Brrrr....Its getting colder

WHAT!!!


Being in England I thought that I would be able to avoid all of those tedious Canadian winter traditions. You know what I mean......Warming up the car, scraping the windshield, shoveling the sidewalk, bundling up in all your winter clothes for a 1 minute walk outside. And whilel I am not shoveling any snow, or bundling up (unless putting a scarf on is bundling) I have had to scrape the car windows the last 4 mornings, as the temperatures have now dropped into the single digits.

I just wanted to let all of you reading this from home, that I too, am suffering in the cold conditions of winter.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas is Approaching

Merry Christmas!!!

Its not the same without that bone chilling wind and snow, but somehow I am managing to survive a winter season that has not dropped below 10 degrees (during the day). How will I survive? The rumor is that Alberta is set to experience an unseasonably cold winter, while England is forcasted to be milder than usual...... (Watch, it will be just my luck to wake up tomorrow to flooding conditions)

Lately, most of my time has been spent planning my Christmas vacation. Sherrie (Canadian Teacher from Toronto, now in Birmingham) and I are doing the whirlwind tour of 4 countries. Our itinerary is as follows: Berlin , then Prague, then Vienna, and then Salzburg (For the Sound of Music Tour and a day of skiing) ending in Zurich. All of this in 14 days. Stay tuned to the Post holiday report!

School has been going well, although there are some questions the students ask repeatedly that I thought I would share with you.

Most Popular: Say "TOMATO" ........I say Tomaytoe they say Tomaahto (They want to hear this over and over again. I say tomato about 30 times a day)

Second most Popular: Say "Tuna"...... I say Tuna they say Chuna

Third: Student "Don't you wish you were back in Canada where it must be warmer than here?"
(They are referring to the 12 degree day they are suffering through here in England, wearing their scarves and gloves)

Fourth: Student "Can I try to break you Nalgene Bottle?" The boys in my classes are constantly asking if they can try and break my "Nalgene" bottle. (They have never seen such bottles before and don't believe that they can't break it by throwing it, punching it, jumping on it ........) Boys I don't even teach, will see me around the school and ask me to drop my water bottle on the ground. (If someone could send me some Nalgene Bottles, I could make a fortune selling them)

Fifth: Student "Can you really buy Guns in Walmart?" (My answer: Ask an American)

Sixth: "Do you live in a ghetto?" (My answer: Talk to an American)

I love the questions they ask and the interest they have shown in where I am from and what things I miss from Canada, (Salsa and Nachos, pickles, friends and family) and what things I like about England (The weather, history, traveling, new friends and the Curry)

Having a "Well Good" time

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Dublin, a city to party in!!

This last weekend Sherrie (another Canadian teacher on exchange in England) and I decided to head over to Dublin to taste the freshly poured Guinness and to hear the Irish brogue. ( My main goal was to hear some live Irish music)

Somehow, and I am not really sure how, it turned into a drinking weekend. (Nothing excessive, just constant) I had a beer in my hand and was singing along with the band (Off key of course) within 30 minutes of arriving. Everywhere we went there was live music and drinks. It didn't seem to matter what you were wearing (Some were really dressed up and others were in their scruffy work clothes) or where you were from, (Local or Tourist) everyone was welcome as long as you were up for a good time. Before this trip I couldn't understand why so many of the English would rather go to Dublin for their HEN parties (stagettes) and STAGS rather than London. But it is clear to me now, you don't have to have a lot of money or fancy clothes to have a good time out and about in Dublin, while London seems to set a higher standard of dress and expense. (Still lots of fun, but requires more effort)

Very little site-seeing was accomplished, unless you count tours of both the Guinness Factory and the Jamison's Whiskey Factory (Both of which included drinks in the entrance fee) and an endless search for the perfect Bailey's n' Hot chocolate (It was a cold outside!!). Although, we managed to have a traditional Irish Stew, made with Guinness. (A girl has got to EAT!) Which was very good, we never got around to hearing live Irish music. It seemed that in every place that advertised it (and many do) we had just missed the Irish music and dance set, but were in time to hear "American Pie" played each and every time.

Did I mention that I met a real leprechaun?? Sherrie and I had dinner one night (In a pub that advertised live Irish music, but was instead playing "American Pie") at a table with two really, really, old gentlemen. One of them looked just like the guy off the Lucky Charms commercial!! Seriously, its true!! I would have taken a picture but I couldn't figure out how to manage it politely.

