Ring, ring… River river… Lies and good manners.

July 22, 2012July 22, 2012 | Mairead

22 7d

(Bath Cathedral)

We’ve moved into England, the journey that should have taken an hour and a half took four hours. There was an accident, traffic got backed up and so we were stationary for two hours. There was nowhere to go as we were on a motorway and when we took the next exit there was almost stand still traffic there too. It could have been worse, the car next to us had steam billowing out through the bonnet and water gushing onto the road. I can’t imagine how long she had to wait for a tow-truck and even when it did get there, where would it go?

22 7i

(Hot air balloons over Bath)

All this meant that we arrived in Bath just in time for dinner. We had booked an early table at a vegetarian restaurant, so we could take the Bizarre Bath Tour. It’s a comedy tour and the guide went to great lengths at the outset to ensure we understood that there would be no history. The tour consists of about twenty of us following him around the Bath streets while he told lies or performed some magic! There was the escapologist rabbit (stuffed) and the key that opens up a prize of £300 (we lost, he won) and the volunteer’s ring that accidentally floats up into the Bath night sky attached to a helium balloon. I thought it was really funny… I’m sure our travel insurance will cover a new engagement ring.

22 7j

(Our guide about to perform the £300 trick)

On Saturday we took a bus tour and it turns out Bath is where English “good manners” began. Seemingly a gambler, called Richard Nash, got the job of Bath’s entertainment manager (it was called Master of Ceremonies then…) in the early 1700’s (the previous manager lost the job when he was shot in a duel). Nash promoted Bath as a place where you could come for the spa waters and the dancing and regardless of your social class you would be comfortable in the knowledge that the other classes knew their place….

22 7k

(Seen in the Jane Austin Museum… manners?)

I also learned that the river running through Bath, the Avon, is not the same as the one in Stratford-upon-Avon. Turns out there are lots of rivers called Avon in England and there’s a really good reason. The Romans when they arrived, pointed to the river and asked “What’s that called?” and the natives said “Avon.” The Romans assumed that was the name of the river, but Avon was the word for river, any river. So the river Avon is really the river River.

Don’t make assumptions, Mairead.

Hens are great teachers… listen to a hen today.

July 20, 2012July 20, 2012 | Mairead

(The menu)

It’s very early in the morning as I write from our hotel in Swansea. I seem to have jet lag without crossing a time zone, probably the traffic noises, the pillow and the light peeping in around the curtain. We had dinner last night at an American Italian chain called Frankie and Benny’s. There were old black and white pictures all over the walls and on the menu of the original Frankie and Benny, who will be turning in their graves if they ever find out. It was an imitation of an Italian run American diner.

(The deals)

Our server worked hard entertaining us like an American server would and I was bothered when I realised we had no change to tip him. I left some euro. In this country the euro is fake money and next to useless, but it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it? Except I was thinking, “I have to give him a tip.”

(Hello real hen)

All this reminded me of my hair and the hens (most things remind me of the hens :)) How we humans imitate something (or someone) we think is great when all along there’s something great right under our hat. Sometimes we do the imitation so well we don’t even realise we’re doing it. We straighten our hair, we curl our hair, we comb-over our hair, we dress in a certain way, we act in a certain way, we step into a certain role and we pretend it’s us… We’re fooling no one and anyway the real us might just be a little more attractive.

(Hens get tired too and need to rest a leg)

The hens walk their own funny walk. They hug no one they don’t want to hug. They go to bed when they want to and they ignore all unwanted interaction. I’m on the hunt this morning for a hen-experience! An ordinary real Welsh cafe for my breakfast. One where my table might be a bit sticky to touch, might not be the same colour as all the rest, may even have a wonky leg… but the person serving me is real… and possibly a little cranky. And I’ll be paying attention to what it is I find attractive about that!

Be your own cranky self, Mairead.

Don’t be scribbling over your signature with a bob.

July 19, 2012July 19, 2012 | Mairead

(Wakey, wakey it’s 5am)

We’re on a ship again. This morning (Thursday) I’m sitting in the lounge of the ferry going from Rosslare Harbour (Ireland) to Fishguard (Wales). We’re off to see the daughter again. We’re also going back to beautiful Bath and to revisit Bletchley Park – the location of the code breakers from World War II and the birthplace of computing. This time we’re taking the car so it’s a bit different.

