UK Trip Day 3
Here is finally another journal entry from the UK. I have it all pretty much typed up now, so updates should be less sporadic.
This is also another insanely long one - you people are going to kill me.
Day 3 5/9 2008
The food is rather different here, not so much in the type served, but more so in the preparation methods. Tomatoes are roasted and served at breakfast, yolks aren’t broken in the eggs, and last night we were served three potato dishes (roast & broiled Irish potatoes and pureed sweet potatoes) on one plate.
The biggest thing I’ve seen so far, aside from the architecture, that lets me know I’m not in America anymore, is the bathroom. It is tiny - I’m guessing around five foot square - and the shower is like a glass box complete with a louvered door, which sounds like a vacuum-sealed food container when you open and close it. I was quite paranoid while showering because I'm accustomed to a curtain..but no...I had a full view of the entire bathroom including the door (which I am so glad locked) the whole time. The faucet is also quite different from what I’m accustomed to and a bit tricky to operate. The sink lacks a mixer tap, and instead has one tap for cold, which is on the left instead of right, and one tap for hot. So if you want warm water you just have to slosh it in the middle or stopper the sink up.
Today we went on a forty-five minute ferry ride to Craignure on the Isle of Mull and drove across it on a one lane road with “passing lanes” so that when you meet a car (or bus), whoever is closest flings off into the passing lane, which looks rather like a pull off or turn around spot instead of a lane. Luckily visibility was good for the most part and you could usually see the other person coming for quite a ways off. After we made it across Mull, we rode a ferry from Fionphort for ten minutes to Iona.
Iona is a site for Christian pilgrims and has places even now for them to live and discover a better spiritual awareness. We saw the ruins of a thirteenth century nunnery where women of the aristocracy were often placed. There were flowers planted in it that were gorgeous. We visited the Iona Abbey next and just in front of the altar there was an effigy of a night on the floor - who he was is unknown, but to be placed so close to the altar he must have done a great service. Many kings and other important people were sent to Iona to be buried after their death. The last great leader to be buried there was John Smith in the 1980’s, Dr. Hogg informed us that had he lived, Smith probably would have become the Prime Minister instead of Tony Blair.
In several of the doors, including one of the ones that is a shrine to Saint Columba, you can see the difference between the stature of people today and of people back in medieval times. Some of the door heights were around 5’4”, as the average man was that height or shorter. Now almost everyone in our trip had to duck to get through some of them. I am only 5’2” (barely) and there was one that I nearly had to duck for - it was quite a shock.
After visiting the Abbey we walked through the town to explore and get a bite to eat. The grocery store we visited had a selection of cold meat pies and pre-made sandwiches. I thought it was interesting that their version of “ham salad” is sliced ham with lettuce, tomato and onion, instead of a spread like chicken salad. I was rather shocked by the tubs of rolls and other bread items sitting out in the open - they all seemed rather stale and hard and I would be worried about bugs and things, but apparently they aren’t bothered by it. An interesting thing I noticed in the town was that the signs were written in English and Gaelic, instead of English and Spanish like in the United States. There was a dumpster with runes painted on it - I took a picture. *_*
We then walked down to the beach, which was interesting as it felt about forty degrees, was windy and sprinkling. We saw tide pools with brightly colored water snails in them - I have never seen tide pools before. I wrote my name in the sand and got griped at by David for messing up his beach picture because of it, haha. I swiped some gorgeous pink and purple rocks and hid them in my pockets. We walked back to the ferry port and went back across Mull next - a sheep leaped out in front of the bus, fortunately Andy managed to not run over it, though we were all rather startled.
After dinner in the hotel we hiked, led by Dr. Hogg, up to the Folly, which is a replica of a Roman Coliseum that was built late in the 19th century to give men in the area work and reduce the poverty levels. It is high up on a hill overlooking the town and to get there we passed through a residential area - nearly every house had plants beside their doors or, if they had a front yard, a garden. The folly itself is basically a park, with flowers and trees planted about and paved walkways. You can walk out to an area just on the outside of it to view the town and loch - the views were quite spectacular.
