Future Postings

Be on the lookout for future postings strewn about here and there. I'm on the road for the next week and don't always get internet access but I AM having an amazing time. I've been across half of Ireland so far in the past couple of days and with the next three will be making my way back across. So yes, the postings will come eventually, but I think I'm just going to have to put together a huge slide of the pictures and videos I'm getting. And believe me, you want to see them. This place is CRAZY awesome. Ok, I'll let you know then. Bye.

Wandering Shephard, Not Quite Desperado

I like to imagine that certain points in life can be described simply with a soundtrack. I'm not quite certain what song would describe my time over here in England, but I'm sure if I think hard enough I'll come up with something. For the next month, however I'm going to be living to the beat of "Wandering Shepherd" by Dan Fogelberg. I'll be heading all over Ireland and Scotland and Italy and seeing a bit of France and Greece in the next 5 weeks starting tonight. I'll be that "traveling pilgrim" that will rest for several nights in airports and on the beach with a bottle of wine and some cheese. I'll be that "wandering shepherd" and I'll keep wandering until the flight home on May 7th when "Desperado" by The Eagles will take over. Then it'll be all about "drawing the queen of hearts" and enjoying the "fine things that have been laid upon my table," and not always wishing for "the ones I can't get." That being said, let's put down the needle and let the music begin. (Yeah, I said needle; records just sound better!)

Tonight I fly from London to Dublin where I'll spend the night in the airport before spending the day drinking Guinness in the Factory and learning how Jameson Irish Whiskey is made. I'll spend the night in Dublin and in the morning head north to Belfast to walk around town and try to get a feel for what it's like to be in a place where fighting has been going on for YEARS over independence and religious motives. After sleeping in Belfast on Saturday night, I'll spend Sunday in the footsteps of giants at the Giant's Causeway and possibly visiting the Bushmills distillery before heading back to Dublin for the night. Waking up early Monday, we'll start the tour throughout the whole of the Republic of Ireland for 5 days. Sleeping in the Dublin airport that Friday will ensure that I'll catch my early flight to Glasgow next Saturday. I'll spend the day in Glasgow, possibly looking up some old family lore and legend before going to Edinburgh to get a dram and head to bed for the night. Sunday in Edinburgh (probably one of my favorite cities thus far on my travels) will consist of Liturgy at St. Nicholas, the Edinburgh Castle and perching on Arthur's Seat to watch the sunset. Monday, I'll leave on another adventure tour from Edinburgh westward to circumnavigate all but the northeast of Scotland, even stopping for a day on the Isle of Skye. Once we hit Edinburgh on Friday though, I'll be ready for some warmth. Good thing it's next on the schedule.

On Saturday, April 19th, I'll fly from Edinburgh to Nimes in France where I'll catch my train through Avignon and the Provence region into Nice where I'll get to spend a day on the beach and a day searching the French Riveria before flying from Milan to Athens on the 22nd. Catching a train to Thessaloniki will take me to my hotel, the Queen Olga , where I'll be staying for two nights before ol' JWey comes to town VERY late on Thursday the 24th. We'll be staying in that hotel for the next three nights whilst we explore Thessaloniki and spend PASCHA IN GREECE! Plenty of church, then plenty of celebration and "Christos Anesti! Alethos Anesti!" and plenty of lamb and wine later, we'll go to Athens for a day on Sunday and Monday. Monday night will be spent on a ferry to Bari where we will either rent a car to drive through Italy or catch a train to Rome. Either way, Rome, Pisa, Florence and a couple of days in the Cinque Terre region will round out the warm-weather travels before we fly to Paris on May 4th for two days. After wandering around looking over burgeoning artists shoulders at their new masterpieces while eating croissants and nursing a bottle of wine for two days we'll fly to Oxford to get my things that I'll be leaving here, having one last pint in the Eagle and Child and heading to the airport in London to come home. The the good times will be over!! Ok, not really, cause then life will truly have to start, once I get back... :) This is going to be fun... Cheers!

A Day Away

I had picture time with some stray sheep, I learned again why I enjoy microbrewery beer so much more than large-scale brews, I had water fresh from the spring (like we used to when I was a kid), and I walked. And walked. And walked.
I can see the hills in the distance, dark against the misted rain and clouds, while my feet still feel them underfoot. I’m heading back to Oxford after a couple days of walking and exploring. In west England there is a small area broken into several towns surrounding these hills. The hills are the Malvern Hills, and Colwall, Malvern Link, Great Malvern, West Malvern and Hereford are the main towns surrounding and settling within these hills. The highest of the hills reaching 1352 feet, the Worcestershire Beacon, lords over others such as Sugar Loaf and the British Camp (Herefordshire Beacon). Spanning 9 miles north-south in total, I walked along the tops of the precipices for about 5 of those miles, then back, and my feet surely understand what they have just done.
It’s an exhilarating experience walking along the tippy-tops of these big ol’ hills. Once the wind kicks in and you realize you’re looking across England into Wales and across the length and breadth of England all just by turning around, you feel as small piece in a vast puzzle but also infused with life. Maybe it’s just the wind that makes you sure you’re alive or the fact that you really are seeing great distances with the naked eye, but either way, this is reality. It’s not a movie or a photo, but a real land and a real wind and a real sky and a real mist that I was experiencing. Perhaps it was the water that flows in Malvern from the wells. There are several famous wells, such as St. Anne’s and Holy Well, the water flowing through and in Malvern is VERY good water. There’s a little fountain in the middle of town from which I filled my water bottle at least thrice. So yes, I’ve had life-infusing water. Now if the water takes away my blisters, well then THERE is some real infusion. Cheers.