Our Month in Spain - A Recap

Well, our housesitting assignment and therefore our time in Spain has come to an end. So, time for a recap! It's been an...interesting 4 weeks with great and not so great experiences. But overall we gained a love for Spain, and the feeling that we did a great job of seeing so much in the Region of Murcia. Due to an urgent family need, Jon boarded a flight early this morning to Madrid and then on to Seattle, Washington. He'll be gone for 10 days while I'm working my way up the Mediterranean coast to meet him when he returns in Frankfurt on the 29th of August.  It's weird - we haven't been apart for more than 3 days since June 2012! But that's a different blog post. We're moving from housesitting to try our hand at a work exchange and will be traveling to Todi, Italy in Tuscany from September 2-17 to tend a vineyard and help build a cantina. But anyway, on to the recap. The Beaches of Costa Calida in August

Although our 'home' for the month is basically in the middle of nowhere, we couldn't miss out on taking advantage of our region, aptly called "Home of the Sun." We made a point to visit the beach as often as we could. The beaches of Mar Menor are about 45 minutes from our housesit, but we decided to spend our time on the Mediterranean, which took us further south towards Cartegena and down the coast.

By far our favorite beaches became those at the Parque Regional de Calblanque. The water is crystal clear, the perfect temperature and not too rough. It's a bit of a drive, but so so beautiful. It's also nice that it's... 'naturalist' friendly because I discovered that I really do NOT enjoy tan lines...

We visited the town of Aguilas, south of Cartagena, a beautiful town right on the water, surrounded by coves and rocky cliffs. Aguilas, like La Union, has a great arts scene and there was a beautiful modern performing arts center just opened in 2011. It's so clear that everything inland really does close in August and that Spaniards head to the coast. Where Murcia and the town centers are like ghost towns, the coast is hopping - with multiple cultural and sporting events almost every night of the week.

We drove past Aguilas to try and find a spot in one of the many beautiful little cove beaches. We drove out of town and down a little road and were shocked at what we saw. Not just umbrellas and towels - but tiny little beaches packed with camping tents, tables, chairs stacks of coolers and people everywhere. These people come prepared to spend all hours of the day, with multiple meals and plenty of beverages. This was in the middle of the week! It wasn't just a case of a crowded beach - this is beach culture in its essence.

You know how guidebooks give you advice on when to go to a place and when not to because "beaches are crowded?" Yeah, they don't really tell you just how crowded they can be. When we arrived in late July, the beaches were occupied but not dominated. It's crazy to think that in about 8 days the beaches will probably be empty again.

Anyway. Note: do not go to the beach in August in Spain (except that it's awesome and beautiful and I actually have a tan, yipee).

Valle de Ricote Towns

Driving north out of Murcia, we drove up into the Valle de Ricote along the Rio Segura. A completely different setting from the wide flat valley of Murcia, the Valle de Ricote is complete with dramatic jagged rocky mountains, a green narrow river valley, and adorable little hill towns with small plazas and flags hanging between buildings over the street. Each little town has it's own specialty: Archena for  traditional sausages; Ojos for sweet sugary poundcakes; wine in Ricote; water wheels and bullfighting in Blanca and so on. It felt worlds away from the busy highways, industrial centers and urbanization near where we've been staying. Definitely worth a visit!

Driving in Spain

Speaking of driving - doing it in Spain sucks. It's like transportation planners tried to think of every contingency situation and overcompensated with every kind of sign on top of one another. Add roundabouts with lights in the middle of them, highway merge lanes where cars just come to a complete stop before entering traffic that's going 70mph and signs that tell you a town name, but have no directions (as in north, sound, east, west) and you've got a complete cluster f*!k.

Housesitting

It can't be understated how fortunate we feel for being able to spend 7 weeks overseas with free accommodations because of the housesitting assignments we've taken. That's pretty awesome. I do think that doing this for a vacation and having a home somewhere would be an amazing and inexpensive way to travel for the future. For us, it didn't quite deliver on what we hoped for.

First, we have yet to meet a single Spaniard. That's really sad since Jon is already gone and I'm leaving Wednesday. The two assignments we've taken were both very rural and therefore very isolated. Because of tourist season and the increased chance of non-Spaniards being stopped on the road, going out at night and even having one drink is out of the question. It makes us really love our 3 days in Alicante, when we stayed right in town and could be part of the action.

