Yes, we have landed safely in Melbourne, Australia -- just got in the night before last. It's about 9:30 AM on Thursday here now (16 hours ahead of EST). The weather is warm, but not quite sunny yet. Yesterday, there were a few sprinkles of rain mixed in with sunny spells. This morning we're getting some nice thunderstorms (I do like a good summer thurnderstorm). Yesterday, we wandered around St. Kilda, where Susan's brother Joff lives. It's a nice little section of Melbourne with it's own beach -- the water is quite calm and there weren't really any waves coming in. We didn't go swimming, but it seemed the water is quite warm, the way folks were just standing around in it. We sat along the beach for a picnic lunch and had dinner at a veggie restaurant called Soul Mama that Joff's girlfriend Min recommended. You choose a bowl size and then go to this buffet and get to select a number of items (depending on which size bowl you bought) from the buffet -- it was hard to choose and it was all very good! I had a nice ale (Mountain Goat Ale) to go along with it. We're still a bit jet lagged, so had an early evening.
So far, I'm liking it much better than Liverpool. Good food, real coffee (I had some really bad coffee experiences the last few days in England), real beer, and people living "alternative" lifestyles... Ah... it's good to be in a normal environment again! Today, we'll venture into the city and get some SIM cards and some cheap flip-flops for me (I have no sandals here).
No pictures yet, but I'll try to take some after the weather clears up a bit. In the meantime, here's a link to a website with some pics: http://www.melbourne.com.au/stkilda.htm
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Wales: Snowdonia & Caernarfon Castle
The weekend before last, we went to Wales again with Susan's classmates from the School of Tropical Medicine. The University of Liverpool owns a cottage in Snowdonia (a region of North Wales) that students can reserve. It has 18 bunks and a kitchen, but unfortunately, very poor heating! We filled the place up, but on Friday night (the first night we arrived), it was below freezing outside and even though the place had heaters in the bunk rooms, the things were totally worthless. I was very, very grateful for the nice down sleeping bag that Susan borrowed from a classmate for me. In fact, it was so cold that one of the Australians in the group decided he couldn't take another night there and left with another classmate who had to leave on Saturday evening.
Anyway, we hitched a ride with classmate, Ray, and we joined a car-load of others on Friday afternoon for a late afternoon hike up Mt. Snowdon. Although it is only about 3,500 feet high, it is the highest peak in Wales and all of Great Britain. Also, apparently, Edmund Hillary climbed Mt. Snowdon as training for his climb of Mt. Everest (which seems a bit absurd, considering that Mt. Everest is literally almost 10 times higher!). We started up the trail at about 2-2:30 PM and got to the top at around sunset (which is about 4:30 PM in these parts!). Although I was feeling a bit winded on the way up and I was definitely the slowest (and, pitifully worried about climbing back down in the dark), it turned out to be a lovely hike. I don't recall which track we took up, but it was a bit steep and somewhat challenging. It was a beautiful, clear day (very rare anywhere in the UK, as far as I can tell), so it was great that we were able to take advantage of the weather. The pinnacle is also reachable by train, and it was a bit odd to come up to the top ridge to to find a train track up there. Once we got to the top, we took in the view and some photos and hurried back down the much easier Pyg and Miners Tracks. We were happy to find that it was a full moon that night and we were able to find our way back in the moonlight. The view of the moonlight on the lake was quite stunning. Susan was our photographer that evening and she did not take pictures of the moonlit lake, although Ray took some beautiful ones. We're hoping he'll share them with us.
After our hike, we went to a pub in Llanberis to meet up with some other classmates and then we went to a restaurant (Pete's Bistro, I believe?), which was a family-owned restaurant that serves Tapas-style meals. Their menu had a description of their dreams to have a big bed & breakfast type place and that the restaurant was only the beginning. We were given a room all to ourselves (as there was about 16 of us) and at one point, the "grandson" who was to take our order came in the room and said, "Are you ready to order, or would you like to write it down yourselves?" We all had a good laugh over that, but in the end, it turned out to be the best way to handle it. As it turned out, the food there was quite good. Afterwards, someone suggested that we delve into the board games that she saw on the way into the restaurant and so we started on a game of Jenga (well, a knock-off version really) on one end of the table and a "Don't Lose Your Marbles" type game on the other end of the table. We're all getting pretty rowdy and having a good time, when all of a sudden the owner (the grandmother) brings out a GIGANTIC version of Jenga ("Four Feet Tall!") for us to play. Then, someone else in the group group found a gigantic version of "Connect Four" and they started playing that. Overall, it turned out to be a fantastic place to go -- with great food, fun and extremely welcoming staff, despite our large group.
On Saturday, Suze and I took off on our own with her friend, Jo, who came to join us for the weekend on Friday evening at Pete's Bistro. She had her trusty little red car, Francesca, so we were free to roam on that rainy Saturday afternoon in search of... castles! Acutally, we only went to one castle, Caernarfon Castle, which, as it turns out, is the castle where Prince Charles was crowned as Prince of Wales in 1969 (We learned this little factoid at the castle). I was quite happy because I was catching a cold and was NOT in the mood to be cold and wet that day! It was a lovely castle and had been all fixed up with roofs and floors in some of the towers, which was very neat to see. One tower even had a cinema in it, with a very badly overacted but somewhat informative film about the castle's history.
Saturday night, we stayed at the cottage and utilized the available kitchen facilities where the whole group feasted on fajitas. Later, we played silly party games like a convoluted version of Charades (Secret Telephone Charades) that involved us splitting into groups and pairs having to convey Charades to the next pair until the last pair has to figure out what the topic was. It was pretty funny. We even did the Limbo with a broomstick (which, sadly, despite my short height I'm terrible at because I also sit at a computer WAY too much!).
Sunday, we did another day hike with everyone up Mt. Tryfan. However, this time, we split up into two groups -- one that went the steep way, which require lots of scrambling and climbing and one that went the "easy" way, which required much less scrambling. I was quite happy to be in the easy and slow group, as I'm usually the bringing up the tail-end on these excursions! At one point, our guide for the hike tried to use me as a "guinea pig" to try to convince me to climb up a harder path, but I made them turn around and go the easy way. Yes, I'm a wimp. Anyway, the hike took us about four hours and it took us nearly as long to go the long, easy way as it it did to go the short hard way, so we found the other group on our way back down. A few folks decided to stay and do more climbing, but the rest of us continued down the mountain, headed off for some lunch (leftover fajitas, yum!) at the cottage, cleaned it up and headed back to Liverpool.
