Spring?

Not much to say this week. It's been a bit of bummer week. Using my seer-like powers, I foretold this week was going to be a bit boring. Heather is really busy at work for the next two weeks and then we are off for a super vacation with J + J, so she has to work double hard and gets lots done. Me? I've just been going to the library and thinking of ways to spend my spring.

Any suggestions?

I really enjoy golf. You can play it with a group and it's great or just head out on your own and still have a grand time. It's not over-the -top physical, but still gets you outside. A golf course would also be the greenest place in Manny, as it is almost devoid of parks and trees. The only thing I really hate about it is the cost (and the elitism). I wanted to go golfing by Liverpool on the course that Tiger Woods won the 2006 British Open on, but it was too much. Surprisingly not blow-the-budget too much, but I thought the money could be spent on more appropriate things--like food.

I found this cheap course out in Chorlton, which is the hood we first lived in when we got here. I'm not too sure why it is significantly cheaper than all of the other courses in town---it's still like 89 years old and in great shape. Anyway, I called the night before to make a tee time. I was told I could just get on anytime after 12 and it would be no problem and they rented clubs. I rode the bus out there for an hour and bit, walked into the pro shop, and got a tee time no problem! The issue was not the course, rather they didn't rent any clubs! Jerks. On top of that, they asked why I didn't use my phone to google rentals, so I ended having my mobile phone insulted too. Jerks.

So, I'm quitting golf in Manny. At least for this week.

There was one benefit from this little adventure though...Manny Cats!

Why do they always run away from me? I called out "Peettter. Peetttter. Peeeettttteeer!" Nothing.

I'm quitting cats. At least for this week.

I was going to get this job at a new MEC-style camping/fishing store that opened up across the street from us. I kept checking the website for when they were going to start taking applications, as they had listed all of the other stores across the UK and had vacancies at almost all of them. Turns out, they don't use their own website for the initial hire and it's all full. Crapola. I did only want the job to get the discount on the fishing and camping gear and would have quit in two weeks, but still--Crapola.

I'm not going to get a job now. At least for this week.

As we spend more time here, we are meeting some of the goals we set out at the start of the year. I have come along way in my soup making (mmmm mint, spinach, and pea soup!) and we now have a local pub. We've only been there three times, but I think that it qualifies as our local because we haven't been to any other place more than twice. N'est pas? It's called The Castle and I like it. We did go early in the week and sat beside the stinkiest man I have ever smelt. I don't want to sound too mean (a little is ok right?), but this guy was s-t-a-n-k-y.

I'm not going to the Castle anymore. At least for this week.

Heather and I took a walk into Salford on Sunday and it was spring, spring, spring out. Salford is right beside Manny, separated by the lovely River Irwell.

Salford is a little rougher around the edges than Manny, but that just adds to it's urban charm---and we didn't get beat up which was really nice. We had a nice stroll through the town. Both of us are getting really quite good at looking in the right direction when we cross the street. Every once and a while I forget, but I've only been almost shmucked three times.

We went looking for the Salford Lads Club, but couldn't find it. I guess that's why people carry maps (or not the cheapest mobile phone you can buy). I would like to explore it more and get some chips and a sandwich.

We ended up walking quite a bit, taking the long-way-round to get back to Manny. We walked past Castlefield and the potato wharf and into my new favorite place in Manchester-- the dock beside the Gladys Emily. You'll see soon enough.

Castlefield is pretty cool. It's the place we thought we wanted to live back when we were here for a few days last May. It's got a lot of canals and railway trusses and bridges, but that's about it. There never seems to be any people around. Maybe they are just scared of being robbed and thrown into the canals. However, we did notice there are safety ladders everywhere.

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Update: So I've been working on this blog on and off for two days, and ran out of Internet again. Now I'm at home and can't burn all my data for the rest of the pictures. Bottom line--there is a freakin' cat that lives on that boat and he was very nice. I almost put him in our bag and took him home, but we had veggies in the bag already and it was full.

I'll post more photos from the walk next week.

Oh yeah! I just joined a softball team too. It's popular here--they have 9 teams! Sweet. I was actually getting antsy wanting to play. So that's my answer to springtime malaise--softball, it just won't be as much fun without my old team.

