October 02, 2007 10:54

Ah yes, it's that's time of the flight. The meal has finished (although my ice cream has been saved for later). Champagne after boarding. Two (or was it three) vodka tonics before and with appetizers. Three glass of shriaz with salad and main courses. No port, so dessert wine with cheese. And now onto the whisky course. Unfortunately only Dewars, but that's not really a bad option. Maybe bourbon later.

I'm listening to Failure, a band that Rosalie originally turned me on to. They sound fantastic on my noise-cancelling headphones. The guitar effects are awesome, and they have some really inspired lyrics. During the meal I took a break from the iPod to watch Flight of the Conchords. I'm going to have to pick that up when it comes out on DVD. It's brilliant. I also watched the first three episodes of Extras, also brilliant. Cringingly brilliant. Ricky Gervais is a very funny man.

I've also found it amusing that this 10 year old or so kid sitting next to me has been watching Little Britain and his dad looked over during the skits with the naked fat suits (I can't remember the names of the characters, but if you know LB, you know what I'm talking about). His father looked slightly bemused but let it go.

I'm very pleased that I'm flying business class. I think that's the habit I have to get into for these long haul flights. Granted, I've only flown to Europe on cattle class twice out of five times, but I need to check that I have enough miles on QANTAS so that my next trip home can be upgraded.

My previous entry was written in England, and I'm now somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, Actually, I can tell you that I am 5:24 hours from destination, and the ETA is somewhat earlier than the scheduled arrival time (14:50 rather than 15:40). That's good. Hopefully, Katrina will check the flight progress and head out to pick me up earlier than originally planned. And it's actually 09:28 EDT, not 10:54, but if I left the correct time, then the entries might get confusing.

Music has now changed to Faith No More, King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime. This is a really great album. Okay, now on to other things. Talk to you when I get back to the ATL.

---

Heh. It's a bit later now, Faith No More is almost finished. It really is a great record. I have been reading more of Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things. I find it absolutely ludicrous that around me, several people have gone to sleep. They are travelling to the US. They will arrive mid-afternoon. By sleeping now they will spend the next several days in a state of jet-lag. And, well, unless they were out until 3am last night, why should they be so tired, tired enough to sleep. I was out drinking last night, and, indeed, have been drinking through this flight, with the knowledge that when I go to bed at 10pm tonight, I shall be shocking myself into the correct body clock.

Ooops, just ordered another Dewars and rocks. That makes three. I have a feeling that some of the breakables I purchased in Scotland aren't going to make it in one piece. We'll see. That Gaiman book I'm reading is reallyl good. Yep, really like it. Thanks Jeanie and Boyce.

Deciding right now whether to keep reading and listening to music, or watch episode two of The Singing Detective. I think I'll go with the music for now.

October 02, 2007 10:53

You won't read this until I'm actually back in Atlanta, but I'm currently sitting in the Delta Crown Club at Gatwick airport. I've had a pretty good run today. I was up at 6:45, showered and dressed. Thomo dropped me at the train station about 7:30 and the train to Victoria was on time. It got pretty crowded before I got off, but I was able to make it to the Gatwick Express with two minutes to spare. Good job. That train took 30 minutes, then I headed to the North Terminal. Checked in at the business class check in desk in no time, and was directed to the priority lane for security, which was extremely painless. The shoe-checking line completely ignored me and I was in the terminal. First stop was the duty free shop for some whisky. I picked up a special bottle: 23 year old Port Ellen. The Port Ellen distillery no longer exists; the buildings are now a malting factory for the other distilleries on Islay, and these bottlings are from casks that were found in the past five years. This should make for an interesting tasting.

Last night was fun. Courtesy of Facebook, I had managed to make contact with a couple of friends from Engineering School, and a couple of them were going to meet me for a few drinks. In the end I managed to catch up with Warren C and his girlfriend, Anna. Somehow we missed Nik W - better luck next time. Also joining in the drinks were Mel and Sean, Thomo, Kylie, and a work colleague of Thomo, Rich. We had a few pints at the North Star and then Thomo, Rich and I went for dinner at the Chinese place next door. I had the Kung Po (sic) chicken, but was a little disappointed; I was hoping for spicy, but it was more sweet. After that it was back to Thomo's and my final sleep in England.