As you can tell I had a good time in Dublin and am looking forward to going back (maybe to do some actual site-seeing this time) Carmen are you excited!!

I leave you with this one piece of info. I have it of good authority that there is one song (from a Canadian artist) that maintains the record for the longest time at number 1 on Ireland radio stations. Can you guess which song and who recorded it?? Its not Celine Dione or Avril Lavigne, but BRYON ADAMS with the song "Everything I do I do For You" (Off the Robin Hood Sound Track) This is what Canadians are known for in Ireland, being the home of Bryon Adams.

Bonfire Weekend in the UK

This last weekend was BONFIRE weekend!!! Actually its is a day (November 5th), not a weekend, and is as big as Thankgiving weekend in Canada. (Without the turkey dinner) It is supposed to commemorate Guy Fawkes, a man who tried to blow up the English parliment (this is the story I am getting from the students), why he wanted to do it, nobody seems to know. The weekend doesn't celebrate Guy Fawkes but rather that he was caught and killed. (Here in England they don't celebrate their revolutionaries, but their capture, torture, and death)

To celebrate, people hold bonfires and let off firecrackers on Nov 5th (Monday evening) But this has turned into a weekend celebration where you can have a bonfire any night of the weekend and let off firecrackers all night long for about 4 nights. There is food and drink and lots of good company. All day long I have been asked if I am going to a bonfire tonight, and the answer is YES!!! It seems the British thing to do.

Anyone in the UK can buy fireworks (over 16 yrs of age) and they have been selling them by the truck load. Now, many people have complained about the nights of endless firecrackers, scaring their pets and small children, but from my view out the front window it has been a smorgisborg of sound and color. On Saturday night, I could see at least 30 different locations where firecrackers were being lit. It was very COOL.

So if you read this today, have a bonfire, raise at toast to the demise of Guy Fawkes. The man who almost destroyed the British parliment.

The Italy Experience

If you've read my previous entry, then you might think that my entire trip to Italy was fraught with travel mishaps and mayhem.....NOT TRUE! People keep asking me what my favorite part was, and I can't choose any one thing.

Venice

Venice is an expensive place to visit but worth it. But beware the salesmen, they are sneaky....I almost bought a vase valued at £400 because the gentleman selling it to me was very persuasive and flattering. But I stood my ground, and snuck out of the shop when he was distracted by another lady laughing. Whoo, a close call, the salesman had made me feel as if my purchasing the vase was the first step towards WORLD PEACE.

Travelling in Venice is simple, you either walk or you take some form of river taxi. It is small enough that you don't need to spend any Euros getting around. Although the experience of taking a taxi by water is part of the Venice experience. The food was really good and inexpensive if you avoided the restaurants in the high tourist areas. I was offered a drink with my breakfast the first morning in Venice, my choices were American coffee, Espresso, Cappuccino or Chocolate. I choose the chocolate, thinking it would be nice on a crisp early morning. How was I to know that chocolate is not like Hot Chocolate in Canada, it is in fact thick, creamy melted chocolate in a coffee cup. (I figure about the equivalent of 4 melted chocolate bars) Hmmmmmm....tasty goodness.
I managed to have a bit of a social life as I had dinner with an American man on the same tour of Venice. Don't read anything into it, his mother also joined us for dinner as the two of them were on a 2 month European vacation. They were both really nice, but I found it weird (really weird) that a single man of 32yrs would travel with just his mother for two months.

On to Rome

A person could spent 2 weeks in Rome alone, and still not have seen everything. The history here, both political and religious, has impacted much of what Christians believe today, and how we perceive world politics. I was surprised how much seeing the "Sistine Chapel" in its entirety blew me away. Its detail and hugeness was unlike any other piece of art I have ever seen. Looking up at the walls and ceiling of the chapel, I could almost believe that I was physically part of the history portrayed. INSPIRING!!! I also managed to get up close and personal with Pope Benedict, well as close as a person can get while separated by a crowd fence and a pope mobile. (I was within 3 meters) Not as dynamic as Pope John Paul the 2nd, Pope Benedict still made an impression on the thousands gathered to here him speak.

The hostel I stayed at was the best one ever!!! If any of you are going to Rome, check out Hotel Leonardo (Great atmosphere, cheap, and everyone was really friendly) I calculated that I averaged 1 to 1.5 bottles of wine a night, hanging out with the crowd from the hostel.