Until next time....CC

The Ancestral Homeland

I tried writing this one a few times and just ended up deleting large sections of jokes about barf on the sidewalks (for those of you who don't know, the Scottish often like to drink until they vomit on the streets). Since I did not want to revert to bodily fluid jokes, it has taken me a little while longer to come up with something to write about Scotland and Edinburgh.

Lambs? They are much nicer than barf, but we drove past them so fast on the train that we could not stop to hug them.
Kilts? We saw a few, but we were turned off by the "Braveheart" street performer who insisted on showing off his junk to the tourists.
Trainspotting? We did not see Renton, Spud or Sick Boy, but I did see some guy who looked like Begbie and I crossed the street.

I was actually more than impressed by Edinburgh, or should I say, Eddy. It was much older than I though it was going to be. Really old. It's given me a better appreciation of the history of the UK in general. I kind of picture Manny as nothing more than a farm back when Eddy was one of the great capitals of Europe. You can feel that it was quite an important city at one time. Now....maybe a little touristy in parts (especially the shops) but really nice to stroll and just stare at the buildings and easily imagine the past.

We were supposed to head to Glasgow and visit my old friend Bryan from high school, but it fell through so it was only a one-stop trip north. Again, such an easy train ride to Edinburgh. I am really, really going to get used to travelling like this. We live about five minutes from the main train station too. Get on it Harper. What ever happened to the idea of Cascadia Obama?

On a very off topic note---one of the most enjoyable and funniest movies I have seen in years deals with travelling north. It's a French movie called Bienvienue chez les Ch'tis, or Welcome to the Sticks. If you can find it at the video store or borrow it from one of your ten-thousand Swedish friends, do so. Also, Waltz with Bashir--which we also watched recently--blew our minds.

Back to the Scotland. We stayed in Eddy with Martin and Heidi, who we met at the beer hall in Salzburg (see previous Canadian Mancunian issues). They are studying at the university and graciously invited us to join them for the weekend. They had a fantastic place just off South Bridge, almost right in the middle of town. It was great. We arrived and they took us on a tour of the city.

This is Greyfriars Bobby. Bobby's owner died and the dog came to his grave everyday for 14 years. That's commitment. I was quite sad there was no stories of Scottish cats with the same type of dedication and heroism. Maybe there will be in Ireland?

We went down the hill to Grassmarket and had a bite to eat at a pub. I have no pictures, but it was a really cool, old-school pub. Heather, Heidi, and Martin had the Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties. I did not. I should have. Haggis is really good!! Really! I think it would have been better with some gravy all over it. I just didn't think about what I was eating and concentrated on the taste. It was really, really good. I can't imagine I would ever eat it canned and not fresh, but it's really nothing to be scared of. Trust me too, I was scared. I didn't like the neeps though. I got a yummy meat pie. It had a mile high puff pastry top on it. Sooooo buttery and good.

With bellies full we walked up to Edinburgh Castle, down the Royal Mile, and over to New Town. I'm kind of bummed that I found out too late and didn't get to see it, but my Mom told me that my great uncle's name is on the WW1 memorial at the castle.

New town was built in the early 1800s, I think. I just really enjoyed calling a section of a city that is older than my country's government 'new town'. It was built because of the population and filth that had encompassed the old town (within the city/castle walls). The old town is maybe a square mile and in the 1800s it had 57,000 people living there. And Vancouver thinks it has an inflated market.

We stopped for a few pints at cool new town pub (I had a really nice Scotch--MmMMM) and just continued walking around the rest of the day looking at the royal residence, new Scottish Parliament and Arthur's Seat.

We had a really nice dinner of Indian tapas....what a great idea--Indian Tapas!

The next day, we went out for a fine Scottish breakfast of Porridge!! Gross, right? Nope--foiled again. It wasn't my favorite thing, but I think that is because Heather ate all of the Cinnamon, bananas, and honey off the top and I just had straight porridge. My Scottish smoked salmon and cream cheese was good too!