Here's the link to more photos of the weekend: http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/WalesSnowdoniaCaernarfonCastle
Anyway, we hitched a ride with classmate, Ray, and we joined a car-load of others on Friday afternoon for a late afternoon hike up Mt. Snowdon. Although it is only about 3,500 feet high, it is the highest peak in Wales and all of Great Britain. Also, apparently, Edmund Hillary climbed Mt. Snowdon as training for his climb of Mt. Everest (which seems a bit absurd, considering that Mt. Everest is literally almost 10 times higher!). We started up the trail at about 2-2:30 PM and got to the top at around sunset (which is about 4:30 PM in these parts!). Although I was feeling a bit winded on the way up and I was definitely the slowest (and, pitifully worried about climbing back down in the dark), it turned out to be a lovely hike. I don't recall which track we took up, but it was a bit steep and somewhat challenging. It was a beautiful, clear day (very rare anywhere in the UK, as far as I can tell), so it was great that we were able to take advantage of the weather. The pinnacle is also reachable by train, and it was a bit odd to come up to the top ridge to to find a train track up there. Once we got to the top, we took in the view and some photos and hurried back down the much easier Pyg and Miners Tracks. We were happy to find that it was a full moon that night and we were able to find our way back in the moonlight. The view of the moonlight on the lake was quite stunning. Susan was our photographer that evening and she did not take pictures of the moonlit lake, although Ray took some beautiful ones. We're hoping he'll share them with us.
After our hike, we went to a pub in Llanberis to meet up with some other classmates and then we went to a restaurant (Pete's Bistro, I believe?), which was a family-owned restaurant that serves Tapas-style meals. Their menu had a description of their dreams to have a big bed & breakfast type place and that the restaurant was only the beginning. We were given a room all to ourselves (as there was about 16 of us) and at one point, the "grandson" who was to take our order came in the room and said, "Are you ready to order, or would you like to write it down yourselves?" We all had a good laugh over that, but in the end, it turned out to be the best way to handle it. As it turned out, the food there was quite good. Afterwards, someone suggested that we delve into the board games that she saw on the way into the restaurant and so we started on a game of Jenga (well, a knock-off version really) on one end of the table and a "Don't Lose Your Marbles" type game on the other end of the table. We're all getting pretty rowdy and having a good time, when all of a sudden the owner (the grandmother) brings out a GIGANTIC version of Jenga ("Four Feet Tall!") for us to play. Then, someone else in the group group found a gigantic version of "Connect Four" and they started playing that. Overall, it turned out to be a fantastic place to go -- with great food, fun and extremely welcoming staff, despite our large group.
On Saturday, Suze and I took off on our own with her friend, Jo, who came to join us for the weekend on Friday evening at Pete's Bistro. She had her trusty little red car, Francesca, so we were free to roam on that rainy Saturday afternoon in search of... castles! Acutally, we only went to one castle, Caernarfon Castle, which, as it turns out, is the castle where Prince Charles was crowned as Prince of Wales in 1969 (We learned this little factoid at the castle). I was quite happy because I was catching a cold and was NOT in the mood to be cold and wet that day! It was a lovely castle and had been all fixed up with roofs and floors in some of the towers, which was very neat to see. One tower even had a cinema in it, with a very badly overacted but somewhat informative film about the castle's history.
Saturday night, we stayed at the cottage and utilized the available kitchen facilities where the whole group feasted on fajitas. Later, we played silly party games like a convoluted version of Charades (Secret Telephone Charades) that involved us splitting into groups and pairs having to convey Charades to the next pair until the last pair has to figure out what the topic was. It was pretty funny. We even did the Limbo with a broomstick (which, sadly, despite my short height I'm terrible at because I also sit at a computer WAY too much!).
Sunday, we did another day hike with everyone up Mt. Tryfan. However, this time, we split up into two groups -- one that went the steep way, which require lots of scrambling and climbing and one that went the "easy" way, which required much less scrambling. I was quite happy to be in the easy and slow group, as I'm usually the bringing up the tail-end on these excursions! At one point, our guide for the hike tried to use me as a "guinea pig" to try to convince me to climb up a harder path, but I made them turn around and go the easy way. Yes, I'm a wimp. Anyway, the hike took us about four hours and it took us nearly as long to go the long, easy way as it it did to go the short hard way, so we found the other group on our way back down. A few folks decided to stay and do more climbing, but the rest of us continued down the mountain, headed off for some lunch (leftover fajitas, yum!) at the cottage, cleaned it up and headed back to Liverpool.
Here's the link to more photos of the weekend: http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/WalesSnowdoniaCaernarfonCastle
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Viva Barcelona
The weekend before last, Suze and I went to Barcelona to visit her cousin, Nicky. Since it cost us about the same to fly to Barcelona as it would to take a train to Edinburgh or London, we figured this was a good deal. So, we booked ourselves an EasyJet flight direct from Liverpool to Barcelona and Nicky gave us the details on how to get to her place from the airport. Oddly, it was the first time we'd ever been to the Liverpool airport, but it's pretty easy to take a bus from our place to the airport. Once in Barcelona, we were to take what we like to call "a train disguised as a bus" (or a train-bus) from the airport to Estacion de França. So, Susan asked a helpful airport staff member where to get the train and we wandered around until we found the bus stop. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the bus was free, even though it was a good 30 minute ride to its destination. We got to the station and eventually found Nicky there and she explained that the train line was under repair for so long that people were upset about it, so they made the train free. There's nothing like being in the right place at the right time -- lucky us!
So, we followed Nicky back to her flat after a stop at the nearby grocery for some breakfast food. She lives only a couple minutes walk from the train station and her flat is literally across the street from the Santa Maria del Mar, a gothic church built sometime in the 14th century, I believe. She lives in the heart of El Born, which is apparently a hip tourist attraction -- so we were right in the middle of it all! Her flat is up several floors, with a spiral staircase and a very low ceiling (which poor Susan kept bonking her head on). It's a small 2-bedroom flat with the quintessential tile floor that one would expect to find in a Spanish flat.
After we got ourselves settled in and then we went out for dinner at a place called Origen 99'9%, which is a restaurant that serves traditional Catalan food. There was a waiting list, which we put our names on and then we went to a wine bar for a drink. We went back and were seated and found that the menu is really more like a magazine, with articles, recipes, full color photos, and full descriptions of the food in Catalan, Spanish and English. I went to their website and found that you can read the menu online in PDF format if you like (the bad English translation is quite amusing!). It was quite comprehensive reading! So, we picked out about six dishes and some different glasses of wines to try. The food was very unusual to my palate, quite good but very rich, so not something I'd want to eat on a regular basis because of its richness. We had Cannelloni, stuffed squid, rabbit and sweet potatoes (my favorite, tho it was the first time I'd tried rabbit!), a bean dish, a lamb stew and some courgette (zucchini) dish. After a long and late (it is Spain, after all!) dinner, we headed back to Nicky's flat for the evening.