For you info: In the 4.5 days I was in Rome I had Gelato 5 times and ate Gnocchi 4 times, Hmmmmm, small bits of potato pasta. Thank you Pat (Jessi's mom in Calgary) for introducing me to my favorite Italian pasta!!

Bye the way, my trousers (I can't say pants because the British think that I am talking about my underwear when I use that word) don't fit well anymore and I feel like I should stop eating, BUT I can't stop myself. FOOD IS GOOD, ITALIAN FOOD IS GREAT!!! I'll diet when I get back to Leeds.

On to Milan

My stay in Milan was a short one (About 24 hrs) and the whole purpose of going was to see DaVinci's painting of the Last Supper. I had prebooked a tour 3 weeks earlier and had confirmed it 48 hrs prior to arriving, but when I went to get on the bus my name was not on the list and the bus was full. No "Last Supper" for me!!
This turned out to be a good thing as I had time to wander through Milan (a Beautiful city, that has some of the best shopping in Italy, not my cup of tea) and stumbled across a Celtic Festival. An Italian Celtic Festival , not Scottish. They had an actual village set up with about 200 people dressed the part, living the life of the times back then. (they were there for a week) There was even a military encampment, where children could go and get lessons in dismembering people with a short sword. Lots of Fun!

This short write up is only a glimpse into what I saw, did, and experienced in my 9 days in Italy. I met many people that I consider to be new friends. Weirdly enough none of them Italian. (German, Spanish, Australian, American, Canadian, Portuguese, Finnish and Peruvian)

The sites and food were fantastic, but it was the people I met on the way to those sites and the people that shared my meals with me that made the biggest impression. Its funny how a person can travel by themselves, but never actually BE by themselves!

Getting to Italy!

Its been done!! I have taken my first steps on European soil. My first stop Venice, where the cars don't go.

Before I go into the details of Venice, Rome and Milan. Lets discuss the circus I call......

"Getting to Europe as Cheaply as Possible"

In an effort to save money I decided to fly with Ryanair from Liverpool to Venice. A smart decision my dad would say.....a penny saved is a penny spent on FOOD later on. After 3 hours of sleep ( I went out on Friday night, and then had to pack at around midnight) I awoke at 4 am on Saturday Oct 20th to catch a cab to the Leeds train station where I hopped on the 4:30 am train to Manchester, then I waited 1 hr to catch a train to the Liverpool train station. Once there I needed to get on a shuttle bus to the John Lennon Airport. (It is now approx. 9:00 am)
After checking in for my flight I settled down in the airport by the statue of John Lennon to wait for 2 hours for my plane. (You need to be at the airport 2 hrs before your flight!!!!!! Even though it took 5 min to check my bag. Grrrr.....) I pass the time by eating breakfast and reading a book, trying to read ever so slowly, so that the book would last the entire trip. After about 1 hr in the airport I glance up to the departure board to notice that my flight has been delayed 1.5 hours.

Cest la vie!

Still in a good mood, (I am going to ITALY!!!! How could I be in a bad mood) I settle down to a cup of caffinated tea to keep me awake (Remember I am working on 3hrs of sleep) Eventually the flight leaves the airport and I am aboard. We touch down in Tevisio (Please note that this is not Venice) where I hop on another shuttle bus that will take me into Venice for 4 Euros, what a deal! Finally, I have arrived! (It is about 5pm)

I get off the bus, and I am rejuvinated with energy.
I AM IN ITALY!!!
What to see first?
What to eat first?
Obviously the first thing you do is go for a stroll along the nearby canal to see your first gondolier, and then you continue to walk down the canal following the sites and smells of ITALIAN PIZZA. Hmmmmm....... Others, more experienced than I, might maintain that the first thing you do in Venice is get your luggage off the shuttle bus, before heading down the canal. It took me almost 20 minutes to clue in to the fact that I had left my luggage behind at the bus station. (Yes I am paid to educate others!!! No snide remarks now.) Next ensues what I call the "500m Dodge the Penshioner DASH" I scramble past what feels like 1 million slow moving senior citizens with canes and walkers, praying that the bus driver has not left. I dodge the suitcases and the traffic to come around the corner of the bus station where my bus is NOT where I left it.

Panick sets in.