Plan starts boarding in about 10 minutes, so I'd best get myself something to snack on while I can. I haven't had breakfast yet, so I'm a little peckish.

October 01, 2007 13:50

It's another chilly, damp day in London. I guess it's going to be mostly like this for the next nine months. No matter, I won't be here after tomorrow morning.

The lunch yesterday went really well. There was: Kylie and Thomo (since it was at their place), Sorty (since it was for his birthday), Stuart and Jody, and Peter, Monica, and Alex. Oh, and me. Lunch was chicken with rice and vegetables. All very tasty (when I picked out the currants). We drank Scottish-brewed Fosters and watched the Japanese Grand Prix, followed by rugby (France 64-7 over Georgia, Argentina 30-15 over Ireland). Then Thomo got ipod synchonization started and he, Sorty and I went down to the North Star for a couple of drinks.

We had two or three drinks and then back home and watched several episodes of Little Britain on the telly. Then sleepy time.

Today started slowly and with little sense of urgency. I had only two things scheduled for today: finish the book on New Zealand history and go down to the supermarket to pick up Monster Munch and Cadbury chocolate. As of now (13:30), both tasks have been accomplished. I also mailed another postcard, but couldn't find a second postcard that I was ready to send. Grr.

Enland is playing Sri Lanka in the first of a series of one-day internationals today. The game started around 10am GMT, and Thomo and I watched the first hour or so of the Sri Lankan innings before he went off to work and I went into Ealing. That's one thing that's been really good about this holiday: being able to watch several sports that I don't see a lot of in the US, particularly rugby, cricket and Formula One.

When I get back to the US, I am going to have to go on a strict diet and exercise regimen. I have put on a shit-load of weight, even though I have done a lot of walking. Lots of beer and lots of food has definitely contributed to lots of waistline.

I was talking to Thomo earlier this morning about the cable and internet situation here in the UK. He pays about £55 (~US$110) a month for cable TV service and phone service, and get cable internet for free. That's about what I pay for cable television and cable internet. His service includes the sports package, which includes Sky Sports channels and Setanta channels, which means he gets pretty much all of the sports that matter outside of the US, and several US sporting events as well. The UK (and apparently in NZ soon) also has Freeview - digital TV broadcast over the air including (in the UK) BBC channels, ITV channels, Sky channels, various other channels, and digital radio.

September 30, 2007 12:22

It's Sunday. My holiday is quickly coming to an end. Now for a quick recap of the past few days.

Wednesday: I spent the afternoon reading and watching Sky Sports News and some rugby. When Pete got home from work he took me out to show me his summer project - a house he bought and has been fixing up. It's coming along nicely. Then we grabbed some fish and chips and had an early tea. Later, Steve picked me up and we went to Bolton to meet up with Ian and catch up on Coke-related business (and other general catch up). We had a later dinner at an Indian restaurant, but I didn't eat much since I was still pretty well fed from the earlier meal. Afterwards, Steve dropped me back at Pete's and off to bed.

Thursday: I made a leisurely start to the day, crammed all my stuff into my bags, and caught a taxi to the train station. I grabbed a sandwich and a drink while waiting for the train and then made my way over to the correct platform. My main bag is very heavy now. It was very clear that I was going to have to buy another suitcase in order to spread the load. The train was on time and I was off to London. The ride was a good one, and I continued my reading about the history of New Zealand. Back in London, I got on the Underground to Oxford Circus and then switched to Ealing Broadway. Thomo was good enough to come and pick me up from the station and we were back at his place.

Thursday night was fairly low key. Thomo and I walked down to the Duke of Kent for dinner and a few beers and then back to Thomo's for an early night.

Friday was a cold and rainy London day. I caught the bus into Ealing and went in search of a post office to get some stamps for postcards and a luggage shop to buy a suitcase to spread my load of schtuff. The afternoon was spent playing on the 'net and doing some reading.

