Where in the World Wednesday

Image

Brixton, London, England; September 2, 2014

I Climbed Arthur’s Seat and All I Got Were These Amazing Views

Posted on August 21, 2014 by lisafindley

On my second to last day in Edinburgh, I climbed the volcanic hills that loom over the city. Arthur’s Seat, the craggy bit at the very top, is maybe named for King Arthur, or is maybe a corruption of Gaelic for “Archer’s Seat,” but since I’ve scrambled up it, I think it’s maybe a rough translation of the heavy breathing noises you make when you reach the top: “ah…dur…hee.” It’s steep, y’all.

Panoramic Edinburgh

Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park

There are several different paths to the top, and when I approached from the southwest, I was met with three of these. As in fairy tales, the paths seemed to offer clear choices: the first led downhill, away from the goal; the third went nearly straight up, via steep stairs; and the second sloped gently up, though the path was lined with thistles. My path was clearly the middle way, so up I went, encountering a few rocky stairs but mostly just a steady gravelly incline.

Taking the middle path

Going basically straight up

The final part of the ascent is rock scrambling, which is a lot of fun going up, and not any fun coming down. About thirty people milled around up there, taking selfies while taking care not to get too close to the edge (except for the guys wearing Men’s Fitness Test t-shirts, of course, who actively sought out the steepest route to descend by).

A scramble to the sunny peak

Wild heather on the hillside

The whole city is spread out around you–there’s the Royal Mile with the castle at the end, the Ferris wheel by the train tracks, the Meadows, and over there, the North Sea, golf links, a few fields of grain. It was beautiful up there, and the wind only picked up as I started to head down, so I didn’t have to fight that on my climb.

Crow? Raven? Lovely black bird surveying her domain, anyway

View from the top

I took tiny steps on the steeper part of the walk down, so that I wouldn’t put a foot wrong and twist my ankle or go tumbling. I chanted to myself, “step like a goat, like a delicate little goat,” which got me a few stares until I stopped saying it out loud.

Look, Ma, no worse ankle sprains than usual!

I can’t believe it didn’t rain on me once the whole climb

I loved visiting the wilderness in the heart of the city, and I can see why Liz does it every time she comes to Edinburgh. It’s a little challenge, and a lot of reward.

Breathtaking

Where in the World Wednesday

Image

Chipping Norton, England; August 4, 2014

Sunrise, Sunset

Image

Sunset, Somewhere between London and Edinburgh

Sunrise, Sunset

Image

Sunset, London, England

Where in the World Wednesday

Image

Bewdley, England; July 25, 2014

Awesome August

Posted on August 4, 2014 by lisafindley

Just a short update on how my August is shaping up (spoiler: it’s going to be great). Tomorrow, my 16-year-old cousin and goddaughter will join me on a short trip to Belgium. Neither of us has been before, and we’re excited to spend a couple days in Bruges and three days in Brussels. I figure I’ll eat and drink my weight in chocolate and beer, wander around the medieval squares and old canals, and check out some museums. I haven’t seen hostel lockouts in a long time, but all the places I looked at in Belgium seem to have them as a matter of course–from 11am to 3pm, you have to leave the hostel so they can clean. Most other places now are just cleaning around people, but I see why that would be annoying. Obviously, those are times you’d plan to be out sightseeing anyway, but if it’s a cold, rainy day, that’s less appealing, so wish us good luck with the weather.

On August 11, I fly from Brussels to London Gatwick airport. I have a seven-hour layover and then fly from Gatwick to Edinburgh. I’ll spend a week in Edinburgh, helping out at my friend’s Free Fringe show, seeing as many Edinburgh sights and Fringe shows as possible, and even performing! For three nights, I’ll be part of the Stand Up Tragedy lineup, telling the tale of how I was hit by a car in Vietnam. It’ll be funny and sad, so if you’re in Edinburgh during that week, stop on by. I’ve wanted to be in Edinburgh for the Festival (opera, theater, highbrow stuff) and the Fringe Festival (all types of performance art, much of it experimental or emerging) for years, so I’m excited to be there, and it’s a bonus to perform. Stand Up Tragedy is run by my friend Dave, who interviewed me for his Getting Better Acquainted podcast last year.

Incidentally, if you have a few coins to spare, you can help Stand Up Tragedy keep afloat at the festival by going to the right-hand column on their website and donating via PayPal. Free Fringe came about as a response to the high costs performers had to pay to get a venue at the Fringe, so while performers don’t pay for their venue at Free Fringe, they still have to pay travel and accommodation costs.

After August 18, I’ll be back in London, job searching in earnest, keeping Stowaway updated, visiting with friends and family, and working on some longer travel pieces. The amazingly sunny weather I’ve experienced in England this year can’t last forever, but this August might be awesome enough to give me some warm days to close out the summer. Hope your August is full of fun and things you love as well!

A Day at the Lambeth Country Show

Posted on July 22, 2014 by lisafindley

It took til midsummer, but I finally got to my first festival of this year. Brockwell Park, in southwest London, has hosted the Lambeth Country Show for the last forty years. It’s a big ol’ party, with a large music tent, a crafts area, booths for various charities, tons of food stalls, and a farm and livestock area. People from all over the district come to have a day out in the country in the middle of London.

That's an English place--bouncy castles, food tents, church spires

That’s an English place–bouncy castles and church spires

Tasty meatballs stand

Fuuuun!

The excellent Liz, who along with her flatmates is hosting me in London this summer, was working at the Bee Urban tent. Bee Urban keeps bees at a lodge in the city, and it educates people on how to plant flowers that will attract bees. I helped out at their candle-rolling station, showing five-year-olds how to press the wick into the wax and carefully roll it up and stick it with a pin to keep it all in place. The kids were all adorable, and so pleased with what they created.

Let’s make candles

Various tents had falcons, geese, and owls

Naturally, when we heard there was camel racing, we had to go see that. The announcer was great, nonstop chatter about the camels and their jockeys. Her favorite camel was Bertie, the youngest of them all, with the longest legs, which shows promise for speed in the future, but for now, Bertie hardly knew what to do with them. He galloped like kids do when they’re pretending to be horses–galump, galump–not the smoother pace of the older camels. Maybe next year he’ll be a winner.

The race started when the four camels were more or less facing the same direction

For once, Bertie was not last

I ate a pork-and-stuffing-and-applesauce sandwich (delicious), lay on the grass in the summer sun and listened to classic reggae (blissful), and watched dozens of kids running around gleefully, their faces painted and their hands sticky with sweets (beyond adorable). It was a perfect festival day, right up until the point the skies opened up and drenched everyone in rain so torrential that the fair was closed only about twenty minutes later. Even that is kind of part of the full festival experience, though, isn’t it?