DAY TWENTY
The flight was uneventful. It was a good thing I had some cookies from the Edinburgh train. I paced myself through-out the trip. I had ordered two meals, but there is a good 9-10 hours in between them.
Upon arrival, I was surprised to see ALL Malaysian workers with face masks. We had to go through a single-file line with a heat-sensing camera aimed at us. They were taking no chances with passengers arriving from countries which have had cases of H1N1 flu, and London f...
DAY NINETEEN
I woke up early and was able to get on a WIFI signal to check my email. I sent one to my mom and let her know I didn't have to spend the night on the streets of London. Tom was still sleeping so I decided at 8am I should wake him up so I could get going.
A cup of tea later and after a quick check of train timetables, we were on our way by bus to Liverpool Street Station. I had come full circle as we rode the same bus I took late that first night I arrived in London ...
DAY EIGHTEEN
The day started early with a bowl of cereal, yogurt and fresh fruit. Then it was time to pack the purple carpet bag again and head off to another train station. Wynford drove me to the station, where the price for a train ticket had gone from $35 Pounds if I had purchased the ticket online the night before, to $69. Since my credit card wasn't working, we walked over to the National Express bus office where a ticket to London was a mere $23, which I had in cash.
Howe...
In the morning, I fixed myself a cup of tea and woke up slowly. Breakfast was fresh fruit and cereal. Wynford's daughter appeared, waking late after a costume party where the theme was the Flintstones - how fun! Wynford and I said goodbye to her and headed off by car through the surrounding Rhondda Valley.
There were terraced houses everywhere; the doors and window frames were a multitude of colors, all stacked neatly in rows. We talked about the different terms for housing like townhouse...
Another night of sound sleep and I was refreshed. Nina made some fresh toast from home-made bread with butter and jam while I showered and packed my things. I actually tried a bit of marmite on one slice! It wasn't as horrible as everyone says, but it was very salty. William, Nina, Pookey and I all piled into the car for a drive to the beach. After stopping to apply fly ointment to Romeo and Chili, we were on our way.
There was a HUGE castle, Bamburgh Castle, once the capital of Northumbr...
This morning I decided to look out the drapes and check my watch when I woke up. It was 5:30am and already getting light. Any further north and I suspect it would be the gloaming, when the darkest part of night remains twilight.
Breakfast was again superb, this time with an added sausage. Chris need to run an errand, so he dropped me off at Sorbie Tower to wander around. It was quiet except for the birds; it smelled of fresh rain and wild garlic (or onions - they both look the same to me)...
The drapes in my room were thick tapestries. I awoke in the morning, but couldn't tell the time, so I dozed off back to sleep. Around 8:30am I finally got up. Almost instantly, Chris, my host, had a hot breakfast prepared. An egg, potatoes, bacon (of course, they raise pigs), tomatoes, and toast, all served with Brown Sauce (like A1) and homemade rhubarb/ginger jam.
I checked my email and showered; then Chris was extra-kind enough to take me into town. We drove by Sorbie Tower (built by my a...
Vic had to leave for work so I said my goodbye early. She suggested I might want to skip Galway because it would make a tough day. This was always a "Plan B" that I was hoping I wouldn't have to do, but I can also be flexible and adapt when necessary.
Jim and I spent the morning checking out options for going to Belfast and catching the ferry. I decided to take the 12pm Bus Eireann to Belfast ($15 Euros) arriving around 3pm to catch the 5pm ferry to Stanraer, Scotland ($35 ...
DAY EIGHT
The college where I am staying provided a simple breakfast of cereal, fruit, juice and tea. I caught the local bus to the Palais (the main venue of the festival and market). I went around and said hello to sales agents that I already knew and checked out their new movies until 11am when I had an appointment to close a deal for an action film from a Japanese company.
I stopped at a few new booths and watched trailers of perspective movies for Cambodia. By 1pm I was hungry and ...