Friday night had to be an early one, as we had a 4:45 wake-up on Saturday. We went down to O'Neil's for beer, wings and rugby: England vs Tonga. Sorty joined us and I met a couple more of the local drinking crew. It was very disappointing that we had to go home after the rugby, but such is life. Thomo got a text from Shae calling him names for going home early; it would have been a good night, but tomorrow would have sucked major balls. We stopped to pick up a (very delicious) kebab on the way home and hit the sack.

Saturday morning came all too soon. We were out the door and on the way to Gatwick at 5am. Ugh. Sorty had checked us in online, so the biggest annoyance was waiting to board the plane. One of the things I found a little annoying was that everyone, whatever their flight, had to wait in the departure lounge, because gates weren't announced until the plane was just about ready to board. Anyway, the flight to Toulouse went well. After getting off the plane, we hung out for a bit at the bar to watching the replay of the qualifying laps for the Japan Grand Prix. Once it was clear that Hamilton had pole position, we went in search of a ride into Toulouse.

The cab ride was quick and entertaining and we were dropped at the stadium. In contrast to the other grounds, there was very little in the way of food or drink outside the stadium, and there were no venders selling souvenirs. So we went on in; there were stadium venders and the official merchandise tents inside. Selection of stuff wasn't great. In retrospect, I think I should have purchased a rugby ball, but there you go. The game itself went as expected, with the All Blacks winning 85-8 over Romania. The first try came in 40 seconds and the last two were in the final two minutes of the game. It was very entertaining stuff.

After the game we wandered into the city center, and caught the last 20 minutes of the first half of the Australia vs Canada game (end score 37-6) and had a beer. Then we went in search of food, which involved lots of wandering. We had hit the difficulty of the French restaurants not serving food mid-afternoon, which meant we were restricted to fast food or kebabs. In the end, we went with SFC - Southern Fried Chicken - a rip off of KFC. It was no better than okay. We made a decision to head towards the railway station, on the assumption that there should be a bar near to the station that would be showing the rugby. We got to the station, and the first pub we went into implied that they were a Rugby World Cup bar, so we ordered beers. Then it became apparent that they didn't have the channel that the Wales vs Fiji game was on, so we drank up and went looking for another. And we were successful, with a bar just around the corner, full of kiwis all pulling for Fiji. It was a great game, with the lead changing a number of times, and Fiji managed to pull out the victory, 38-34.

Then it was back to the railway station, into a cab, and then to the airport. We flew back to London on EasyJet (referred to by most as "SleazyJet"). EasyJet does not assign seats, so it becomes somewhat of a free-for-all when boarding starts. The only level of control is that when you get your boarding pass you are assigned a boarding code (Special Assist [SA], Advanded Boarding [AB], A, or B). I was assigned B. Great. But it wasn't a full flight and I was up front when B was called. The flight was no trouble and then back to Thomo's and much needed sleep.

Today Kylie is making lunch for Sorty's birthday. I was up first, read for a bit, then showered and read some more and then did the email thing and then did the journal thing. On the telly is a replay of this morning's Grand Prix in Japan. Everyone should be arriving fairly soon, so that seems like a good place to finish this and upload.

September 26, 2007 11:55

It's Wednesday morning as I start this, although it is close to Wednesday afternoon. I've had a big sleep-in after a fairly full-on evening. To be honest, I don't actually remember getting back to Pete's place. I think the three week binge is starting to catch up with me...

I have not yet written entries for Sunday or Monday or Tuesday; this is going to be my attempt to get those all done.

Sunday

I slept pretty well and woke up at Natalia's. I sorted my stuff out and had a shower. Not long after my shower, Natalia returned home from walking the dog, and insisted on my having breakfast. I had a couple of Scottish rolls with cheese and ham; very tasty and a good base for the day. Julia also got up and we had more conversation, this time largely about religion, provoked by an article on the BBC about Bible-based action figures (from America, of course). There was an Anglican vicar who was interviewed about it and who thought it was all very silly (Jesus was muscle-bound and spoke English phrases from the Bible with an American accent). Asked about other Biblical characters who weren't available, she said that Isiah wouldn't make a good action fugure because he is the ugliest person in the bible: one eye is higher (isiah) than the other. We all cracked up.

Natalia dropped me at Pete's hotel and we (Pete, Monica, Alex, me) went for another sightseeing wander around Edinburgh, that provided lots of photo ops, which were duly taken. Then we headed back to the hotel for lunch and so Pete and I could get ready to go the game and for Monica to get ready to head back to London.