On Saturday, we decided to go see some Gaudi architecture and I wanted to go to the Sagrada Familia, which is the cathedral designed by Gaudi, which has been under construction since 1882. It's quite an impressive thing, not least of which is the fact that they've been working on it so long! Nicky advised us to look long and hard at the outside and then decide if we want to pay the money to go inside. Well, the tourist in me won out and we paid the 8 Euros each to go inside. Unfortunately, there was a wedding under way, so most of the cathedral was blocked off and the rest was, well, unfinished. For an extra 2 Euros each we could go on the lift to the top of one of the towers, but the line was super long and we decided it really wasn't worth the extra money. It was quite amazing to see the pillars and ceiling that Gaudi designed to look like trees, with the holes in the ceiling allowing the light to come in just like a canopy of trees would. Beneath the church is a museum, which used to be Gaudi's workshop, where they had some interesting displays and original Gaudi plaster molds of the church facades and the like. That was worth seeing, I think, but soon we got a text from Nicky and we met up with her to go to lunch at a cafe.
Later that day, Nicky took us to Park Guell, which is a park that Gaudi designed near where he lived. The house he lived in is now a museum, which we did not go into, but there was plenty to see in the park! There were all sorts of musicians playing music in different parts of the park -- a very entertaining sort of gypsy brass band in the plaza area, a saxophone player in the cavern-like archways, acoustic guitarists, and jewelry and visual artists selling their wares. The park is quite amazing, with columns built like palm trees, archways shaped like waves, and a two tiered plaza area with lovely tiled benches all around, supported underneath by amazing columns with tiled decorations on the ceiling. That Gaudi guy was quite ingenious and the park obviously continues to inspire local artists.
Saturday night, we went out with Nicky, her friend Ana and her friend who was visiting from Norway. We went to a tapas restaurant and had a lovely assortment of "pinchos", salads, calamari and other stuff. Later we went out to a couple of bars to get our drinks on. At the first bar we had to fend off an older fellow who wanted to befriend us -- luckily, after some rather blatant discouragements, he left us alone. We went to a second bar and had a good time and before I knew it, it was 2:30 AM and we were headed off for one last drink with some of Nicky & Ana's friends at another bar. On our way to the last bar, unfortunately, Ana had her purse snatched and soon we were running and screaming down the narrow tiled streets of Barcelona after the purse snatcher. Nicky pursued him the longest, but was still unable to find him. So, that put a rather dour mood on the evening. I found it a bit ironic that Ana was the only Spanish native in the group and hers was the purse that was taken. So, Nicky called the credit card company and whatnot to cancel Ana's cards and then we went and met up with the others, now at closing time at the last bar and Ana and her friend decided to join the others at an after hours bar, while Nicky, Susan and I decided to call it a night.
After our late night of drinking, we had a slow start to our Sunday. Susan and I decided to go tour the Casa Batllo, another architectural wonder by Gaudi. This one was a private mansion and again displayed Gaudi's incorporation of light, air and designs taken from nature. It was well worth the hefty entrance fee (I think it was 16 Euros each?) and was quite beautiful. Afterwards, we joined Nicky for lunch and then we borrowed her neighbor's bike and utilized one of the ample city-provided bikes (which can be used by residents with a rental card) to ride around the city and along the coast. Still feeling a bit hungover, we spent a quiet evening at Nicky's flat and watched a few episodes of "Bro'Town", a popular cartoon about Islander and Mauri kids in Auckland, NZ (somewhat like the Cosby Kids) that Nicky had on DVD and then we packed and got ready to leave for Liverpool in the morning.
Here are the rest of our photos from the weekend in Barcelona:
http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/Barcelona2007
So, we followed Nicky back to her flat after a stop at the nearby grocery for some breakfast food. She lives only a couple minutes walk from the train station and her flat is literally across the street from the Santa Maria del Mar, a gothic church built sometime in the 14th century, I believe. She lives in the heart of El Born, which is apparently a hip tourist attraction -- so we were right in the middle of it all! Her flat is up several floors, with a spiral staircase and a very low ceiling (which poor Susan kept bonking her head on). It's a small 2-bedroom flat with the quintessential tile floor that one would expect to find in a Spanish flat.
After we got ourselves settled in and then we went out for dinner at a place called Origen 99'9%, which is a restaurant that serves traditional Catalan food. There was a waiting list, which we put our names on and then we went to a wine bar for a drink. We went back and were seated and found that the menu is really more like a magazine, with articles, recipes, full color photos, and full descriptions of the food in Catalan, Spanish and English. I went to their website and found that you can read the menu online in PDF format if you like (the bad English translation is quite amusing!). It was quite comprehensive reading! So, we picked out about six dishes and some different glasses of wines to try. The food was very unusual to my palate, quite good but very rich, so not something I'd want to eat on a regular basis because of its richness. We had Cannelloni, stuffed squid, rabbit and sweet potatoes (my favorite, tho it was the first time I'd tried rabbit!), a bean dish, a lamb stew and some courgette (zucchini) dish. After a long and late (it is Spain, after all!) dinner, we headed back to Nicky's flat for the evening.
On Saturday, we decided to go see some Gaudi architecture and I wanted to go to the Sagrada Familia, which is the cathedral designed by Gaudi, which has been under construction since 1882. It's quite an impressive thing, not least of which is the fact that they've been working on it so long! Nicky advised us to look long and hard at the outside and then decide if we want to pay the money to go inside. Well, the tourist in me won out and we paid the 8 Euros each to go inside. Unfortunately, there was a wedding under way, so most of the cathedral was blocked off and the rest was, well, unfinished. For an extra 2 Euros each we could go on the lift to the top of one of the towers, but the line was super long and we decided it really wasn't worth the extra money. It was quite amazing to see the pillars and ceiling that Gaudi designed to look like trees, with the holes in the ceiling allowing the light to come in just like a canopy of trees would. Beneath the church is a museum, which used to be Gaudi's workshop, where they had some interesting displays and original Gaudi plaster molds of the church facades and the like. That was worth seeing, I think, but soon we got a text from Nicky and we met up with her to go to lunch at a cafe.
Later that day, Nicky took us to Park Guell, which is a park that Gaudi designed near where he lived. The house he lived in is now a museum, which we did not go into, but there was plenty to see in the park! There were all sorts of musicians playing music in different parts of the park -- a very entertaining sort of gypsy brass band in the plaza area, a saxophone player in the cavern-like archways, acoustic guitarists, and jewelry and visual artists selling their wares. The park is quite amazing, with columns built like palm trees, archways shaped like waves, and a two tiered plaza area with lovely tiled benches all around, supported underneath by amazing columns with tiled decorations on the ceiling. That Gaudi guy was quite ingenious and the park obviously continues to inspire local artists.
