second event is something that I'm sure you're aware of: Christmas. Celebration of any sort: Santas, Ice Rink, Giant Wheel etc. will start on Thursday 27th at 5pm with the lit of the Christmas lights in the city centre. Again a well organised website shows all the event that will take place, with a really useful calendar interface. One suggesting, don't missed the German market, there you can enjoy a cup of mulled wine while doing some Christmas shopping.
And for our foreign guests (and not), why don't listen to these podcasts to get a taste of the local lingo. Yes I'm talking about English, but with a lovely Scottish accent that makes it unique! And if you are struggling, just open up the Transcript – written words are always helpful.
Shopping For Gifts mp3 - 11min 33secs
Festive Entertainment mp3 - 5min 42secs
Christmas Shopping Pit Stops mp3 – 4min 33secs
Last Friday I met Martin the photographer for the wedding, so I though it was a good idea to introduce him to you.
Martin is an experienced designer that loves photography. Even if his main job is not taking picture we managed to convince him. He was working during a friend wedding and Manuela and I liked his style. He is professional and discrete and you'll find him with his cameras and tripod around the venue. Just one suggestion, when you bump into him, just smile and turn to your sunny side (slowly!). We'd love to have numerous pictures of our guests.
Oh yes I was about to forget, to help you recognising him, below there's a very recent photo of him. As you can see we go to the same barber!!!
When Marco told me about writing a post on pubs, ale and his stag party I feel really overwhelmed….But also a bit excited. My mind started to ramble, I imagine thousand of half dressed girls, rivers of whisky, a bunch of Mediterraneans and Scots dancing on tables and so on….Far Off from reality. I don't know what to do, the only thing I do know is that I don't want bunny girls, stripteasers or alike, My pal told me. What does it mean? that he doesn't want an ordinary stag party. And I applaude his decision. Someone say once that the most boring thing in this world is being common- I would add ordinary, so we can say that our friend wants to offer us an uncommon and extraordinary party. Good for him, greater for us!!!
The Stag Party
There's no better plan than not having a plan. Marco told me that what we are going to do is a surprise….and everybody likes surprises. What's for sure is that it consists on a pub crawling and personally speaking I can't think on a better manner of waving off his last day of bachelorhood than crawling from one of the most classical pubs in the city to another in good company, tasting real ale. So be ready to soak up the attractive pub atmosphere of the Old Town, to toast to ourselves' health a thousand times, as well as to loads of chatting in a variety of languages-at least English, Italian and Spanish, and to feel the real joy of life in the pub.
On Pubs and Real Ale
The Pub.- ( Abbreviation of public house)It is a drinking establishment licensed to serve and sell alcohol under regulation. Is the typical bar in Great Britain and also in the countries under its influence. There are a lot of history behind the bar of a public houses, an outline of that history can be followed here. To sum up I'll say that the idiosyncrasy of the pub is unique, different to the rest of bars, taverns or inns of the world and a truly experience on its own. William Blake's words come to my mind to express what I feel in a pub :
Dear Mother, dear mother
the church is cold
but the ale house is healthy and pleasant and warm
Besides I can tell
where I'm used well
such usage in heaven
will never do well (William Blake, Little Vagabond)
Real Ale.- In a simple way ale is the traditional type of top fermented beer brewed in Britain. But what does real ale mean? real ale, often named cask ale or casked condition ale ,is the ale brewed in a traditional manner which involves a second fermentation. To get this secondary fermentation living yeast is added to the casks -hence cask ale, and under a period of maturation the beer develops more complex flavours and aromas. In a sense we can say that the beer is alive. This type of ale is unfiltered and non pasteurized and when served external gas-usually carbon dioxide or nitrogen- is not used, to avoid ruining its natural qualities. It would seem unbelievable but four decades before real ale was really in danger of extinction. It was about to disappear till a group of enthusiasts created the CAMRA and started to promote it in order to ensure the continuation of the traditional way of brewing in Britain. Scotland in General and Edinburgh in particular have a great brewing tradition. It can be said that Scottish ale is an style in itself not only for their specific nomenclature-using an old system of pricing in shillings, the famous 80/, 70/ et al, but also because it has evolved into a proper variety of ale. Scottish ale are famous for their malty and caramelly character and their balance in hops. For those about to know more about Scottish ale, Real ale and Camra the following links lead you to a more profound explanation on the matter:
The Itinerary
I dare to say this is a delicate matter. it's really difficult to choose a fistful of pubs amongst the great variety Edina has. In order to offer us the best there's an outline of a route through the proper heart of Old Town. to spend an extraordinary night Marco's Pub Stag Crawl includes the top of the pubs in the city
The blue Blazer-The White Heart Inn-Bow Bar- The Halfway house. SEE MAP
Blue Blazer
Our pal couldn't have chosen a better place to start his stag party than the Blazer. I used to be a local there during my living in Edina-I lived really close to it and it was on my way from home to work and vice versa. Definitely it is a wonderful pub. It has changed a lot from its creepy time as a keg pub with "go-go dancers"-what it wouldn't bother us in a sense for we are in a Stag party after all. The Blazer has a great atmosphere, a wonderful decoration, which provides a warm welcome and of course a really well kept real ale. Real ale is what we encourage you to taste so in the Blue Blazer we have up till 9 pumps-real ale is served using a traditional hand pump, so even when poured it is a show, and among others we can enjoy the ale of one of the youngest independent breweries in the City, Stewart Brewing Co.
