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.
Sunday, 20 July 2008
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!
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