I've also learned that 5 dogs in a small space and 5 indoor cats in a one bedroom house is a recipe for disaster a less than desirable situation. We've scooped more kitty litter and cleaned up more animal mess than I ever want to. Uck. Really, this whole assignment would have been fine if we had a pool :)

Regardless, I'm incredibly grateful for our time here, and I love Spain more than ever. I love the sun, the food, the pace of life. And even though I spent years learning to speak French, I really enjoy speaking Spanish. I look forward to sharing the next 10 days of adventure with you.

Cheers.

Festival Cante de las Minas

Last Friday night Jon and I had a blast. Near dusk we drove about 45 minutes south towards Cartagena to a small inland mining town called La Union for the 53rd Annual Festival Cante de las Minas, or "Songs of the Mines." The chance to go see an international flamenco festival was one not to pass up. Plus, the cheapy tickets were only 10 euro per person, how could we go wrong? The first half of the 10 day festival is all presentation of individual artists, and the second half is a competition. Since we were only going to afford one night of tickets, we opted for a competition night in order to see all the kinds of flamenco: singing, dance, and instrumentation.

As mentioned, La Union has a heritage in mining - primarily silver, alum, iron ore and other minerals; and apparently given the richness of the soil and the proximity to Cartagena (see my last post on the city), played an extremely important economic role in the Mediterranean economy (source: Discover Costa Calida). The mining community gave way to a rich folkloric tradition and La Union has now become home to not only the Festival we attended, but is clearly an arts center in the area. The large central indoor market was even converted into a performance venue. As an arts person, this union (no pun intended) between mining and arts is fascinating, and I love seeing how industry and culture are intertwined here.

Although the festival is billed as "international" and world-renowned - which I'm sure it is - I'm fairly certain we were the only English speaking people there, and certainly the only Americans within a 20 mile radius. Even the ticket office didn't have any English speakers (nor did they take credit cards...).  But we showed up around 7pm, explored the little town, and settled down on the main plaza for a cañas (small glass of beer) and tapas. The square was filled with little kids jump-roping and families enjoying the coolness of the evening - such is the Spanish way - all generations out together. I love it.

I want to highlight a few moments in the night, because, in addition to the guitar and the harmonica, the singing and dancing soloists were truly amazing. I also have to say that not only were the musicians great, but it was just as much fun to watch the audience react, with a hearty, "Olé!!" when they were impressed. This, by no means, is not a culture that remains passive.

Baile - Dance

Woah. Before I say anything about traditional and professional flamenco dance. You just have to see it.

When I came to Spain with my family in 2001, we went to Sevilla and found an amazing locals tavern. There were about 10 chairs lined up, occupied by 2 or 3 guitarists and the rest clappers and singers. It wasn't a show, it was just a night out. People from the audience would come in and dance a bit and then switch out. Actually it's very similar to neighborhood dance parties in Mali and Senegal. But I digress. The point is that it was very participatory.

This was something entirely different. 1 Guitarist, 2 singers and 3 others clapping. And, then, that guy: Eduardo José Guerrero Gonzàlez. He strode in, more like glided in and proceeded to give 2 performances unlike anything I've ever seen. I'm not exaggerating. Sitting on the edge of my seat, with chills, I watched as this person danced with such a power, grace, passion and energy that I really have never seen. It was angular and sudden, but smooth and fluid at the same time. Jon and I were both dumbfounded at the end of his performance. In so many ways, the baile for men is easily linked to the art of bullfighting. The movements, the sudden attacks, the provocation - you see the matador in the dancer.

So as I was watching this incredible feat of human artistry I started to think about the art of bullfighting. It's not bullfighting season, we'll miss it by a few weeks (since Spain is essentially closed in August). I understand that there are a lot of people out there that think bullfighting should be banned, that it's cruel and dangerous. Well, I'm not disputing that it's cruel and dangerous. Just during our first few days here a young 16 year old boy was gored to death during a run of the bulls in Spain. And in the ring, it is a fight to the death - either the matador or the bull. But if you watch bullfighting - you see the art. You see the depth of the tradition, and the richness of the cultural expression. From the ceremony, to the running of the bulls, to the fights, to the costumes and fresh in my mind - to the dance - bullfighting runs in the veins of the Spanish. Art, music and dance runs in the veins of this culture as well. And it became crystal clear to me that you can't separate the two.

