It's official. I have a sinus infection. It's bad enough that I have to stay home from work due to the fact that I am contageous. Granted, I feel miserable anyway, so it's nice to sleep in. I cannot be out of commission for long as I still have the rest of this month to work and I have to get ready to be on the move again. That's right folks, I am done here in three weeks! I have given notice to my flat mates and my job that my last day will be September 30th. I have also booked travel plans for London and a plane flight to Paris. I plan to meet up with Ian and Richard on October 5th. All that is left for me to do is book my train from Edinburgh to London, pack and ship my non-essentials home, and pack my suitcase for traveling.
I looked online and made some phone calls to find out what it will cost me to ship my stuff home. I wish that BUNAC was more helpful. They reffered me to a local shipping company who quoted me a cost of £313 plus insurance. I tried FedEx and got an initial quote of £227.04 but they can't advise me of how to pack my things to make sure it all gets past customs. Luckily the FedEx agent had the number to UK customs who stated that I can ship anything I want. He then referred me to customs at the US Embassy in London. They were finally able to advise me about a Special Form 3299 that I need to include and outside each box to declare what I am shipping and for what purposes. He also recommended that I ship through the local postal office for much less than FedEx and the like. So things seem to be coming together. Only downside is that because I live in Portland, I can't ship booze home. I am going to have one heck of a Bon Voyage party I guess.
Looking back the only frustration in all of this is the realization that after all my efforts over the last 6 months I will end up completely broke financially. I had $12,000 in savings at the start of this adventure and am down to $3000 which will barely cover my trip to Europe. I never made any decent living here in the UK and thus have had to supplement my income the whole time from my savings. As of right now I have £341 in my UK bank account to pay to ship my stuff home, for my train ticket to London, and if I am lucky I will have a bit left over to feed myself.
I have to get well so I can go back to work. I need the money from a good two to three weeks worth of work to cover my expenses until I get to Paris. Please think healing thoughts for me everyone.
Monday, 8 September 2008
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Two Roads Diverge in a Wood
So my plans to work on the website for Bolton Castle are on temporary hold. I sent an email to Tom clarifying the work I would be doing and, I included attachments with personal words to introduce me to readers of my work. I thanked Tom for giving me credit on the website since I was not going to be getting paid for my work, yet. He took my yet to infer that I was expecting to be paid by him at some point in the future. He wrote back that in no uncertain terms was I ever to expect any recompense for my work. It seems he completely missed or misunderstood my intentions of working with him. I want to establish a long term partnership. I hoped that my work on the website and later at the castle would bring in more business and thus I would be paid from the profits. Tom either does not ever want to pay out money to others or he did not realize that my pay would come only from future profit. Either way I obviously need to talk with him further to make sure he understands my hopes for the future. Either he comes around or he changes his mind and scraps all our plans. It has been a week since I received his email. As I have no current way of responding to it and I have been upset by his outright refusal to consider ever paying me for legitimate work, things have been left up in the air. I have also been working for the last nine days straight. I am off for the next two days and will attempt to reach him to talk things out.
In the meantime and, given the change in circumstances with Bolton Castle, I have begun to think of other parts of my life that I have either ignored or forgotten. Uppermost in my mind is the current status of singleness. Another part of my life is my health, and my other business interest which, is my Anti-Inflammatory Restaurant concept I have called Sustenance. I was thinking about what my life might look like with both of these factors added in. I had a mini video/film in my mind. I saw myself running my new restaurant, my husband is there, and he is supportive and helpful. My employees and my customers know him and all greet him upon arrival. I look his way and see that he is holding our child. I go over and kiss them both. We talk briefly about our plans for the evening. I am going to finish working in the next few minutes and then we will sit down at a table in the restaurant for dinner together and then go home. When I pictured these images, I was suddenly calm, relaxed, and I realized that my plans for Bolton Castle did not hold as much importance. I decided that I want to give 80-90% of my energy to my health, Sustenance, and a family of my own. I will give the rest to Castle Bolton, my B&B ideas, and my historical reenactments. I also see my travels from a slightly new perspective.
I am excited to say that the plans that Richard and I have been working on are almost finalized. I am even more ecstatic to share that Ian will be joining us for the entire trip. I received an email from Richard today giving details of hotels and a rental car. I called Ian to talk about it and it seems that he is on board with all the plans. So here is the last rough draft of our itinerary:
Paris Oct4-8th Fly to Venice on 9th.
Venice Oct 9-11th, Drive to Florence on 12th.
Florence Oct 12-13th, Drive to Siena on Oct 14th.
Siena October 14th, Drive into Tuscan wine country Oct 15th.
Montepulciano, Piensa, and Montalcino Oct 15th. Drive south to Rome either by way of Grosetto and Civitavecchia or via Orvieto on Oct 16th.
Arrive Rome late Oct 16 or early Oct 17.
See Ostia Antiqua ruins and tour Rome, Oct 17 - 19. Fly home from Rome Oct 20.
I am so overwhelmed by the whole idea of traveling through part of Europe that I still don't believe that it is going to happen. When I think about it as reality I discover that I have very little time left before October arrives. I have so many plans to make. Remember my work visa expires October 9 and my last day at Harvey Nichols will probably be September 30. I still have plans to travel back to London for three days to see the insides of Westminster Abbey, St. Pauls Cathedral, The Tower of London, Windsor Castle, and many more sites. Then I have to arrange to fly or Chunnel to Paris to meet up with Ian and Richard on October 4th. I don't believe this is happening. Somebody pinch me, I must be still dreaming.
By the way, could people please send me some hugs. I am so starved for physical affection. No wonder I miss my cats; I miss being able to touch another living being in a loving way.
I'm tired now and am going to go relax for a bit before going to bed. I am going to sleep in since I don't have to work tomorrow. Later.
In the meantime and, given the change in circumstances with Bolton Castle, I have begun to think of other parts of my life that I have either ignored or forgotten. Uppermost in my mind is the current status of singleness. Another part of my life is my health, and my other business interest which, is my Anti-Inflammatory Restaurant concept I have called Sustenance. I was thinking about what my life might look like with both of these factors added in. I had a mini video/film in my mind. I saw myself running my new restaurant, my husband is there, and he is supportive and helpful. My employees and my customers know him and all greet him upon arrival. I look his way and see that he is holding our child. I go over and kiss them both. We talk briefly about our plans for the evening. I am going to finish working in the next few minutes and then we will sit down at a table in the restaurant for dinner together and then go home. When I pictured these images, I was suddenly calm, relaxed, and I realized that my plans for Bolton Castle did not hold as much importance. I decided that I want to give 80-90% of my energy to my health, Sustenance, and a family of my own. I will give the rest to Castle Bolton, my B&B ideas, and my historical reenactments. I also see my travels from a slightly new perspective.
I am excited to say that the plans that Richard and I have been working on are almost finalized. I am even more ecstatic to share that Ian will be joining us for the entire trip. I received an email from Richard today giving details of hotels and a rental car. I called Ian to talk about it and it seems that he is on board with all the plans. So here is the last rough draft of our itinerary:
Paris Oct4-8th Fly to Venice on 9th.
Venice Oct 9-11th, Drive to Florence on 12th.
Florence Oct 12-13th, Drive to Siena on Oct 14th.
Siena October 14th, Drive into Tuscan wine country Oct 15th.
Montepulciano, Piensa, and Montalcino Oct 15th. Drive south to Rome either by way of Grosetto and Civitavecchia or via Orvieto on Oct 16th.
Arrive Rome late Oct 16 or early Oct 17.
See Ostia Antiqua ruins and tour Rome, Oct 17 - 19. Fly home from Rome Oct 20.
I am so overwhelmed by the whole idea of traveling through part of Europe that I still don't believe that it is going to happen. When I think about it as reality I discover that I have very little time left before October arrives. I have so many plans to make. Remember my work visa expires October 9 and my last day at Harvey Nichols will probably be September 30. I still have plans to travel back to London for three days to see the insides of Westminster Abbey, St. Pauls Cathedral, The Tower of London, Windsor Castle, and many more sites. Then I have to arrange to fly or Chunnel to Paris to meet up with Ian and Richard on October 4th. I don't believe this is happening. Somebody pinch me, I must be still dreaming.
By the way, could people please send me some hugs. I am so starved for physical affection. No wonder I miss my cats; I miss being able to touch another living being in a loving way.
I'm tired now and am going to go relax for a bit before going to bed. I am going to sleep in since I don't have to work tomorrow. Later.
Monday, 18 August 2008
This is It
I guess this is it folks. I am about to take off into another world. I talked to Tom again this past Sunday, the 17th, about what help I can offer to move Bolton Castle closer to becoming the highlight of the Dales. He wants me to start work on the website whenever I have the time. I told him I would start immediately. He said he would need to just make a phone call to the website administrator to let him know who am I, what I will be doing, and to please post my work to the appropriate part of the site. We have a follow up telephone call scheduled for Tuesday at 10am to continue the process. Once off the phone with him I jumped on the computer and created two brief statements which I hope Tom will get posted. The first is an introduction of me as a new member of the staff, the other is my own personal note of greeting and thanks. Once those are posted I will feel that even though I am not getting paid to work on the website, at least I will get the credit. I am going to head out to the nearest internet cafe to email the documents to Tom so he'll have them for our 'conference call' tomorrow. hehe
Tom was disappointed that I was unable to come down for the Armada Faire at the Castle this weekend. I asked him to describe it to me. He said that there was a group of 10 re-enactors. The premise of the faire was that word had arrived that Spain was sending an Armada to attack England and visitors had to be prepared. Those who participated would be sent around the castle to learn key skills needed for a fighter of the day. Pike drill, sword fighting, caligraphy, herbs, and cooking classes were provided in key areas of the castle. Most, if not all, the participants were children. Each child would rotate through 4 classes.
It sounded like a good event. The re-enactors will be returning to the castle in two weeks for the medieval faire. I would love to attend that one as well, but I don't have enough funds. Also that weekend is the last weekend of the month and also the last weekend of the Edinburgh Festival. Harvey Nichols Forth Floor Restaurant is throwing a special event that last night to cooincide with the Military Tatoo's final fireworks gala. I will have to work that event. Even if I had that day off, it will be a Sunday and transport down to Yorkshire is poor. I might not even have been paid yet. We get our paychecks automatically deposited on the last day of the month. If it falls on a weekend they try to pay us on the Friday before but it's not a guarantee. It would cost me at least £200 to make the journey. Oh yeah, I also have to pay the rent on the 30th.
Living in the same country as Bolton Castle has not made it easier to go and visit it. When I was talking to Tom yesterday it hit me that I could have been living and working at Bolton Castle the whole time I have been in the UK if I had called the castle and asked if they were hiring. It turns out they were hiring back in April. At the time I was planning to come over it never occurred to me that I could work there. I was so focused on getting work at a straightforward hotel or restaurant that it never even entered my mind that Bolton Castle's tea shop counts as a hospitality business. Ok so it's not a large and booming business but it is a place that serves food and beverages. I am so angry with myself that I doubted. I just realized that I could have looked for work in nearby Leyburn instead of Edinburgh. It's really too late now as the season is going to be winding down in two weeks. What opportunities, lessons, experiences did I miss out on because I was too focused on big businesses. Bolton Castle was the prize and I didn't even reach out to grab it.
My mind just wandered and I began to consider, once again, the possibility of me giving notice at Harvey Nichols and to my flat-mates and relocating to Leyburn or nearby so I can visit the castle. If I waited till I got paid for the month I might be able to afford it but, could I find work and a new place to live so quickly. Also, if I take work near to the castle, when would I go to see the castle. I would be so busy working I wouldn't have time. I also realize that I said previously that my interest in Bolton Castle is not short term or once-in-a-lifetime. I guess I just want a little more time to go and just be there. I didn't get the chance to relax and feel much of anything on my first visit as it was all too overwhelming. I need and want to go back and be left alone at the castle, when it's quiet, so I can listen for the voices of the real Baron and Baroness Scrope, their children, Mary, Thomas, and Henry and, Mary, Queen of Scotland.
I don't know if any of this really matters. I read the latest news headlines and saw that the president of Pakistan is resigning. When he steps down, our U.S. troops will be left even more vulnerable. And when we elect our new president, assuming it's Obama, our troops will withdraw under fire. I can see our enemies chasing the troops out of the middle east and actually following them home to U.S. soil. We could be at war on U.S. soil in the next six months. Clearly this is a simplified and probably exagerated perspective. I need to come home to find out what is really going on. It's interesting, but most of the Europeans I have met do not take a personal interest in the war in the Middle East. They are more concerned about the upcoming elections. They do not seem to have an opinion about whether or not the U.S. should be fighting this war. Their only question is what will happen with the war effort when we elect our new president. They don't think the U.S. should not have gotten into the war but, they don't think that as European's, that they have any responsibility for it's outcome. They don't seem to think they have any reason to be involved. It is all America's problem and President Bush's fault.
None of that may matter either as the world's environments radically shift. ha
It's hard to be me sometimes. I have this habit of seeing many things at once. Trying to prioritize and just get through each day can be tough. I appreciate everyone's patience and support as I grow up day-by-day.
