 |
| From England! |
So yes, I’m back from England, hale and hearty. The trip was, overall, not a whole lot of fun. We flew out on sunday afternoon, and arrived monday morning, and you know no one sleeps well on a airplane. Our work was in Harrogate, up in Yorkshire. Sheep country. We spent a few hours on monday getting forms filled out and accounts set up, but jet lag set in pretty quickly and we went back to the hotel to sleep.
 |
| From England! |
Our Inn deserves special mention, though. We stayed at the Queens Head in Kensington. A very british experience. They’ve got a pub downstairs with beer and other preservatives, and they sell lots of delicious, huge, bad-for-you food. We spent most of our off-time there, eating and drinking Old Peculier. Yes, that’s the way it’s spelled. Peculierly. It is a favorite beer of Jim, one of the guys I went with, and I have to admit, it’s really good beer. Smooth and sweet. Reminds me vaguely of apple juice.
 |
| From England! |
Oh, and you know how I've been buying cups to represent all the countries I've traveled to? Well, maybe you don't, but I got a bamboo cup from Japan and a hardwood bowl from Costa Rica? Well I got a couple of Theakston pint cups from England, one from the very pub I spent all my time drinking in. The owner gave us each one. I also got another from the brewery, you can read about that below. Nice souvenir.
Well, that was most of the week, right there. We went out a couple of times to different places, and I got to try fish and chips and blood pudding (both pretty good) and stuff myself with beer and food. Say what you will about the american health food movement, at least it means you can get a salad every once in a while.
 |
| From England! |
Well that was most of our week, right there. Wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, come back, eat, sleep. Saturday, though, we did get to check out some breweries. We went up to Masham to check out the Theakson’s brewery and the Black Sheep brewery. Theakston makes the Ol Peculier we had been drinking all week. That place especially was interesting because they have been brewing for roughly 175 years, and all in the same, gravity-fed, ancient process. They added some electric motors and the occasional pump, but other than that, the process was unchanged.
 |
| From England! |
Black sheep was far more modern, and started by one of the Theakston sons when their company was bought out by a national chain. They also turned out a series of very tasty brews. We got to see their huge vats, brewing away. Smelled like bread. We also got to try a whole bunch of different types of beer. My favorites were generally called ‘Best Bitter.’ I dunno, maybe bitter means something else in beer parlance. I just thought they were quite smooth.
Sunday, we flew back, and I was so homesick for Jessie that we stood and hugged for a good long time before heading home. I missed home very much. It was really nice to be able to sleep next to my wife again.
England, overall, was pretty fun, even though I didn’t get to see that much of it. There’s a good chance I’ll end up going back again, which is sort of a pain, but at least It’s another stamp in the passport. I’ve got a lot of traveling to do to catch up with Jessie.
Oh, and here's the Picasa album where I posted all the pictures. Enjoy!
-N
3 comments:
So that was very cool and you get points for not having too much fun without your birthday girl. I've never thought of a glass/mug that would typify every visit to an international port. What would you do if you came to the US for one visit??
I remember the driving on the wrong side thing was very hard to get past. Making a right turn always felt like I was cutting someone off or chopping through traffic lanes. Did you use GPS or just follow the signs??
Dad
I actually didn't drive. Jim and Clayton did, mostly. Jim seemed to acclimatize pretty quickly, and Clayton had lived in Austrailia for several months, so he was well schooled.
-N
cool pictures, Noel!
Post a Comment