I am not worried about the luggage, but more about how I admit to friends and family how stupid I've been. The luggage is somewhere in Venice, I just need to call the bus company and find out. (See I can remain practical in the midst of stupidity)
Out comes the cell phone and I call the number on the back of the ticket. I start explaining the situation to the first person who answers the phone, I am talking so fast that I haven't noticed that the person on the other end of the phone is not speaking ENGLISH!!! Who knew that Italians speak Italian??? Eventually the person on the other end of the line conveys to me in broken english that the Lost and Found center is across the street (Under a huge lit up sign with the bus company name, and the words in English LOST AND FOUND) Within 5 minutes I am hugging my luggage and saying thank you with a bad italian accent.

After the luggage incident I find my Hotel with very little effort and I settle in for a bit of siteseeing. It is now 6:30pm. It has taken me 14hrs to arrive in Venice from Leeds!! The lesson I learned was that next time I will spend 50 pounds more to catch a flight direct from Leeds to Venice. Then the whole trip would only take a maximum of 5 to 6 hours door to door.

Its time I told the truth!!

I have to be honest with everyone, especially the British.

Having tried "Fish N' Chips" several times now, from all kinds of recommended locations. I have come to the conclusion that I am not CRAZY about them.

I love seafood, and I do enjoy fish n' chips. But to me they are like ginger snap cookies, I'll eat them and like them, but only if they are the only cookies left on the plate. I would prefer to eat almost any other type of cookie. (They are on the bottom of my "like" list)

My question is ....Why deep fry your fish, when you could have it as sushi or grill it or BBQ it or do almost anything else other than soaking it in FAT. I don't mind Fish n chips, but it would be near the bottom of the list on how I like my fish prepared. Maybe my palate isn't as discerning as others, but all fish n chips taste the same to me.....But according to the Brits there are different tastes from different parts of the country????? I am confident that deep fried fish will alway taste like deep fried fish, no matter who has made it.

And why, in a country surrounded by the ocean does nobody eat SUSHI!!

Why does "land-locked" Calgary have lots of SUSHI restaurants and not Leeds????

WHY WHY WHY....

Forgive this rant, It comes from a sushi deprived maniac. (SUSHI.........Where are you??)

Getting into the Travelling Mood

I have been getting flack for not updating this blog sooner, and I apologize for that.

These last 3 weeks have been busy. As you may remember, September 24th was my birthday. I turned 30 this year and it was hard to not celebrate with my friends and family back home. Knowing this, many of my new friends here in Leeds came over to my house to help me celebrate. Gill and David have gotten to know me so well that their gift to me included 4 different types of cheese (All local varieties) Hmmmmm.... There was much wine and beer shared and I now have two new guides to England and the local hiking. On Monday, my actual birthday, I went with Jenny and Simon to see a movie (Not available in Canada, it was a British movie) called "Run Fatboy Run" all about a man who runs a marathon to get his girlfriend back. It was pretty funny, and a good example of the British humour.

I forgot to mention, on Sunday Sept 23rd I went down to the local pub for "Quiz" night as usual and found out that Rollie (The quiz guy) had made up a Canadian round for the quiz. My team did very well that night. We even won £30 for being the only team to name 7 of 10 provinces (We got them all!!) The next weekend (Sept 30) we WON the quiz, and I actually got a few of the questions!

With my new touring books I headed out to the city of YORK on Sept 29th. What an amazing city. It still has the Wall around the original city, and you can walk on it and look in on both the new and the old parts. It is a cute city with small streets , just for walking and lots of shopping. The "minster" is a huge church that takes a minimum of 2 hrs to tour. (This city was originally a Roman city, and still has some buildings from that time) As luck would have it there was a food festival going on in the market and I tasted a "Wild Boar" burger. It was worse than eating Liver!!! i eat everything, but even I had to throw it away after 3 bites. (picture on facebook) Met many nice people in York, even the local crazy woman. She sat down next to me as I was eating an ice cream (to get rid of the taste of the burger) and started asking me my opinions about world politics...it was awkward, but I finally managed to get away from her by pretending to see my sister across the lane. Thank you Jen or Carmen

Just this last weekend I went to "Pickering" a small town in East Yorkshire. Also very pretty, but I went there to ride the authentic Steam Train 20 miles from Pickering to Whitby, through parts of Yorkshire that are not accessible by car. The train was cool, with family compartments and all. (pics on facebook) The scenery was great, and I spent the trip with my head hung out the window, taking pictures of the heathered hills and forest. Goathland was my one stop on the trip to take a Level 2 walk (from my new walking guide) I was sure it was mislabelled as I scrambled over rocks and trees to follow a muddy path beside a river for 1.5 miles. (I was covered in mud, leaves and tree slime....No pics, sorry) After the first 1.5 miles the other 3 miles were less grouling and very pretty. Just so you don't think I was all by my self the entire time, I had tea and scones with a gentleman in pickering (stranger) who gave me some great ideas of things to see in Scarborough (NEXT weekend) and I shared a pint with 2 other couples in Goathland who did the same walk/hike as I. Again a very nice trip.