Saturday night, we went out with Nicky, her friend Ana and her friend who was visiting from Norway. We went to a tapas restaurant and had a lovely assortment of "pinchos", salads, calamari and other stuff. Later we went out to a couple of bars to get our drinks on. At the first bar we had to fend off an older fellow who wanted to befriend us -- luckily, after some rather blatant discouragements, he left us alone. We went to a second bar and had a good time and before I knew it, it was 2:30 AM and we were headed off for one last drink with some of Nicky & Ana's friends at another bar. On our way to the last bar, unfortunately, Ana had her purse snatched and soon we were running and screaming down the narrow tiled streets of Barcelona after the purse snatcher. Nicky pursued him the longest, but was still unable to find him. So, that put a rather dour mood on the evening. I found it a bit ironic that Ana was the only Spanish native in the group and hers was the purse that was taken. So, Nicky called the credit card company and whatnot to cancel Ana's cards and then we went and met up with the others, now at closing time at the last bar and Ana and her friend decided to join the others at an after hours bar, while Nicky, Susan and I decided to call it a night.
After our late night of drinking, we had a slow start to our Sunday. Susan and I decided to go tour the Casa Batllo, another architectural wonder by Gaudi. This one was a private mansion and again displayed Gaudi's incorporation of light, air and designs taken from nature. It was well worth the hefty entrance fee (I think it was 16 Euros each?) and was quite beautiful. Afterwards, we joined Nicky for lunch and then we borrowed her neighbor's bike and utilized one of the ample city-provided bikes (which can be used by residents with a rental card) to ride around the city and along the coast. Still feeling a bit hungover, we spent a quiet evening at Nicky's flat and watched a few episodes of "Bro'Town", a popular cartoon about Islander and Mauri kids in Auckland, NZ (somewhat like the Cosby Kids) that Nicky had on DVD and then we packed and got ready to leave for Liverpool in the morning.
Here are the rest of our photos from the weekend in Barcelona:
http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/Barcelona2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Photos from the Lake District - Part 2
Now for some "real" photos from the Lake District. From the weekend on which we actually went hiking. The fall leaves were just coming into full color and we even had one sunny day! Saturday was a bit moist and we got quite wet by the end, so mountains and hills were in the clouds, but Sunday was lovely.
Thankfully, we did NOT get locked out of our youth hostel, although we nearly did. On Saturday night, we decided to go to a late movie (we saw "Control" about Ian Curtis, singer of Joy Division) in the nearby town and didn't realize there was a CURFEW at which time they LOCKED the doors of the hostel. We pounded and screamed at the door, to no avail. Luckily, I had the Youth Hostel phone number programmed into my cell phone and someone actually answered the phone at around midnight when we called! They contacted the person with the key to let us in (who was just next door, looked half asleep and not very happy, unfortunately). We were quite grateful because it was very wet, cold and windy that night...
Anyway, we had a couple of nice day hikes amongst the Herdwick sheep and saw some fantastic views on Sunday from the hilltops. Here are here are the photos we took of our hikes around the Langdale region.
http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/HikingInLakeDistrict
Friday, November 16, 2007
Southport, Ainsdale & Hilbre Island
A few weeks ago, we took a day-trip to Southport and Ainsdale. We weren't terribly excited by Southport, as it was a place more for family entertainment than beach enjoyment, so we moved on to nearby Ainsdale, which had a nice hiking trail through the sand dunes. The thing that's very characteristic of the beaches here (and also very odd to me) is that they are very long, wide and flat. When the tide is out, the sand just goes on and on and on and there are hardly any waves from the ocean because it's such a flat shelf of beach. Subsequently, there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for kite karting, which is the sport of rolling around in a three-wheeled cart, powered by the wind using a kite. We saw a lot of kite karters on the beach in Ainsdale for some racing event that day.
Taking in the view on Hilbre Island
We also took a day trip to West Kirby, which we heard was quite nice. Luckily, our landlady warned us that we need to be apprised of the tides in West Kirby because the thing to do is to go to Hilbre Island. So, we found out what time we needed to be there and joined the hundreds of people walking across the sand at low tide to check out the views from Hilbre Island on a beautifully sunny day. Turns out that it's a couple mile walk around/over Middle Eye (or middle island) to Hilbre Island. I felt like I was on some pilgrimage across the desert (except it was beach sand, not desert sand). Anyway, it turned out to be well-worth it, as Hilbre Island is quite a charming little island with a few houses and an old abandoned lifeboat station (in use ca. 1840's - 1930's), with views of a distant seal colony and the mouth of the River Dee where it meets the ocean. The only thing that was missing was our packed lunch, which we didn't know in advance to bring. So, we trekked back to West Kirby and found a charming little cafe in which to refuel before we hopped on a train to head back to Liverpool.
Here are some photos I took that weekend: http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/SouthportHilbreIsland
Taking in the view on Hilbre Island
We also took a day trip to West Kirby, which we heard was quite nice. Luckily, our landlady warned us that we need to be apprised of the tides in West Kirby because the thing to do is to go to Hilbre Island. So, we found out what time we needed to be there and joined the hundreds of people walking across the sand at low tide to check out the views from Hilbre Island on a beautifully sunny day. Turns out that it's a couple mile walk around/over Middle Eye (or middle island) to Hilbre Island. I felt like I was on some pilgrimage across the desert (except it was beach sand, not desert sand). Anyway, it turned out to be well-worth it, as Hilbre Island is quite a charming little island with a few houses and an old abandoned lifeboat station (in use ca. 1840's - 1930's), with views of a distant seal colony and the mouth of the River Dee where it meets the ocean. The only thing that was missing was our packed lunch, which we didn't know in advance to bring. So, we trekked back to West Kirby and found a charming little cafe in which to refuel before we hopped on a train to head back to Liverpool.
Here are some photos I took that weekend: http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/SouthportHilbreIsland
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Yes, I'm still here!
Yikes, it's been nearly a month since I last posted anything here. Well, I do have a valid excuse -- we've been without internet access at the house for over three weeks and I've spent my precious hours online checking email or doing work, so haven't had time to post anything. Sorry folks.
So, what have the Kiwi and I been up to? Well, I've applied for school in Brisbane and have been accepted to two of the three schools I've applied to. I heard from the one I wanted to go to most within two weeks, which I thought was pretty amazing, considering I'm in the UK, my "permanent" address is in the US and the school is in Australia. I'll be going for a Masters in Information Technology at Central Queensland University. So, I'm pretty psyched about that.
I also started some volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and have met some interesting folks there. I've especially enjoyed meeting an Iranian refugee woman who volunteers with Habitat. It's been interesting hearing about her experiences and views of the world. Today, I learned that she watched the "Six Million Dollar Man" on TV as a child in Iran. Who knew? I also learned about how they bury people to their shoulders and then stone them to death for converting to Christianity in Iran. So, as you can imagine, she's quite happy to be living in the UK and hopes to get a permanent visa in the next few months. I hope it goes well for her.