The walk to Murrayfield was an easy one, all downhill, through mobs of kiwis. It was crazy the number of people there were. And the pubs along the way were overflowing with people. But the attitude was good and everyone was all about having a good time.

At Murrayfield we met up with Thomo, Sorty and Stuart and went on in to watch the All Blacks beat Scotland 40 points to nil. On the positive side, it was a good score and the All Blacks defense was solid and they gave away no stupid defensive penalties. On the negative side there were a lot of handling errors - knock ons, forward passes - that would be more dangerously capitilized on by a better opposition (France, Argentina). We've had too easy a run in this pool, so the quarterfinals are going to be our first real test.

After the game we stopped by the hotel so I could drop off some of my stuff and then we walked back to the older part of town for beer and then food (lamb shank). I think there were three bars and one restaurant on our travels, and it was all very good. The last two bars were beautiful examples of Victorian pubs, with tall ceilings, nice bars, and interesting walls. It was in the last pub that Pete and I (the others had left) tried an ale from the Orkney Islands; it was a great ale, very malty and very rich. Then we caught a cab back to Cargo, the bar we were at the night before and had a couple more pints before heading back to the hotel, and bed.

Monday

Things were a little roughish on Monday morning. But we got on our respective ways. Pete had to go to work (the office was above Cargo) and had to meet up with Stuart to pick up the bottles of wine I had bought in France. I got a cab down to Waverly, found Stuart, dropped my bags in at the Held Luggage office, and then Stuart and I grabbed some breakfast. After breakfast I caught a cab up to the castle to do the tour.

The castle tour was great, covering the entire history of Edinburgh. There was also a museum dedicated to the Royal Scots and another to the Scottish Dragoons, both of which were fascinating. And the views of the city were amazing.

After the tour it was time to head back to the train station. Along the way I passed "The Whisky Experience" museum. I popped in, but didn't really have time to do the ride. Yes, there was a ride that takes you around the story of whisky. Then it was off to the station to grab some lunch (Burger King, eh), pick up my bags, and jump on the train to Preston. The weather wasn't great, so the views and scenery were not superb, but I am still convinced that I need to return to Scotland in the future, rent a car, and just explore the place.

The train was a little late into Preston, where the rain was still in effect. Peter (who I worked with at Marconi, different Peter from the rugby tour) picked me up and we headed back to his place. We had a good catchup and after Yvonne got home we all went out for dinner. We went to a carvery, where for less than four quid each we got roast meat (ham, turkey, beef), Yorkshire pudding, and self-serve roast vegetables and gravy. Awesome deal, and it all tasted great. Afterwards, we returned home and Peter and I walked around the corner to the pub for several pints. Even better: we were the last there on a slow evening, and when the staff called to get kebabs delivered, we also were able to get food (chicken and shish kebab, on nan bread) which we ate back at Peter's place.

Tuesday

Today was the designated day for my annual pilgrimage to Liverpool. I got up, got on Peter's computer to check emails and such and to let people who are on the social network sites that I use know that I am still alive, and had left over kebab for breakfast. Then it was off to the bus stop to catch the bus into Preston, then to the train station, where I arrived in perfect time to catch the train to Liverpool, stopping at, among other places, Wigan North Western at St Helens.

I got to Liverpool Lime Street Station not long after midday. My first destination was the Liverpool FC store, where I made many purchases, including the black European away kit. Unfortunately, they were out of the number 9, which meant that I was unable to get Torres on my shirt, and they were unable to put a number of other players on, due obviously to the huge demand. In the end I decided to go with Alonso (number 14). Then it was wander and explore time.

Liverpool is currently under construction. There were building sites and cranes everywhere. This year marks the 800 anniversary of the city, and next year they are cultural captial of Europe or something. After checking out the information centre I made my way to the Albert Dock. I had lunch at a place called "Ha! Ha!", where I tried a Becks Vier (a 4% lager from Becks, kinda eh, really), and had their fishcakes. Unfortunately the fishcakes tasted more of potato than fish, so I was a little disappointed. Next stop was The Beatles Story, a museum dedicated to the history of the Beatles. It was an interesting museum, had lots of cool stuff. Then I made my way back to Lime Street, via the BBC store (which backs into the local studio, where the recoding room is separated from the store by a glass wall so you can see who is currently on the radio) and the Virgin Megastore (where bought only a magazine), I only had to wait about 20 minutes for a train and I was off back to Preston, a successful Liverpool pilgrimage compete.

