Back in the UK!

We’re back in Europe, in Scotland, just in time for Robbie Burn’s Day!

After spending a wonderful, uncharacteristically warm, month back home in Canada, dashing between Calgary and Edmonton for no less than five sumptuous Christmas dinners, Carli-Ann’s mom’s lovely wedding, an inspiring journey to the Rockie Mountains for some New Year’s Eve skiing, and catching up with so many family and friends (lots has changed in the 18 months that we have been away, we met seven new babies!) we flew back to London on January 13, with only some minor turbulence over the mountains of the east coast of Greenland. Mike’s family, Jim and Jean, took as good of care of us as always while we were in London, as we spent a couple of relaxing days recovering from our jet-lag and drinking tea.

Once we were ready to hit the road again, we bussed it to Brighton, a popular English seaside city where many London families flock to during the summer. Our first sight as we got off the bus and stepped out into the dazzling gale force winds was the Pier, being circled by thousands of starlings. This is not an ordinary pier, but a monstrosity complete with a huge amusement arcade, schools of fish & chip shops, a Merry Go Round, a roller coaster, and a “Helter-Skelter” – an odd spiraling ride made famous by the Beatles song. We met up with our Hospitality Club hosts, Sophie and Josh, and received a nice tour of all the free and colourful parts their city. Sophie and Josh were not only Vegans, but also “Freegans”, which means they will eat almost anything – so long as it was a dumpster-diving treasure. We feasted on their day’s spoils, which included Marks&Spencer’s packaged “Millionaire Bars” – thick shortbread topped with rich caramel and chocolate. Their chicken regularly joined us in the kitchen to peck the floor clean of our crumbs.

Tuesday, January 17, we set out to discover Herstmonceux Castle , where Carli-Ann’s brother, Matthew, is studying for the semester in the magnificent full-on Hogwart Experience donated to his university (Queen’s in Kingston, Ontario ) by a grateful alumni. Although it was only 28 km away, it took us three buses and an hour and a half hike to find it. As we were let off the third bus in Herstmonceux village (the driver had never heard of the castle, and despite our expectations, it was not looming obviously on the hilltop as a castle should be), we followed a villager’s instructions and began to walk the alleged two miles to the castle. Spotting a moss-covered wooden arrow signpost reading “Public Footpath” pointing in our direction, we were delighted to have the chance to do some English hill-walking. This path led us through horse and sheep fields and golf courses, over streams spanned by a couple of fallen trees, and down muddy paths flanked by bramble bushes, startling up more than a few rabbits and grouse. A few times we had to choose a route from several options at unsignposted bridle path junctions, and on at least one occasion the directional signpost was laying unhelpfully on the ground. Although it was very wet, it was nice to see so much greenery and life after Alberta ’s (nearly snowless!) brown dead fields and leafless trees. After unknowingly circling around behind the castle and spying it through the forest, we managed to arrive by slipping under an electric fence, trespassing, and climbing over a couple more fences. Mike had the scenario staged in his head for when the farmer began yelling at us as we dashed through his yard: “I am Arthur, King of the Britons!” All just in time for Matthew to finish his last class of the day.

We had a great visit and stayed in a private room in the student dormitories just up the hill from the beautiful moated castle, and shared our meals in the student cafeteria with him. Matthew gave us a great historical fact laden tour of the castle: its pub, its ghosts, its secret panels and all, and the manicured walled gardens surrounding it, complete with goblin stone statues, 18 century chestnut trees, and a “Herst-Henge”. He seems to be really enjoying his time there, waking up every morning to the misty southern England rolling green hills, the program looks excellent, and he has already visited the Cliffs of Dover, the major sites in London, and is heading on up to Stonehenge in a few days. Our journey back to Brighton, then London, was much easier as we caught a lift on one of the shuttle buses that take the students to the library on the nearest campus, passing the famous ancient hillside chalk carvings of figures.

We returned to London to eat curry and cheese and onion pasties and stay a night with Carli-Ann’s friend, Kathryn, before catching a bus early the next morning to Glasgow . We were able to find a super deal online with Megabus – 50p for two tickets! (one Canadian dollar! They were actually free with just a booking charge to pay.) After nine hours on the bus (it was a very nice bus, we had our own table, well-utilized for our new laptop) we arrived for the first time in Scotland. Our host, Callum, brought us back to his crumbling flat where he lives with 3 other Scots – Ceir, Scotty and James. They are a hilarious bunch, but we can barely understand their accents and have to get them to spell out the important bits of conversation. They took us out for a traditional Scottish night “on the razamatazz” – to a teahouse for chai and live music, and then to the pub, followed by the Celtic Connections festival featuring several bands, including an Iraqi-Kurdish band with a synthesizer (don’t ask us how this fits in here!) which had all the Scots dancing. A house party complete with deep conversations with a bagpiper (he recited the Address to the Haggis for us, but I didn’t understand a word of it) finished off the night (or morning).

Tomorrow we will be heading over to Edinburgh for a few days for our work orientation, then probably back to Glasgow for the all-important Burn’s Day (although we did already sample vegetarian haggis), then down to a little town called Dumfries (tee hee) for a job interview…this might be the place where we settle, but nothing is sure yet.

Don’t forget to see where we are anytime by clicking the “Where are we now?” on the menu at the top! We learned last night how to say Cheers in Scottish Gaelic, but it has been forgotten already. But we still have eight months to immerse ourselves in all things Scottish, so I am sure we will have plenty of opportunities!