The UK

Fortunately for me, after that traumatic and reluctant farewell, I was off to visit Alice in Ireland.  It was the best thing for me to go stay with a friend.  There is nothing better than being able to relax at a friend’s place, and she was a great listening ear and comforter as I debriefed (and shed many tears!) about leaving France and this crazy tension of love I have between two countries that couldn’t be further apart and more different!

Arriving in Belfast, Kathryn Clawson kindly picked me up at the airport and we went out for dinner and a drink in Belfast and checked out the city.

Friday I relaxed and unwound at Alice’s, and did errands and caught up on sleep.  In the afternoon we walked to her sister’s and picked up her nephew and walked along the point to another little bay and coffee in a cafe.  That night Alice was on rescue boat patrol for the social Friday night sailing group so it was out in the IRB on the cold Irish sea.  There was quite a lot of wind so we got a lot wetter than expected.  Then we finished with a quiet drink at the sailing club and meeting some of Alice’s friends.

The next day Alice had me enrolled in a sailing course she was taking, so I learnt how to sail a little bit and even had the joy of learning how to upright a capsized boat. Yes, this did mean capsizing the boat and going for a swim in the freezing Irish sea.  I don’t think I have ever been in water that cold and I had on a wet suit, rash shirt, two fleeces, dry top, boots and gloves and I was so cold I could barely move.  Fortunately, I did make it back into the boat and back onto land for a lovely hot shower.

Sunday, by chance, I ended up going on a tour with Julia Trim to the Northern part of Ireland, we saw cute little villages, castle ruins, the world’s oldest whiskey distillery, a swing-bridge thing and the giant’s causeway.  A great day.  Unfortunately, I think all the emotion and fatigue of the previous few weeks had caught up on me and I was sick Monday and was going nowhere, which meant I had to cancel plans to catch up with my friend Ian who I know from Eau Vive.  Fortunately, at least, he had come out for a surprise visit to Paris in December for our mini-Eau Vive reunion, so I at least got to see him then.  With being sick, again it was nice to be at a friend’s house rather than a hostel or something.  Another thing I noticed about Ireland, was I just felt like bread and cheese and I went off to the supermarket and reminded I wasn't in France anymore, sadly the bread and cheese just wasn't the same, and it was wierd walking down the road or going into shops and noone says Bonjour, or Merci, Au revoir, and not doing the Bises was different too.  I was reminded quickly about the things I'll be leaving behind.

The world's oldest whisky distillery

Giant's causeway

Tuesday I went via bus to Dublin later than planned, as I was still recuperating a bit.  I was pleased to have some French girls in my dorm room with whom I could speak French.   Wednesday I did a free walking tour of the city, which was great, and met a girl who was staying at the same hostel as me.  Then I went off to the Guinness Brewery tour as I had pre-booked tickets.  It was a really good tour and well set up.  I poured my pint of Guinness and got the certificate!! And then needed to drink it.  I’m not a big beer drinker, let alone a pint and of Guinness.  Heavy going.  I was wondering how long I’d be sitting there by myself drinking this drink when another lone traveller, a guy from the States, came and joined me.  So we chatted and drank our Guinness.  I ended up inviting this guy and the girl I’d met earlier for dinner that night.  So we went out for a great Irish pub meal in the Temple Bar area, followed by another Irish pub with traditional Irish music – lots of fun!!

Thursday was a quick visit to the Book of Kells to see some of the oldest manuscripts of the Bible, a very cool old library and the harp which is the national symbol of Ireland (and the Guinness logo – cool story around that).  Then it was off to the airport, next stop London and chez Janet!

That night it was dinner at a steakhouse with Leanne and Megan, it’s always great to catch up with those guys.  Friday was a cruisy day with jobs I had to do but I met up with Leanne for a quick visit of the British Museum, where we saw the Rosetta Stone (very cool – and sparkly!!) and a whole lot of Egyptian mummies – very cool.  I LOVE that kind of thing.  That night I went out for dinner with my friend from Eau Vive days, Pete, and finally got to meet his lovely wife Felicity and Mark (who came out with Pete to NZ for a visit in 2006).  It was the first time I’d seen Mark since his time in NZ.  So it was great to have a lovely night out with these guys.

Check out the price of these wines from the 'British Empire' - they must be good huh?!

Saturday Janet introduced me to the Borough Markets, where we bought the ingredients for our dinner that night.  It was a mushroom pasta dish and the guy on the mushroom stall let us try the mushrooms (so many different ones with so many different flavours), he gave us a recipe and we made it that night.  A total fungi taste explosion!! After dinner we felt we needed something sweet to finish off the meal so we went out to buy something, closed the door and realised neither of us had the key and all her flatmates were out and there was NO WAY to get back in the house.  So it was off to buy cheesecake (nothing stopped us doing that) and then a lovely walk around the Fulham Palace gardens until a flatmate rang to say she was on her way home and could let us back in the house!!

Sunday, more markets, this time Brick Lane – a great place and a real taste, smell experience.

Monday, I felt like a trip a bit further out of London so it was off to visit the Queen at her place.  Windsor Castle.  She was actually there when I was there which was cool.  It’s a really cool palace, especially because it is still a functioning one.  So, for example, one of the rooms was being set up with table and chairs etc for a private function that evening, and I saw the big state room where she has dinners for hundreds of people, and we saw a video of what it looks like when it is all set up.  Because this is a working castle there are about 2000 staff who live on site in little houses in the castle grounds.  While there I heard one of the employees say to some people to keep an eye on the flag around 2pm as it would change from the Queen’s standard to the Union Jack when she left the castle.  She was possibly going to Buckingham Palace (which is more like her office in town, whereas Windsor is where she lives).  So, in the cold and rain, I waited outside around 2pm to see if I could catch a glimpse of the Queen leaving (I’d earlier seen a van being filled with suitcases and clothes and then drive away, so I knew she was on the move).  I waited and waited and nothing.  I was quite wet and cold so I decided to go see the St George’s Chapel (where the Queen’s parents, Queen Mary, Henry VIII and others are all buried).  I just knew that while I was there she would probably leave and sure enough after only about 10 or 15 minutes I walked outside to see the flag that was flying was now the Union Jack!! Typical! Oh well, I didn’t get to see the Queen.

The Queen's standard - she's in the house.

That was the end of my time in the UK.  It was great to spend it with good friends, and it is true that time is a healer as the tears from leaving France had pretty much dried up by the end of that time.  Now it was off to Greece for fun in the sun or was it....?