Peter picked me up from the station again and we headed back to his place. A bit after seven Yvonne dropped us off at a pub closer to town that is owned by a Liverpool supported and who was guaranteed to be showing the Carling Cup match against Reading. Dinner was beer and steak and chips. Perfect. The game got off to a scrappy start, and there were some questionable refereeing decisions, but ultimately it was a great result, 4-2 to Liverpool, and Torres' first hat trick for Liverpool. He is just so good, with an amazing touch and great pace and an amazing ability to stay on his feet - or get back on his feet still with control of the ball. We need to see him start practically every game, considering he did not start the last three games and they were all draws, two of which were scoreless. He is just too good to be warming the bench.

After the match we stayed and played the quiz; we did all right, but not enough to win. It was late when we got out of there, and I had burned through a LOT of money. But it was good fun, and that's the main thing. And like I said, I don't actually recall the getting home part.

Today

Which brings us back to today. It's a gorgeous day in Preston: blues skies and a few scattered clouds. I got up late, and started this entry, then decided that I needed food and the pub was probably the best place to go. So I showered and packed up my bag and wandered over. And that's where I am now, at just about 1pm, finishing off a steak and ale pie with chips and a pint of Tetley's. This evening I will be meeting up with the local reps of my main client to trade the latest news and to have a couple of beers. Then tomorrow I will be heading back to London.

I think I need to switch to a lager.

September 22, 2007 00:28

It's late as I write this, so it's going to be a brief summary and hopefully I shall remember enough later to fill in the details.

The day started off with my phone getting confused again about what timezone it was in. This led to my alarm going off an hour early. No matter. When I did get up, the sky looked promising for an easy departure. I did my usual start to the day, then completed my packing and headed out for breakfast, this time just bacon, eggs and toast. Once I was fed, I paid my bill, which ended up being a little less than I expected, which was very nice. Then the hotel shuttle took me to the airport and I was off to Glasgow.

I got a few shots of Isla and of Jura, and of the west coast of Scotland, but because my seat was right next to the wing, it was difficult to avoid the engine and propellor to get good shots. Still, I did get some shots.

The weather into Glasgow was pretty shabby. But we got down in one piece. All of my luggage turned up and off I went to find transport for the next part of my journey. There was a bus directly into downtown, so I caught that. It dropped me outside the Queen Street station, from which I sorted the validation of my Britrail pass. I called Pete to let him know when I was going to get into Edinburgh, then picked up the latest issue of the Observer and then grabbed a bite to eat. After eating and reading, I went to grab my train. While waiting, I chatted with a Maori bloke whoe was staying in Glasgow because it was fifty quid cheaper than Edinburgh.

The train took about 50 minutes to get to Edinburgh, and Pete and Monica and Alex were already waiting for me. Pete and I grabbed a cab to his colleague, Natalia's house where I met Natalia and her daugher, Julia, and dropped off my big bags. Natalia kindly offered to let me stay after the original accomodation plans fell through. Pete and I then headed back into town and joined Monica and Alex. By the way, Alex is Pete and Monica's wee lad. Then we wandered around Edinburgh, doing the things that tourists do. It was fun - Edinburgh is a gorgeous city, and might actually knock Stockholm off the top of my list.

After being touristy, we went back to the Pete's hotel and chilled for a while while Alex got fed. Then we headed out for dinner (Italian), and a few beers, and what was probably the only World Cup bar that was not full of kiwis. Then I caught a cab back to Natalia's and hung out, chatting, with her and Julia for a good while. And then it was bedtime.

Well, brief-ish.

September 21, 2007 23:08

As is to be expected from this part of the world, the sky was blue within two hours of me getting back to the hotel. No matter. I sat in thte bar and read for a couple of hours over a couple of beers (Belhaven 80). Then I went back to my room for an hour and played a little Civ. Then it was time to go back to the bar.

