Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Some things are as expected


And here I am on the move again. Currently writing from the train from Newcastle to Stirling in the UK. I arrived in Newcastle last night, having come to visit a friend I had not seen for a few years. After a day I am now on the way to a conference in Stirling, which justifies traveling through Scotland and Britain mid week.  I had never been here (the only place I had been in the UK was London) and it has been much as I heard it would be.

Arriving in Edinburgh yesterday was amazing... 6pm, the sun's last rays shining on the old buildings and I was impressed. And then I saw the castle, and all the gardens dotted with daffodils and I was in awe. It is indeed as pretty as my friends had told me. On the train to Newcastle I saw the ocean but I first could not believe it, I never knew I was so close to the sea. (Google maps quickly fixed that geographic blunder.) The cliffs, the waves splashing, rocks, fresh new grass, the occasional sheep and the sky weighing down by heavy clouds were all beautiful, just like in so many novels I read.

In Newcastle my friend met me at the train station and we headed to a pub for a bite. Soup of the day and a pint of ale were my choice. The food was bad and the beer was great... guess some stereotypes do hold up. 

1 comment:

  1. Ah the English pup food! Pretty much had the same experience, I went to London several times, and the one time I went with my dad he insisted we eat local cuisine as much as possible...at least the beer was good :)

    ReplyDelete