Our recent weekend excursions include: going to West Kirby and walking out to Hilbre Island, which was quite lovely. We also went back to the Lake District with Jo to go hiking. In the Lake District, we spent the night at a Youth Hostel in Langdale (which we nearly got locked out of for being out past the curfew which we knew nothing of) and two days of quite nice hikes. We also tried some famous gingerbread in Grasmere, which is somehow a crumbly, somewhat chewy concoction that looks a bit like graham crackers, but is much yummier. Last weekend, we went to visit Susan's relatives in West Mersea, not far from Colchester and then I spent a day in London by myself before returning on a convoluted series of trains (really, the train system here is quite maddening and expensive!) due to my discount ticket.
I'll post some photos a bit later, once I get caught up...
So, what have the Kiwi and I been up to? Well, I've applied for school in Brisbane and have been accepted to two of the three schools I've applied to. I heard from the one I wanted to go to most within two weeks, which I thought was pretty amazing, considering I'm in the UK, my "permanent" address is in the US and the school is in Australia. I'll be going for a Masters in Information Technology at Central Queensland University. So, I'm pretty psyched about that.
I also started some volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and have met some interesting folks there. I've especially enjoyed meeting an Iranian refugee woman who volunteers with Habitat. It's been interesting hearing about her experiences and views of the world. Today, I learned that she watched the "Six Million Dollar Man" on TV as a child in Iran. Who knew? I also learned about how they bury people to their shoulders and then stone them to death for converting to Christianity in Iran. So, as you can imagine, she's quite happy to be living in the UK and hopes to get a permanent visa in the next few months. I hope it goes well for her.
Our recent weekend excursions include: going to West Kirby and walking out to Hilbre Island, which was quite lovely. We also went back to the Lake District with Jo to go hiking. In the Lake District, we spent the night at a Youth Hostel in Langdale (which we nearly got locked out of for being out past the curfew which we knew nothing of) and two days of quite nice hikes. We also tried some famous gingerbread in Grasmere, which is somehow a crumbly, somewhat chewy concoction that looks a bit like graham crackers, but is much yummier. Last weekend, we went to visit Susan's relatives in West Mersea, not far from Colchester and then I spent a day in London by myself before returning on a convoluted series of trains (really, the train system here is quite maddening and expensive!) due to my discount ticket.
I'll post some photos a bit later, once I get caught up...
Friday, October 19, 2007
Wales: Betws-y-Coed and Conwy Castle
Last weekend, we ventured off to Wales in search of some castles. We haven't really ventured out to see any of those yet and we had picked up some helpful brochures in Chester (with both English and Welsh translations) about castles in Wales. After reviewing the train routes, I decided that we only would really be able to get to two castles by train: Dolwyddelan and Conwy. After a nearly fruitless search for places to stay, I finally found us a hotel that had space and would allow us to book for only one Saturday night (we're on a budget, here) in Betws-y-Coed. It seemed that Betws-y-Coed is quite the hot-spot for tourists to launch their outdoor excursions, so it seemed like a good place to stay. Upon further searching, I found that there was what seemed to be a popular mountain biking trail in Betws, so I thought that might be a good idea for us as well.
After gathering the somewhat confusing train schedule information, Susan found out that a classmate of hers was planning to take a trip to Wales also. He was planning on leaving at 6:30 AM (ugh), which would get us into town at around 8:30 AM, which seemed much better than getting there closer to noon by train. So, I sucked it up and agreed to wake at that ungodly hour for the free and early transportation (mind you, a one-way train ticket isn't much cheaper than a return ticket).
So, we arrived in Betws and Alex and his friend, Bill, were hungry and we weren't sure what would be open, so we stopped in a lovely, though somewhat pricey cafe' where we could get some coffee/tea/breakfast. Alex and Bill were heading out to the wilderness to train for some foot race that involves reading a map, so they wanted to stop in the local outdoor sports shop to see if they had any maps that would be at the unusual scale they expected during the race (the unusual scale of the map makes things tougher, apparently) so that they could get used to it. While we were in there, Bill said that the book that he had an article in was in the store. Suze and I asked him to show it to us. To our surprise, the book was on the Sahara and Bill's article was about the care and feeding of camels, for desert travel purposes! Not what we expected at all. We glanced over the article and he showed us photos of him (which were indistinguishable because he was wearing a turban, etc.). Anyway, we were amused by the last sentence of his article, which said something like "I hope I never see another camel again."
Soon, Alex and Bill were off on their excursion and Suze and I ventured over to the Visitor's Information office to gather basic info. We found out where the bike hire place was and got the local train and bus schedule. So, we ventured over to the bike hire place and found out that they were all out of bikes. After Susan prodded him a bit, he did give up the information that there was another place that hired bikes. (Funnily enough, there was never a mention of the other place from the Visitor's Centre.) So, we found our way to the other place and they luckily had some bikes available. We dithered a bit, trying to determine whether to attempt to take the bus to Dolwyddelan Castle first or rent the bikes, bring them back and then go to the castle. The guy at the rental shop explained that we'd need at least 2 hours to do the castle, so we decided to go biking first and get a later train to the castle.
So, we changed into some biking clothes and got ready to go. We had a map that we got at the Visitor's Centre and which the guy at the shop had embellished with further information. He gave us some basic guidance on how to get to the trail and we were off.
An hour and a half later, we still hadn't found the trail. The guy at the shop made it sound very nearby and simple to find. What we discovered is that there are a number of forestry roads that were unmarked on the map and we took off on a road that had nothing to do with the map. We rode back and forth cluelessly, then, found our way to a very steep road, where we saw two guys with mountain bikes climbing up. This seemed like a good sign. We climbed and climbed up this steep road that was too steep to actually ride, so we were walking our bikes up the hill (me, more than Susan, of course). Then we came to a farm. We then saw a sign for a road to a landmark that was on the map. About 2 miles later, we found the trail. By this time, we were already winded and exhasted! We encountered a group of guys who seemed to be nearly as exhausted as we were at the trailhead. We then got out the map again to figure out how much of the trail we wanted to do (as there were a number of forestry roads that we could take as a shortcut), as we had already lost two hours in the search for the trail and were only planning to rent the bikes for a half-day). The guys were interested to see the map also.
So, we got on the trail, stopped for lunchtime break near a lake along the trail and got the useless map out frequently to try to make sense of where we were on the trail. The trail wasn't as long as it seemed on the map, but I felt like there was a LOT more uphill climbing than downhill (Susan said it was because it takes longer to climb and only SEEMED that way). Anyway, we saw some lovely scenery and the trail was quite nice, but near the end, I became exhausted and started hyperventilating (I'd forgotten to bring my inhaler with me), so we had to find the nearest path back. As it was, we had already taken the bikes for longer than we had intended.