The bar was very crowded when I got back. I ordered a drink (Tennants), grabbed a menu and then had dinner of baked sole in a lemon butter sauce with potatoes and vegetables. Good, but nothing too special.

After dinner it was back to the bar to settle in for the rugby. First drink back in was Bruichladdich 17 year old. Then the rugby started so my next drink was a Belhaven Best. Then it was back to whisky, Isle of Jura 21 year old. This one surprised me a little, as having a lot more character than the 16 year old I'd had before. Hrm, that sounds a lot dodgier than it should. Then it was more Belhaven, followed by the house whisky: Machrie Malt. Smelled like Lagavulin, but tasted not quite as smooth. I believe it is sourced from Lagavulin. And then another beer. It was relatively early when I called it quits (it's now ten 'til eleven), but I do have to be ready for my flight at 9:40ish.

The rugby (France v Ireland) was somewhat lacklustre. The first half ended 12-3 in favour of Les Bleus. Ireland looked like crap. Not quite as bad as the English, but pretty bad. France scored two tries in the second half, and frankly didn't look that menacing. Lots of handling errors on both sides, several stupid penalties on both sides. Not a great game of rugby.

I chatted for some time with a gentleman who lives in Campbelltown, but is from Islay, and who lived in New Zealand for 4 or 5 years back in the 60s. He was getting into the Old Grouse in a big way. It made for some interesting conversation.

My flight leaves fairly early tomorrow - 9:30 or so. Thankfully, my hotel is 5 minutes along the road from the airport. My hotel is actually a hotel and golf club, and apparently a fairly fancy golf club. Overhearing conversations over the past few days has revealed that the people (toffey-nosed pricks, mostly - but I must add, not all) here were here for the fact of this particular golf course. I flirted with one or two of the waitresses (unfortunately my faovurite did not work yesterday evening or at all today). I got on well with two of the barmen, and had some good friendly conversations with both. Others of the staff have been friendly in various manners. I would definitely recommend the Machrie Hotel to any of my friends that play golf; for sightseers, it's not quite so great unless you drive here. And I think that next time I'm here, I think I'm going to try for a car and take the ferry.

I've pretty much repacked my bags. I've decided to use my computer bag as a second piece of checked luggage, and I'll squeeze my laptop and camera into my day bag for the flight to Glasgow. Speaking of which, Pete has come through and one of his colleagues who lives in (or near) Edinburgh has offered to put me up for the night tomorrow. Seeing as I was finding no luck in getting hotels in Glasgow or Edinburgh, this is great. The option was to catch a train down to Manchester and wait to get picked up by Thomo and Sorty. Seeing as I'm headed in (more or less) that direction on Monday, I wasn't enthused with that option. In any case, the implication is that Edinburgh is going to be going off in a major way on Saturday night, and probably Sunday, too.

My phone battery is low, so it's pluged into the laptop to charge. I do have a charger somewhere in one of my bags, but at least I know the laptop does work as a charger when it has juice.

September 21, 2007 15:33

Damn. I was just getting back from Port Ellen, about halfway along the mile or so length of driveway to the Machrie Hotel and the wind changes tack and in comes the rain. Ugh. I pulled my windbreaker out of my bag and struggled against the wind to pull it on and put the hood up. The rest of the walk was directly into the wind and rain. I wasn't too badly soaked when I got to the hotel, but it was bad enough to require a change of clothes.

But to cover the day so far: my taxi did not arrive at its appointed time, so one of the staff who had a day off dropped me over at the Laphroaig distillery (again with the friendly and helpful locals). The girl at the front desk of the hotel rang ahead to tell them I was delayed but on the way and so the tour guide waited for my arrival (again, with the friendly locals). The tour itself was similar to those earlier in the week. Laphroaig was interesting in that they had stainless steel wash tuns (the others had wood). When we got to the barrel filling station, there were barrels being filled, so we were able to try dead fresh spirit as it was going into the barrel. It wasn't offensive at all, just a little stronger. Once again, I splashed out at the store after the tour. I also got my Friends of Laphroaig certificate and rent payment - a miniature (50ml bottle) of the 10 year old - sign up for Friends of Laphroaig online.

