Monday, October 27, 2008

England & Scotland

Stonehenge was interesting, although heavily controlled and marketed. I suppose it's understandable, but a little disappointing. Returning to Bath, our tour group was turned loose in a nearby hamlet; Lecock. This was the highlight of the tour. A 700 year old town, preserved from gentrification by the National Trust and frequently used for film shoots. Highly recommend.

Bath was a beautiful town; so much sandstone. The Abby was breathtaking, if you like classical architecture, which I do. We didn't spend much time there.

We were able to experience Manchester through the eyes of a local. We were taken in by Robyn's cousins Brian and Allen, and their families. The country side around Manchester was reminiscent of the England that I imagined: Thatched rooves and rolling hills, sectioned by stone walls and layered with sheep. A large wind farm caught my eye. These were the subject of several papers I wrote in Uni, although I'd never seen one until now.

Due to some confusion with our Brit-rail passes, our trip to Glasgow was free. We've been playing dumb with the conductors ever since, hoping for more free transpo. We were taken in by another large branch of Robyn's family, in Kirkintilloch. We settled in Robyn's aunt Anna and uncle Fez's house, from which we've been staging trips into the highlands in the north.

Robyn's cousin Chris and Ruth have two new wanes, a 1.5yr old son, and a 16month old daughter. Robyn spent a day fussing over the babies, so I took the opportunity to explore Glasgow. I found it very industrial with a Victorian flavor. I stumbled across George's Square, the Palace of the People, and the Modern Art Museum. The museum was great.. and free. So I killed two hours appreciating art that confused and frightened me.

We took a day trip to Edinburgh. Arrived around 10am and found a bus tour of the city. The guide seemed knowledgeable.. I'm just guessing though, I didn't understand a word he said. We saw Edinburgh castle, naturally, and worked our way down the Royal Mile blending in with the mass of English tourists, (It was their midterm break from school) stumbled across the Uni of Ed. in our search for food and then snapped photographs of everything in sight.

The next day we visited Robyn's aunt Celia in Gourock. And headed up the north east coast to St. Andrews, which is known as the birthplace of golf, but is also dominated by a sprawling University. The hostel we stayed at was nice, but the heat was broken, so the first night was chilly. We photographed the ruins of an old cathedral and castle, which must have been very impressive in their day. Locked out of the hostel for an hour, we found a bar and had a drink. There was a bit of a party in the hostel that night, and a bit of a hangover the next morning. We shook it off and caught a train to Aberdeen. There was some impressive architecture, but not much else, so we didn't stay long. Back in St. Andrews for another night, we went to a pub with an Australian couple, and a Brazilian/Indian/English architect from London who turned out to be the heir to an international processed food distribution company. He was odd.

We're back in Kirkintilloch, and will be going out with Ruth and Chris tomorrow night, and then catching a ferry to Ireland on Sunday. Scotland is beautiful, but damn its cold.

More to follow.


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Freedom

The sense of freedom I feel right now is incredible.


My trip began two days ago. The jet lag only had me for an afternoon, and hasn't slowed me down a bit. What has slowed me down is the case of Carlsburg and bottle of Bacardi Gold we drank last night.

Johnny, a roommate from university, took us in from the cold, gave us dinner, and got us pissed-drunk. We played Karaoke until 4am.


I flew into Heathrow airport on Sunday at 1:30pm, caught a shuttle to Gatwick airport, and met Robyn at a near-by boarding house in Horley. A reunion and a pub dinner later, I was ready for sleep (having been denied that luxury on the plane).

The pub we visited was 700 years old, and used as a boarding house for monks from the adjacent 'ye old six bells' church.


Some free time on Monday morning allowed for a quick trip to London, which we hit like a hurricane. Starting at London-Bridge train station, we borrowed a map from a bus tour salesman, and struck out on foot (too cheap for bus tours). Saw the London Bridge, Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Royal Court of Justice, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abby. Back onto the train for Horley from the London-Victoria station three hours later. Photos were taken on the fly, so please forgive the blur.




Today, we're shaking off the hangover and catching a bus to Bristol and Bath to see what we can find there. Possibly some sort of Henge.. made out of stone.




More to follow

Monday, October 6, 2008

More to follow, maybe

This, is a travel blog. It will chronicle my trip through Europe and India over the next few months... maybe.
My hope is that I can remember to update it regularly, b
ut I tend to get distracted and discourage with such things.
It's a gamble; this could be the one and only post.

I live in Prince Rupert at the moment. My time here has been well spent. The people are friendly, and the town, although soggy at times, shines in the sun.
At dusk, the skies are breath taking.

Alas, the time has come to be gone. My packing lists are starting to take shape and my bank account is starting to empty.

If you're reading this you probably know me, and know that nothing I do is aimless. No matter how much I wish it were.
But on this trip I'm diving in somewhat headfirst. Fighting the urge to plan, other than the vaguest shadow of an itinerary. I prefer the idea of drifting on the currents of the Eurorail system.

I leave in 12 days. And maybe, there will be more posts to come.

My itinerary follows:

  • Leave Canada - Oct 18
  • England - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • Scotland - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • Ireland - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • Netherlands - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • Germany - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • France - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • Switzerland - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • Spain - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • Italy - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • Greece - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • India - sometime between Oct 18 and Jan 14
  • Back in Canada - Jan 14