Tom was disappointed that I was unable to come down for the Armada Faire at the Castle this weekend. I asked him to describe it to me. He said that there was a group of 10 re-enactors. The premise of the faire was that word had arrived that Spain was sending an Armada to attack England and visitors had to be prepared. Those who participated would be sent around the castle to learn key skills needed for a fighter of the day. Pike drill, sword fighting, caligraphy, herbs, and cooking classes were provided in key areas of the castle. Most, if not all, the participants were children. Each child would rotate through 4 classes.
It sounded like a good event. The re-enactors will be returning to the castle in two weeks for the medieval faire. I would love to attend that one as well, but I don't have enough funds. Also that weekend is the last weekend of the month and also the last weekend of the Edinburgh Festival. Harvey Nichols Forth Floor Restaurant is throwing a special event that last night to cooincide with the Military Tatoo's final fireworks gala. I will have to work that event. Even if I had that day off, it will be a Sunday and transport down to Yorkshire is poor. I might not even have been paid yet. We get our paychecks automatically deposited on the last day of the month. If it falls on a weekend they try to pay us on the Friday before but it's not a guarantee. It would cost me at least £200 to make the journey. Oh yeah, I also have to pay the rent on the 30th.
Living in the same country as Bolton Castle has not made it easier to go and visit it. When I was talking to Tom yesterday it hit me that I could have been living and working at Bolton Castle the whole time I have been in the UK if I had called the castle and asked if they were hiring. It turns out they were hiring back in April. At the time I was planning to come over it never occurred to me that I could work there. I was so focused on getting work at a straightforward hotel or restaurant that it never even entered my mind that Bolton Castle's tea shop counts as a hospitality business. Ok so it's not a large and booming business but it is a place that serves food and beverages. I am so angry with myself that I doubted. I just realized that I could have looked for work in nearby Leyburn instead of Edinburgh. It's really too late now as the season is going to be winding down in two weeks. What opportunities, lessons, experiences did I miss out on because I was too focused on big businesses. Bolton Castle was the prize and I didn't even reach out to grab it.
My mind just wandered and I began to consider, once again, the possibility of me giving notice at Harvey Nichols and to my flat-mates and relocating to Leyburn or nearby so I can visit the castle. If I waited till I got paid for the month I might be able to afford it but, could I find work and a new place to live so quickly. Also, if I take work near to the castle, when would I go to see the castle. I would be so busy working I wouldn't have time. I also realize that I said previously that my interest in Bolton Castle is not short term or once-in-a-lifetime. I guess I just want a little more time to go and just be there. I didn't get the chance to relax and feel much of anything on my first visit as it was all too overwhelming. I need and want to go back and be left alone at the castle, when it's quiet, so I can listen for the voices of the real Baron and Baroness Scrope, their children, Mary, Thomas, and Henry and, Mary, Queen of Scotland.
I don't know if any of this really matters. I read the latest news headlines and saw that the president of Pakistan is resigning. When he steps down, our U.S. troops will be left even more vulnerable. And when we elect our new president, assuming it's Obama, our troops will withdraw under fire. I can see our enemies chasing the troops out of the middle east and actually following them home to U.S. soil. We could be at war on U.S. soil in the next six months. Clearly this is a simplified and probably exagerated perspective. I need to come home to find out what is really going on. It's interesting, but most of the Europeans I have met do not take a personal interest in the war in the Middle East. They are more concerned about the upcoming elections. They do not seem to have an opinion about whether or not the U.S. should be fighting this war. Their only question is what will happen with the war effort when we elect our new president. They don't think the U.S. should not have gotten into the war but, they don't think that as European's, that they have any responsibility for it's outcome. They don't seem to think they have any reason to be involved. It is all America's problem and President Bush's fault.
None of that may matter either as the world's environments radically shift. ha
It's hard to be me sometimes. I have this habit of seeing many things at once. Trying to prioritize and just get through each day can be tough. I appreciate everyone's patience and support as I grow up day-by-day.
Thursday, 14 August 2008
So I am a little closer to coming to terms with my experiences at Castle Bolton. However, I am not much happier about what transpired. Deep down I am still elated about having finally set foot in the home of the woman whose life I have studied and tried to represent for the last ten years. If I close my eyes right now and imagine myself back there my eyes begin to well up with tears. I know so much about Lady Margaret Howard's life. It was such a personal thing for me to play her at Renn Faire. Still, to be standing in the same places she stood is hard to describe.
In a way I feel a sense of justification. All the years I played her and was teased or not taken seriously still sting me but I feel even more proud now to have represented her as I did. I want very much to go back to faire participation as Lady Scrope and as Adina Rubin so that I can arrive as my new self and reclaim my position as the premier player at court. I know that 99% of the other players have not studied their history as well as I have and just as many have never been out of the States. It would be a Zen/Jedi/Elven event for me to arrive in a new state of beauty, calm, peace, and understanding. I don't need to stick my nose in the air, snub people, gloat about my experiences, or brag. I just look forward to being able to share with my Renn Faire friends how full my life has been.
It is still challenging for me to be living abroad. I spent so much money on my first trip to Castle Bolton that it is unlikely that I'll be able to go back this weekend for the Armada Festival. I am disappointed that it costs so much and that it is so hard just to get there. Because I would be traveling late Saturday or early Sunday, there is no bus service inland. I could rent (hire) a car but that would cost me 40 pounds plus gas (petrol) per day. No way do I have that kind of money right now. I am trying to remain calm and accept that my interest in Castle Bolton is not short term. I will get paid again at the end of the month and I can arrange to go down after that.
Also, Tom has already stated that my interests can best be shown on the castle's website. I do not need to leave Edinburgh to work on the website. At least I don't think I do. Tom and I still have to formalize this arrangement. In the meantime I am even frustrated about not being paid for my efforts and am considering not working on the website until I can be paid or better compensated than just by gaining pleasure from the work itself. For me it is not only the history that excites me but the interest others take in it once they learn about it. Since many of the visitors to the castle don't even look at the website it seems somewhat unlikely any of them will gain an appreciation of the castle's history and significance unless I am at the castle sharing it with them face-to-face. I hope that I am able to express this well enough to Tom that he takes me on as paid staff. And if that happens then hopefully I will be able to relocate without much difficulty. Probably a fat-chance-in-hell of that happening, but I can wish can't I.
While all of this is going on, in another part of my life I am desperately missing my cats. I have had dreams of going to Bakersfield, sneaking into the apartment where they live, finding Jasmine sleeping and waking her up sweetly by whispering her name in her ear. I dream that she squintingly stretches herself awake, slowly opens her eyes to look at me and once she recognizes me she leans in to sniff my nose and rub her head against my chin.
I used to talk to her and Cara-Mel by phone on a regular basis. When I left for England I broke off contact with my ex who is taking care of them and have not been in contact since. It was hard to leave them in Bakersfield when I moved to Portland to go back to school, and it was even harder to cut off all contact. They are the only beings in this world who love me like a mom. I consider Jasmine to be my 'daughter' as I raised her from only 2 days old. She is safe with my ex, who she knows as her daddy, but she is my true responsibility. I only hope that when I see my cats again they recognize me.
On a happier note, I realize that I forgot to mention that I finally went to the Edinburgh Military Tatoo! When I first came to Edinburgh everyone asked if my reason for coming was for the tatoo. Well as you know know I came for much more then that but, I could not leave the country without having seen the spectacle for myself. When I got oriented to the city back in late May I found the ticket office and found out that most tickets were already sold out. I was advised to check back daily for possible returned tickets. I got so busy looking for work that I did not make it back for almost a month-and-a-half. As luck would have it they had a seat available for Saturday, August 9. Located in the middle of the bleachers in Section C, North Stand, 2nd row from the top, Seat 12 in the middle, I would have the best view. Not only that but the seat was for the best performance. On Saturday nights, the final show only, they set off a full 15 minutes of extra fireworks. The whole event cost me only £28.50 which came out of my UK bank account so I didn't have to pay double with US dollars! It was amazing to just realize that I was actually there. It wasn't as exciting actually being there as the sky opened up and drowned us all like rats. By the time I got home I was soaked through to my skin. When I woke up the next morning my skin still felt sticky. But it was a great night of precision pipes, drums, and dancing. I will be picking up a DVD of the event for everyone back home to watch.
On a side note, I hadn't decided if I would boycott the Olympics this year because of all the violence but I find myself catching it when I get home from work. It is still as engaging as previous years. I can't seem to look away.
I am also trying to keep up on the presidential campaign. I am very curious to see who Obama picks as his running mate. I hope it is Hillary Clinton but I doubt that either will be elected if they run on the same ticket. I feel like Americans are chickens. They seem intent on having a black or female democrat for president yet, when it comes time for election I don't trust that they will vote that way.
In a way I feel a sense of justification. All the years I played her and was teased or not taken seriously still sting me but I feel even more proud now to have represented her as I did. I want very much to go back to faire participation as Lady Scrope and as Adina Rubin so that I can arrive as my new self and reclaim my position as the premier player at court. I know that 99% of the other players have not studied their history as well as I have and just as many have never been out of the States. It would be a Zen/Jedi/Elven event for me to arrive in a new state of beauty, calm, peace, and understanding. I don't need to stick my nose in the air, snub people, gloat about my experiences, or brag. I just look forward to being able to share with my Renn Faire friends how full my life has been.
It is still challenging for me to be living abroad. I spent so much money on my first trip to Castle Bolton that it is unlikely that I'll be able to go back this weekend for the Armada Festival. I am disappointed that it costs so much and that it is so hard just to get there. Because I would be traveling late Saturday or early Sunday, there is no bus service inland. I could rent (hire) a car but that would cost me 40 pounds plus gas (petrol) per day. No way do I have that kind of money right now. I am trying to remain calm and accept that my interest in Castle Bolton is not short term. I will get paid again at the end of the month and I can arrange to go down after that.
Also, Tom has already stated that my interests can best be shown on the castle's website. I do not need to leave Edinburgh to work on the website. At least I don't think I do. Tom and I still have to formalize this arrangement. In the meantime I am even frustrated about not being paid for my efforts and am considering not working on the website until I can be paid or better compensated than just by gaining pleasure from the work itself. For me it is not only the history that excites me but the interest others take in it once they learn about it. Since many of the visitors to the castle don't even look at the website it seems somewhat unlikely any of them will gain an appreciation of the castle's history and significance unless I am at the castle sharing it with them face-to-face. I hope that I am able to express this well enough to Tom that he takes me on as paid staff. And if that happens then hopefully I will be able to relocate without much difficulty. Probably a fat-chance-in-hell of that happening, but I can wish can't I.
While all of this is going on, in another part of my life I am desperately missing my cats. I have had dreams of going to Bakersfield, sneaking into the apartment where they live, finding Jasmine sleeping and waking her up sweetly by whispering her name in her ear. I dream that she squintingly stretches herself awake, slowly opens her eyes to look at me and once she recognizes me she leans in to sniff my nose and rub her head against my chin.
I used to talk to her and Cara-Mel by phone on a regular basis. When I left for England I broke off contact with my ex who is taking care of them and have not been in contact since. It was hard to leave them in Bakersfield when I moved to Portland to go back to school, and it was even harder to cut off all contact. They are the only beings in this world who love me like a mom. I consider Jasmine to be my 'daughter' as I raised her from only 2 days old. She is safe with my ex, who she knows as her daddy, but she is my true responsibility. I only hope that when I see my cats again they recognize me.
On a happier note, I realize that I forgot to mention that I finally went to the Edinburgh Military Tatoo! When I first came to Edinburgh everyone asked if my reason for coming was for the tatoo. Well as you know know I came for much more then that but, I could not leave the country without having seen the spectacle for myself. When I got oriented to the city back in late May I found the ticket office and found out that most tickets were already sold out. I was advised to check back daily for possible returned tickets. I got so busy looking for work that I did not make it back for almost a month-and-a-half. As luck would have it they had a seat available for Saturday, August 9. Located in the middle of the bleachers in Section C, North Stand, 2nd row from the top, Seat 12 in the middle, I would have the best view. Not only that but the seat was for the best performance. On Saturday nights, the final show only, they set off a full 15 minutes of extra fireworks. The whole event cost me only £28.50 which came out of my UK bank account so I didn't have to pay double with US dollars! It was amazing to just realize that I was actually there. It wasn't as exciting actually being there as the sky opened up and drowned us all like rats. By the time I got home I was soaked through to my skin. When I woke up the next morning my skin still felt sticky. But it was a great night of precision pipes, drums, and dancing. I will be picking up a DVD of the event for everyone back home to watch.
On a side note, I hadn't decided if I would boycott the Olympics this year because of all the violence but I find myself catching it when I get home from work. It is still as engaging as previous years. I can't seem to look away.
I am also trying to keep up on the presidential campaign. I am very curious to see who Obama picks as his running mate. I hope it is Hillary Clinton but I doubt that either will be elected if they run on the same ticket. I feel like Americans are chickens. They seem intent on having a black or female democrat for president yet, when it comes time for election I don't trust that they will vote that way.