So, by the time we got back, I was completely exhausted and had no intention of going anywhere but to our hotel room for some R&R. We checked in and found ourselves in a lovely room that had been recently remodeled with a HUGE bathroom. We were especially excited to have a bathtub at our disposal (a luxury we don't have in our current housing situation). Naturally, we took advantage of it and took a nice, long bath to wash off the grime and warm up from the dampness from the drizzly day. Susan inquired about whether we were going to the castle and I decided what I need was some food, hoping that would perk me up a bit. So, we ventured out to pub next door and had ourselves a pint and some good, hearty Welsh dinners. After dinner, we saw the guys that we'd met on the bike trail and they said that they got off the trail soon after we saw them -- obviously, they were worn out from all the hill climbing and now we knew why they were so interested in our map! That night was the World Cup rugby match between England and France, so we took a walk around town and went back to watch some of the game at the pub.
Sunday, we got up and enjoyed our lovely complimentary Welsh breakfast at the hotel. We both had ham and eggs, as well as really good Welsh yoghurt and cereal. We had some more confusion over bus schedules and went back to the Visitor's Centre to find out when we could go to Conwy to see the castle there. Unfortunately, we were told that the bus didn't leave until around 11:30, but we later figured out that there were earlier buses. Oh well. We finally got on the bus and took a ride through some very scenic Welsh countryside to Conwy, where we got to walk on the City Wall and paid our entry fee to scramble around Conwy Castle.
Conwy Castle was built around 1287 and is in impressively good shape. They had rebuilt many of the circular stairs so that tourists can walk all the way to the tops of most of the towers (I can't even imagine being the Queen in all her regalia walking up and down those stairs). The tops of the towers provided impressively good views of the city and surrounding areas. One of the towers was the Chapel Tower, where they held Christian services -- they had actually rebuilt the floors and roof, and on the lowest floor of the tower, they had a museum display about tower chapels used in castles. Most of the towers did not have floors in them anymore. The interesting tidbit about the Prison Tower was that the bottom-most floor was only accessible by a trap-door in the floor, i.e., it was a point of no return. Rather grim, but it was better, in my opinion, than the castle I went to in Ghent where they had a whole display about the torture devices used in medieval castles. There seemed to be no mention of this at Conwy Castle.
We spent a couple hours walking around the castle and then it was time for us to find yet another pub for our late afternoon meal and to catch a train back to Liverpool.
More photos of Betws-y-Coed and Conwy Castle here: http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/WalesBetwsYCoedAndConwyCastle
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Blackpool and The Lakes District
Blackpool Tower
This past weekend, we went to visit Susan's friend Jo, who lives near Lancaster in a town called Caton. Jo invited two other friends, Sonia and Hilary, to her place for the weekend as well. We went to Blackpool -- it was fun, though quite cheesy. Blackpool is a seaside resort town, somewhat like a gigantic Coney Island, complete with a gazillion streetlights, a huge lookout tower (which looks a bit like a mini Eiffel Tower), various amusement parks, casinos, horse and buggy rides, trolley cars, donkey rides on the beach, wax museum, Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, etc. etc.
We took the train to Blackpool North, which we later discovered was really on the wrong end of town, because Jo bought us tickets to the amusement park called Pleasure Beach. It was a lovely, warm (for UK), sunny day and it was a rather nice stroll to the park. However, the plan was for us to go to an ice show in the park, so as we strolled along the beachfront promenade (which, unfortunately, was also under reconstruction), we suddenly found ourselves in a rush to get to the park and to the ice show on time!
Jo, Suze, Hilary & Sonia
Pepsi Max Big One!
After the show, we ventured off into the park to find some expectedly bad fast food and then went off to hit some rides. Jo's friend Hilary, explained to us that Blackpool is "famous" for it's "rock", by which we learned was actually rock candy, not mineral deposits found on the ground. We went to ride the Space Invaders 2 ride (like Space Mountain at Disney World) and while we were in line, Hilary and Jo went off to buy us all some rock. I was even more surprised to find out that the rock candy is really peppermint sticks with an outer coating of colored candy (my definition of "rock candy" is clumps of colored hard candy that looks like rocks). Some of them had "Pleasure Island" emblazoned into the middle of the peppermint stick. It was a nice treat, some of which I saved for an "after dinner mint" (to settle my tummy after my dinner of fish & chips that I ate while walking back to the train station that evening). Later, we enjoyed a couple rollercoasters, especially the Pepsi Max (TM) Big One, which sports a 235 ft. high hill and speeds up to 87 MPH! We rode the Big One at sunset so we had a lovely view of the sunset over the ocean from an extraordinary height! (although, it was a bit frightening, I admit).
Sunday, we went to Jo's family's farm in the village of Witherslack, which is in the Lakes District, for a huge Sunday roast dinner prepared by Jo's mother. The dinner was quintessentially British, complete with plenty of Yorkshire pudding, Brussels sprouts, potatoes and a custard pudding for dessert. Mind you, the word "pudding" is synonymous with "dessert" in England, unless it's Yorkshire pudding, blood pudding or probably a dozen other non-dessert puddings which I'm not yet privy to. A bit confusing to my American sensibilities, although the Kiwi finds it perfectly normal (mind you, her mother IS British).
Grooming Mr. Chips
Before dinner, we met Mr. Chips, Jo's horse and Jo employed me and Susan to help with grooming his mane and tail. After dinner, we took him out for a ride, along with two bikes they had at the farm which were, of course, both too big for my short little legs. Unfortunately, the one with the smaller frame had a rusted seat post that required a wrench to adjust, so I had to ride the bigger one with the adjustable seat. It was a bit excruciating after a huge Sunday roast dinner that Jo's mom cooked for us, since I had to double myself in half over my very full belly to reach the handle bars. Going up hills threatened to prompt a revisit with dinner, but luckily I managed to keep it all under control.
After a short while, Jo, gave up the reins to Susan and then later to me. I was a bit concerned about being able to ride Mr. Chips with my short little legs, and it's true that Jo put the stirrups on the shortest setting and they were just barely short enough.
Thankfully, Mr. Chips was very gracious about his new human riders and he heeded our inexpert commands very nicely. At one point, while Susan was riding, a car had come rather quickly around a blind curve and Mr. Chips stopped and remained quite calm when faced with the vehicle suddenly in his face. Thankfully, horse and car driver were quick to brake and there was no accident!
Soon, it was time to head back to the train station and to make a rather confusing journey back to Liverpool (trains weren't running in parts, so we had to take a bus instead). All in all, it was a good weekend.
More pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/BlackpoolLakesDistrict
Thursday, October 4, 2007
UK Postal Strike
Well, I did actually get around to buying some post cards and was seriously thinking I might actually write some and even mail them soon. But, then I was listening to the radio (good thing, too!) and heard something about a UK postal strike. So, I went to the BBC website, and sure enough, I heard right. They're on strike and asking the public to hold back on mailing stuff to avoid a "logjam" of mail. Here's the article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7027142.stm.
