The Cap'n Goes to Cornwall

This week was rather uneventful until the weekend. I ran errands, worked on travel stuff, updated the blog, went shopping… the usual. Valentine’s Day was even pretty tame since it ended up being Morgan and I going to a pub for a drink and then returning home to make chocolate chip cookies (they didn’t quite turn out like normal and I’m not sure why! Ruth from work thinks it’s the flour, since she says that American flour and British flour are surprisingly different).

Friday I only had a half day of work since we were leaving to go to Cornwall (the southwestern-most point in the UK, known for its history of smuggling and pirates, good surfing, beautiful scenery, pasties, and haunted/bizzaro sightings) that afternoon. My coworkers were freaking out a bit and acting like I was never coming back, but I do believed that they managed without me. I met Morgan and Trace at Paddington and we ended up catching the wrong train initially, which we didn’t realize until we were on the train and the announcer said the train was for Bristol. Luckily the train left just minutes before our train to Penzance and also stopped at Reading, where we were able to switch and be on schedule again. We had a surprisingly quick 5 1/2 hour trip, getting into Penzance (yes, as in “Pirates of,” but without any modern major generals) at about 7:30 that evening. We checked in at our fabulous B&B before heading to a nice seafood dinner where we also tried some of the v. locally-known clotted cream (kind of tastes like a sweet butter) on some oh-so-delicious jam sponge. After dinner, we found a local pub for a drink and in the punchy conversation decided that our “team” (Morgan, Trace, and I) were actually a pirate crew on the ship the “Bonny Anne” (reverse of a well-known female pirate, Anne Bonnie), and I was the Captain since I planned the trip. I was actually referred to as “Cap’n” for a good amount of the trip, much to my amusement and Andy’s (he was v. jealous) dismay. Andy, Meredith, and Alissa got in around 1am since they didn’t’ leave til after work that night.

Saturday, Alissa and I thought about getting up for the sunrise, but it didn’t really happen. Instead, we had a really punchy breakfast (stupid, nerdy jokes and laughing at nothing, which was obviously the theme for the weekend), chatted with other B&B guests, and headed out to roam the town for the morning. We walked along the Strand (the shore-side area along the bay/sea), and out along the rocks and shore before heading up through town to shop and snack. Morgan and I got v. excited for a yarn store, Trace and I got v. excited for an organic food store, and we all got v. excited for a bakery with lots of pastries. Meredith and Alissa found some wellies, joining my I Heart Wellies club for the weekend. After shopping, we went back to get ready for our afternoon boat trip that was unfortunately postponed til Sunday due to the rough winds. Instead, we decided to go to Lands End (the tip of Cornwall and I’m not sure about the relationship to the clothing line) and caught the bus there. (photo: Meredith, Andy, and I near Penzance)

The roads to Lands End reminded me a lot of highland Scotland with all of the v. narrow roads that took an hour to go 12km. As soon as we got to Lands End, it started to rain and rain v. hard, so we didn’t last long taking pictures near the fudgie photo sign before deciding to retreat to the one open restaurant to get a pasty and a cider to wait out the rain (most of the shops and food places were strangely closed at 2 in the afternoon on a Saturday). Luckily, the rain did pass and we went out hiking along the cliffs to see the wreck of a ship on the rocks and to test out our wellies. We had a lot of fun walking through lots of mud and splashing through puddles and remaining completely dry due to our fabulous footwear! However, we had to cut it shorter than we’d like in order to catch the bus back towards Penzance. We decided to get off though in Porthcurno to see the Minack Theatre, an outdoor theatre carved into the side of a cliff with fabulous views of the ocean. However, the theatre had only just closed minutes before our arrival, so we had to settle for another mini hikey hikey with fantastic views of the coast, the ocean, and the sunset. The waves we saw were humungous and there were even crazy guys surfing in the frigid water. We hiked down to the beach where they were surfing and Alissa and I got seriously splashed by a deceptively-large wave. We finally got the bus back to Penzance where we regrouped before heading to dinner at the pub we’d been to the night before before heading back to the B&B for bed. (photos: Andy, me, Alissa, Trace, and Meredith at Lands End in front of cheesey sign; wellies in action; hike along the coast, looking back towards Lands End; hiking towards the sunset; us all watching the sunset on our rocky perches; and crazy waves, the black specks in the water being the surfers.)