Friday, 8 August 2008
Afterthought
I hope that when you read the blog you could read between the lines and comprehend the importance of what has transpired. I am sure that you can. I apologize for writing in a matter-of-fact way. So much passed in the 48 hours I spent at Castle Bolton and there is barely 48 minutes for me to blog about it as I have to go to work. I am holding back my enthusiasm as I have no real outlet except this blog. I hope to have more time and energy soon to be able to rewrite the blog from the other completely subjective, creative, optimistic side of me. Thanks.
Somewhere over the Dales
Just like Dorothy dreamed of going somewhere over the rainbow, I dreamt of going over the dales. Now I have.
Wow! Has it really been over two weeks since I last blogged? I have been very busy working very late hours and I lost track of time. So much else has happened and it all transpired in only the last five days. I waited till the last minute to book my train tickets and thought that I was going to spend one day in Bolton then back-track to Carlisle but, when I got to the train station, I decided to go to Bolton for both of my days off. I ended up with a ticket from Edinburgh to Carlisle, switching trains and heading south to Garsdale, then taking a bus from there to Hawes and finally connecting to a bus that took me to Castle Bolton. I would still have one more bus to connect to in Leyburn which would take me to my accommodations in East Witton. This entire journey would last almost 5 hours. All totaled it would cost me nearly 100 pounds in transportation expense. That's a lot just to get to my destination. It cost so much because as I would find once I got to the Dales, that it is a huge farming region with limited public transport. I also found out that I went the long way around. I should have come down the east coast through Newcastle to Darlington, near York, and connected with buses into Richmond and on to Leyburn. Leyburn is only 10 minutes bus ride from Bolton and is an actual village with shops, businesses, and more frequent and regular bus service to Castle Bolton. I'll go that route next time. Yes there will be a next time.
It is hard for me to be upbeat about what happened in Yoorkshire. It still hasn't sunk in yet. When I got on the train at Carlisle and headed into the Dales, I started journaling about my impending visit to Castle Bolton. What would Tom say, what would he look like, how will I be received? Could I believe that his kind words to me were genuine or was he just being polite. He said that he was keen to meet me and that when I arrived I should make myself at home. That his wife Katie would make a anything I wanted to eat and drink at no cost. Does he do this for everyone or am I a special visitor? Well I would soon find out.
I had dreamed of making this journey and have watched movies with images of the dales to suggest to me what I might see and experience. It is as beautiful as it looks but its a whole different experience when you do it on board the local bus that goes bumping and squeeking down the road. One thing it afforded me was an almost guided tour of the key towns near the castle. The bus route goes through each of them on the way in and out. If I were in a car I would have gotten lost or missed some of them. I am reffering to the towns of Hawes, Askrigg, Aysgarth, West Burton, Thoralby, Leyburn, Redmire, Preston, and Wensley. As we came along the road, I knew the next stop was for the castle. I pictured in my mind the images I had seen from the castles website and thought that I might see them as we approached. The pictures do not do the actual view justice. As I looked side-to-side out the window looking for the castle I saw it out of the corner of my eye and through the trees. My stomach jumped at the site of this amazingly tall structure set on the hill above. I thought I might cry at that moment but I didn't. I kept my perspective and approached this moment as Adina Rubin the girl, not the re-enactor "coming home." It was amazing. As we came up the main road the castle is ahead to our left and it gets taller as you get closer. The bus passed by the main gated portcullis and stopped. I stood up, took a deep breath, grabbed my bag and stepped off. My view of the castle was momentarily blocked by the bus so I waited for it to pass by before looking up at the castle with a clear view. I lowered my head and pictured the tall walls, windows, and the rooms inside. The bus pulled away, I looked up, and saw...the entire back half of the castle destroyed. There was so much destruction I could see into the back walls and see only the outlines of windows where rooms would have once been. The broken walls were covered in grasses and flowers growing in the rubble and the breeze was blowing them about. All of my enthusiasm just went out of me as I stared at the damage. This is going to cost so much more money than I had planned, I laughed to myself.
As I moved inside I took on an objective perspective. My hopes of imagining myself as Baroness Scrope now too difficult to comprehend for practical and emotional reasons. You no longer enter through the portcullis at the front of the castle, you enter through a new made hole in the side of the building to the right.
I have to share my disappointment. The reality of the conditions of the castle and how it is maintained were nothing as I had imagined them. How could I have known that after over 500 years and major damage that the walls would be moss covered and moldy. That the floor supports would have given way and now each level sits one full foot lower than it did originally. That because of this lowering of the floors you have to sort of climb down into and up out of rooms. That none of the ground floor is level or even smooth. That due to English Heritage Society regulations, very little can be done to fix these issues as that would alter the history of the building.
There is more about the building I need to share but it is best done when I can post images. I have taken more than 60 shots and once they are developed I will try to post them or send copies to the states with notes.
I have more to tell. Don't forget I have a meeting with destiny at 12pm.
I go in to the gift shop and pick up a souvenir tour guide. I open it up and inside the cover is a picture of Tom and Katie with a personal greeting. Turns out they are about my age or maybe a bit younger. As I look around at the staff, I see Katie in an apron running back and forth to the kitchen. Suddenly I see a man in camouflage pants and a grubby grey t-shirt. As he comes up the steps we make eye contact and he says, "Hi, are you Adina? I'm Tom, it's nice to finally meet you." He went off to change his clothes as he had been working outside. We went in to the tea room/guest hall to talk. Surrounded by other visitors and seated by the fireplace we talked for two hours. As I shared about how my interest in the castle got started I think Tom began to realize that I was more than a crazy tourist from America. I found out that Tom is not just the general manager for Lord Bolton, he is the son. So when we shook hands, I was basically touching Baroness Scropes blood relative.
Feeling that this was my one and only opportunity to meet with Tom I told him all my hopes and aspirations for my business concept. He listened to me intently and was very nice when he said that there would likely be no money to be made in a venture such as I described due to the current condition of the castle and the type of visitors it receives. I told him that I wanted to do whatever I could to get involved and help. I had not come 6000 miles, spent 10 years of my life and over $70,000 in education to stop now. I would start small and see what happens. I had thought about what could be done at the castle right now that would not cost any money. We could improve the website to include the history of the women who lived at the castle. We can also write the story of what happened when Mary, Queen of Scots was in residence. I had been thinking about starting a blog that was written in the voice of Baroness Scrope. Tom was thankfully open to my ideas. He stated that anything I was willing to do on a volunteer basis was welcome. I asked if I could be added to the website as the new Renaissance historian, he agreed. We talked and walked around the castle the rest of the day and Tom let me go behind the ropes to see all corners of the castle including Baron Scrope's garderobe, that's toilet to you all. Tom even took my picture in Baroness Scrope's bedchamber. We seemed to have such a good time that Tom offered to drive me to the inn where I was staying so I wouldn't have to wait for the buses. He drove me by his house and I got to go inside. I met the dogs and got to talk with him about Sustenance. When we got to the inn I let him know that I wanted to come back on August 17th to see the castle with re-enactors around. That day they are having a Spanish Armada themed gathering. He said that would be fine and he gave me a kiss on each cheek as a goodbye. Everybody say AAAHHH. That is really sweet.
I went back the next day and was there from 10am till 5pm. I was going to just take pictures but as visitors began to arrive and ask questions that no one else could answer, I volunteered to give guided tours of the castle. So I spent the day giving tours and talking to people. I shared my ideas of what I hoped for the castle and asked the visitors what they would want to see when they return. They were impressed with my ideas so I asked them to take a brochure and email Tom that they had met me and how much they enjoyed the tour and my ideas. As the day progressed I began to think about offering Tom my services as the on-site tour guide. I also though t about seeing if he might be hiring for staff and if I could help run the tea shop as well. He let me know that his secretary had recently left. I am still thinking of how I could start working at the castle sooner rather than later. The challenges of changing jobs and locations right now are more than I want to deal with right now. I will give Tom and Katie the time they requested to review my marketing plan and consider my ideas before I talk to them about joining them at the castle. I hope by then I can come up with a way to afford to move and live in Yorkshire, England. I am giving us till August 17th. Wish me luck and send my your thoughts family and friends.
Deep down I am screaming with excitement even though on the surface I am calm and rational. How are you feeling?
Wow! Has it really been over two weeks since I last blogged? I have been very busy working very late hours and I lost track of time. So much else has happened and it all transpired in only the last five days. I waited till the last minute to book my train tickets and thought that I was going to spend one day in Bolton then back-track to Carlisle but, when I got to the train station, I decided to go to Bolton for both of my days off. I ended up with a ticket from Edinburgh to Carlisle, switching trains and heading south to Garsdale, then taking a bus from there to Hawes and finally connecting to a bus that took me to Castle Bolton. I would still have one more bus to connect to in Leyburn which would take me to my accommodations in East Witton. This entire journey would last almost 5 hours. All totaled it would cost me nearly 100 pounds in transportation expense. That's a lot just to get to my destination. It cost so much because as I would find once I got to the Dales, that it is a huge farming region with limited public transport. I also found out that I went the long way around. I should have come down the east coast through Newcastle to Darlington, near York, and connected with buses into Richmond and on to Leyburn. Leyburn is only 10 minutes bus ride from Bolton and is an actual village with shops, businesses, and more frequent and regular bus service to Castle Bolton. I'll go that route next time. Yes there will be a next time.
It is hard for me to be upbeat about what happened in Yoorkshire. It still hasn't sunk in yet. When I got on the train at Carlisle and headed into the Dales, I started journaling about my impending visit to Castle Bolton. What would Tom say, what would he look like, how will I be received? Could I believe that his kind words to me were genuine or was he just being polite. He said that he was keen to meet me and that when I arrived I should make myself at home. That his wife Katie would make a anything I wanted to eat and drink at no cost. Does he do this for everyone or am I a special visitor? Well I would soon find out.
I had dreamed of making this journey and have watched movies with images of the dales to suggest to me what I might see and experience. It is as beautiful as it looks but its a whole different experience when you do it on board the local bus that goes bumping and squeeking down the road. One thing it afforded me was an almost guided tour of the key towns near the castle. The bus route goes through each of them on the way in and out. If I were in a car I would have gotten lost or missed some of them. I am reffering to the towns of Hawes, Askrigg, Aysgarth, West Burton, Thoralby, Leyburn, Redmire, Preston, and Wensley. As we came along the road, I knew the next stop was for the castle. I pictured in my mind the images I had seen from the castles website and thought that I might see them as we approached. The pictures do not do the actual view justice. As I looked side-to-side out the window looking for the castle I saw it out of the corner of my eye and through the trees. My stomach jumped at the site of this amazingly tall structure set on the hill above. I thought I might cry at that moment but I didn't. I kept my perspective and approached this moment as Adina Rubin the girl, not the re-enactor "coming home." It was amazing. As we came up the main road the castle is ahead to our left and it gets taller as you get closer. The bus passed by the main gated portcullis and stopped. I stood up, took a deep breath, grabbed my bag and stepped off. My view of the castle was momentarily blocked by the bus so I waited for it to pass by before looking up at the castle with a clear view. I lowered my head and pictured the tall walls, windows, and the rooms inside. The bus pulled away, I looked up, and saw...the entire back half of the castle destroyed. There was so much destruction I could see into the back walls and see only the outlines of windows where rooms would have once been. The broken walls were covered in grasses and flowers growing in the rubble and the breeze was blowing them about. All of my enthusiasm just went out of me as I stared at the damage. This is going to cost so much more money than I had planned, I laughed to myself.
As I moved inside I took on an objective perspective. My hopes of imagining myself as Baroness Scrope now too difficult to comprehend for practical and emotional reasons. You no longer enter through the portcullis at the front of the castle, you enter through a new made hole in the side of the building to the right.
I have to share my disappointment. The reality of the conditions of the castle and how it is maintained were nothing as I had imagined them. How could I have known that after over 500 years and major damage that the walls would be moss covered and moldy. That the floor supports would have given way and now each level sits one full foot lower than it did originally. That because of this lowering of the floors you have to sort of climb down into and up out of rooms. That none of the ground floor is level or even smooth. That due to English Heritage Society regulations, very little can be done to fix these issues as that would alter the history of the building.
There is more about the building I need to share but it is best done when I can post images. I have taken more than 60 shots and once they are developed I will try to post them or send copies to the states with notes.
I have more to tell. Don't forget I have a meeting with destiny at 12pm.
I go in to the gift shop and pick up a souvenir tour guide. I open it up and inside the cover is a picture of Tom and Katie with a personal greeting. Turns out they are about my age or maybe a bit younger. As I look around at the staff, I see Katie in an apron running back and forth to the kitchen. Suddenly I see a man in camouflage pants and a grubby grey t-shirt. As he comes up the steps we make eye contact and he says, "Hi, are you Adina? I'm Tom, it's nice to finally meet you." He went off to change his clothes as he had been working outside. We went in to the tea room/guest hall to talk. Surrounded by other visitors and seated by the fireplace we talked for two hours. As I shared about how my interest in the castle got started I think Tom began to realize that I was more than a crazy tourist from America. I found out that Tom is not just the general manager for Lord Bolton, he is the son. So when we shook hands, I was basically touching Baroness Scropes blood relative.