Well, sorry folks, you'll just have to wait a bit longer for those postcards (I know you were just DYING to get one). I hope they get it resolved soon -- these sorts of things can get messy fast!
Well, sorry folks, you'll just have to wait a bit longer for those postcards (I know you were just DYING to get one). I hope they get it resolved soon -- these sorts of things can get messy fast!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Weekend excursions
This weekend, Susan and I went to Chester, which is a charming walled city with lots of medieval buildings and some Roman ruins and history. It was an easy 45-minute train ride from Liverpool, so it made for a good last-minute day trip. We took a stroll around the wall of the city, were a bit non-plussed by the Roman ruins, and were surprised to stumble upon a horse race entirely viewable from the city wall at England's first ever race course (built in 1549 or something like that?). I took some photos and posted them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/ChesterEngland.
We also ventured to New Brighton because Susan had a hankering for the ocean. We just strolled along the promenade in the afternoon, but aside from a nice walk, it wasn't terribly interesting. Surprisingly enough, when we got off the train, we found one of Susan's classmates walking back to the New Brighton train station. A small-world moment. We had a late start to our day, so we didn't make it to West Kirby as we'd initially planned, which was a bit further and is better when the tides are low (in order to venture off to Hilbre Islands).
I've also posted some other photos of Liverpool. I'll probably continue to post photos of Liverpool in this same album, as they come. http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/Liverpool2007.
We also ventured to New Brighton because Susan had a hankering for the ocean. We just strolled along the promenade in the afternoon, but aside from a nice walk, it wasn't terribly interesting. Surprisingly enough, when we got off the train, we found one of Susan's classmates walking back to the New Brighton train station. A small-world moment. We had a late start to our day, so we didn't make it to West Kirby as we'd initially planned, which was a bit further and is better when the tides are low (in order to venture off to Hilbre Islands).
I've also posted some other photos of Liverpool. I'll probably continue to post photos of Liverpool in this same album, as they come. http://picasaweb.google.com/barckhoff/Liverpool2007.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Penny Lane & Liverpool Nightlife
Last Saturday, we joined a group of about 20 from Susan's class on a taxi Beatles tour. Of course it was cheesy, but it was good to see more of the city and socialize a bit with the others. When we started out, it seemed our taxi driver was obsessed with doors. The first place he took us was to the door of the place that used to be the consulate where John & Cynthia got married. That's about how he told it to us and we were all confused. None of us were big Beatles trivia buffs, so we didn't even realize John was married to a Cynthia. (Guess if I'd thought about it, I'd realize that was Julian Lennon's mom.) Then he took us to the Liverpool Institute of Art, where Paul went to school and now apparently he bought and owns the school. Again, our taxi guide took us to the doorway and seemed to make a big fuss about how it was "where Sir Paul walked into the school" -- I just never got that excited about doorways, myself.
Anyway, the tour got a bit better as it went on, but there were other oddities, like when they made us go inside the "barber shop" (now, more like a beauty salon) on Penny Lane to have a group photo while we held a Penny Lane sign up. Really, the photo could've been taken anywhere and it was hard to get 20 of us in the photo, considering it was so small. But, we now have photographic evidence of the event.
We also took a look at what used to be the bank on Penny Lane (which they also sing about in the song, sort of). The place has since become a surgeon's office. Our taxi driver couldn't understand why the group was getting all excited about a plaque on the wall. What he didn't realize is that the tour group was a bunch of doctors taking a course at the School of Tropical Medicine and the plaque had the name of one of the surgeons who had taken the same diploma course (as shown by the letters behind his name) that all these doctors are in. It was a geek-out moment for the doctors.
I think my favorite part of the tour is when we went to the church where John and Paul met (at the tender ages of 15 & 17!) and they had a picture of the yellow submarine that John drew when he was a kid. The story is that John and his friend David (who donated the picture) saw a beached whale when they were kids and apparently the whale was decaying and yellowed as a result. Hence, the inspiration for John's drawing shortly thereafter.
Saturday night we went to some clubs -- good lord, the place is hoppin' on weekends! We saw this guy, Joe Driscoll (from New York), perform. He was a one man-band with loop pedal an octave pedal and guitar -- he did beat boxing and rap type stuff -- I liked it for about the first three songs and then it got kinda old and gimicky. He did a cover medley of a Led Zeppelin song (No Quarter, I think it was?) and then went into "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" by the Beastie Boys. His guitar was out of tune and so it was kinda bad -- we left shortly thereafter... Anyway, people go out at night here -- there's an area where all the nightclubs are and there are millions of people everywhere! Quite different from the US, for sure. It was quite overwhelming, really. The girls all dress in next to nothing with stiletto heels and lots of sequins and glitter, and we were all bundled up in jackets and jeans feeling overdressed and under-dressed all at once, yet amused by the outlandish attire.
This weekend our plan is to go to Chester and see what there is to see there. We thought about going to Edinburgh, but transportation confusing and surprisingly expensive (yeah, we know, people warned us about that). Chester will be much simpler and cheap and something new, so hopefully we'll have a good time with that.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Liverpudlian
Everyone here talks like the Beatles. Or worse, at which point we just can't understand each other (sometimes, anyway). I stopped into a bike shop to inquire about cheap, student rate bikes (we're feeling poor due to weakness of the US dollar right now). The guy said the cheapest he had was for 90 quid, "the blue one over there." I said, "This one right here?" He said, "You call that white?" Nevermind. Note to self: Only Americans use the term "right" to mean something immediately near oneself.
Home Sweet Home
So, I've walked all over Liverpool -- well, round in circles, really. From home to the University (of Liverpool) to City Centre (downtown) and back again. My knees hurt from all that walking. And my shoulders, because I was carrying my backpack with my laptop in it to try to find some WiFi spots. There aren't many. Thankfully, I fixed the wireless in our homestay house. By moving it to a phone jack that actually works, as opposed to the former one which apparently didn't. Not so many tech geeks in Liverpool. It's an adjustment for me.
I haven't hit all the Beatles tour spots like Penny Lane or The Cavern. I figure I shouldn't blow my wad all at once. It's a cool city -- lots of bustling and whatnot. They're supposed to be the Cultural Centre of Europe in 2008, so there's lots of construction and cranes EVERYWHERE.
Liverpool: City of Cranes
There was some round the world yacht race that started here the first weekend we were here. On our second day here, we took a bus and found the bus detoured because of some women's cycle race in Sefton Park *just* before we were about to get off the bus. Then we kept going and going and then some nice people explained to us where we were (as if we knew anything on our second day). Thankfully, the good doctor remembered that Smithdown Road is where all the shops are where we're to go shopping because it's near our new home, so we got off near there and found our way back. So, that was fun.
