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
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
posted by Jeffrey O'Brien @ 6:36 pm
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