Feeling that this was my one and only opportunity to meet with Tom I told him all my hopes and aspirations for my business concept. He listened to me intently and was very nice when he said that there would likely be no money to be made in a venture such as I described due to the current condition of the castle and the type of visitors it receives. I told him that I wanted to do whatever I could to get involved and help. I had not come 6000 miles, spent 10 years of my life and over $70,000 in education to stop now. I would start small and see what happens. I had thought about what could be done at the castle right now that would not cost any money. We could improve the website to include the history of the women who lived at the castle. We can also write the story of what happened when Mary, Queen of Scots was in residence. I had been thinking about starting a blog that was written in the voice of Baroness Scrope. Tom was thankfully open to my ideas. He stated that anything I was willing to do on a volunteer basis was welcome. I asked if I could be added to the website as the new Renaissance historian, he agreed. We talked and walked around the castle the rest of the day and Tom let me go behind the ropes to see all corners of the castle including Baron Scrope's garderobe, that's toilet to you all. Tom even took my picture in Baroness Scrope's bedchamber. We seemed to have such a good time that Tom offered to drive me to the inn where I was staying so I wouldn't have to wait for the buses. He drove me by his house and I got to go inside. I met the dogs and got to talk with him about Sustenance. When we got to the inn I let him know that I wanted to come back on August 17th to see the castle with re-enactors around. That day they are having a Spanish Armada themed gathering. He said that would be fine and he gave me a kiss on each cheek as a goodbye. Everybody say AAAHHH. That is really sweet.
I went back the next day and was there from 10am till 5pm. I was going to just take pictures but as visitors began to arrive and ask questions that no one else could answer, I volunteered to give guided tours of the castle. So I spent the day giving tours and talking to people. I shared my ideas of what I hoped for the castle and asked the visitors what they would want to see when they return. They were impressed with my ideas so I asked them to take a brochure and email Tom that they had met me and how much they enjoyed the tour and my ideas. As the day progressed I began to think about offering Tom my services as the on-site tour guide. I also though t about seeing if he might be hiring for staff and if I could help run the tea shop as well. He let me know that his secretary had recently left. I am still thinking of how I could start working at the castle sooner rather than later. The challenges of changing jobs and locations right now are more than I want to deal with right now. I will give Tom and Katie the time they requested to review my marketing plan and consider my ideas before I talk to them about joining them at the castle. I hope by then I can come up with a way to afford to move and live in Yorkshire, England. I am giving us till August 17th. Wish me luck and send my your thoughts family and friends.
Deep down I am screaming with excitement even though on the surface I am calm and rational. How are you feeling?
Sunday, 20 July 2008
On the Verge
You know how it feels when you are on the verge. On the verge of greatness, on the verge of losing your mind, breaking down and crying, or on the verge of a great discovery. That is where I am, on the verge. I sort of wish I knew what was on the other side or over the edge. I can see that where I am heading has a lot of blind spots, curves, dips and twists. I see myself not only crashing and burning but, being stuck in neutral or just spining my wheels and not getting anywhere.
The thoughts that I have had over the last week have become decisions I have made and now, things are coming together. I submitted my application to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and have been given 8 performance slots, I have given this information to my boss at Harvey Nichols and he is going to attempt to schedule my work around my performances. I have enquired about the costs of going to Bolton and Carlisle Castles for August 4-7 and it's not as expensive as I thought, in fact it might be free. Which brings me to what other new news I have to share.
Just the other day, which was Friday, I got off of work early. That was an unusual day because the reality that I am in Edinburgh, Scotland kept coming into my mind so strongly that I was elated and on the verge of happy tears all day. I decided to celebrate my being abroad with a lovely fish dinner at of all places Fisher's on Thistle. They were very accommodating to my needs for allergen free foods and the meal was delicious. I had Carrot and Coriander Soup followed by Greek Sea Bass with Fennel Bulb, Steamed Zucchini, Green Beans, Carrots, and Peas. I also found Quinoa Tabouleh on the menu and had it as a side dish. After the meal I decided that as it was only 8pm on a Friday night and still quite light out I would take a long walk home. I turned down the street and not two doors down I passed two late 30's aged ladies discussing whether or not to have dinner at Tex Mex II, a local Mexican restaurant. As I had heard great things about the restaurant and being a hospitalitarian, I offered my approval of the establishment. The ladies at once noticed my American accent and chatted me up about where I was from. Mentioning Portland, Oregon, one of the ladies named Shirley stated that would soon be traveling to Portland herself. Her friend Alison remarked what a small world we live in and graciously invited me to join them both for dinner. I mentioned I had already eaten. Alison remarked that there would be a 45-minute wait for the dinner table to come available anyway, and she invited me to have a drink instead. So off we went me, Shirley, and Alison. By now I had found out that Alison was a mother off for her first day without her baby. Her daughter's name is Sarah. Now I was begining to agree with Alison that indeed it is a very small world as my moms name is Shirley and my sister-in-laws name is Sarah. So off we went to the Jekyll and Hyde bar for a drink. We all got the drink of Lust and happily sat down at the Gothic-Era inspired banquette to talk about traveling, family, children - I spoke of Jasmine my cat whom I raised since she was two days old and I now feel that she is my daughter even if she is four-legged and furry. We also talked about what Shirley should do with her time in Portland. I made certain to tell her that she had to meet up with my family and especially my brother Ian to take a Slow Kwon Do class from him. Well we had a great time for our 45 minutes and went to part ways when I was invited to join the girls at dinner. I had nowhere else pressing to be so I accepted. We had margarita's, Enchilada Suisa, beans and rice. While at Tex Mex we talked about what brought me to Edinburgh. I told them about Bolton Castle and Baroness Scrope. Shirley seemed quite taken with my ideas for creating a living history and hospitality venue. She said that she thinks it will be very popular in the UK. She was so taken that she offered to drive me to Bolton Castle. I am blown away by the enthusiasm, encouragement, and support that I have received here in Scotland. We all had such a good time getting to know each other that we exchanged phone numbers and emails. I also gave them my blog address. They could be reading these words themselves once I post this blog. Hello Alison and Shirley!
We have plans to go out on Wednesday night to see the movie Mama Mia!
So my mom and Ian have managed to find a gather all my costume pieces for Baroness Scrope including the amazing tall hat. My mom has been diligently digging through the mess that is my bedroom to find my needed zebra dress, cosmetics, etc that I requested earlier. She has to wade through a mess because I had originally packed too many things and at the last minute I unpacked it all and just set it around my room in piles. She has also taken the rolling case which contains the gown and all its many accessories to be weighed and has found out that it will cost $400 to ship everything to me.
I am so afraid that I will get the package late. Worse, I am concerned that I'll have it in my room ready to use and will have no one to help me get dressed. Remember that this is a gown for a noblewoman. It laces up the back and has many other pieces that have to tied on or pinned into place. She would have had servants to dress her. I cannot dress myself. I have registered with the Fringe website but have been unable to reply to any message board postings of people looking to work the Fringe. I have met people on the street and spoken to them but none have volunteered to help. Without assistance, all the many efforts and expense that are being made, will be for nothing.
I spoke to my sister-in-law Sarah, who just celebrated her birthday on the 18th, - Happy Birthday Sarah! She is a pupeteer and performer and knows the challenges of stage work. I so appreciated her empathy and encouragement. She called me a hero for being afraid and moving forward anyway. I am too humbled by my experiences of late to believe that I am any kind of hero/ine. But she impressed upon me to not sell myself short. I am so grateful for her support and all of my family. I love you all.
I just checked the comments section of my previous blog and have found a very uplifting response from my dad encouraging my to spend the needed money and effort towards my endeavors. His words are brief but powerful.
I am scared, but I will persist.
The thoughts that I have had over the last week have become decisions I have made and now, things are coming together. I submitted my application to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and have been given 8 performance slots, I have given this information to my boss at Harvey Nichols and he is going to attempt to schedule my work around my performances. I have enquired about the costs of going to Bolton and Carlisle Castles for August 4-7 and it's not as expensive as I thought, in fact it might be free. Which brings me to what other new news I have to share.
Just the other day, which was Friday, I got off of work early. That was an unusual day because the reality that I am in Edinburgh, Scotland kept coming into my mind so strongly that I was elated and on the verge of happy tears all day. I decided to celebrate my being abroad with a lovely fish dinner at of all places Fisher's on Thistle. They were very accommodating to my needs for allergen free foods and the meal was delicious. I had Carrot and Coriander Soup followed by Greek Sea Bass with Fennel Bulb, Steamed Zucchini, Green Beans, Carrots, and Peas. I also found Quinoa Tabouleh on the menu and had it as a side dish. After the meal I decided that as it was only 8pm on a Friday night and still quite light out I would take a long walk home. I turned down the street and not two doors down I passed two late 30's aged ladies discussing whether or not to have dinner at Tex Mex II, a local Mexican restaurant. As I had heard great things about the restaurant and being a hospitalitarian, I offered my approval of the establishment. The ladies at once noticed my American accent and chatted me up about where I was from. Mentioning Portland, Oregon, one of the ladies named Shirley stated that would soon be traveling to Portland herself. Her friend Alison remarked what a small world we live in and graciously invited me to join them both for dinner. I mentioned I had already eaten. Alison remarked that there would be a 45-minute wait for the dinner table to come available anyway, and she invited me to have a drink instead. So off we went me, Shirley, and Alison. By now I had found out that Alison was a mother off for her first day without her baby. Her daughter's name is Sarah. Now I was begining to agree with Alison that indeed it is a very small world as my moms name is Shirley and my sister-in-laws name is Sarah. So off we went to the Jekyll and Hyde bar for a drink. We all got the drink of Lust and happily sat down at the Gothic-Era inspired banquette to talk about traveling, family, children - I spoke of Jasmine my cat whom I raised since she was two days old and I now feel that she is my daughter even if she is four-legged and furry. We also talked about what Shirley should do with her time in Portland. I made certain to tell her that she had to meet up with my family and especially my brother Ian to take a Slow Kwon Do class from him. Well we had a great time for our 45 minutes and went to part ways when I was invited to join the girls at dinner. I had nowhere else pressing to be so I accepted. We had margarita's, Enchilada Suisa, beans and rice. While at Tex Mex we talked about what brought me to Edinburgh. I told them about Bolton Castle and Baroness Scrope. Shirley seemed quite taken with my ideas for creating a living history and hospitality venue. She said that she thinks it will be very popular in the UK. She was so taken that she offered to drive me to Bolton Castle. I am blown away by the enthusiasm, encouragement, and support that I have received here in Scotland. We all had such a good time getting to know each other that we exchanged phone numbers and emails. I also gave them my blog address. They could be reading these words themselves once I post this blog. Hello Alison and Shirley!
We have plans to go out on Wednesday night to see the movie Mama Mia!
So my mom and Ian have managed to find a gather all my costume pieces for Baroness Scrope including the amazing tall hat. My mom has been diligently digging through the mess that is my bedroom to find my needed zebra dress, cosmetics, etc that I requested earlier. She has to wade through a mess because I had originally packed too many things and at the last minute I unpacked it all and just set it around my room in piles. She has also taken the rolling case which contains the gown and all its many accessories to be weighed and has found out that it will cost $400 to ship everything to me.
I am so afraid that I will get the package late. Worse, I am concerned that I'll have it in my room ready to use and will have no one to help me get dressed. Remember that this is a gown for a noblewoman. It laces up the back and has many other pieces that have to tied on or pinned into place. She would have had servants to dress her. I cannot dress myself. I have registered with the Fringe website but have been unable to reply to any message board postings of people looking to work the Fringe. I have met people on the street and spoken to them but none have volunteered to help. Without assistance, all the many efforts and expense that are being made, will be for nothing.
I spoke to my sister-in-law Sarah, who just celebrated her birthday on the 18th, - Happy Birthday Sarah! She is a pupeteer and performer and knows the challenges of stage work. I so appreciated her empathy and encouragement. She called me a hero for being afraid and moving forward anyway. I am too humbled by my experiences of late to believe that I am any kind of hero/ine. But she impressed upon me to not sell myself short. I am so grateful for her support and all of my family. I love you all.
I just checked the comments section of my previous blog and have found a very uplifting response from my dad encouraging my to spend the needed money and effort towards my endeavors. His words are brief but powerful.
I am scared, but I will persist.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Olympic Music Inspirations
For some reason I am reminded of the lyrics of songs from previous Olympic games that seem to match what I am feeling and going through right now. Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time, "and Gloria Estephan's "Reach," are playing in my mind as I think about how things have changed for me here in Edinburgh. In addition to starting to confirm my travel plans for Europe, I have finally spoken to Tom Orde-Powlett at Bolton Castle and he is, "Very keen to meet and talk with me." We have a scheduled lunch meeting at Bolton Castle on August 5th. For those of you who have not been filled in on all the details of the importance of this meeting, let me take a few lines to catch you up. I will attempt to make this short and sweet.
