madcap recap

Thank you for coming to check out my new site, I hope this makes things more convenient for everyone. I hope to have pics posted just as soon as I overcome my computer retardeness and figure shit out.

There are roughly two months of adventuring to catch up on, here it is in the most concise form I could muster. Back in February I took off to do some sight seeing before the much anticiapted arrival of Olaf and Shannon, two friends from Uni for those of you unfamiliar. I visited an area in England known as the Cotswolds, a lovely spot made up of five valleys all converging into the town of Stroud. Here I stayed for three days with the family of a South African lady I've worked for on a number of occasions. I was able to explore the area aswell as some Roman, Medieval and Georgian towns.

Canterbury was my next destination, truly an incredibly city for it's tiny size compact with spiritual history. Hokey as it may sound I really could feel the spirit of the place as soon as I arrived, its a world heritage site to which many people make pilgrimages. Canterbury Cathedral is where Thomas Beckett was martyred, I performed in T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral in Toronto so I was already well informed. Never-the-less I got to talking with one of the guides who ended up giving me a personal tour into restricted areas because he seemed to think I showed a keen interest. Much abliged. In the evenings I frequented a great local tavern who treated me very well, particularly on quiz night when I was on a team with another Canadian from Oshawa and a local until I got so drunk I couldn't focus on what was going on, but we came in third! I also made it to Dover to gawk at the white cliffs, so named because they are composed entirely of white chalk. These cliffs stretch across southern England and are much more impressive in other areas I've been so I was disappointed and only spent the day.

Then off to London where I got the date of Olaf and Shannon's arrival wrong so I wasn't at the station to pick them up! Ooops! Alas, we managed to sort it out and headed for Scotland to begin our month of grueling outdoor work. We stopped in Edinburgh to celebrate St. Patty's with my friends, I'm sure you can guess the state we were in.

A little about the work we did: heather burning. Heather is a weed that grows rampant across some areas of the highlands, it can get incredibly thick and needs to be burned back so the grouse, a ground dwelling bird, can eat the new growth. When autumn comes around it's hunting season, I'll probably go back then for more back breaking work. It was just the three of us working with three of the game keepers, they lit fires that spread across the hills while we followed behind putting the dying flames out. An impressive sight so long as it doesn't get out of control which happened only once, I was shitting myself thinking the whole country side was going up! With much effort we got it out and called it a day. The first two weeks saw pleasant weather, but when the rain/snow/slush/wind hit during the last two weeks so we were demoted to digging ditches, rock picking in farmers fields, tearing down fences and picking rotting branches from the forest floor. All of that really sucked, only made tollerable by goofing around and making games of the work.

Thankfully that came to an end and we were free for a month of travelling. Shannon had family in Wales that she'd never met, they welcomed us with open arms and really took care of us. Wales is beautiful and the people great, which adds to my belief that the UK countries so long oppressed by England are actually far better, prettier and more enjoyable than England itself...but you didn't hear from me. The husband of Shannon's cousin kept insisting Olaf and I always had a beer in our hands, it actually got to the point where we wanted to refuse but felt we couldn't. We had a buzz the whole time we were there!

Then it was off to the the continent to visit Holland, Belgium and France. I've posted another section for the remainder of this trip so if you're tired already stop here and come back at a later date. Otherwise carry on with with '3 Haggi Dazed and Confused'

"Thank you, come again" - Apu

3 Haggi dazed and confused

Welcome back. We left off with Jeff, Shannon and Olaf bound for Amsterdam, Holland. Wow what a city, so small yet so much to do. Needless to say the whole of our six days there were in a haze of smoke...And then a whole lot more smoke. The coffee shopsare very welcoming, friendly environments...we sampled a lot. To our delight there was a national holiday on April 30th known as the 'Queen's Birthday'. All of Holland parties it up with the majority of the population converging on Amsterdam which turned into the largest garage sale I've ever seen. People marked off a section of sidewalk days before so they could set up and sell off their spring cleaning junk. The canals were crammed with boats blaring tunes while for the passengers' dance party. We were in fine shape for it even though the day before had been quite the adventure seeing as it was my 27th birthday. A great weekend of partying topped off with a visit to the Heineken brewery before busing it to Brussels, Belgium.

Brussels is a decent city but easily conquered in a couple of days. We ended up staying for five days though as Shannon was enjoying herself so much, too much so it would seem as one night at the pub she lost her camera to a local she'd befriended. Did I mention the beer is an average of 8% and the pubs are open 'till 4am? That may have had something to do with it. Chasing him down the next day she managed to retrieve it. Meanwhile...in another part of the city Olaf and I were desperate for a place to wiz, and therefore headed to a nearby park we knew of that had two large pits dug in the corners. We'd observed this was where people went to pee, but in the evening we found it to be the hangout of a very different sort indeed, the local gay pit! We did not realize this until well into the pit as shadowy figures moved towards us with only the sound of crackling twigs. The thought struck us both simultaneously, without discussion we b-lined it for the exit, with one or two in hot pursuit. A narrow escape indeed, no pun intended. Turned out the very next day was Brussels' gay pride parade!

Well that was enough excitement for Brussels, our next destination was Paris to visit a friend of mine. As this was my second visit to this great city and with my french up to par I was feeling very comfortable. Unfortunately I only managed a three day visit as circumstances beyond my control called me back to Bristol. It seemed rent at my house had somehow been misplaced for two whole months! My housemates were irate saying we all faced eviction and I needed to return immediately. Leaving Olaf and Shannon to finish the last week of our holiday on their own I returned to my dumpy house in Bristol only to find the situation was not nearly as bad as they made it out to be.

So I'm back in Britain now working hard to save up for the next big adventure. Love to all and will keep you posted.