We ended up walking around the Greyfriars graveyard (where the dog is buried). It was really creepy and fun. The graves ranged from 1550 to 1830'ish.

Later on in the day we met up with Heidi and went on an underground history tour of the vaults of Edinburgh. It was mostly worth it. The vaults were really creepy and stinky with a good tour guide, but it wasn't that long or extensive. The tour guide did have a really thick accent and I very much enjoyed everytime she said, "The people had no money and were very puuuuuuurrrrrr".

These are the vaults that were built inside the South Bridge. They were originally used for storage, then as apartments. No thanks--I'll choose new town.

I really liked all of the chimneys around too. There are soooo many of them popping out of everything!

We had dinner at the pub in the university and played the quiz night with Heidi's friend and fellow canuck. We got fourth, but didn't cheat. Youth today, with all those smart phones---Right, I'm sure you knew the Tim Burton movie that stars Helena Bonham Carter as the title character. Sure you did. Stupid iphones. Anyway, it was quite fun and we won a package of candy.

On the way to the train station the next morning we just happened upon the wickedest store in all of the UK...Walker Slater. Seriously--my new favorite store in the entire world. I could have dropped so much money there and ended up with a full tweed and wool wardrobe. I ended up only getting a pair of tweed pants, angora scarf, and wool socks. Getting prepped for next winter!! Oh yeah, my pants were 65 pounds off--that's like 106 bucks off! Ha!

Anyway, it was another great time in a really cool city with nice people. When are we going to have a bad time? If we keep it up though, we are going to end up puuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrr.

Blast-er from the Past-er

One of the worst jobs I could imagine--tanning leather in Morocco. Either that, or handing out Lyca Phone Cards in Manny.

Mallorqui Cats!

Oh no--last ones! I better get it together.....

Paul up top, Marion on the bottom.

Off to nowhere next weekend! Yayyy! I might try and go golfing if the weather holds.

Later peeps,

CC

I Didn't See Will and Kate, But Still Not A Disapointment

Heather and I love NYC and have held it in stratospherical regard since last year. Well, welcome to second place New York. London takes the cake (and the eccles too). Not only is London full of amazement and charisma, but it is easy. We just walked from neighborhood to neighborhood....oh, there is the British Museum....oh, there is an entire street of guitar shops....oh, there is St. Paul's Cathedral....oh, oh, oh! Was it my own ignorance that I didn't know so much awesomeness could be contained in a city?

We took the train down from Manny and were in central London within two hours. Two Freakin Hours! Soooooo easy and pretty cheap too. It cost us 50 pounds each return (around $80). Part of the problem with a city so big is remembering all of the different neighborhood names. We stayed with Sarah and Ralph, friends from SFU who are studying and working in London for the year too. I'm not sure where they lived, but we walked there from King's Cross Station and it close. Russell Square? Anyway, it was awesome. We arrived and went out for a pint before dinner in Soho--my favorite.

Thanks to Kim Duff (all hail the mighty Duff) who supplied us not only with wicked restaurant intel, but with a 50 pound off coupon (that's right--50 pounds!). The restaurant was called Sketch (click for the link) and it was really deluxe. Heather and I were saying that it's just the type of restaurant that you would think is in London. The walls were all projected animations that change monthly.

The mains were good, the starters even better (the best risotto I have ever had), but the real stars were the bathrooms. I wish I had more pictures. You leave the main dining room, then walk up a double stairway--the men's are illuminated in blue, the ladies in pink (lame)--and they are all individual egg-pods with toilets in them. They each have their own personality too. The one I went in cheered when I flushed and the one Heather went in had airline announcements playing and shuttered a little with turbulence.

Again, thanks to Duff, the bill was quite reasonable. We headed off and walked back to Sarah and Ralph's place for a nightcap and good night's sleep.

The next day Sarah and Ralph played tour guides and took us to see the major sights of the Southbank. My stupid photos are out of order (aaahhhh blogstrations--I forgot how much I missed loathe you) so I will just have to list them. 

The Gerkin--I don't know what the real name is, but it's is the coolest skyscraper I have ever seen.

