I've had a brilliant visit with Jill so far... It couldn't get any more Scottish. I arrived Friday in the early afternoon. She lives in a 2 century old house on the edge of Merkland Forest, just on the other side of Brodick Castle.
After exploring a woodland path beside a trickling stream, we drove up to Corrie, then hiked up the hill to High Corrie, where they have some of the traditional cottages. I can't remember what she called them, but they're painted white and have tar roofs.
She was busy Saturday morning, so I elected to take myself off hiking. I walked the hour into town, through the castle grounds, and along the coastline edge of a golf course, and caught a bus to Whiting Bay.
From there, there's a circular path that takes you up the mountain to some iron age cairns, a beautiful waterfall, and an iron age hill fort. I joined up with a couple on the path, on holiday from Paisley. I am sooo living in the wrong country. The deep Scottish accent is enough to make my knees melt. Perhaps living in England is simply self preservation.
By the time I met Jill back in town (thank the Lord I didn't have to climb that hill back to her place), my flat-land, London legs felt like jelly. Still managed to dance through the pain at the ceilidh that evening, though it's probably a good thing that we only had the one guy between us. To my surprise, we danced most of the same dances as on the Shetlands last summer! Strip the Willow is still my favourite.
Today was perhaps the best of all. This morning we hiked out onto the moor to see more standing stones and sheep... Sheep galore! Then this afternoon we met up with a couple other people and attended a session in a local pub. It was amazing! I've decided it's not a proper session without a whistle player and bodrahn present. It was pretty funny all coming in at the same time with our instruments, and hearing all he commotion we caused with the visitors. Another bonus of being "with the musicians"... I didn't have to pay for my orange juice.
There were another couple visitors that joined us with their instruments. The fiddler joined in all the tunes I started that the locals didn't know. And he was GOOD! Turns out he runs some huge Irish trad music organisation in the UK, that has locations in all the big cities. Oh.
We finished off the evening at a really good restaurant on the north end of the island with Stuart, the whistle/pipe player, and his mum. Incredible food, really reasonable price.
You meet the most interesting people when you travel. Audrey wrote a diary in morse code when she was 14, during the war. How cool is that? I've also found a perfect guide for a trip to Morocco. Next March. 25 deg during the day, 0 deg at night. Who's in?
Sunday 8 April 2012
Tuesday 3 April 2012
Canals and Lambs
I'm in Rugby at the moment, visiting family friends (my UK parents?) LOL, I got such a kick out of the name the first time I came 6 years ago... I LOVED playing rugby in highschool... back when I was aggressive and competitive ;)
It feels soooo incredibly good to get out of my dreary, grey, rubbish-strewn neighbourhood! Coming out on the train, across the green fields was like a breath of fresh air. There are lambs and calves everywhere.
Today was amazing... we went for a walk along the canals, looking at the brightly painted canal boats. It was drizzling, but if any pictures turn out, I'll post them on fb when I get home.They're so fascinating! The people I'm visiting are both retired teachers, so I was lucky enough to have everything explained to me... the grips up the slopes to keep the horses from slipping, the repair sheds and Chandler shops, the holes under the lock keepers houses... Apparently you can rent the boats, so now I have my heart set on seeing the country by canal. We could follow the industrial history of England as we float through the locks and tunnels. Anybody interested in joining?
I've also recently moved out of the house I was living in, and into bulk teacher housing. It may sound a little regressive, but it's actually a very positive thing. 1) no more parties until 5 am, 2) I only need to take 1 bus to school (saves 30 minutes and 50% money), 3) I have WAY more space, and 4) I already have friends in the building, who share my lifestyle.
The move went incredibly well... Kimberly helped me take a couple loads on the bus, and then a lady from my church helped me move the rest. There was an evening of overlap between me leaving my house and being able to move into my room, and I had at least 5 offers of places to stay. Another lady has donated her old dishes to my "broke" cause. So far, I'm incredibly happy with my new place. I'm in the clean kitchen, there is actually water pressure in the showers, the morning sun streams through my window, and my room is so big that I don't know what to do with all the space. Yay!
It feels soooo incredibly good to get out of my dreary, grey, rubbish-strewn neighbourhood! Coming out on the train, across the green fields was like a breath of fresh air. There are lambs and calves everywhere.
Today was amazing... we went for a walk along the canals, looking at the brightly painted canal boats. It was drizzling, but if any pictures turn out, I'll post them on fb when I get home.They're so fascinating! The people I'm visiting are both retired teachers, so I was lucky enough to have everything explained to me... the grips up the slopes to keep the horses from slipping, the repair sheds and Chandler shops, the holes under the lock keepers houses... Apparently you can rent the boats, so now I have my heart set on seeing the country by canal. We could follow the industrial history of England as we float through the locks and tunnels. Anybody interested in joining?
I've also recently moved out of the house I was living in, and into bulk teacher housing. It may sound a little regressive, but it's actually a very positive thing. 1) no more parties until 5 am, 2) I only need to take 1 bus to school (saves 30 minutes and 50% money), 3) I have WAY more space, and 4) I already have friends in the building, who share my lifestyle.
The move went incredibly well... Kimberly helped me take a couple loads on the bus, and then a lady from my church helped me move the rest. There was an evening of overlap between me leaving my house and being able to move into my room, and I had at least 5 offers of places to stay. Another lady has donated her old dishes to my "broke" cause. So far, I'm incredibly happy with my new place. I'm in the clean kitchen, there is actually water pressure in the showers, the morning sun streams through my window, and my room is so big that I don't know what to do with all the space. Yay!
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