Whew!

So after my last post the gentleman who runs the B&B made us all breakfast…eggs laid by his chickens, meat bought from local butchers, the whole works…all excellent. Some juice, coffee and a stroll through their lovely gardens and we were off.

We drove through some pretty countryside and then continued north on the M1, past Sheffield and Leeds, past the Angel of the North, to a farm just north of Neecastle owned by friend of in-laws. Sort of. Anyway, they’ve become the adoptive UK family of my brother and his girlfriend. Their house and farm are beautiful, and they (and their daughter) took care of us and entertained us wonderfully, putting out a delicious lunch and keeping us in stitches. We couldn’t stay long, but it almost felt like leaving home to drive away. I hope to return there one day.

So, after a little unsteady navigating, we find our highway and head north toward Scotland. Just before we crossed the border you could see the change in the terrain: hillier, with more sheep and heather. So, pretty much as expected. But no less beautiful. I take one last piss on the English side of the border and we press on.

A quick stop for pictures of an abbey on the Jed River, a dash along the highway into Edinburgh past rolling hills and grazing sheep, some zipping up and down the cobblestone streets until finally we made it to the hotel. We got checked in, but Nellie and I had a problem: our room wasn’t made up. We ran downstairs and they quickly changed our room. We get to the second room and…it’s a wheelchair access room, which has no tub, which my wife won’t stand for. We go back to the desk, and they very apologetically make it up to us: a suite. So I write this post, sitting on my sofa, watching Wimbledon in surround sound, my feet scrunching a decadent rug. Beauty.

And now…a pub (or two)!!!

What a venture to the north so far. London traffic, to the great surprise of no one, sucks in the worst way. The M1 was brutal: we took other motorways as shortcuts as best we could, but inevitably we hit traffic near Nottingham that brought us to a crawl.

Just past Nottingham we grew frustrated and ducked off to the side roads, on the lookout for a pub. We stopped at one place and decided the wait was too long; that was a bit of good luck, as the next candidate we spotted — The White Bear — was a brilliant find. An old (obviously) stone building overlooking a beautiful valley, they served amazing food (some of the best, and certainly the most, duck that I’ve ever been served…in a black cherry sauce) with lots of veg, and some good drinks. Quite a find.

Speaking of finding, the B&B proved to be a challenge. The English like to give directions that aren’t terribly specific or helpful, so we did a lot of driving up and down tiny country lanes trying to read signs in the dark, having no mobile coverage with which to call, before finally arriving. It’s the epitome of English country home, with beautiful gardens and such, but all I really cared about was the softness of the bed. I slept like the dead, but awoke to the sounds of birds and farm animals outside. Yup. We’re in England.

Time for breakfast. This message won’t get through ’til tonight as there’s no coverage here.

Feeling much better now. Had a few hours sleep; after any nap of a few hours I feel messed up, but at least I no longer feel like I might collapse at any second.

By coincidence, while flipping through the Globe today, I found out that the Bodyworlds exhibit is coming to Toronto. My brother and I saw it on my last visit to London nearly three years ago.

caffeine update: my brother, bless his heart, found me a diet pepsi.

After only the briefest of delays we got underway, and arrived early this morning in London. I wasn’t able to sleep much on the plane, so I’m pretty messed up right now. But we’re here! And in a few hours we’ll be bound for Scotland!

My kingdom for a diet pepsi…

I’m waiting in line for Swiss Chalet. This may represent a new low point in my life.

I hate terminal 3.

It’s finally hit me. As I finished up my last few tasks of the morning, I turned on the TV to TSN and saw Wimbledon. Jesus…I shall be in London during the tournament at Wimbledon. Actually, that fact hit me a couple of days ago, but seeing the people sitting on Henman Hill was pretty cool. Maybe we’ll do that one of our free days.

Then I flipped up a bit, stopping on The History Channel. It was a program about English & German night fighters during the second world war. Jesus…

It’s times like this that my country, though huge, seems very young and very small.

That’s it, I’m off. Our flight leaves tomorrow afternoon, so I may not post again until we’re there. I’m not sure what kind of net access I’ll have access to (depends on whether laptops are left around my brother’s apartment), especially in Edinburgh, Vienna and Budapest, but I’ll post what I like when I can, and pictures if possible. I’ll give you the flickr link if the time comes.

Cheers, kids. Play nice.

Rick Mercer’s blog. Sweet.

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I’m off for two weeks, visiting the brother & his girlfriend in London. I’ll give updates on any new music he exposes me to (he’s a trusted source of new bands, especially of the Brit & blues varieties), and of the NIN concert at the Brixton Academy the night before we fly home.

In the meantime, I leave you with the three best albums released so far this year:

1. Sleater-Kinney . The Woods
2. Spoon . Gimme Fiction
3. Low . The Great Destroyer