I ended the weekend with a trip to the YSP (the Yorshire Sculpture Park) near Leeds. They had an Andy Goldsworthy exhibition on that blew me away. I've never really been into sculpture as an artform, but I found Andy's work inspiring. Google his name to see some of his art!! Its all based on building something from his environment. All of his works are natural.

To finish this post I want to say that school is going well. I feel comfortable in my classroom and with the students. They have stopped repeating everything I say in a whisper (trying to mimic my accent) and we are now getting lots of work done. I have 1.5 more weeks of school before I have my October Half Term break. I am spending my week off in Northern Italy (Flying in to Venice, then a train to Rome, Florence, Milan and Verona)

Talk to you soon!

WEEK Two, back at work

Well, I was rereading my last entry and I have to admit that I sounded stressed, and I was!!! Everyday at work keeps getting better and better as I learn the ropes here at Horbury. I am loving my classes and the staff. I am even leaving my classroom for break and lunchtime without worrying about missing classes. The Senior staff here pop in to observe all teachers all the time. Its only been two weeks and I've had 3 different staff members in to observe. Things must be going OK, seeing as they haven't asked me to go back to CANADA!!

I wanted to send KUDO's out to all England drivers. We Calgarians have a lot to learn about being courteous at the same time as being fast. People here are always letting others merge in without fuss. While driving down a narrow road, with cars parked on the road on either side (leaving room for only one vehicle to squeeze through at a time) the Brits have timed out perfectly who slows down and who goes through without needing to swear or finger each other. They are perfectly British.

Speaking of driving I feel it is time to confess that while here in England I have hit two other cars........(Dad, please don't freak out) nobody was hurt and there was no noticeable damage done to any vehicles. The first accident occured in Scotland. While on a narrow road, an oncoming vehicle crossed the centre line and swiped the mirror off the car in front of me, this mirror hit my windshield. As I was reacting to being hit by a mirror, I didn't notice that the vehicle in front had come to an emergency stop, and I nicked his back bumper in an attempt to swerve into the ditch. (No harm done.) The other accident occured just last week as I simply backing into another car, the handsome gentleman who got out said there was no damage and didn't even want to exchange phone numbers!!!!! My 6 years of being accident free is now finished and my total number of accidents is a bit higher (can anyone guess how high??)

Anyways, I have done more this last week than hit cars. On Friday, John and Amy took me to see the Leeds Rhinos play (Rugby League, not Union) This was lots of fun as the fans were full of cheers and jeers that I couldn't understand. They didn't sell tickets to seats in the stadium, instead you buy a ticket to "STAND" in an area. What a great idea, you make more money as you can fit in more people standing than sitting, and being that close together with strangers keeps you warm if the evening is chilly.
On Saturday Katie and Chris had people over for "tea" (this is supper) and Katie prepared "Fish Pie" . Now while this might sound suspect, it was in fact delicious (see picture in facebook) It was a mixture of salmon, mash and cheese, and a few other ingredients. I plan to learn how to make this dish and serve it to all my Canadian visitors. Sunday, I headed out to Nottingham (1 hour south) to run in the "Robin Hood" 1/2 marathon, the weather was perfect and the course beautiful, this is supposedly the 2nd largest race in the UK at 13000 people. I finished the weekend down at The Abbey (local pub) for quiz night with Simon, Cathy, Becca and Steve, again I did not contribute much to the answers but I am smarter for going.

Well, I've run out of things to say, except that it is my 30th birthday next week and I am planning to have a few people over to help me celebrate. I'll let you know how that goes. Simon asked me to make the rice for the curry that we are having that evening and I had to admit that I've never cooked rice before......We may just be eating nachos and salsa!!!

CHEERS!

THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL

Well, I am truly overwhelmed and inundated with information. While I think that things have gone well, I am really not sure yet. Everyone here at Horbury as been incredibly friendly, allways willing to answer a question (all right maybe like 12 questions) I don't have time for actual conversations, every conversation ends up with me asking how this or that works. I am teaching in the mobile village (portables), each one has two classrooms. My partner across the doorway is Gill, she is my new best friend!!! She is always dropping in after each class to ask questions and to anticipate issues that might come up. I will have to buy her a bottle or two of Canadian wine as an inadequate thank you.

