Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Supplemental Photos

Since the United Kingdom's weather is so poor and it is raining most days, it makes most sense to take my iphone to places my nicer camera dare not venture.  Therefore the majority of my everyday photos will be turning up on the feed below. Please czech is out if you get a chance.




Thanks so much

Sunday, February 19, 2012

The Last 4 Days

So I haven't been the best at posting lately. Time has been passing quite fast recently.  I'll hit some main exciting points in the week and then add some photos in occasionally to keep the interest high.

Wesley took me to a great little coffee shop in the West End (nice up beat and more lively area of Glasgow where surrounding the University of Glasgow)It was called Artisan Coffee. It reminded me of a more down to earth Kreutzberg CA in slo. great coffee. poor overs, chemex, nice lattes. wonderful atmosphere. it's funny, coffee here isn't like coffee at home,  most places you go, you'll ask for coffee and the server will give you a look as if beckoning for a more developed answer, which they are. You see, a normal "cup of coffee" in the states is sensibly called an Americano in Scotland. fitting i guess.

Since it's been raining and freezing cold since i've been here, it's allowed me to dig in and get some good reading done in the screwtape letters and Lord of the Rings Part 2: The Two Towers.  Great books.

Been eating well. Haggis, Turkish Kebabs, Fish and Chips, Spaghetti Carbonara (Helen's speciality), and loads of good British tea, ciders, and beer.

A Play, A Pie, and A Pint is exactly what it sounds.  Wes and I went to a renovated old church and watched a play while eating a meat pie and drinking a pint of guinness.  It was such a great idea. Loved it.

One fine rainy day, I had the opportunity to go on a sweet run in the rain down the River Clyde.  This is main river that flows perpendicularly to the City Centre of Glasgow.  Felt great to get out and run for a bit.  helped rid my body of the left over jet lag.

Been blessed to be introduced to some of the Wes and Helen's awesome friends.  Malcolm, Richard, Kevin, Ruth, Moira. All great folk.

Wesley, Helen, Malcolm, and I had the opportunity to celebrate Wesley's birthday by taking a wee trip north about 40 minutes to a lake just north of Glasgow called Loch Lomond.  There we hired a flat for the night and were able to hill walking (hiking) for the day.  Had dinner at a sweet little pub that night.  sat, talked, and nursed some pints for the about 3 hours.  fabulous time.  then went back to the flat and told stories and played games.  then today, we went canoeing on the loch to a small island inhabited by 30 deer, 10 of them being white. pretty cool.  still a bit sore in the shoulders from all the rowing, but it was so worthwhile.  The whole trip was amazing.  The saying here goes " you can experience every type of weather in the course of 20 minutes in scotland." Well that saying held true while we were up in Loch Lomond. We experienced rain, snow, clouds and perfect sunny weather in one day.  crazy.

Twins

Wes, Helen, Malcolm, and Me 

Skipping stones on the loch

Loch Lomond


Monday, February 13, 2012

Glasgow::: Arrival

Flights went well. Arrived in Glasgow near 7:30am this morning to open arms of Wesley and Helen. Had some wonderfully Scottish breakfast in the West End consisting of poached eggs and sausage on a warm ciabatta roll.  Fantastic. Then, Helen, Wes, and I trounced around some small alley ways and some more major city streets popping into little nuanced antique and second hand shops, saw the Glasgow botanical gardens, and got some incredible Turkish Food. All this and only a couple of hours of sleep since sunday morning.   Weather: high s of mid 40's F, chilly wind but the sun came out.  Quite a nice change, so they tell me, from their recent more frigid and grey weather.

just laying around at wes' flat

Breakfast at the West Bank Cafe