Scottish likes and dislikes

Things I like about Scotland:

Swirling clouds - the sky is never still in Scotland. The old adage about waiting 10 mins if you don't like the weather is really true here.

Fringe Festival - so much fun and the city's style adds so much to the whole event

Good friends & family - I have had a great reunion with all my Scottish contacts and made some new ones along the way

The countryside - the rolling green and purple hills that seem to go on for ever

The accent - even when you can barely make out every third word, it is still fun and dead sexy

The lanaguage - seemlingly made up words like swithering, blaggard, and wee that just make sense in context

Haggis - that's right; I tried it, survived it, and even quite like it

Traffic lights - they flash red and yellow just before the light will turn green

Things I don't like about Scotland:

Midges - swarms of small biting bugs that always seem to find any flash of bare skin

Larges groups of tourists from the same country - this is not unique to Scotland, but just became very apparent while on the bus tour to Inverness. Half the group were Italian and were annoying the rest of the bus to no end. How do you say "shut up" in Italian?

Scotland at last

I have been in Scotland for the last 10 days - and thankfully I still have a week more. I had wanted to come here for quite some time and I have not been disappointed in the slightest.

I have been very fortunate in that I was able to enjoy the wedding of a good friend, Ange, and several shows at the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Perfect timing.

The weather has been a wee bit wet and a wee bit sunny, but mainly cloudy, which is expected at this time of year. If it weren't for the weather, I reckon I could put Edinburgh on the list of possible places to live. It is a fabulous place. It is very historic, with amazing buildings. It is also tightly packed to make getting around a traveler's dream. The Fringe Festival has amped up the activity level in the city. There are 100's of shows each day and dozens of street performers everywhere.

I have also had the pleasure of being in Ayrshire (south west coast). The wedding was in Ayr and then my friend Karen and I went over to the Isle of Arran for a few days. We didn't succeed in getting up Goatfell mountain (we didn't even try to be honest), but we did manage a couple of good walks out to ancient stone circles and up to a beautiful waterfall. We also drove the entire width and breadth of the island. It is known as Scotland in miniature, so I feel it helped me understand this grand country.

I have also gone north to Inverness. The search for Nessie was not successful, but it was still a magical place. The rolling green hills and the gentle water have a calming effect on everyone who passes by.

I still have some more exploring to come. I will head to Glasgow for a few days before heading back to ireland next week. I am sure I will be back to Scotland in the future.

I had a brief visit with friends, Alison & Peter Wood. We met on my tour in South East Asia and promised to meet up when I made it around to their neighbourhood. It was great to catch up with them after all this time. It really reminded me just how much ground I have covered this year.

I want to wish Gary and Ange all the very best in their new life together. It was such a treat to be apart of your wedding. Thanks again.

Disaster has struck

For some reason today when I went to sign into my email account and catch up on all my communications I found myself staring at a message that told me that my email account had been cancelled. NOOOOOOO!

Your stomach hits the floor and suddenly your whole life passes in front of your eyes. What the hell happened.

Before I judge to quickly (deep breath), and jump to any conclusions (deep breath), or throw myself off the nearest bridge (deep breath), I have sent off a couple of emails to people who may be able to help (please, please, please).

My entire life is tied to that email account, not to mention all my data for traveling this year. All my itinerary information, all my credit card and financial data, plus all the communications I have had with friends and family. All lost in a single key stroke. OK, that is a bit over dramatic. It isn't lost, but all my access has now been pushed over to another account and no one can contact me on my old address. What a nightmare, especially when I am sitting in Scotland hours ahead of anyone in Toronto who can help me. This must be a lesson in patience and stress management. Something that I have to go through to see a bigger picture... blah blah blah. CRAP!

Come to think of it, I woke up in a panic the other night for no apparent reason. I couldn't get back to sleep and couldn't understand why I had suddenly woken up with a sense of uneasiness. Perhaps it was at that very moment that someone / something severed my electronic lifeline. AHHHHH!!!!

So for anyone who needs to get in touch with me for the next little while (showing faith that my account will ultimately be restored), then my new account is allyson_boode@yahoo.ca.

Signing off for now to give the Internet gods time to review their heinous mistake and find a way to restore my address and my sanity. Pray for me!!

Dublin does me right

I arrived in Dublin with high hopes for Ireland. I have always felt it had a certain allure. It is an interesting mix of heritage and modern technology. Plus it is the home of my favourite beer; Guinness.

I got settled into my hotel which was just outside the main hub of the city. I am okay with this, as it means I shouldn't have to deal with noisy revelers or dodge and smelly puddles in the morning.

My first mission was to find the Canadian Embassy. I have a dilemma with my passport - it is running out of pages! I only have two left. I had hoped to replace it while here. In the end, I have to settle for a temporary and then have a permanent replacement sent to a destination further along in my journey. Keep your fingers crossed!

As in many cities, I decided to do the bus tour. Dublin isn't terribly big, but it does have a good collection of worthwhile stops. One of which is the Guinness Storehouse. The source of Ireland's black gold, not to mention a great place to view the city. The Gravity bar at the top of the building give a 365 degree view of Dublin. Which is fantastic especially while you sup your complimentary pint. As with many cultural stops I have been to this year, Guinness put on a great showing for you €15. No only do you get a historical view of how Arthur Guinness got started in the trade, but you also get an overview of the ingredients, how they are blended into the magic that is Guinness, plus you can see some of the most iconic advertisements thru the ages.

I also stopped into a few churches and historical buildings. However, I have to say, the Irish charge for entering a church. That has been a first for me on this trip. I am not sure how I feel about it.
I have left a good part of the city untouched as I will be back a few more times. I will spend two nights here before heading to Scotland and at least another night here on my second leg of the Irish tour.