(Sunshine at 10am)

In preparation for the trip I went to the hairdressers yesterday afternoon. My hair is quite well-behaved when a professional pulls it into submission and can remain in place for a few days so I had booked a wash and blow-dry. When I arrived there was a woman sitting at the desk, I told her my name and the time of my appointment and she sent me over to the sofa. Although I had been in this salon previously I didn’t have a regular stylist and was willing to accept whoever was available. Within moments the same woman from the desk guided me to the sinks and proceeded to wash my hair.

(Oooo, there’s a craft shop here!)

I had assumed she was the receptionist… could she be my stylist? No clue. As I don’t enjoy the small talk I usually like to close my eyes and drift off while I’m getting my hair coiffed so I proceeded to settle into a little snooze. But, it was not to be. My hair was hardly wet when she said, “your hair is quite fine but very thick”. At a bit of a disadvantage in my laid back position and not knowing exactly what that meant or if it was good or bad, I said, “yes…” This was the first clue that she might be my stylist or someone very interested in my hair….. Well, although I do like the snoozing bit I prefer the bit where they talk to me about my hair (yes, I am that vain.) Not necessarily the… your hair is great talking but the… did you know there’s a kink in your hair? and have you ever tried it this way? talking. Well, I had a treat in store.

(Checking out the survival options)

Her name was Esther and she was very interested in my hair! “Have you always had it in a bob?“,”Oh yes, for at least ten years, maybe more (lots more) it suits my face.” and she says “No it doesn’t!” Picture the scene me dripping wet hair sitting in front of a mirror looking up at Esther, who’s standing over me with a scissors in her hand. I let out one of those loud guffaws and laughed for a good thirty seconds. Esther joined in for a bit and then told me exactly what the bob was doing for me….. well it wasn’t doing anything for me in her opinion, except covering my face. She wondered if I was still wearing clothes from ten years ago, I said no (although I do have a very comfortable red cardigan…) She wondered if the bob was easy to manage, I said no, in fact it that’s why I came today. She said she couldn’t do it. “I’ve been watching your hair since you came in and I could hardly hold myself back.” That sounds bad. “Is it that bad?“, “Yes.” Oh.

(Lunch)

I laughed. I had been at a workshop that morning pondering the concept of shame and had learned that connection with others at the precise moment you want to sink into shame, kills the shame. So I looked at Esther and decided she was more friend than foe and Esther, knowing I wasn’t going anywhere proceeded to tell me what she wanted to do. She spoke about the natural flow of my hair, how it was neither straight nor curly but had a kink. “Yes Esther, I know that kink – it’s the bane of my life, that’s the thing that makes it impossible to get the bob right.” But Esther said no, the kink was my hair’s signature and I had been scribbling over it with a bob for long enough. I want to let your hair flow. (Well she didn’t say those exact words but that’s what she meant.) “So, are you up for it?”

Let your life flow, Mairead.

Early morning Bath, England…

May 24, 2012May 24, 2012 | Mairead

Big Bird

(I often see huge birds as we drive along French roads and now British roads but I have never managed to get a picture – it took three drive-bys but I eventually got one picture of this bird of prey on a road in Buckinghamshire)

This has been a very busy trip with only small pockets of time to write. This pocket of time is very, very early. The rules would say it’s too early for a sane person on holiday to be awake. One could conclude I am either not awake, not on holidays or insane… or rules can be broken. We’re in Bath today. This will be our last stop before Swansea. We arrived yesterday about 6pm having instructed the sat nav. to stay off all toll roads, all motorways, all highways and to do so via Oxford. It duly obliged and although by the time we arrived in Bath we had been on the road for seven hours we had travelled through the most beautiful places.

Tea at Polly s

(Iced tea and green tea at Polly’s famous tea shop on Marlborough high street – notice I got two tea pots, one with tea and one with extra hot water – like like like)

Every English television program and every movie I have ever seen must have been set on these roads and I relived my childhood as we rode along. Black Beauty could have trotted up beside us at a crossroads and I would not have been surprised. The two guys from Brideshead Revisited may well have passed us on a straight stretch. I definitely heard the voice of the posh guy in Four Weddings and a Funeral when we stopped for tea on Marlborough high street – could it be the town in Birds of a Feather?