Sunday was another attempt for a sunset that didn’t happen and instead haad a nice leisurely breakfast. Alissa and I even talked with the owner of the B&B who’s grandfather and family were survivors of the Titanic (his gpa was 6 months old, but we got to see the newspaper clippings, etc.). We eventually made our way down for our belated boat trip. The six of us, plus our two guides, got on our waterproofs (a waterproof jacket and snowpants-like overalls) and boarded the boat. Our little boat explored the bay, including stopping near St. Michael’s Mount (a former monastery turned fancy residence) and various other caves and coves looking for seals, dolphins, porpoises, and maybe even whales. However, all we saw were lots of cool birds (including a cousin of the penguin called a guillemot and the largest seagull in the world). Duncan, our guide, said that he couldn’t even remember when he hadn’t even seen seals. Just our luck… But we did see the birds, lots of fabulous scenery, learned lots about local legends and culture, and Andy and I especially got drenched due to our seats on the boat. After getting back to the dock, we all were cold and made our way to a nearby café for a hot beverage before heading back to the B&B for our luggage. We caught some lunch at a pub and caught the train back to London. (photos: us before the trip; Penzance from the harbour; St. Michael's Mount; me getting drenched; Morgan cold and wet (she's from South Carolina and was "without a doubt the coldest [she's] ever been in [her] life; and us after the trip.)

Johnny Cash and Wales v. Scotland

So this week was pretty dull for blog excitement, at least during the week. I'd gotten a cold a week or two before and had been drinking a lietre of oj every day, that along with my vitamin c/zinc supplement to keep disease at bay, was giving me over 700% of my daily vitamin c dosage. By Wednesday, the cold had gotten a bit ridiculous, but that was also the day we'd planned on going to see "Walk the Line," which had finally come out the Friday before. Some friends of mine from work came with me to meet Andy, Trace, and GP at the theatre, which was tough enough to find at the Barbican. I didn't know how Johnny Cash and his music would be taken in the UK, but my friends from work really enjoyed it, as have most people I've heard from. I was quite glad to have finally seen it and spent the entire tube ride to work the next morning listening to Johnny Cash on my ipod.

The other storyline of the week was the debate about what to do that weekend. I'd been pushing for Cornwall, but no one else was feeling it. Finally, on Friday, we decided to push Cornwall to the following weekend and to go to Cardiff (capital of Wales) instead. It turned out being just Trace and I going that Saturday morning, but the trip turned out to be fabulous.

While waiting in Paddington Station in London, I noticed a group of guys of a range of ages all wearing kilts, still not a common sight in London. Once getting off the train in Cardiff, we realized what was going on. The seas of kilts and flag-clad Scots we realized that there must be the Wales v. Scotland rugby match that weekend (later verified). In the UK (& France and Italy) there's a huge rugby tournament called the Six Nations, where Wales, Scotland, England, Ireland, Itlay, and France all compete against each other in a Superbowl/Sweet Sixteen/Fab Four/(insert your hugely popular sporting event here)-esque tourney. As we discovered in Cardiff, they go all out. The handful of crazies you get at college football games dressed in team paraphenalia and facepaint would be for the Six Nations at least 90% of the fans. And not only were they absolutely insane on game day, they were also decked out all weekend long. Anyway, the influx of rugby fans made it a bit of a challenge to find lodging, and by the time we did, and then got dinner at (yes, a bit toolish, I know) the Hard Rock Cafe, all the touristy stuff was closed. So we spent the evening wandering down towards the big revitalization area of Cardiff Bay and then back towards the city, before settling in a pub to kill some time before the place with the "live Irish music" started with their tunes. (photo: some of the Cardiff Bay area with radom statues in the foreground)

While in the pub chatting and singing along to "American Pie," two Scottish guys our age and wearing kilts (one with a flag) joined us at our table. Apparently part of a tradition of theirs, they come down every year but aren't allowed to bring luggage other than their money and a toothbrush. They'd been imbibing since early that morning, and were a bit batty when they joined us. Adding to the situation were the Welsh women of all ages curious to know if they wore anything under their kilts (they were completely traditional, as we found out while answering the queries of the Welsh women). Later, their other two friends joined us and we had a fun time hanging out. We dragged them out of that pub to the place with the live Irish music, only to discover that the pub was so full of Welsh and Scots that they didn't much bother with the Irish music. Instead, amidst all the rugby trash-talking, I got a lesson on the importance of elbows in Scottish dancing (v. chicken dance) and also the political/religious connotations to the song "Fields of Athenrye." The Scots and Welsh we learned also have their pops anthems. While indeed a fan of "Maggie May," by Rod Stewart, the true song that gets any Scot dancing and yelling loudly is "500 Miles" byt the Proclaimers. The Welsh love Tom Jones, but particularly, and much to my delight, "Delilah." I love the Scots, and now also the Welsh if not only for their love of Tom Jones and one of his masterpieces. After learning some of the national athems for the six nations, Trace and I managed to escape the pub and make our way back to the B&B. (photos: our new friends dancing, with elbows; our friends John, Mark, and Duncan (Steve pictured in the background of the previous photo)).