Teaching for 60 minutes has been difficult for me to manage, I am used to 85 minutes.....60 minutes is NOT enough. I have 8 different classes to prepare for, and I don't see them everyday or even at the same time of day when i do see them. The juggling of timetables and start times has me a bit jumpy. My lunch hour also changes depending on my classes that day. (i am not known for my ability to organize and this is testing me). Basically, I am scared to leave my class room, because it has happened twice where I was leaving to go for a break or for lunch when a class arrived for its lesson. AH well, the trials and tribulations of the unorganized.

GOD BLESS Junior High Teachers who juggle this all the time!!

On a different note, I was in London this last weekend. I took the train in, and it is the way to travel, sit back, read a book and relax. I found it easy to get around London. My hotel was right across the street from Big Ben, and beside the London Eye. On Saturday morning my run took me past Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park, to mention a few locations. A river cruise down the River Thames took me past a few other sites, Shakespeare's Globe theatre, St. Paul Cathedral, London Bridge, stopping at the Tower of London. The Tower of London was by far my favorite thing in London. It is full of history, tours by yeoman guards and of course the Crown Jewels.

On Sunday, I didn't eat a single meal. Instead I snacked my way down Whitehall St. to Leicester Square, and into Covenant Garden, where I met some of the others and went to see the "Lion King." GOOD TIMES!!!!

Next time I am in London, I am going to have a "proper" tea at the ritz. I am told that it is loads of fun. I'll let you know....

My First WEEK in LEEDS

Hello all! I've just spent the last week settling into my new house and meeting new friends in Leeds. I've met many of Rob and Victoria's friends and they have been very welcoming. Lots of beer and food has been consumed (I love all occasions that involve food) Although I am missing not having nachos with my beer (They eats chips (CRISPS) by the bagful in pubs)

Lets take a moment and discuss CRISPS...they have the weirdest flavors. I assume this goes back to the FOOT and Mouth disease that wiped out the meat industry in the UK several years ago. To replace the high cost of meat and its rareity they came up with ham and pickle chips, beef and mustard, bacon, prawns, roast chicken , BBQ wings, etc. Even sunflower seeds come in a beef flavor????? My favorite is the roast chicken flavoured crisps. Hhmmmmmmm...

Ah well, Jenny (new friend) took me out to the dales last Sunday (To Malcom) to do a hike. It was great, I even got the chance to climb up a waterfall at one point. ( I was only a bit wet)
The "Pudsey Pacers" are my new running group, they run Tuesdays and Thursdays and they start and finish all runs at the local pub. (WHAT A GREAT IDEA) Last night (Thursday Aug 30th) our run involved a scavenger hunt (always on the last Thursday of the month). Its a timed event, with about 17 locations to find. It was hilarious to see all these pairs of people running around a forested area through brambles and thorns trying to find each location. Again, this activity finished with a drink and dinner at the local pub!! (My partner and I did not do very well, we found each location, but did not answer the questions very well)

Getting around the city has been good, except for every time I go into downtown. I spend on average 1/2 hr looking for this particular "subway" restaurant so that i know where I am. I have yet to get out of downtown leeds on the first try. I usually spend 30 mins circling around looking for an exit I recognize. (THEY DON"T SEEM TO BELIEVE IN STREET SIGNS)

Plans for this weekend ivolve heading back to the dales for a trail run on Saturday and maybe going to the "Salt Mills" here in leeds on Sunday. Hopefully the weather holds.

Anyways, I am having a great time and am looking forward to starting work on Monday. I'll let you know how that goes.

Scotland Part B

Hello all!!! I have just finished my Scotland vacation. I spent over a week up in the highland hiking on the less rainy days (or trail running) and sightseeing on the wet days. I came to the conclusion that if I see another castle I will run screaming.......All in all, the highlands were my favorite part of the trip; I met lots of people in the hostels (football season had just started back up and their were games to watch) and there were lots of things to do. I managed to stumble onto a local version of the highland games outside of fort William, and I got to see the caber toss, hammer throw and the hill run, among other activities. The triple jump, while already complicated, was even more difficult when preformed when wearing a kilt. The gentleman who won the hammer throw, had to put down his beer before every throw he made (While I was watching he had 3 beer???)