This is also another insanely long one - you people are going to kill me.
Day 3 5/9 2008
The food is rather different here, not so much in the type served, but more so in the preparation methods. Tomatoes are roasted and served at breakfast, yolks aren’t broken in the eggs, and last night we were served three potato dishes (roast & broiled Irish potatoes and pureed sweet potatoes) on one plate.
The biggest thing I’ve seen so far, aside from the architecture, that lets me know I’m not in America anymore, is the bathroom. It is tiny - I’m guessing around five foot square - and the shower is like a glass box complete with a louvered door, which sounds like a vacuum-sealed food container when you open and close it. I was quite paranoid while showering because I'm accustomed to a curtain..but no...I had a full view of the entire bathroom including the door (which I am so glad locked) the whole time. The faucet is also quite different from what I’m accustomed to and a bit tricky to operate. The sink lacks a mixer tap, and instead has one tap for cold, which is on the left instead of right, and one tap for hot. So if you want warm water you just have to slosh it in the middle or stopper the sink up.
Today we went on a forty-five minute ferry ride to Craignure on the Isle of Mull and drove across it on a one lane road with “passing lanes” so that when you meet a car (or bus), whoever is closest flings off into the passing lane, which looks rather like a pull off or turn around spot instead of a lane. Luckily visibility was good for the most part and you could usually see the other person coming for quite a ways off. After we made it across Mull, we rode a ferry from Fionphort for ten minutes to Iona.
Iona is a site for Christian pilgrims and has places even now for them to live and discover a better spiritual awareness. We saw the ruins of a thirteenth century nunnery where women of the aristocracy were often placed. There were flowers planted in it that were gorgeous. We visited the Iona Abbey next and just in front of the altar there was an effigy of a night on the floor - who he was is unknown, but to be placed so close to the altar he must have done a great service. Many kings and other important people were sent to Iona to be buried after their death. The last great leader to be buried there was John Smith in the 1980’s, Dr. Hogg informed us that had he lived, Smith probably would have become the Prime Minister instead of Tony Blair.
In several of the doors, including one of the ones that is a shrine to Saint Columba, you can see the difference between the stature of people today and of people back in medieval times. Some of the door heights were around 5’4”, as the average man was that height or shorter. Now almost everyone in our trip had to duck to get through some of them. I am only 5’2” (barely) and there was one that I nearly had to duck for - it was quite a shock.
After visiting the Abbey we walked through the town to explore and get a bite to eat. The grocery store we visited had a selection of cold meat pies and pre-made sandwiches. I thought it was interesting that their version of “ham salad” is sliced ham with lettuce, tomato and onion, instead of a spread like chicken salad. I was rather shocked by the tubs of rolls and other bread items sitting out in the open - they all seemed rather stale and hard and I would be worried about bugs and things, but apparently they aren’t bothered by it. An interesting thing I noticed in the town was that the signs were written in English and Gaelic, instead of English and Spanish like in the United States. There was a dumpster with runes painted on it - I took a picture. *_*
We then walked down to the beach, which was interesting as it felt about forty degrees, was windy and sprinkling. We saw tide pools with brightly colored water snails in them - I have never seen tide pools before. I wrote my name in the sand and got griped at by David for messing up his beach picture because of it, haha. I swiped some gorgeous pink and purple rocks and hid them in my pockets. We walked back to the ferry port and went back across Mull next - a sheep leaped out in front of the bus, fortunately Andy managed to not run over it, though we were all rather startled.
After dinner in the hotel we hiked, led by Dr. Hogg, up to the Folly, which is a replica of a Roman Coliseum that was built late in the 19th century to give men in the area work and reduce the poverty levels. It is high up on a hill overlooking the town and to get there we passed through a residential area - nearly every house had plants beside their doors or, if they had a front yard, a garden. The folly itself is basically a park, with flowers and trees planted about and paved walkways. You can walk out to an area just on the outside of it to view the town and loch - the views were quite spectacular.