The next morning after breakfast we headed into town to go to Cardiff Castle. Located in the centre of town, it's a big open space with an empty keep in the centre that you can climb and the mansion of 100+ rooms on the edge, which we toured. It was a v.. cool castle, and ranks among Warwick as one of my favorites. After the castle, we tried to make our way to the Museum of Welsh Life, a living history representation of Welsh history and life from Celtic times - 1950s at a place on the outskirts of Cardiff. However, being Sunday and a huge game day, reduced service made it too difficult and we settled for wandering around the city and watching the crazy fans. We settled for the Welsh National Museum where we went through a fantastic exhibit called "the Origins of Wales," a trace of geological and bilogical history from Pangea up to today (they also had a great impressionist collection of paintings, though not in the geology part of the museum). After the museum, it was back into town to try to catch some food and the rugby game. However, the pubs were, of course, more or less packed and we settled for a "Mexican" restaurant and caught the tailend of the match through the window into the bar (Wales easily beat Scotland). (photos: streets of Cardiff with Castle on right early in the morning before the game, but street vendors are already in place!; red dragon (symbol of Wales) and castle keep; view of town from the keep with the stadium on the right with the weird white tower things; me in the keep; crazy welsh fans with flag kilts; and more rugby fans on the streets at a pub near the stadium.)







After dinner, it was off to the train to head back to London. However, that's what lots of people were doing, and we had a bit of a queue to get on the train. Also, all of the drinking partying Welsh and Scots continued that pattern in the bar car, just next to our train car. We had quite the amusing snippets of the same drunken Welsh/Scottish singing and chanting everytime the car door opened, not once being annoying but instead rather hilarious.

I really enjoyed Wales and the people were fantastic and so friendly. They were also v. proud of being Welsh. Everywhere on their cars were stickers saying "I heart Cardiff" and "Proud to be Welsh," etc. I was a bit excited to buy a Davis tartan for our realatives from way back when. I can't wait til I can go back and see more of the country and for longer!

Planning and Liverpool

So this week got a lot of the big travel plans underway. Various days, I met with Trace, Anna, and others to plan any travel plans for part of the six weeks of traveling I'll do after leaving London. Among those decided and solidified were a tour of Ireland, including two days in Galway (apparently the centre of traditional Irish music) over St. Patrick's Day and a tour of Egypt immediately following Ireland. If you're curious/bored, feel free to google them at the following websites: Ireland (http://www.shamrockertours.com/HTML2/NewSite/Default.aspx?MenuID=450&CountryID=57&WebID=4) and Egypt (http://www.topdecktours.co.uk/content.asp?Document_ID=1901)

I had a bit of a cold this week, as did everyone it seemed, though it didn't stop me from trying to still make the most of my times. Tuesday GP and I went to see "A Man for All Seasons," about Sir/Saint Thomas Moore, Henry VIII, and the creation of the Church of England. Wednesday, I went to the V&A Museum and broke down to buy the pair of wellies that I'd been eyeing for some time, which made me feel particularly more British. Thursday, after booking the trip to Egypt, we went to the pub on the corner (with free wireless!) and updated blogs and such while listening to fantastic live music. Friday, I actually worked overtime to get a big part of one of our office's mailshots finished. A mailshot is some sort of a mailing that we sent to at least a couple thousand of our candidates, that it was a good chunk my responsibility to coallate, fold, stuff, frank, and post. We'd already done at least a week of mailshotting the previous work, and then spent this week doing as well... ugh... Anyway, that same day, Trace and I went to the cheap theatre to see "Crash," a most excellent film that I v. much enjoyed and had been v. excited to see for quite a while.

The next morning, Trace, Amanda, Ross, and I went to Liverpool. We'd meant to go to the Lake District the next day, but there was too much engineering work on the train lines that weekend and for the next few weekends, killing just about any chance for me to go this trip (but definately next time!). Once getting to Liverpool, we tried to find food, and then lodging, about at the same time and with no real idea of where to go, resulting in quite a bit of wandering for a while. Through it all, we happened to also be wandering through some of the less-impressive parts of town (over-crowded shopping area, empty business area, and nasty dock/construction area). The docks were pretty stinky and after wandering nearly aimlessly on an empty stomach, we were getting v. frustrated and came to the decision that Liverpool more or less sucked. However, after finding the tourist info place, and from there a place to stay, we got rid of our bags and high-tailed it to a place to eat. By that time, all of the tourist places were closed, so we shopped around and then went to a movie before heading to a Weatherspoon’s for a drink and, most importantly, dessert.