I've made it back to Leeds and am now working to settle in. Where is the grocery store, library, blockbuster.....etc. I'll probably be going into the school next week to start the planning process. It will be nice to be back to work!!!

Talk to you soon

Travelling Scotland PART A

I thought I would give an update as to what I've been upto. Because I am currently traveling from hostel to hostel I haven't downloaded any pictures but will add them when I can.

On Aug 9th I left Leeds and headed north to Edinburgh (pronounced Edinbra??) Talking encouragingly to Nessie (my car) I set out with 3 maps and a little else. This was one of my first excurisons on a UK highway (The A1) I discovered that in town communities they posted speed limits but as you left town limits all they had was a sign (it was a big white cirlce, with a black line through it). It became obvious that this sign means that you are to drive at the fasted speed you and your car could handle.....Traffic was flying past Nessie and I, as her tiny 1 litre engine (12 yrs old) could only manage a confortable 65 miles/hr. Any faster and she sounded sick and started to shake.

Undeterred by the speeding traffic, I eventually reached Edinburgh (After several pit stops to give Nessie a break) My hostel was located 1 block off the Royal Mile during the cities biggest festival (The Fringe!!), as you can imagine traffic was horrible, there were people everywhere and I had not yet figured out how they labelled the streets. (There are no sign posts, instead there are ground level labels on rock walls and building) Once I found the hostel I went straight out into the city to look around. And for the next three days I saw 6 shows, took in 2 museums, 1 castle, a bus tour, a whiskey tasting and a tonne of local food. When not enagaged as stated I amused my self with the 30 or so street preformers all down the Royal mile. Everything from contortionists, to juggles, bagpipe players and comedians. I LOVE Edinburgh!!! (Everyone should visit it during the fringe festival)

Eventually I had to leave, next stop Inverness!!! Along the rute to Inverness I stopped to see Mary Queen of Scots favorite castle "Stirling Caslte" which was a must see!! I headed off to St. Andrews the home of golf to take a quick picture (It was pouring rain at the time, so I did not go walking around). Most of the drive was through the Cainngorm Mountains (Where I will be going hiking tomorrow if the weather is okay) The next day (after arriving at Inverness) was spent looking at 3 casltes (pictures coming) 1 military fort (Fort George is a Must) and a scenic Coastal drive down the east coast. A full day, although this was a day spent eating from the car (not restaurants) seeing as I was trying to save some money after I over spent in Edinburgh. I will be posting a picture late of my favorite car food "Malty Fruit Loaf" Thank you Rob and Vicky for introducing me to my new favorite snack.

Tomorrow is yet another day, with many plans, hopefully hiking in the mountains (it is supposed to rain, but then it is always raining...) but if not there are whiskey tours to take, a lochness monster to find and a Soccer game to watch at the local pub.

I hope this keeps you up to date on "Alison's Travels". I will be updating this with pictures ASAP . Especially the picture of my lunch on Sunday....A baked potatoe stuffed with haggis and cheese.

By the way Hayley, do you remember the "hat" I bought in Utah....Well it has been well worn allready.....pictures to come.


Alison

Newly arrived in England

I have been here in Leeds for 2.5 days. hanging out with Rob and Victoria, they have been introducing me to friends of theirs and more importantly their favorite restaurants for Indian food and Fish and chips. 2 hours after getting to Leeds, Rob and I went for a walk around the canal system (perfect for running) just so he could show me his favorite pub (great beer, great atmosphere, trivia nights on sundays, and a jam session on tuesdays) It was here that I had my first European pint of "pippins" ale and I met the bar keep Martin. I have a feeling that this will be a popular destination. I've actually just got back from a trivia night where I met many of the regulars and had a great time trying to understand the questions being asked (the quiz master is from newcastle and speaks with a "Gordi" accent) He has promised me a Canadian quiz night some time in september so that I will have a chance to win.

Victora has taken me on three of her favorite runs. These are trails runs through hill and dale, taking me across streams, pastures and woodlands. I have been covered in mud and happy as can be. Vicky seems to think I will remember the locations of these runs to do over and over. (this may be a problem)

I should soon be driving....hopefully tomorrow if things go okay (getting a car is easy, it is the insurance that is difficult)

Anyways, this is pretty much all for now. I will update with details of car and Scotland as I will be heading there on Thurday (Aug 9th) for the Fringe Festival

Cheers!!

Alison