Aaron Around The World

Ahhh Melbourne Cup day again! The Melbourne Cup and I have had a very love-hate relationship for quite some time now, over a decade in fact. In 1995 I had my first holiday to Australia and (as my Mum is an avid horse-nut) was actually at Flemington Racecourse for the Cup that year. Melbourne Cup day is a public holiday in Melbourne, and around 110,000-120,000 spectators turn up to the track on the first Tuesday of every November for the big race; the atmosphere is absolutely incredible! That year was the first time I'd put money on the Cup. I'd picked my horses in the car on the way to the track that morning. The three horses I (masterfully) picked came in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (trifecta) and I walked away with about a grand (and at 13 years old, a grand is a fair amount of moolah)! And that was it, I was hooked! So for the following tens years I bet trifectas on the Cup without fail, and didn't win a single fucking penny! Every year the horses I'd bet on all ended up in the top five or six (so I was definitely doing something right) but I always got fucked screwed by an outsider coming in either 1st, 2nd or 3rd and ruining my trifecta - every bloody year... until this year! Eleven years to the day since my big win, I walked out of the betting agency with one very fat wallet! My strategy was no different this year, it was simply all favoured horses finishing in the top three that won it for me. Unfortunately, over here in the UK, the interest in the Australian race is nothing compared to what it is back home, and as such the payouts are much smaller. This year's trifecta only scored me £400, but hey it was nice to finally get a return after more than a decade of trying hehe. In the shot above there is only £10 and £20 notes but several different colours and designs as the notes here can come from several different big banks, such as the Bank of England, the Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank, and so on - weird. Because of this you can't really recognise notes from their colour alone which is rather annoying hehe!


This is looking down from Mo's second-storey window. If you had to guess, what time would you say it was? I'd be thinking early morning based on the long shadows - say 9am, but nope. This was shot about 1pm! Over winter the sun stays very low in the sky, and in the middle of winter the sun sets around 3-4pm from what I've been told. Ugh! On the other hand it's more like 10-11pm in the middle of summer :)


Mo took me for a wander along one of many walking (and cycling) paths throughout the city. Again, this looks like early morning to me, not 2 o'clock in the afternoon hahaha!


This is Leith in the north of Edinburgh along the Firth of Forth river. Apparently this used to be the place to come to pick up a few hookers and get stabbed etc, but not anymore hehe.		And this is about the closest thing you get to a garden over here hahaha! Still, this is better than Mo gets - outside her front door is a stairwell!


THEY DO EXIST! This is the first Skyline I've seen in two months since leaving Brisbane! Aside from needing a good polishing this is a bloody nice R33! :)


Mo is currently working at a brewery and brings home copious amounts of free booze every month, and this month is was cider hahaha! Best way to get rid of it: invite a few chums over for a cider-party, and three quarters of a bottle is all that's left hehe.		Even Pistachio was feeling a little hung over and dehydrated the next morning ;)


		Looking towards Old Town from Princes Street. The area on the other side of Princes Street is called... New Town. Old Town was the original town back in the day, whereas New Town was developed in more recent times.


Scott Monument on Princes Street. This is 61 metres high and was built in memory of Scotland's greatest novelist, Sir Walter Scott, in 1844. He must've written some good stuff to have had such a monument erected in his memory smack in the middle of town!		Another shot of Old Town as seen from Princes Street Gardens.


Princes Street Gardens - very pretty and peaceful despite the mayhem of Princes Street just metres up the hill.

1pm - look how low the sun is in the sky! This was shot beneath Edinburgh Castle.		Ross Fountain. The fountain was cast for an International Exhibition in Paris in 1862. When gunsmith Daniel Ross saw it, he purchased it and donated it to the City of Edinburgh in 1867, but unfortunately died it before the fountain was reassembled in the Gardens.


Looking up at Edinburgh Castle.		View of the Gardens and New Town as seen from the Castle. Way out in the distance is the Firth of Forth.


After leaving the Gardens I went for a wander around Old Town. It didn't take long to find the dodgy area hehe.


Misty Edinburgh at 8:30am this morning. Edinburgh Castle on the left, Princes Street on the right. Mo and I went to see Salmonella Dub playing one night during the week and it was really misty and really pretty. I'd still prefer sun though!		Princes Street is a mad house during rush hour. I can't wait to bike down it! I need to get a job first though, and have two interviews lined up for Monday.


Edinburgh actually got some sun today for a change! It still looks like 8am when it was more like 2pm. Mo and I went for a meander and found this lot near Princes Street Gardens making a hell of a racket with their drums.		There was also these two wandering round with the Halloween-themed things on their back.


And this chick doing poi while walking round on, whatever these things are.		I'm sick of bagpipes! Mo told me off for taking this shot without leaving him money hahaha (but I'm sick of bagpipes! ;)		After all that excitement we came back home for a big drink.