The next morning we made our way down to the docks to the museums, in particular The Beatle’s Story (a museum of their entire history, a bit cheesey, but also some cool stuff like a reconstruction of the Cavern Club, where they really got their start; John Lennon’s yellow glasses; and a huge yellow submarine. After the Beatles, we split up with Amanda and Ross going to the Tate Liverpool and Trace and I going to the Maritime museum. There we saw a wild exhibit on smuggling (from a few hundred years ago up through modern times), and exhibit on slavery, and one on immigration. Liverpool, besides being the home of the Beatles and various other rock bands (ex: the oldies song with “Mary, across the Mersey…”, was always a huge shipping port and thus a huge site for smuggling. Also, being a huge shipping port, in the 19th century was the home port for the largest number of British slave ships. (photos: Amanda, Ross, Trace, and Me (blinking) at The Beatle's Story; the street featuring the Cavern Club (may not be visible, but in the rear on the left) and the Grapes); Eleanor Rigby; and a view from the docks back towards the town centre.)




After the museums, we went back through town to see the actual (though reconstructed) Cavern Club and grabbed some food at the Grapes (the pub the Beatles went to to escape the hoardes of underage fans), even sitting at the same table the Beatles were photographed at, before heading back to the train to London.

Haggis, Brighton, and the Year of the Dog

Since I was still at a hostel, Monday and Tuesday I did anything I could to just hang out and not be at the hostel really. Wednesday night we had a plan to go with a bunch of people, including a fair amount of Canadians, to the Maple Leaf in Covent Garden to watch hockey. My work suddenly planned a quick outing after work since one of our staff was leaving, the event causing the Canadian plans to be delayed. After finally arriving, we met some v. friendly Canadians and Brits before the night ended with a bit of drama due to some of my coworkers showing up a bit late and a bit intoxicated. I returned that night to my new flat, since I'd dropped my luggage off that morning and had thus officially moved in.

Thursday was Burns Night, celebrating the birthday of scottish romatic poet Robert Burns. The Scottish gastronomic and cultural equivalent to Thanksgiving, we were v. excited and had bought discounted tickets to a bar that we'd been to at a BUNAC pub meet. The owner was Scottish and put on a fabulous 3-course Haggis dinner, complete with a bagpiper, whiskey, Scottish poetry (usually spelled phonetically for Scottish accents!), and super fun cleidh (KAY-lee) dancing like we'd done at Hogmany. Friday, I was finally home early enough to unpack my things and celebrated by going to see my first movie of the weekend, "Munich."

Saturday we decided to get out of town, so two new BUNACers (Alyssa and Michelle), Trace, and I went to Brighton for the day on the Southeast coast of England. We had no idea how cold it was going to be there with the wind off the Channel and all, but it was freezing the entire day (though still no snow)!!! We wandered along the beach, down the Brighton Peir, and over towards the the Royal Pavilion while I munched on some melt-in-your-mouth/so-much-better-than-stickin-krispy-kremes donuts. The Royal Pavilion was a "country house" built by George IV for himself and his secret wife, though it was later remodelled into a kind of Arabian palace. We wandered around the v. ornate rooms and such before we realized we were really hungry and got lunch. After, we started shopping for a while before heading back to town for more gelatto and attempts at a movie. (Morgan and I saw my second film of the weekend, "Jarhead.") (photos: seashore at Brighton; Michelle, Trace, and Alyssa on the peir; and the Royal Pavilion from the best view I could get a complete photo of...)



Sunday was Chinese New Year and London's China Town put on a big shindig. I missed the parade that morning, but saw a lot of the performances in Trafalgar Square, got a gift (10 pence!) from the Money God, and saw the Chinese Fireworks before I got fed-up with the ridiculous crowds. Trace and I at that point went to Harrod's for my first time. It was a v. big and a v. expensive department store, but good to go in once. After, I went to the cheap theatre to see my third film this weekend (the new "Pride and Prejudice," featuring a few things that we tried to/actually did see on our trip to the Peak District). (photos: Trafalgar Square just after the parade on Chinese New Year; some of the Dragon dancing; and the Money God)