When I was done at Laphroaig I started the walk to Port Ellen. It's about a mile and a half, and the weather wasn't bad (yet), just a strong breeze. I'd covered about a third of a mile and a mini shot past me - it was the guy and girl I had chatted to yesterday on my way to Ardbeg; they waved. A little while later, a van pulled to a stop and the driver asked if I was going to Port Ellen and if I wanted a ride. I decided to accept his offer (what did I say about friendly and helpful). We chatted and when I said I was going to get some lunch and asked for a recommendation, he dropped me off at a cafe. At the cafe I had steak pie and gravy and chips. And a coke. Next door to the cafe was a cyber cafe, so after lunch I wandered in and pulled out my laptop. Only to be told that the battery was nearly dead. I guess I played around on it a fair bit yesterday without charging it, so there you go. So off it went, which is why these last few days are going to take a little while longer to get published.

I did get online with one of the computers and quickly checked email (nothing important), Facebook and MySpace, and posted a Livejournal entry. I checked the sports news (NZ plays Pakistan tomorrow in the Twenty20 semi-finals, and, of course, lots of chatter about Mourinho leaving Chelsea). The fee was one pound (~US$2, ~NZ$2.80) for twenty minutes.

When I was done with the internet I wandered outside and took some photos of the village and the bay. Then I wandered to the bus stop for the 2:20pm bus. Also waiting at the bus stop were three French guys, so we chatted about the rugby and our respective travels following the rugby until the bus came. And then the rest I started this entry with.

The Rugby game tonight is France vs Ireland; this is a very important game for both teams, and Argentina. Hopefully the bar here at the hotel will have that on the telly. For now, though, I think I shall leave my computer to charge up, grab my book and head to the bar and have a beer.

September 21, 2007 09:07

My trip is now past the half way point (that was yesterday).

I am off to my usual start for the day: shave, shower, dress, breakfast (poach eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, toast, marmite) and back to my room to allow my food to digest. Today I need to make arrangements for accommodation in Glasgow; my Saturday night sleeping arrangements (in Edinburgh) have fallen through, so I figured I'd try to get a night in Glasgow, instead. Then there's Laphroaig at 10:15. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do this afternoon; the thing about getting to another distillery is that the bus system is somewhat limited, and the weather is a little dodgy for walking too far. Then tonight I have to repack my bag; this is going to be interesting, because I've bought quite a few souvenirs.

September 20, 2007 23:31

So I met Geraldine. Lovely lass. Works for the whisky company that owns Caol Ila and Lagavulin. In Finance. Currently on a tour of the distilleries so she knows what people are talking about when they ask for money. Very nice. Pity about that ring.

Anyway, when I got back to the bar, there were a bunch of proper English boys watching the cricket after a good day of golf. Public school lads, by the articulation (for US readers: "Public Schools" in England are actually private schools. Anyway, screw them, the cricket was exciting, and important. India had posted a very modest score and South Africa were chasing them down. And failing. It very quickly became clear that South Africa was not going to beat India, which meant that the game became one of numbers - what score did they need to (a) get into the semi-finals, and (b) win the pool. In the end, it was moot, as they failed to get the score required to get into the finals, which meant that NZ go through as second in the pool and will have to play Pakistan. This is much better than having to play Australia. Very pleased.

After the cricket, the channel was changed to the rugby - Wales vs Japan. This should always have been a one-sided match, but after 20 minutes it was very close. But not for the next 60 minutes. Wales stood up and showed Japan (and the Samoan-Japanese and Kiwi-Japanese) just how to play rugby. From that point on, it was the sort of Welsh rugby that I want to see. Very good.

It was during this time that an attractive woman came into the bar and took a seat. This was the first time that I've seen this occur in the couple of days I've been here. So I started up conversation. And ended up spending the better part of two and a half hours chatting with Geraldine. And then she went to bed. Not long after, I headed to room 8. Not sure what number she was in, but apparently it was upstairs.

In other news, Jose Mourinho parted ways with Chelsea. Not much more to say than that. At least, not yet...

Okay,alarm set. Tomorrow's scheduled activity: Laphroaig distillery.