After 10 plus years playing Lady Margaret Howard, 9th Baroness Scrope of Bolton I decided to combine my excitement over the history of her life with the business of a hotel, restaurant, and living history venue. My dream has always been to rebuild or replicate Bolton Castle, which is located in Wensleydale, North Riding, Yorkshire, England, to play out key history in the Baroness' life. I want to specifically deal with the events of the year 1568 when Mary, Queen of Scotland was forced to abdicate her throne and chose to come into England for assistance. When Queen Mary arrived, she was put under the care of Baroness Scrope who was the premier ranking female noblewoman in the area. Anyway, my vision has always been to play out this history where it actually happened and charge visitors to come "meet the Queen." Well I called and wrote to Bolton Castle over the years and never got much if any response. Now that I am in England, I seem to have gottent their attention.
At first Mr. Orde-Powlett thought that I just wanted to come to the castle on one weekend and play. He actually "rents" the castle to people for weekend gigs. Well when I told him that I wanted to play the Baroness, be at the castle full-time, and act as if I was home and was doing all the things one would have naturally done in the time, he was momentarily dumb-struck until he realized the possible benefits and interest for the castle it might create. So finally after years of struggling to "get an audience" with this man, I finally have it.
There are still challenges to making my future dreams come true. 1 my job at Harvey Nichols is making it difficult for me to make travel plans to Bolton. Granted I committed to working for them full time and during the busy season, but they are a bit wishy-washy on what days I get to have off. Also, due to this schedule 'conflict' I may not be able to participate in the one and only Renaissance re-enactment faire at Bolton on August 16 and 17th. Additionally, my application for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been approved and I have been given at least 9 time slots i which to "perform" my Baroness Scrope gig. All these things I feel I need to attempt to do and I have bumbs and roadblocks in my way. Let's not forget the time and expense of sending for my gowns from Oregon plus the issue of how to tote everything around, how I'll get dressed, etc. All of this and I am working full-time and trying to hold on to my money for traveling. I am trying very hard to take my life one day at a time. I am even getting back into my Slow Kwon Do practices. This is the special training Ian teaches at a gym in Portland.
On my way home from work tonight I thought about the possibility of moving up my meeting with Tom in order to get an answer that much sooner about what plans he might have for me and Baroness Scrope at Bolton Castle. If I am going to perform in the fringe, I have so much work to do to prepare. I am so tired from working at Harvey Nichols that I don't know if I'll be able to perform at my best. I will however perservere and take many small steps every day to work towards the expectation that I will not only work full time at Harvey Nichols, but I will also perform at the Fringe at least once, and I'll be present at Bolton Castle when it prepares for the invasion of the Spanish Armada on August 17th. This is going to cost me so much money :(
It also looks like I am going to have to cut my Europe travels down to three weeks max. I just won't have the money or the energy to do much more than that. As a result of cutting back on my plans, I am skipping Spain pretty much altogether and only going to Barcelona to see Ian. Wait, suddenly I am remembering why I wanted to go to Spain in the first place. I need and want to research the life of King Phillip II of Spain. He was instrumental in many of the political and social events relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, Baroness Scrope, and everyone in England. I really don't need to see all of Italy, I just really want to. I need to figure out what I am going to do so Ian and Richard can figure out what they are doing. It sounds like Ian is clear about going to Barcelona and Bologna/Parma. Richard seems keen on spending his time in Europe following me around. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, my cousin Eliot also plans to travel to Europe and hopes to catch up to us all too. My head is too full right now for me to be clear about what I really want to do, can afford to do, etc. I hope that Ian, Rich, and now Eliot will all be patient with me while I try to get my stuff straight. I think it's a safe bet that everyone plans to travel during the month of October. We may have to make impromptu and last minute plans to all meet in some location outside of our own original cities to catch up. Whatever happens, wherever we all wind up we know that we will all be in Europe at the same time. Lets just plan to meet somewhere in France, Spain, or Italy at some point. I am looking forward to seeing all of you soon.
After 10 plus years playing Lady Margaret Howard, 9th Baroness Scrope of Bolton I decided to combine my excitement over the history of her life with the business of a hotel, restaurant, and living history venue. My dream has always been to rebuild or replicate Bolton Castle, which is located in Wensleydale, North Riding, Yorkshire, England, to play out key history in the Baroness' life. I want to specifically deal with the events of the year 1568 when Mary, Queen of Scotland was forced to abdicate her throne and chose to come into England for assistance. When Queen Mary arrived, she was put under the care of Baroness Scrope who was the premier ranking female noblewoman in the area. Anyway, my vision has always been to play out this history where it actually happened and charge visitors to come "meet the Queen." Well I called and wrote to Bolton Castle over the years and never got much if any response. Now that I am in England, I seem to have gottent their attention.
At first Mr. Orde-Powlett thought that I just wanted to come to the castle on one weekend and play. He actually "rents" the castle to people for weekend gigs. Well when I told him that I wanted to play the Baroness, be at the castle full-time, and act as if I was home and was doing all the things one would have naturally done in the time, he was momentarily dumb-struck until he realized the possible benefits and interest for the castle it might create. So finally after years of struggling to "get an audience" with this man, I finally have it.
There are still challenges to making my future dreams come true. 1 my job at Harvey Nichols is making it difficult for me to make travel plans to Bolton. Granted I committed to working for them full time and during the busy season, but they are a bit wishy-washy on what days I get to have off. Also, due to this schedule 'conflict' I may not be able to participate in the one and only Renaissance re-enactment faire at Bolton on August 16 and 17th. Additionally, my application for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been approved and I have been given at least 9 time slots i which to "perform" my Baroness Scrope gig. All these things I feel I need to attempt to do and I have bumbs and roadblocks in my way. Let's not forget the time and expense of sending for my gowns from Oregon plus the issue of how to tote everything around, how I'll get dressed, etc. All of this and I am working full-time and trying to hold on to my money for traveling. I am trying very hard to take my life one day at a time. I am even getting back into my Slow Kwon Do practices. This is the special training Ian teaches at a gym in Portland.
On my way home from work tonight I thought about the possibility of moving up my meeting with Tom in order to get an answer that much sooner about what plans he might have for me and Baroness Scrope at Bolton Castle. If I am going to perform in the fringe, I have so much work to do to prepare. I am so tired from working at Harvey Nichols that I don't know if I'll be able to perform at my best. I will however perservere and take many small steps every day to work towards the expectation that I will not only work full time at Harvey Nichols, but I will also perform at the Fringe at least once, and I'll be present at Bolton Castle when it prepares for the invasion of the Spanish Armada on August 17th. This is going to cost me so much money :(
It also looks like I am going to have to cut my Europe travels down to three weeks max. I just won't have the money or the energy to do much more than that. As a result of cutting back on my plans, I am skipping Spain pretty much altogether and only going to Barcelona to see Ian. Wait, suddenly I am remembering why I wanted to go to Spain in the first place. I need and want to research the life of King Phillip II of Spain. He was instrumental in many of the political and social events relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, Baroness Scrope, and everyone in England. I really don't need to see all of Italy, I just really want to. I need to figure out what I am going to do so Ian and Richard can figure out what they are doing. It sounds like Ian is clear about going to Barcelona and Bologna/Parma. Richard seems keen on spending his time in Europe following me around. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, my cousin Eliot also plans to travel to Europe and hopes to catch up to us all too. My head is too full right now for me to be clear about what I really want to do, can afford to do, etc. I hope that Ian, Rich, and now Eliot will all be patient with me while I try to get my stuff straight. I think it's a safe bet that everyone plans to travel during the month of October. We may have to make impromptu and last minute plans to all meet in some location outside of our own original cities to catch up. Whatever happens, wherever we all wind up we know that we will all be in Europe at the same time. Lets just plan to meet somewhere in France, Spain, or Italy at some point. I am looking forward to seeing all of you soon.
Thursday, 10 July 2008
The Upside and Downside of being a tourist
Simply put, the upside of being a tourist is there is always a lot to see. The downside is that if you are touring to gain intel, like I am, you won't usually like the answers you get. I just spent a wonderful day in Stirling at Stirling Castle. I think that there is more history, more information, and more to do there than at Edingburgh Castle and the Palace at Holyrood House combined. The Great Hall at Stirling has just been completely restored to how it looked during the time of King James IV. He was Mary, Queen of Scots grandfather. The Palace is currently closed to visitors because it is now being completely restored to look as it did in the time of James V when he first built it as a wedding gift to his new bride Mary de Guise. These are Mary, Queen of Scots parents. The restoration is going to cost somewhere around £12M and take between 3 to 5 years to complete! In the meantime, visitors can see the newly restored kitchens and Chapel Royal, both of which have been lovingly restored to look as they might have in the 16th Century. The views from all sides of the castle hill are amazing. Although Stirling is a good 50 minutes west of Edinburgh, you can see Arthur's Seat which is beside the Palace at Holyrood House and to the east you can see the actual beginning of the Highlands. Just below the castle to the South is the River Forth, and just on the next hill is Wallace's Monuement which honors William Wallace who was made famous in the film Braveheart with Mel Gibson.
While at the castle I saw a couple of gentlemen in Renaissance garb and attempted to speak with them in the language of the period as if I was Baroness Scrope. I was very disappointed by the responses I got. Just the mention of Mary, Queen of Scots and one of the gentleman almost sneered. The other man, dressed as a nobleman couldn't even bother to "get in to character" to talk to me. He really upset me when he responded to my period inquiries with third person answers! Hopefully those of you who really know how I am when it comes to being in character will appreciate how disappointing this was for me. I took the first opportunity I had to ask if I could come back to the castle in costume and play. I was given a card and asked to email my request to the events coordinator. Now I just have to get my email working and come up with a brilliant pitch that will convince them that I am worth paying or taking on more than just once. Best of luck to me on that.
I called Bolton Castle today in the hopes of catching Mr. Orde-Powlett. No such luck as he was not at the castle when I called. I left my mobile number but he never called me back. I am trying not to get discouraged but after today I am beginning to wonder how I am going to convince anyone to pay me for my ideas when it seems to me that here in the UK, locals take their history for granted or don't care about it at all. I was talking to one of the workers at the train station in Stirling and he mentioned how many tourists come to the castle but that he has never really seen any of the history in his own country. It made me realize that if I am going to sell my idea of a period "B&B," I may have to build it here but sell it to the countries that send the most tourists, namely America, Canada, and Australia, then India and the Asia's. This means understanding the tourist trade of each country and the UK. This made me very sad to think about it. Tourists want to usually see a lot of things in a short period of time and don't have a lot of money to pay for it. Convincing them that they should spend more time and money in Bolton is a huge challenge. The only way I can see to build the castle in the states right now is to the american people who cannot otherwise afford to travel outside the country. But now I see that it does not make sense to offer someone British history outside of Britain. And I see how trying to convince them that my property is so much more interesting, affordable, accessible, and worthwhile then the hundreds of others in the country, that it is almost too complicated to even try to do.
I do think that the people at Stirling Castle have a good thing going but they also have a patron who has given them lots of money for these restoration projects. The rest apparently comes from private donations, ticket, and souvenir sales at the castle. They are also renting out the Great Hall for private functions like weddings.
I still think that offering a room at the castle is the next indicated step but the palace is closed. Also, parts of it have been so badly damaged that the history of the building cannot be determined so the restoration of the lost part of the castle will be left uncompleted. Staying true to history means that if you don't know what was there you can't put anything. By doing this they have limited the use of the castle and decreased its draw to tourists. My feeling is that if you can, after much research and discussion with architects, historians, etc., come up with a reasonable approximation of what the missing part of the structure looked like, then build it the way you think it aught to be and use it to fund more research into what it actually was like, assuming this information is ever found. I would like to see Bolton Castle restored as best can be. I hope I can create a fruitful partnership with Tom Orde-Powlett and His Right Honourable Lord Bolton to do that. I want to open the castle up to overnight guests as so many other castles are doing throughout Britain. I think the addition of period characters, entertainment, food, and lodgind will make it the most popular destination in England. I hope Tom calls soon.
While at the castle I saw a couple of gentlemen in Renaissance garb and attempted to speak with them in the language of the period as if I was Baroness Scrope. I was very disappointed by the responses I got. Just the mention of Mary, Queen of Scots and one of the gentleman almost sneered. The other man, dressed as a nobleman couldn't even bother to "get in to character" to talk to me. He really upset me when he responded to my period inquiries with third person answers! Hopefully those of you who really know how I am when it comes to being in character will appreciate how disappointing this was for me. I took the first opportunity I had to ask if I could come back to the castle in costume and play. I was given a card and asked to email my request to the events coordinator. Now I just have to get my email working and come up with a brilliant pitch that will convince them that I am worth paying or taking on more than just once. Best of luck to me on that.