Bath Houses

(Bath is beautiful… we’ll be back)

The journey could not have been more different to the previous day when we instructed the sat nav. to take the shortest route, which turned out to be the A1 – a scary place full of big trucks and fast cars – but very efficient. On that day my knowledge of English geography grew exponentially. Not because we visited any of the places but because I was reading the road signs. We were on a mission to visit Bletchley Park where secret messages were decoded during World War II. There’s a museum of computing there also, because it turns out decoding led naturally to coding and so to computing.

Bath Church

(Didn’t realise it when I was taking the picture but between the wall in the foreground and the cathedral behind are the old Roman Baths, from which the city gets it’s name. Turns out the church owned the baths)

And all that gets me thinking about intention. I’m sitting on the bed in another lovely guest house at 5.30am because when we left Ireland last Thursday I intended to write every day of our trip. We found ourselves on the A1 because we intended to get to Bletchley Park in plenty of time to visit before it closed for the day. We travelled through my childhood television experiences because Denis loves to go round bends on the bike. We found ourselves in Bletchley Park because of all the old computers and strangely we also found ourselves together because of computers. We find ourselves in Bath because my friend, Nolene went there once two years ago on a pastry baking course and when she described Bath combined with pastry making, I was hooked and unconsciously setting my intention to be here.

Every place we find ourselves is because of an intention set, either consciously or unconsciously.

Where do you want to find yourself? Mairead.

Honeymoon in Edinburgh.

May 23, 2012May 23, 2012 | Mairead

(The Scottish Flag)

We arrived in Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon. Twenty five years after we had planned to get there…. I wanted to go to Edinburgh for my honeymoon and Denis was happy to go too! But we never made it. At the time Denis was working on a cutting edge project. (Bear in mind it was 1985, cutting edge then looks boringly ordinary now.) It was also a secret project. Even from me. I had no idea what he did at work except he liked it. I soon found out.

1Edinburgh Castle

(Edinburgh Castle)

Unfortunately our honeymoon clashed with a very important work deadline. I was twenty four at the time and very set in my ways about the world, love came before deadlines and my honeymoon came before everything. Then his boss made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

1Kilt

(They wear knee socks under their kilts)

I was invited to a meeting in his office, where I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement before the secret project was revealed to me. I think he thought if I knew how amazing the project was I would happily give up my honeymoon. I must have been ahead of my time because I thought it was boringly ordinary then. But the boss had daughters and he must have had an inkling that I would need a different kind of motivation. His offer: instead of Edinburgh he would pay for a honeymoon in New York and even throw in a trip to Disney World in Florida, but it would be a month after the wedding and Denis would be in New York for that month.

1Quote

(“Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation.” Alasdair Gray.)

That did it, we went to New York for our honeymoon. So a month after our wedding I was sitting beside the boss’s wife on my way to New York on my honeymoon. Sometimes we think we know exactly what we want and then something even better comes along. Maybe the thing you can’t have now will be yours in twenty-five years time or not at all, but something even more amazing can be yours right now….. the perfect exam results for the magical relationship, the perfect partner for a relationship with yourself, the perfect honeymoon for the thrills of Dumbo.

Take a look at what’s on offer to you right now, Mairead.

The Blinding Cold.

May 21, 2012May 21, 2012 | Mairead

Fort William

(Loch at Fort William)

The sun is shining as I write and the sky is blue and I am toasty… but yesterday I was freezing. Not literally…. well maybe not freezing but very very cold. The day started sunny and the Loch was very calm. We were all dressed up in the bike gear putting our next location in the sat nav when I realised we didn’t have a next location – I hadn’t booked our next location. We were off to Edinburgh, it was a weekend and I had only last night overheard a conversation about the difficulty of getting accommodation during a weekend in Scotland, oops. But of course it was all fine, we still had internet, booking.com is still great and the rating system still works so within two minutes we had a lovely bed for the night within budget.

Wet Stones

(Scottish Stones)

So off we set, into the mountains. As we sped along the blue of the sky began disappearing and the sun was just a memory… I was feeling a cold breeze. I checked the temperature constantly because it definitely felt like negative figures on my back but no, it was 11 degrees, a new high for this holiday, but it didn’t feel high inside my jacket. We were travelling through beautiful scenery, snow capped mountains and waterfalls and none of it was having a comforting effect on me. Eventually I turned off the intercom because I was getting bored of my complaining.