The White Hart Inn
The White Hart is Edinburgh's city oldest pub, and parts of the inside date back to 1516.Some other parts of the building itself can be dated back to 1740. Authentic environment, lots of locals, real ales a couple of Scottish regular pumps-Caledonian Deuchar's and 80 on cask, and other 2 guest and seasonal ales- from British independent breweries mainly, and up to 20 different whiskies, the national drink, we have to bear in mind.
Bow Bar
A classy in more than a sense- classic and with a lot of class. It is a small but bonnie pub, one of my favourites since I first put my feet in. Something in the air captivated me, but above all, something in my glass. Wonderful real ale, in perfect nick, what else can we ask for?, oh aye, It has the original air pressure pumps, typically Scottish and really difficult to see nowadays, from which to serve authentic real ales no more no less than between 5 and 7 different cask ales, apart from a quite good selection of whiskies.
The Halfway House
What I like most of this little pub is its location- a steep close on the right of Cockburn Street and the fact of being one of the few free houses(pubs not tied to any brewery) in Old Town. This last fact makes the Halfway an authentic paradise for real ale lovers as well as for those who gave importance to the classic atmosphere. They have several cask ales on rotation always well kept and they feature several beer festivals throughout the year. A bonnie bar, another favourite of mine, where to feel the real Edina's pub environment, real ales and a wonderful and economic local cuisine
I Hope you all enjoy this post as a brief introduction to what is going to be a great night of joy,comradery in the wonderful atmosphere of pubs and real ale that Edinburgh offers us. A toast for you all, Amigos. Adrián
Yes I'm talking about guests' choice of menu – a couple of days ago I had the totals in my hands and I noticed an interesting pattern. While there was no clear winner for the Starters, in the Main Sourse it was a two horses race: Salmon against Beef! This isn't a surprise, infact both Manuela and I went for either of those. The interesting thing is that while Briton prefer the Stirlon, the Italian love the fish with pink flesh. I believe that it is all down to perception, I remember that in Italy Scottish salmon is a delicatessen, while in the UK Scottish Beef (Angus) is regarded as real treat. In the end the Beef won by a small margin.
On the other hand in the dessert section, there wasn't a context. The Trio scoop competition hands down, in this case the success is in the mix of three different desserts that can appeal to most.
All of this to thank you for returning your forms and letting us know your preference of menu.
Marco
Ps: Don't forget to click on the VIDEOS link on the left – in the weekend I will put something new online!
I know what you are thinking: Another Blog! Wasn’t enough a website, photos and videos for the wedding??
Well, not really! I’m a bit of a gadget lover and even if takes time I enjoy creating all these fancy things. This last addition is nothing else than a “normal” blog, where Manuela, Adrián, Thomas and myself will post some news on what’s going on here.
Does it sound too simple for my style isn’t it? You are right, in order to improve the experience on the LEFT SIDEBAR you’ll be able to access a flickr photo gallery and last but not least our Video page. The latter is a very interesting page; at first glance could looks very similar to YouTube, but it also has a LIVE video feature. In other words you’ll be able to see live broadcast from the wedding celebrations. Excited, aren’t you?
Ok now you know, if you are going to attend or not, this is the Blog you have to check out!
Marco
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