I called Bolton Castle today in the hopes of catching Mr. Orde-Powlett. No such luck as he was not at the castle when I called. I left my mobile number but he never called me back. I am trying not to get discouraged but after today I am beginning to wonder how I am going to convince anyone to pay me for my ideas when it seems to me that here in the UK, locals take their history for granted or don't care about it at all. I was talking to one of the workers at the train station in Stirling and he mentioned how many tourists come to the castle but that he has never really seen any of the history in his own country. It made me realize that if I am going to sell my idea of a period "B&B," I may have to build it here but sell it to the countries that send the most tourists, namely America, Canada, and Australia, then India and the Asia's. This means understanding the tourist trade of each country and the UK. This made me very sad to think about it. Tourists want to usually see a lot of things in a short period of time and don't have a lot of money to pay for it. Convincing them that they should spend more time and money in Bolton is a huge challenge. The only way I can see to build the castle in the states right now is to the american people who cannot otherwise afford to travel outside the country. But now I see that it does not make sense to offer someone British history outside of Britain. And I see how trying to convince them that my property is so much more interesting, affordable, accessible, and worthwhile then the hundreds of others in the country, that it is almost too complicated to even try to do.
I do think that the people at Stirling Castle have a good thing going but they also have a patron who has given them lots of money for these restoration projects. The rest apparently comes from private donations, ticket, and souvenir sales at the castle. They are also renting out the Great Hall for private functions like weddings.
I still think that offering a room at the castle is the next indicated step but the palace is closed. Also, parts of it have been so badly damaged that the history of the building cannot be determined so the restoration of the lost part of the castle will be left uncompleted. Staying true to history means that if you don't know what was there you can't put anything. By doing this they have limited the use of the castle and decreased its draw to tourists. My feeling is that if you can, after much research and discussion with architects, historians, etc., come up with a reasonable approximation of what the missing part of the structure looked like, then build it the way you think it aught to be and use it to fund more research into what it actually was like, assuming this information is ever found. I would like to see Bolton Castle restored as best can be. I hope I can create a fruitful partnership with Tom Orde-Powlett and His Right Honourable Lord Bolton to do that. I want to open the castle up to overnight guests as so many other castles are doing throughout Britain. I think the addition of period characters, entertainment, food, and lodgind will make it the most popular destination in England. I hope Tom calls soon.
Monday, 7 July 2008
Signs of Life
It is so nice to get comments on my blogs now. Thank you to Ian, Dale, and Mom for taking the time to respond. I don't feel so alone now. I am however a little saddened that the family camping trip is coming up next week and I will miss it. That camping trip is the one time in my life when I am so far from reality that no one can reach me and I can do nothing but enjoy being at one with nature and myself. Sounds scary but, it was worth it last year and, I am once again in need of a true get away.
It is semi-official that I will be participating in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August. I submitted my application to perform as a Busker. What exactly a Busker is I don't know but, I do know that Buskers get only 20 minutes to set up, perform, and break down so the next busker can perform. I also know that there is no electronic amplification aloud and that there are only three spots for people to do their thing.
Now that my application is in, I must wait for the coordinators to put me in the schedule and inform me of the days and times I have been alloted. I can then choose which slots I want, pay for the appropriate number of weeks I'll be participating, and get my job to schedule my work around the Fringe stuff. Wish me luck that I won't have any scheduling conflicts and I'll be able to work and perform without any mad running around.
I also began looking for an assistant and actually found some "re-enactors" at the shop for Mary King's Close. The problem now is that these employees have signed contracts which state that they cannot perform for other venues. It seems as if it is a way of making sure that if anyone wanted a character from Mary Kings Close, they couldn't get them. However, I am not looking for a character from the Close, I just need someone with re-enactment/historical interpretation skills. One of the girls took my number and said she would ask her boss to clarify the contracts details and she would call back if she thought she could help. Again family and friends, please think good thoughts for me.
I have still not heard from Tom Orde-Powlett, the General Manager for Bolton Castle Shops. I also do not have any money on my mobile right now to call him myself as my paycheck still has not posted to my UK bank account. I was at the bank today and they said the money should be available by Wednesday. I'll expect it on Thursday. Best not to get my hopes up given previous experience. As soon as I can "top up," I will call and gently suggest to Mr. Powlett that I will make myself available the first weekend of August to play Baroness Scrope at the 16th Century faire the castle is hosting that weekend.
I am now going to make myself happier by going to Rick Steve's website to do more travel research and start calculating my budget. If you are out there Richard, this is where we need to decide how we are going to arrange our transportation and sleeping arrangements. I hope to hear from you soon.
Take care family and friends, till next time.
It is semi-official that I will be participating in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August. I submitted my application to perform as a Busker. What exactly a Busker is I don't know but, I do know that Buskers get only 20 minutes to set up, perform, and break down so the next busker can perform. I also know that there is no electronic amplification aloud and that there are only three spots for people to do their thing.
Now that my application is in, I must wait for the coordinators to put me in the schedule and inform me of the days and times I have been alloted. I can then choose which slots I want, pay for the appropriate number of weeks I'll be participating, and get my job to schedule my work around the Fringe stuff. Wish me luck that I won't have any scheduling conflicts and I'll be able to work and perform without any mad running around.
I also began looking for an assistant and actually found some "re-enactors" at the shop for Mary King's Close. The problem now is that these employees have signed contracts which state that they cannot perform for other venues. It seems as if it is a way of making sure that if anyone wanted a character from Mary Kings Close, they couldn't get them. However, I am not looking for a character from the Close, I just need someone with re-enactment/historical interpretation skills. One of the girls took my number and said she would ask her boss to clarify the contracts details and she would call back if she thought she could help. Again family and friends, please think good thoughts for me.
I have still not heard from Tom Orde-Powlett, the General Manager for Bolton Castle Shops. I also do not have any money on my mobile right now to call him myself as my paycheck still has not posted to my UK bank account. I was at the bank today and they said the money should be available by Wednesday. I'll expect it on Thursday. Best not to get my hopes up given previous experience. As soon as I can "top up," I will call and gently suggest to Mr. Powlett that I will make myself available the first weekend of August to play Baroness Scrope at the 16th Century faire the castle is hosting that weekend.
I am now going to make myself happier by going to Rick Steve's website to do more travel research and start calculating my budget. If you are out there Richard, this is where we need to decide how we are going to arrange our transportation and sleeping arrangements. I hope to hear from you soon.
Take care family and friends, till next time.
Friday, 4 July 2008
Happy Independence Day America!
Yes that is what they call it here in Scotland, American Independence Day. If you tell someone Happy 4th of July they will look at you like your nuts; What significance is July 4th in Scotland but another day. Luckily the people at Hard Rock Cafe on George Street knew what I meant. From the moment I wished them a Happy 4th of July they noticed my accent and said, "Guess what? For being American, you get a free beer." Cool. Ok so it is only a Budweiser but hey it's free and it's a bit of home. When you have been away from all that you know for three months and have had the challenges I have, you long for a place to sit and remember how pleasant being HOME can be. I celebrated my favorite of all American holidays by getting a huge plate of BBQ chicken, ribs, and briscuit accompanied by fries, cole slaw, and beans. I finished with a bowl of hot Apple Cobbler with walnuts, vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Of course I could not finish it all. I was so happy to hear that I could "take away" my leftovers. I paid for my meal and then became a tourist. I bought an all access pass and a commemorative 4th of July Edinburgh pin and Rock Coutour T-Shirt. Yes I bought the T-Shirt also as a practical matter, Dad, as it is getting very hot here and I do not have any summer clothing. Also my style of dress is too dressed up. Yeah, wearing a nice dark pair of jeans, and a dark T-Shirt over a long sleeve dress shirt is too dressy. People here dress more in 80's wear - acid wash jeans, big hip belts, LaCrosse T's, and lots of makeup. I stand out. Also my stuff is sometimes too hot to wear. Today it was hot and humid. A T is a nice way to survive a day like today.
I wish everyone a Happy 4th and hope that my Oregon family will take the 'trek' out to Fort Vancouver today and enjoy some BBQ and fire works for me, please. I miss you all, and my country, too.
I wish everyone a Happy 4th and hope that my Oregon family will take the 'trek' out to Fort Vancouver today and enjoy some BBQ and fire works for me, please. I miss you all, and my country, too.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
The Exciting
OMG, I am rich! Not really. I finally received my paycheck. For three weeks of working at 42 hours per week, plus tips at 10 points of TRONC, I earned 592 pounds, 34 pence. Once I pay rent of 340 pounds plus the overdue deposit of 100 pounds, I will be living like the proverbial Queen of Patagonia. Working for other people sucks. The hope is that my pay for July, August, and September will be closer to 1100 pounds for each month including TRONC. If I can keep my everday expenses low I will be able to save a good portion of my earnings and hopefully that will put me in good stead for my Europe travels. When I convert my pounds saved to Euros I should get a better exchange rate than my dollars to euros. Praying hard for this and keeping my fingers crossed because I have lots of things I want to do on my travels. Drum roll as I segue into some of my plans for those who are in the need to know, yes this means you Richard and Ian. Of course my friends and family are free to read on and to ask questions or ask for further details.
So my plan is, in summary, as follows. My work visa expires on October 9, 2008 but I plan to stop working by the last day of September. At this point I will have hopefully seen all that I have wanted to of Scotland and will therefore leave my flat-share situation and become an official back-packer. Assuming I have not been able to get to Carlisle and Bolton Castles, I will travel to these locations and stay approximate 1 day in each city sight-seeing. I will then travel to York on the east coast and see where the Baroness Scrope was born and sight-see for 1 day. Then it is back finally to London where I hope to meet up with Richard. I would like to see the Changing of the Guard and tour Buckingham Palace, go inside Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, and St. Pauls Cathedral. I also want to take a day trip to Windsor Castle. I expect our tours to take approximate two-and-a-half to three days as I want time to really see and be at these places to soak up the history. I also want to give us time to enjoy the city at night as most of these locations close by 6 pm and may even close by 4pm. From London we will travel to Paris, France for approximately three days during which time we will take a boat on the Seine, see the Louvre, Notre Dame, Vaux le Vicomte, Le Tour Eiffel, L Arc de Triomphe and of course take a full day to see Versailles. I went to Rick Steve's website the other day and found a three day itinerary for Paris that includes all of these places along with fa full tour guide, price list, maps, bus info, etc for Versailles and many of the other attractions. In my book steve also suggests places to stay and eat. As I left my book behind in the states, I have to rely on the website but, the book has much more information. I may send for it.
Moving on from France, Richard and I will travel south into Spain. My original plan was to make a loop of the country while hitting the most well-known cities such as Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, and others that I cannot recall right now. This is the difficulty of leaving my info back home. Anyway, the hope is that we will be able to see the history, architecture, paintings/sculpture, food/drink,and culture of the country. I hope to focus on the period of the Renaissance. My hope is to get some understanding of how the royals and nobles of the country lived during the same time as their close relatives in England and Scotland and how their unique culture effected how they made decisions of state that led to the Spanish Armada, etc. I hope to research this in all the countries I visit.
The current plan is to end up in Barcelona where we will catch up to Ian, hooray! I hope that we will have scheduled dinner plans at someplace special and especially Barcelonan/Spanish where we can get that special photo of us three celebrating our blessed success in coming to the continent.
From Barcelona we may all three travel together to Bologna where we will part ways and Richard and I will continue on. Ian will remain behind in Bologna and then perhaps fly home from there. Richard and I will carry on over to Venice where we must take a moonlit gondola ride, with the best singer, along the waterways. According to Rick Steve's website the ride may cost up to 135 Euros so we need to be sure to save for it and plan it the moment we arrive in the city. Rick also suggests a short stay itinerary of the streets of Venice that we might want to complete. Richard may depart from Venice to Milan to fly home or he may choose to accompany me into the heart of Italy. I am on to Florence on the west coast, then on to Tuscany, thence to Rome with side trips to Ostia and Pompeii/Herculanium to see the museums. All during my travels in Italy I want to taste the regional food and wine, see the historic buildings and sites both Renaissance and Ancient. I plan to complete my travel in Rome and fly home on November 5 from Rome's Fiomenucci Airport, connecting through Washington, DC then, on finally to Portland, Oregon. This flight will take all day and I will arrive home around 8:30 to 9:00pm. I may alter my plans if I can afford to. I would love to see DC or any part of New England in the fall. I also want to see my dad and my cats in California. We will have to wait and see what happens to my finances.
Cost-wise I expect my trip to cost me $3000 Euros. That is approximately $5000-$6000. My current time line is detailed below...subject to changes in mood, weather, and discoveries of better or more places to see.
September 1: Give 30 days notice at Harvey Nichols and to flat mates.
September 15: Begin packing up un-needed items to ship home.
September 27: Mail home stuff.
September 30: Last day of work. Finish packing bags for travel.
October 1:Depart Edinburgh for Carlisle
October 1- Evening: Settle in to accommodations very near to Carlisle Castle, have dinner, sleep.
October 2 - Day: Dress up as Lady Margaret Howard, 9th Baroness Scrope of Bolton. Walk 'Home' to Carlisle Castle and take a tour of 'my' house. Also take a walk along Hadrians Wall.
October 2 - Evening: Have dinner, pack, and sleep.
October 3 - Day: Have Breakfast and check out of accommodations. Tour Carlisle castle and Hadrians wall if desired then travel to Bolton and check in at new accommodations.
October 4 - Day: Have breakfast, dress again as Baroness Scrope, tour Bolton Castle and meet with Tom Orde-Powlett, Manager of Bolton Castle. Also maybe meet the Right Honourable Lord Bolton.
