Random memories 7

I read this book in 1995. It was the first year of my long stay in Scotland. At the time I was working in a Spanish restaurant called "Bistro Bar and Parador Restaurant", which used to be in William St, but doesn't exist anymore. Now it's a pub called "Teuchters" owned by the guy who used to be the bar manager at the Spanish restaurant.

At the time my English was good, but I was still trying to get to grips with the Scottish slang. So, as you can imagine, reading this book was a bit of a challenge! I remember the guys in the kitchen helping me with the words I got stuck with, until I finally managed to understand what was going on.

That was the year as well when I discovered the no so picture pretty side of Edinburgh. I actually experienced it first hand! What happened was, one of the chefs at work decided to do a birthday party for his 21st and invited all of us to it. He lived in a dodgy neighbourhood at the outskirts of Edinburgh I can't even remember the name of, but I clearly remember dreading for my safety when I was there! I'll just say it was an eye opener to a reality I hadn't experienced before and, at the party, I remember feeling that if I said the wrong thing at the wrong time, I would be in serious trouble, so I kept my mouth shut most of the time! Something I definitely remembered and very close to the reality described in "Trainspotting"...

Anyway..

I was not feeling great today and it's been rather busy at work. I somehow managed to get through it though.. Now home and relaxing!

thanks very much for all your nice comments! I hope you all had a good start of the week! :)