Home Sweet Home
So, I've walked all over Liverpool -- well, round in circles, really. From home to the University (of Liverpool) to City Centre (downtown) and back again. My knees hurt from all that walking. And my shoulders, because I was carrying my backpack with my laptop in it to try to find some WiFi spots. There aren't many. Thankfully, I fixed the wireless in our homestay house. By moving it to a phone jack that actually works, as opposed to the former one which apparently didn't. Not so many tech geeks in Liverpool. It's an adjustment for me.
I haven't hit all the Beatles tour spots like Penny Lane or The Cavern. I figure I shouldn't blow my wad all at once. It's a cool city -- lots of bustling and whatnot. They're supposed to be the Cultural Centre of Europe in 2008, so there's lots of construction and cranes EVERYWHERE.
Liverpool: City of Cranes
There was some round the world yacht race that started here the first weekend we were here. On our second day here, we took a bus and found the bus detoured because of some women's cycle race in Sefton Park *just* before we were about to get off the bus. Then we kept going and going and then some nice people explained to us where we were (as if we knew anything on our second day). Thankfully, the good doctor remembered that Smithdown Road is where all the shops are where we're to go shopping because it's near our new home, so we got off near there and found our way back. So, that was fun.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Aye, we made it!
Hello world. We are in Liverpool now. Once we landed on solid British soil and we were in transit at the London Heathrow Airport from one terminal to another, I looked at my favorite Kiwi and said "We're in England!" Her response was: "well, we're still in transit." I didn't quite get it until we went through Immigration in Manchester. Yikes, it was a bit scary -- the Immigration Officer was a bit suspicious as to why I might want to spend three months on travel in England while my sweetie went to school the whole time. Finally, after much interrogation and a couple phone calls by the Immigration Officer, she let us through. I had forgotten about the queries about whether we have enough money to spend while in England, so I didn't bring a bunch of bank statements or anything. But it seems that by explaining that we are a couple trying to establish interdependence for possible Australian immigration, she was finally satisfied. Whew!
So, we caught our train from Manchester to Liverpool, then a cab to our new homestay near Sefton Park. At first, we were greeted by the neighbor, Barbara, who was cleaning and helping out our landlady, Brigitte, who was out on errands. We hoisted all our luggage up three flights of stairs to our charming pink bedroom. Shortly thereafter, Brigitte showed up and we were amused to meet the somewhat funky London native. She offered to take us in the car around town and show us the way to Liverpool University and Smithdowne Street, where all of our retail needs would be met. It was a lovely sunny day and we attempted to maintain as much information as we could in her whirlwhind tour of Liverpool in our jet-lagged states. As it turned out, Brigitte was planning to go away with her husband and two daughers (all of whom we met very briefly) for the weekend and leave us to the house by ourselves.
So, we caught our train from Manchester to Liverpool, then a cab to our new homestay near Sefton Park. At first, we were greeted by the neighbor, Barbara, who was cleaning and helping out our landlady, Brigitte, who was out on errands. We hoisted all our luggage up three flights of stairs to our charming pink bedroom. Shortly thereafter, Brigitte showed up and we were amused to meet the somewhat funky London native. She offered to take us in the car around town and show us the way to Liverpool University and Smithdowne Street, where all of our retail needs would be met. It was a lovely sunny day and we attempted to maintain as much information as we could in her whirlwhind tour of Liverpool in our jet-lagged states. As it turned out, Brigitte was planning to go away with her husband and two daughers (all of whom we met very briefly) for the weekend and leave us to the house by ourselves.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
T-Minus One Month
Travel distances from Christchurch, NZ
Yes, it's true. I'm becoming an accidental world traveler. I've never had a strong inner calling for world travel; yet, here I am counting down the days until I hop onto a plane to cross "the pond" to start a new life, starting with three months in Liverpool, England and then off to Melbourne, Australia in December 2007 and then... who knows?
My friend, R, is jealous of me because I've already been to more continents than her. She aspires to see the world, and her goal is to visit every continent (except, perhaps, Antarctica), while I've managed to visit more than her "accidentally"! Well, not entirely... but that's how it feels. In some ways, it feels like it "just happened" without any real intention of my own, except to be with the one I love.
So, I've found myself in a relationship with a world-traveling doctor from New Zealand. It's kind of fun to say that -- it sounds so exotic and adventurous. But, in actuality it's true... and it's the most efficient way to explain my situation. In New Zealand, world travel is a national past time. I suppose it makes sense, if you think about the fact that the country consists of a couple of small islands about in the South Pacific, with the nearest neighboring land mass (Australia) being some 2000km away . So, naturally, world travel is no big deal to the New Zealander because everything is far away from their homeland!
This is a bit difficult for us those of us in America to understand. Ours is a large country, with so much at our disposal that many Americans simply can't understand why anyone would want to live anywhere else. It is expansive, with every extreme of heat and cold, wet and dry climates, and a wonderful collection of flora and fauna. To show our love for this land, we've built wide open roads to drive our millions of beloved cars back and forth over it. I, like most Americans, have grown accustomed to all the comforts of our home: central heat and air conditioning, dozens of choices for any consumer product that one can possibly imagine, and a ravenous hunger to burn up as much petroleum in as many ways as we can. America fancies itself as the world police, with a government that stampedes the planet like a bull in a china shop. We are a young country with a short history and a big, fat ego. Nothing more than spoiled children. Yes, I am entirely guilty of being an American born into a world of convenience and competitive low prices for goods that I don't even need. And now I will see where it all began -- from where the Imperialists came to pillage and conquer foreign lands and then forced them to succumb to European ideologies. Ideologies that are due for a makeover.
I will only be a few short months in England. Once we move to Australia, I will find myself seeking not only new employment and a visa to allow me to stay in the country, but also a new spirit, a new mentality, a new paradigm that will allow me to keep up with the ever-ambitious doctor who already has her sights on Southeast Asia. So far, counting my own, I've been to four continents, two of which I've visited in the past year to be with my beloved Kiwi doctor. Who would've guessed I would end up in Africa, New Zealand, Europe and Australia in the span of a year? Certainly not me!
I was in dire need of a catalyst for change -- my life has been too stagnant for far too long. Mind you, I realize that going to England and Australia is hardly a far cry from the American way of life. However, for this American, who really never considered leaving the country (except for political asylum from our current "commander in chief"), it is a big deal. And, considering that my favorite Kiwi is not one to be "pinned down" to one country for very long, this is likely a mere introduction to a much greater worldly expansion for me. I can't wait to find out how I will "reprogram" myself in this new realm and to see what will happen next!
So, the intention for this blog is to write about my experiences, thoughts and ideas as I allow myself to plunge into this new expatriate lifestyle. It is for all my friends in the US who want to know what I'm up to. I hope I can keep up with it, to keep it interesting and useful. We shall see...
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