October 4 - Evening: Have dinner, pack, and sleep.
Sunday, October 5 - Day: Have Breakfast and check out of accommodations. Tour Bolton castle and surrounding area if desired then travel to York and check in at new accommodation, have dinner, and sleep.
October 6 Day: Tour city and historic sites. Have dinner, pack, and sleep.
October 7: Breakfst, check out, and more touring of York till afternoon. Travel to London, meet up with Richard, check in to new accommodations, have dinner, sleep early.
October 8 - Day: See London sights in whatever order we decide.
October 8 - Evening: Have dinner, see city at night, sleep.
October 9 - Day: Finish sight seeing in London and Windsor.
October 9 - Evening: Dinner, pack,sleep.
October 10 - Day: Breakfast, check out, any last minute sight-seeing or souvenir shopping in London then, travel to Paris.
October 10 - Evening: Check in to new accommodations. Have dinner and take boat tour on Seine. Perhaps, combine. Sleep if possible.
October 11 - Day: See all that is Paris, following list above and Rick Steves itinerary.
October 12: Follow Rick Steves itinerary for Day 2 of France and Paris
October 13: Follow Rick Steves itinerary for Day 3 of Versailles. Back to Paris for dinner, packing up and sleep.
October 14: Breakfast, check out, last sight seeing and souvenir shopping in Paris. Travel south to Spain stopping in Provence, Avignon, Lyon, etc if desired or scheduled. There is a complete full moon this night.
October 15 to October ?: Open for France or Spain travels. TBA Plan to arrive in Barcelona in coordination with Ian. If I am correct this will be around October 23rd.
All right. This blog is just about long enough. here is the rest of the itinerary short and sweet.
Oct 15 - 23: Madrid with side trips to Tolded, Sevilla, and Andalucia then, on to Cinque Terre or see below.
10/23 Barcelona with Ian
10/24 Barcelona to Bologna with Ian
10/25 Bologna/Parma with Richard and Ian
10/26 Bologna/Parma with Ian and Richard. Ian to return to states?
10/27 Cinque Terre with Richard - a vacation from our vacation
10/28 Cinque Terre with Richard - more R and R
10/29 Venice
10/30 Venice
10/31 Venice - Part ways with Richard?
11/1 Florence
11/2 Tuscany to Rome
11/3 Rome - See Ostia
11/4 Rome - See Pompeii/Herculanium
11/5 Home to States
If I run out of money I will have to cut my trip short and will most likely cut one day off Paris and avoid the rest
of France, and head on to Barcelona to meet Ian. Things will also change when I hear from Richard about his availability and budget. And we both need to talk to Ian about his dates of travel and whether or not he wants to room and/or travel about with us much. I hope we will have much of our plans getting reserved with deposits at least in the next couple of weeks. We really need to have our plans in final stages if possible for London,Paris, Barcelona, Bologna/Parma, and all of Italy no later than end of July. We need to decide the kind of accommodations we want to stay at and the kind of eating and sight seeing we want to do. A reality I have discovered while here in the UK is that many things cost very little but it is amazing how many fun things there are to do. Add it all up and it costs a lot to see even one city. The city's are aware of this in the UK and so they have weekly bus passes, membership packages that cover many historic sites and make it very cheap to sight see, if you see at least three to five of the sights. Bear in mind that not all the sites are within the city limits. Some are as far as a one-hour bus ride including walking. Don't forget the added costs of food, refreshments, and souvenirs. Oh yes, and those extra sites that are not covered by your membership or day ticket that you didn't know about but now have to go and see.
I need to review Rick Steve's website very closely for budget guidelines. I need to add it all up and see the grand totals. This will be in my next novel, I mean blog. hehe Toodles!
So my plan is, in summary, as follows. My work visa expires on October 9, 2008 but I plan to stop working by the last day of September. At this point I will have hopefully seen all that I have wanted to of Scotland and will therefore leave my flat-share situation and become an official back-packer. Assuming I have not been able to get to Carlisle and Bolton Castles, I will travel to these locations and stay approximate 1 day in each city sight-seeing. I will then travel to York on the east coast and see where the Baroness Scrope was born and sight-see for 1 day. Then it is back finally to London where I hope to meet up with Richard. I would like to see the Changing of the Guard and tour Buckingham Palace, go inside Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, and St. Pauls Cathedral. I also want to take a day trip to Windsor Castle. I expect our tours to take approximate two-and-a-half to three days as I want time to really see and be at these places to soak up the history. I also want to give us time to enjoy the city at night as most of these locations close by 6 pm and may even close by 4pm. From London we will travel to Paris, France for approximately three days during which time we will take a boat on the Seine, see the Louvre, Notre Dame, Vaux le Vicomte, Le Tour Eiffel, L Arc de Triomphe and of course take a full day to see Versailles. I went to Rick Steve's website the other day and found a three day itinerary for Paris that includes all of these places along with fa full tour guide, price list, maps, bus info, etc for Versailles and many of the other attractions. In my book steve also suggests places to stay and eat. As I left my book behind in the states, I have to rely on the website but, the book has much more information. I may send for it.
Moving on from France, Richard and I will travel south into Spain. My original plan was to make a loop of the country while hitting the most well-known cities such as Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, and others that I cannot recall right now. This is the difficulty of leaving my info back home. Anyway, the hope is that we will be able to see the history, architecture, paintings/sculpture, food/drink,and culture of the country. I hope to focus on the period of the Renaissance. My hope is to get some understanding of how the royals and nobles of the country lived during the same time as their close relatives in England and Scotland and how their unique culture effected how they made decisions of state that led to the Spanish Armada, etc. I hope to research this in all the countries I visit.
The current plan is to end up in Barcelona where we will catch up to Ian, hooray! I hope that we will have scheduled dinner plans at someplace special and especially Barcelonan/Spanish where we can get that special photo of us three celebrating our blessed success in coming to the continent.
From Barcelona we may all three travel together to Bologna where we will part ways and Richard and I will continue on. Ian will remain behind in Bologna and then perhaps fly home from there. Richard and I will carry on over to Venice where we must take a moonlit gondola ride, with the best singer, along the waterways. According to Rick Steve's website the ride may cost up to 135 Euros so we need to be sure to save for it and plan it the moment we arrive in the city. Rick also suggests a short stay itinerary of the streets of Venice that we might want to complete. Richard may depart from Venice to Milan to fly home or he may choose to accompany me into the heart of Italy. I am on to Florence on the west coast, then on to Tuscany, thence to Rome with side trips to Ostia and Pompeii/Herculanium to see the museums. All during my travels in Italy I want to taste the regional food and wine, see the historic buildings and sites both Renaissance and Ancient. I plan to complete my travel in Rome and fly home on November 5 from Rome's Fiomenucci Airport, connecting through Washington, DC then, on finally to Portland, Oregon. This flight will take all day and I will arrive home around 8:30 to 9:00pm. I may alter my plans if I can afford to. I would love to see DC or any part of New England in the fall. I also want to see my dad and my cats in California. We will have to wait and see what happens to my finances.
Cost-wise I expect my trip to cost me $3000 Euros. That is approximately $5000-$6000. My current time line is detailed below...subject to changes in mood, weather, and discoveries of better or more places to see.
September 1: Give 30 days notice at Harvey Nichols and to flat mates.
September 15: Begin packing up un-needed items to ship home.
September 27: Mail home stuff.
September 30: Last day of work. Finish packing bags for travel.
October 1:Depart Edinburgh for Carlisle
October 1- Evening: Settle in to accommodations very near to Carlisle Castle, have dinner, sleep.
October 2 - Day: Dress up as Lady Margaret Howard, 9th Baroness Scrope of Bolton. Walk 'Home' to Carlisle Castle and take a tour of 'my' house. Also take a walk along Hadrians Wall.
October 2 - Evening: Have dinner, pack, and sleep.
October 3 - Day: Have Breakfast and check out of accommodations. Tour Carlisle castle and Hadrians wall if desired then travel to Bolton and check in at new accommodations.
October 4 - Day: Have breakfast, dress again as Baroness Scrope, tour Bolton Castle and meet with Tom Orde-Powlett, Manager of Bolton Castle. Also maybe meet the Right Honourable Lord Bolton.
October 4 - Evening: Have dinner, pack, and sleep.
Sunday, October 5 - Day: Have Breakfast and check out of accommodations. Tour Bolton castle and surrounding area if desired then travel to York and check in at new accommodation, have dinner, and sleep.
October 6 Day: Tour city and historic sites. Have dinner, pack, and sleep.
October 7: Breakfst, check out, and more touring of York till afternoon. Travel to London, meet up with Richard, check in to new accommodations, have dinner, sleep early.
October 8 - Day: See London sights in whatever order we decide.
October 8 - Evening: Have dinner, see city at night, sleep.
October 9 - Day: Finish sight seeing in London and Windsor.
October 9 - Evening: Dinner, pack,sleep.
October 10 - Day: Breakfast, check out, any last minute sight-seeing or souvenir shopping in London then, travel to Paris.
October 10 - Evening: Check in to new accommodations. Have dinner and take boat tour on Seine. Perhaps, combine. Sleep if possible.
October 11 - Day: See all that is Paris, following list above and Rick Steves itinerary.
October 12: Follow Rick Steves itinerary for Day 2 of France and Paris
October 13: Follow Rick Steves itinerary for Day 3 of Versailles. Back to Paris for dinner, packing up and sleep.
October 14: Breakfast, check out, last sight seeing and souvenir shopping in Paris. Travel south to Spain stopping in Provence, Avignon, Lyon, etc if desired or scheduled. There is a complete full moon this night.
October 15 to October ?: Open for France or Spain travels. TBA Plan to arrive in Barcelona in coordination with Ian. If I am correct this will be around October 23rd.
All right. This blog is just about long enough. here is the rest of the itinerary short and sweet.
Oct 15 - 23: Madrid with side trips to Tolded, Sevilla, and Andalucia then, on to Cinque Terre or see below.
10/23 Barcelona with Ian
10/24 Barcelona to Bologna with Ian
10/25 Bologna/Parma with Richard and Ian
10/26 Bologna/Parma with Ian and Richard. Ian to return to states?
10/27 Cinque Terre with Richard - a vacation from our vacation
10/28 Cinque Terre with Richard - more R and R
10/29 Venice
10/30 Venice
10/31 Venice - Part ways with Richard?
11/1 Florence
11/2 Tuscany to Rome
11/3 Rome - See Ostia
11/4 Rome - See Pompeii/Herculanium
11/5 Home to States
If I run out of money I will have to cut my trip short and will most likely cut one day off Paris and avoid the rest
of France, and head on to Barcelona to meet Ian. Things will also change when I hear from Richard about his availability and budget. And we both need to talk to Ian about his dates of travel and whether or not he wants to room and/or travel about with us much. I hope we will have much of our plans getting reserved with deposits at least in the next couple of weeks. We really need to have our plans in final stages if possible for London,Paris, Barcelona, Bologna/Parma, and all of Italy no later than end of July. We need to decide the kind of accommodations we want to stay at and the kind of eating and sight seeing we want to do. A reality I have discovered while here in the UK is that many things cost very little but it is amazing how many fun things there are to do. Add it all up and it costs a lot to see even one city. The city's are aware of this in the UK and so they have weekly bus passes, membership packages that cover many historic sites and make it very cheap to sight see, if you see at least three to five of the sights. Bear in mind that not all the sites are within the city limits. Some are as far as a one-hour bus ride including walking. Don't forget the added costs of food, refreshments, and souvenirs. Oh yes, and those extra sites that are not covered by your membership or day ticket that you didn't know about but now have to go and see.
I need to review Rick Steve's website very closely for budget guidelines. I need to add it all up and see the grand totals. This will be in my next novel, I mean blog. hehe Toodles!
Monday, 30 June 2008
Looking for a Shoulder to Cry On
I am ready to cry. I have had more difficulties with my money situations than I could ever have anticipated or been made aware of. Let me warn anyone who would like to come abroad to beware. The delays in approval for a bank account, the limited availability of funds, and limited access to those funds makes it very upsetting whenever you need to spend your money. It took me almost three weeks to get access to my money and then only at a UK bank in branch as I needed a pin code to use an ATM machine but because I moved from London to Oban during that time my pin code went to my london BUNAC address and sat there while they waited for me to come claim the letter. Then in Oban there was no National Westiminster Bank at all for me to go in - branch to. They were partnered with Royal Bank of Scotland but you can only withdraw money at an ATM with your pin which mine was in London. Then there was the added expense of moving to Oban. It cost me $224 US because the train company did not take my UK card with a pin code and it could not be used as a credit card. Then you have to be prepared to survive until you get paid in a month after you begin working. And you have to accept that you are going to get screwed financially as minimum wage is only 5.52/hour. Imagine working in the US for only $5.52/hour. You cannot live on that wage in either country. Because it is so difficult to live on that wage, I have been living off my travel funds for Europe. I set aside $6000 and am almost down to $4000 in savings. Once I convert that money to Euros I will lose 1/3 of my money. This means I may have to cut my European travels in half. I had hoped that my UK earnings would go farther and I would be able to reimburse myself but that has not happened. If my paychecks are not sufficient I dont know what I will do as my school advised me that I need to stay in my job until October to show length of work experience. Yet to do so could mean I have to potentially completely scrap my travels to the EU. I have been praying every day to have things improve. I am grateful that my flatmates are being extremely understanding and patient but it is embarrassing to commit to paying a deposit and not be able to pay it until the month is out. My flat mates still dont have all the deposit. I still owe them 100pounds and now I also owe them rent of 350. I am scared that my paycheck wont be enough to cover it and leave me enough to live until next payday at the last day of July. As it is, I should have been paid by direct deposit today and there is no money posted to my account. I have 18 pounds to my name right now. Part of me is ready to just chuck everything, quit my job,and just start traveling to the continent until my savings runs out. I see no silver lining or light at the end of the tunnel. I could go on. Yes there is more that I havent shared. There is so much s^%t and my hands are hurting just trying to get it all out. I still dont feel any better. I am watching a review of Star Wars on TV and I am reminded of all the lessons I learned from Obi Wan and I am feeling a little better. I will go and mediate on his teachings. May the force be with us all.