Off to Kilkenny and Cork now. I hope they offer up a new slice of Irish life as well. My beer tasting will continue, but I am doubtful much will compare to my beloved Black and Gold.

Friends revisited

Earlier this year I took a tour through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. While on that trip I met a delightful couple from Wales. John and Penny were very easy going and always had room for me to join their table or activities. At the end of the tour, we gave the perfunctory "if you are ever in the neighbourhood, give us a call". At that time, I was not planning on being anywhere near Llangollyn, Wales. However, as my travels unfolded, it became a possibility, and then a certainty.

I sent out an email to John and very quickly I had an invite for a visit. It was fantastic to catch up with them after all this time. I have covered so much ground since February, but some of my fondest memories have been from that trip through South East Asia.

We got caught up on recent events and I got to meet the famed Billy; their jack russell terrier. He is adorable. It is always interesting to see people in their home setting. Penny has an enormous garden that is in full vegetable production and John, semi-retired, was never far from his laptop, working on various projects. He used to tease me for my addiction to the Internet when we were on our tour. How the tables have turned.

In the evening we found ourselves off to an outdoor production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" by a traveling troop. It was very well done and the setting couldn't have been any better. It was on the lawn of a historic house with a castle up the hills in the distance. William would have approved, I'm sure.

I am so glad that I have not over packed my schedule so that these last minute options can be slipped in. One of the real joys of this year of adventure is the friendships that I am developing. Thank you to all I have met.

Murray girls on the loose

I met up with two of my Murray family aunties (Sal and Ruth) in Liverpool. They were already touring the area and I joined the duo for a few days.

Liverpool far exceeded my expectations. I hadn't done any research, I was leaving everything up to my aunts. We stayed in a fabulous apartment style hotel in the heart of the city. We did the city tour to get our bearings and learned a thing or two along the way. I hadn't realized that Liverpool played such a big role in the slave trade. Dark past. Also, the Titanic was listed Liverpool as its port, but it was built in Belfast. And of course the city is full of Beatles mentions; starting with the John Lennon airport.

We actually went to the Beatles experience at Albert Dock - well worth a visit. I have done quite a few exhibits and heritage / cultural sites this year. There is a real art to making these places compelling without being cheesy. The Beatles Story hit the mark for sure.

We left Liverpool and headed into Wales. You can tell you are in Wales because the signage changes - it becomes bilingual. However, it doesn't make any sense. Welsh is generally a string of consonants with a few vowels (usually y's) thrown in haphazardly for good measure.

We spent two nights in Betse-y-coed (sound it out) in a cute B&B. However, when we reached out room we were a little stunned...we had the jungle room...it was full of stuffed animals and print patterns. Just because you have your own establishment, doesn't mean you can get away with bad design. I mean, there was literally a rope hang on the wall with toy monkeys hanging from it. We had quite the giggle fit once the owner was out of earshot.

For my birthday, we had a reservation for a steam train ride up Snowdon Mountain. It is the tallest mountain in the UK. Wales is full of hobby train services. The Snowdon train provided a lovely one hour tour of the stunning scenery around the national park. When we reached the top, it was completely socked in with clouds - that's how high we were. After a bit of lunch, we decided to walk down. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but oh how wrong we were. It took 3 hours to get down and then several days to regain the ability to walk normally. My calves have still not forgiven me. So much so for the wisdom that is meant to come with age.

That night, Sal and Ruth treated me to dinner for my birthday. It was a fantastic dinner with all the trimmings. I even got a delicious chocolate cake without the annoying singing waiters. It was fabulous.
The following day we stopped in at Portmerion, a small heritage village developed by a wealth architectural fanatic. I think the guy must have enjoyed some acid in his day, because the place is quite a trip. It is a weird mix of buildings and landscapes all thrown together. He developed such an ecceltic mix that many people sent him strange statues and facade pieces to add to the town. Looks like he took it all in and found homes for all the bits and pieces. There are statues and art pieces popping out from every corner. You can easily get the feeling that you are being watched and when you turn around there is a face poking out from something. It took me awhile to stop wondering what it was all about and just go with the fun of it.

The following day, I said goodbye to my aunties. We had covered a lot of ground together (especially vertical), but I needed to move on and they had a schedule to keep as well. I never had any doubt that my 40th birthday would be special, but it was far better than I imagined thanks to my lovely and generous aunts! Thank you Sal and Ruth - love you!

Birthday Blog

When I turned 5 years old I ran down the street screaming, "I'm 5, I'm 5, I'm 5 today". I have never been secretive or elusive about my age. I can't understand those people who turn 29 over and over again.

Maybe it is because most people don't think I am as old as I am. I have been blessed with a younger look. I think the freckles help. Although I didn't always think so. When I was a kid I hated my freckles, I thought they were ugly because I looked different. My Mum promised me that by the time I was 21 they would be gone. On my 21st birthday I called her and told her she lied. I hadn't actually believed they would be wiped out over night, but I was hoping I would blend in more, and at that point in my life I was still not feeling very blended.

This year I am taking particular pleasure in developing new freckle patches. I have had a lot of opportunity to get out in the sun, and like with my freckles, I am choosing to not think of myself as being different from the norm, but rather offering up alternative norms to look at.

My father has a good phrase he likes to say about aging; "The alternative to getting old is no fun". Definitely words to stay alive by.

And so on this day, in a small village in Wales, I am walking down the street saying, "I'm 40, Im 40, I'm 40 today!"

Happy Birthday to you all!!