Exercise

(Scottish Exercise)

Which gave me time to consider what was going on…. I was feeling colder than the thermometer was registering. So I was thinking, that it doesn’t matter how amazing life is outside, you just can’t see it (or feel it) if it’s freezing cold inside your jacket (metaphorically speaking.) Which is a shame because of the icy interior we could miss the beauty of our lives and there’s beauty in every life. Isn’t there? Stay warm inside because it’s spectacular outside and you really don’t want to miss it.

Be nice to yourself, Mairead.

Power to the People

May 19, 2012May 18, 2012 | Mairead

Tunnel

(No cameras allowed so this is a picture of the tunnel at Crauchan from their website)

We went to see a power station today. Called Crauchan the hollow mountain, it’s not really a hollow mountain, it’s a tunnel. The tunnel runs for a kilometre to a power station in the mountain which consists of four huge turbines that can create 100,000 kilowatts of electricity and it only takes two minutes, or 28 seconds if the turbines are already spinning. Who knew electricity could be so interesting but we had a very enthusiastic guide called Dorah and she inspired the following story.

Osprey Nest

(There’s lots of wild birds near the power station. You might be just able to make out the Osprey’s nest on the mobile phone mast. Dorah said they must be smart birds, they have the pick of the farmed trout – also in the picture – and free mobile calls home to Africa)

This is what happens… there’s a dam further up near the top of the mountain, full of water. There’s a lake, Lough Awe, at the bottom of the mountain. The power station gets a message from the electricity board, quick we need more power Xfactor took an early break and the whole of Britain just switched on their kettles! Then the man in the control room under the mountain flicks a switch and the water from the dam floods down into the mountain and through the turbines and out into Lough Awe. Within twenty eight seconds (the turbines are always spinning during Xfactor) there’s enough electricity to heat the kettles.

Reality

(This is reality here)

When the water from the dam is all used up the turbines then reverse and pump water from Lough Awe back into the dam ready for the next break. This very neat and self-supporting idea of being able to both create electricity with flowing water and refill the water to create again was the brainchild (or dream) of Sir Edward McColl. Although Sir Edward was a very intelligent, hard working and creative man he found it difficult to delegate and died in his prime a few years before the first reverse turbine power station at Crauchan was built.

Blackboard

(The feathered visitors)

So I was thinking…. it’s all very well to have a dream and work hard fulfilling it but…. if you ignore the signs for rest and balance then you just might wear out before your dream comes true! Put on the kettle, take a break and think of Sir Edward who may indeed be responsible for the power I’m using to type this.

Thank you Sir Edward McColl, Mairead.

We’re off…….

May 18, 2012May 18, 2012 | Mairead

Ready

(Almost ready to go…)

We’re off to Wales via Scotland and we’ve arrived in Belfast and are sitting on the ferry. It’s been almost twelve months since our last motorbike trip and I had forgotten how much I love it! We left Greystones at 8.30am and it was overcast and a little chilly… but the smells were amazing. Fresh air, soil and grass – yummy.

Big Bridge

(Big Bridge near Dundalk)

An hour later I was very cold and I remembered what I love about cars – the heater. Maybe it’s time to get the heated vest thingy. You wear it inside your jacket and plug it into the bike. Your very own heater. For now all is well, hot tea is warming me up and we have a window seat. There’s also free wi-fi so all is very well.

Here we go

(Here we go)

It’s funny what we get used to. Since I was little I’ve thought that travelling by plane to go on holidays was part of the holiday. The excitement of getting there. The nice person that checked our tickets and took our luggage. The walk to the plane, the smiling air hostess and the cute little meals – that were free! It’s still exciting to go on holidays but the new things they’ve added to the plane journey are not helpful. The plastic bag of liquids. The bins full of half empty water bottles and nail clippers. An odd sense that you might actually be a security risk. The waiting. Boots off. Queueing. Boots on. Fitting your bag into a metal cage or maybe not fitting your bag into the metal cage. More waiting. The cute little free meals are gone now and so are the smiles.

Cosy

(Cosy and dry)

The ferry experience today was very different. Although it was raining there were lots of smiles. We were stopped once to look at our tickets, no you don’t need your passports. Then we drove to lane 14 and waited until a smiling man sent us up the ramp behind a bus, to keep you dry! Another smiling man directed us to the bike section. A third smiling man tied the bike to the boat. The whole thing took ten minutes. And two hours later we’re here.

Welcome to Scotland! Mairead.

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Don’t be scribbling over your signature with a bob.