Heather and Tower Bridge. It was really strange to see these iconic places in real life. I've been to 'famous' places before, but these are ultra-familiar......maybe it's because of the colonialism. Maybe it's just because I watched the new Sherlock Holmes two weeks ago too. Jude Law was quite enjoyable as Watson.

St. Paul's Cathedral--We didn't go in. Didn't even stop. This was from the bus. Same as Heather and Tower Bridge. She just jumped out really quick. Unfortunately, she didn't make it back on the bus in time and we are looking for her. Heather: If you see this blog--please call me!

Some apartments that I would really like to live in. I think Madonna lives here. They back the Thames and are the old shipping/storage warehouses. Some are called things like 'rice house' or 'java house'. They even kept all the old bridges and trusses. They now have tables and are the balconies for the apartments.

A crazy sculpture that will give me nightmares. It's a steam engine sailboat with spears for sails.

We stopped to explore this market that Sarah had been meaning to go to called Borough Market. A very good stop. It has been going on since the 13th century and it was delicious. There was food everywhere!!! Cheese, meats, pastries from everywhere in Europe and North Africa. It was soooo good. Heather and Sarah got some Thai green curry that was cooked on this giant paella-like shield. They even had a wall of fresh, dead rabbits. I didn't buy one.

Chowin' Down'

Heather and the Globe Theater. Not the original that Willy played in, but re-created in the same location and to the original specs. It might also be titled "Heather and The Super Soft Ice Cream Truck."

 

The eye! The eye! We didn't ride it this time, but might when we go back in 30 years.

So cool. I mean me, not Big Ben and Parliament. My future is so bright, I gotta wear shades....even when it is completely overcast and grey. Hey, the sun never sets on cool right? Ok...that's enough. I'm a dork.

I wonder how much all that gold is worth now?

Tube Time. They go down a lot further than I imagined they would. The escalators always reminded me of scenes from American Werewolf in London. We did not see any werewolves. I did see at least two Americans though. They were loud.

It was really great for Sarah and Ralph to take us out and show us the town. We later had some pints at the Lamb (not the Lamb and something, just the Lamb. Wicked) and questioned if we walked too much in the day.

The next day we left to a hotel for one night and then headed out to meet our friend Nick from Kelowna, who just happened to be in London on business for a couple of days! We went over to East London for Brick Lane and Spitlefields Market. We met up with Nick, his sister Rachel and friend Matt. Unfortunately, this is the only picture we have of them. Yes......they are our friends, not just Londoners on the street.

We went with Nick, Matt, and Rachel to have some pints at the Ten Bells, a super cool pub with a dark history. The last victim of Jack the Ripper worked at the Ten Bells and they think he drank there too. We split with the gang and headed off on our own stopping at Covent Gardens (boooooo! Waste of time) and Picadilly Gardens.

We went to a restaurant called the Saltyard for dinner. Again, super delicious. We made reservations for 9:00 being cosmopolitan. We showed up at the restaurant at 7:30 famished and begging to get in. They took pity on our small-town stomachs and sat us in the chef's table! It was spanish tapas done very, very well. MMMMMMMMM.

We stayed at the Marble Arch Mariott in London. It is a crap building, but the rooms were nice. It would be a lot better in the summer because of it's proximity to Hyde Park. We woke up and it was pouring, so we went for a nice Lebanese breakfast and waited it out. It passed and we hit the park!

And rented bikes!! We had them for an hour. 2 pounds each. Sweet!

 

The original Speaker's Corner is in the park--not from Muchmusic--it was given to the commoners as a place where they could speak out about anything without reprisal. It was Sunday morning and just after the Japanese earthquake, so there was a whole lot of Apocalyptic smattering.

The park was really nice. There were a number of football games going on and it was very 'used,' which is nice. I made a video of it and should have it in the future.

What can I say? Loved, loved, loved, London. I would go back in a second.

Blast-er from the Past-er

From the land of floatistan where I built the biggest driftwood fire ever seen. Looks like the eye of Sauron!

Mallorqui Cats!

Is it rude to call this guy Adolf? I think so. Let's say Chaplin then.

Off to my ancestral land of Scots this weekend! Later!! CC