Friday, 27 June 2008
Things you cannot live without
So it is perhaps inevitable that after 3 months of trying to get by in the U.K. without certain niceities, it seems that I am going to give in to temptation and a desire to save money, and I am going to ask my family to send me anouther care package. This time I am going to ask for things that will help me feel better and fit in at work. I am also going to request their help to fulfill a request that has the potential to change my life forever. So the things we girls sometimes need to help us feel better are cosmetics. As I have not gotten paid yet, will not have enough in Pounds to buy anything good, plus the fact that I have a small suitcase full of cosmetics, I am hoping my mom will send me what I need. I was lucky to get my brushes, a mascara, some lip balm, and my perfume however I really wish the mascara was black,and that my perfume was actually my Estee Lauder Intuition lotion and perfume. I have also found that due to the grey and wet weather that my bronzer does little to cover the sallow look of my skin so it would be good for me to wear foundation make up. Thankfully I already have some color-matched in my Mary Kay collection. I will probably go through a brand new tube since even though it is now summer here, the weather is more winter to spring like. I am not surprised that all the women at Harvey Nichols wear make-up. It is a High Street fashion store so they all want to look their best. It will help me to use my Mary Kay color kit since it is a small, cute, silver case that holds 3 eye shades, 1 rouge, plus a matching lipstick all together. I think my mom sent me the lipstick already so the kit will be complete. Once I have my pretty face made pretier I will need to have the essential products to take it all off. A selection of Mary Kay products specific to each purpose will ensure that my skin stays looking young and more lively than it does right now. The purple bottle of eye make-up remover, a white bottle of cream cleanser, a blue bottle of toner, and a smaller white bottle of moisturizer are the basic tools of a great skin care regimen.
In case anyone has not figured it out yet, I am not this journalistic. The truth is that I still cannot afford to go to the cyber cafe and I do not yet have the ability to email people from home so, I have to write somewhat cryptic and more entertaining blogs that hopefully are informative and get my messages out to those I need to reach.
Something else that should help a single and searching girl attract her man is a stunning dress. I am really wanting to have my family send me my Coffee and Cream Zebra Print wool dress, White dress blouse, and Yellow Polka Dot belt from my J.Crew clothes. I also have to give in and realize that even in Edinburgh a girl is nowhere without her best handbag. I am going to risk using my Burgundy Patent Leather bag I got at Nordstroms instead of the cheap brown purse I brought. I am also going to upgrade as this brown bag is now falling apart due to a pin in the handle falling out. I have already had the pin replaced once before and now that the bag is scratched up on the outside, I would rather let the bag go for a newer one. I hope that Ian and his eco-friendly friends will not hold this against me. I figure that the dress, shirt, belt, and a short slip will all fit in the red handbag for easy mailing. I also imagine wearing this outfit when I am traveling around France, Spain, and Italy in October and November.
The most important request I have to make of my Mom, Ian, and Sarah is to search my storage unit, gather, carefully wrap and ship my entire Baroness Scrope Golden Gown Ensemble, hat included. I have been telling people at the Palace at Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh Castle, Mercat Tours, local booksellers, and also the current General Manager of Bolton Castle all about my interest in Mary, Queen of Scots and her relationship with Baroness Scrope, and all of the people I talk to have told me to participate in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August and the GM at Bolton is considering hiring me to play the Lady Scrope at the castle as well. Wearing the golden gown with all the accessories and presenting my storyand the story of Queen Mary Stuart and Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk could mean greater opportunites for me to start my hotel/restaurant concept here in the UK instead of having to copy and duplicate what already exists here.
I am worried about the expense of sending all of these above items overseas yet I don't see how I can go without them as they could have a direct effect on my future dreams of success and happiness. I would love to hear peoples opinions about this. Encouragement is also greatly appreciated.
Living and working abroad for six months and living like a backpacker is not recommended. I am looking forward to my travels through Europe with Ian and our friend Richard when living out of a backpack will make more sense. I still plan to go and look my best. And in talking to Richard by mobile phones recently it seems we will be staying in places better than hostels for backpackers. Thank you Richard. xx
Stay tuned everyone as my next blog will outline all the places I/We plan to travel in Europe with a day by day itinerary. For anyone who would like to see how I am organizing this trip feel free to check out RickSteves.com. I bought his Europe through the Back Door 2008 book, and used it, along with his website itineraries and suggestions about sites to see and places to stay, as the foundation and inspiration for what I hope will be a dream trip to the continent.
In case anyone has not figured it out yet, I am not this journalistic. The truth is that I still cannot afford to go to the cyber cafe and I do not yet have the ability to email people from home so, I have to write somewhat cryptic and more entertaining blogs that hopefully are informative and get my messages out to those I need to reach.
Something else that should help a single and searching girl attract her man is a stunning dress. I am really wanting to have my family send me my Coffee and Cream Zebra Print wool dress, White dress blouse, and Yellow Polka Dot belt from my J.Crew clothes. I also have to give in and realize that even in Edinburgh a girl is nowhere without her best handbag. I am going to risk using my Burgundy Patent Leather bag I got at Nordstroms instead of the cheap brown purse I brought. I am also going to upgrade as this brown bag is now falling apart due to a pin in the handle falling out. I have already had the pin replaced once before and now that the bag is scratched up on the outside, I would rather let the bag go for a newer one. I hope that Ian and his eco-friendly friends will not hold this against me. I figure that the dress, shirt, belt, and a short slip will all fit in the red handbag for easy mailing. I also imagine wearing this outfit when I am traveling around France, Spain, and Italy in October and November.
The most important request I have to make of my Mom, Ian, and Sarah is to search my storage unit, gather, carefully wrap and ship my entire Baroness Scrope Golden Gown Ensemble, hat included. I have been telling people at the Palace at Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh Castle, Mercat Tours, local booksellers, and also the current General Manager of Bolton Castle all about my interest in Mary, Queen of Scots and her relationship with Baroness Scrope, and all of the people I talk to have told me to participate in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August and the GM at Bolton is considering hiring me to play the Lady Scrope at the castle as well. Wearing the golden gown with all the accessories and presenting my storyand the story of Queen Mary Stuart and Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk could mean greater opportunites for me to start my hotel/restaurant concept here in the UK instead of having to copy and duplicate what already exists here.
I am worried about the expense of sending all of these above items overseas yet I don't see how I can go without them as they could have a direct effect on my future dreams of success and happiness. I would love to hear peoples opinions about this. Encouragement is also greatly appreciated.
Living and working abroad for six months and living like a backpacker is not recommended. I am looking forward to my travels through Europe with Ian and our friend Richard when living out of a backpack will make more sense. I still plan to go and look my best. And in talking to Richard by mobile phones recently it seems we will be staying in places better than hostels for backpackers. Thank you Richard. xx
Stay tuned everyone as my next blog will outline all the places I/We plan to travel in Europe with a day by day itinerary. For anyone who would like to see how I am organizing this trip feel free to check out RickSteves.com. I bought his Europe through the Back Door 2008 book, and used it, along with his website itineraries and suggestions about sites to see and places to stay, as the foundation and inspiration for what I hope will be a dream trip to the continent.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
The Best Parts of Living Abroad
The best parts of living abroad are when you win the contest at your new job for getting the most correct answers on a cocktail training quiz and get a cocktail shaker set and corkscrew. It is great to be the new kid on the block and win the prize. I asked my manager if he had heard who won the prize, he said no, I told humbly told him it was me. He smiled and congratulated me. I subtly asked him if I might be able to be considered for cross training in the bar and he said it might be possible. We will see.
The other cool thing about working abroad is when you get to meet foreign celebrities. Today I met and served lattes to J.K. Rowling!!! I s*^t you not. OMG! You will all be proud of me, I kept my cool. I was polite and unassuming. She was kind and very quite as she was only in for a bit to work on her lastest novel. She brought with her a large journal and was writing quite diligently in it the whole time. I left her to work, only disturbing her when her cup was empty. She thanked me on her way out. In actuality I did not recognize her. It was only when I let my fellow server, Brie, know that I would take care of the new guest on table 70 that she told me who it was I would be helping. Ms. Rowling was very reserved dressed in her navy blue suit. Truthfully, I was not that excited to be serving her, it was just neat to know that she comes in to our brasserie. I am a fan of hers, but not a die-hard one.
The other cool thing about working abroad is when you get to meet foreign celebrities. Today I met and served lattes to J.K. Rowling!!! I s*^t you not. OMG! You will all be proud of me, I kept my cool. I was polite and unassuming. She was kind and very quite as she was only in for a bit to work on her lastest novel. She brought with her a large journal and was writing quite diligently in it the whole time. I left her to work, only disturbing her when her cup was empty. She thanked me on her way out. In actuality I did not recognize her. It was only when I let my fellow server, Brie, know that I would take care of the new guest on table 70 that she told me who it was I would be helping. Ms. Rowling was very reserved dressed in her navy blue suit. Truthfully, I was not that excited to be serving her, it was just neat to know that she comes in to our brasserie. I am a fan of hers, but not a die-hard one.
Friday, 20 June 2008
What have I been up to?
So, another week has passed. What have I been up to? Working. I just got a job at a place called Harvey Nichols. I work in the Forth Floor Restaurant and Brasserie as a full-time waitress/receptionist. Harvey Nichols is an upscale department store that also has high-end restaurants at all of their locations. I am at the store in Edinburgh, Scotland. I have been on the job since Monday June 11, 2008. It is a challenging position I am in as the company has set up the staff to only be responsible for small parts of the running of the business. For example, Waiters only ever take orders, and stay on the brasserie/restaurant floor. They are not required to go back to tables to check on guests or anticipate their needs for additional food/drinks. Instead, a head waiter is supposed to check on guests and see how their meal is and to get them any extra things. In addition, waiters rotate to the kitchen Pass area once per week to run food out to guests. This would be helpful to the waiter except that there is no way for the Pass person to know who ordered what food so the Pass is made by auctioning off the food at the table to whoever claims it. This is a huge no-no in upscale service. But of course when I ask about this at work I am told that service in the Brasserie is more casual. Maybe so, but we are supposed to be an upscale brasserie. I dont get it. Oh yeah, and at reception desk the hostesses just let guests completely dictate where they will be sat even though it upsets them that guests are so forward. They say that because we are an upscale brasserie and there are great window views that guests expect to get window seats always. But what about what I said a bit ago about auctioning off food not being upscale? Also, because they let the guests sort of decide where they want to sit, waiters can get multiple tables occupied in their section all at one time. This means they are sometimes triple-sat within 5 minutes time!!! When I asked why we don't make the guest wait a bit or sit elsewhere than by the window, they say , "We cant do that the guest will get angry." Yeah well I say, " What about the guests getting angry because they get bad service due to being ignored by an overworked server?!" The receptionists make it very bad for the waiter and very bad for customer service. No wonder guests are always saying that they are left waiting to be served and do not know who or where there waiter is. And then of course everyone complains about hospitality service in the UK as being shity. No wonder, the staff do not support each other. Be lucky you live in America my family and friends. It may cost more to eat out back home but it is worth it.
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
The Middle of the Beginning
So my friends and family, here is the beginning of my international blog. It is entitled the middle because I am now three months into my trip and am just now beginning this blog that was to have been started the day I arrived abroad. If I had been given more accurate information by BUNAC, the visa agency who helped me to come over, I would have known that it is easier, cheaper, and more convenient to bring my own lap top computer. As it is I have been very busy looking for work, actually working, or out sight-seeing. I have not been at a computer keyboard much at all. But I will endeavor to update this blog on a weekly basis at least. I cannot promise this however so I appreciate your patience and understanding. Please feel free to send me messages via this blog as I am having email difficulties now too. Oh what fun it is to travel abroad!!
So it is now 945 pm Edinburgh time, it is raining heavily, and my roommate Chiyo and her mother just returned home from a trip to London. I will be in touch soon.
Hugs to all.
Adina
So it is now 945 pm Edinburgh time, it is raining heavily, and my roommate Chiyo and her mother just returned home from a trip to London. I will be in touch soon.
Hugs to all.
Adina
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)