I think that in our American culture we rarely see the arts so clearly expressed in sport, and very rarely do we see sport reflected in the arts. But last night while I was watching the dancer, not only did I see the matador, I realized that in the matador is also the dancer. To see these two uniquely Spanish traditions blended into one was beautiful. It was the highlight of the evening for me.

Cante - Singing

When we left the show at 2am, Jon asked me, "Yeah, so the signing, it sounds like..." and before he could answer I said, "Quranic chant? Yes, it does and it should - it's the Moorish influence left on the music tradition."  (Thank you Lewis & Clark for all those ethnomusicology classes!) Flamenco singing is powerful, intense and for lack of better words, just really interesting and impressive. We saw 4 singers as part of the competition, 3 men and 1 woman. The first singer came out swinging, with huge notes and unbelievable projection. The second slow played it a bit, was much more casual in his performance, but was really incredible. The third singer left us wondering how 10 euros could possibly be better spent (that was just before the dance performance!). His first song was quiet, the son Mineras - for the miners - and we both commented, "huh he's not as impressive as the last guy." But we were wrong. The control, the emotion, the tiny pitch fluxations (or half and quarter tones if you're into music theory), not to mention the stupidly long amount of time he for which he could hold a pitch, again, was just incredible.

The singers performed traditional songs. Even people in the audience next to us were singing along. I know this sounds silly, but it's something I love about Spain - just how Spanish everyone is. They wear their culture on their sleeve - it's beautiful.

Overall it was a truly wonderful evening of music and art. I'm so grateful that we were able to experience it!

What have some of your favorite/best overseas arts or cultural experiences been?

Mar Menor & Cartagena, Spain

The post is overdue, I know, sorry about that. You know that the idea of "Seeking Fireflies" is about travel and inspiration. Well, unfortunately I can't say that our lack of writing is due to an overwhelming influx of inspiration. No, just laziness, and not a whole lot of activity. But! We have had the pleasure of visiting some of our surrounding areas which include the Mar Menor and the ancient Roman port city of Cartagena (not the one in Colombia...). Mar Menor

Mar Menor is an inland lagoon south of Alicante on the Costa Calida. It's 170 square kilometers of no more than 22 foot deep water. The lagoon is bordered by a thin strip of sandbar called La Manga that's only 350 feet wide at it's thinest. The lagoon water is flat, warm and a haven for watersports. The Mediterranean side has great beaches and swimming. So naturally you think, "Oh, there's probably so much open space and it's charming!"

But on the contrary. That little strip of land? It's completely developed with high rise apartments and hotels. Oh, and do you want a full English breakfast? Yep, you can find it here! This is where the Spanish and apparently the English come to holiday. There's very little that's natural about it. I will say that it's a great place for families, given that the lagoon is so shallow and warm.

On our wedding anniversary (hooray!!) we opted to surprise each other with separate activities. Jon took us to the lovely Calblanque beach down the coast of Mar Menor and I had opted to have us go kayaking on Mar Menor. The beach-going in the amazing natural reserve was beautiful and lovely. It was a Tuesday, but apparently that didn't mean uncrowded beaches. I'll tell you why in a bit. But driving up and down La Manga looking for the watersports rentals was not so lovely. Not that I'd ever thought about what a highly developed tiny strip of land might look like - now I know - Ew. And not that I'd ever thought about how to service the thousands of people that occupy this little strip - now I know, it's a smelly, sewer-y prospect. Double Ew. Thank goodness Jon planned a nice day at the beach!

We also decided to visit Los Alcazares, the main town on the lagoon side. Again, I can totally see why Spaniards and foreigners alike go to these charming beachy towns, with long waterfront walks and beachfront cafes. But for us, the beach is crowded and we prefer the tiny, gentle and clear coves of the Mediterranean. Seriously, who wouldn't?! I still want to go kayaking though. Or sailing, that would be nice too. We did end the day with a big bowl of ice cream, that even came with a sparkly "Date una Fiesta" poof on top - it's as if they knew!

Oh and going back to the note about why the beaches are crowded. Interestingly, most Spaniards apparently have 2 residencies. One in the place they work, and a second shared by the family at the coast. Given that it is SO hot in Spain in August, the country essentially closes and everyone goes to the beach. We've been on both a Monday and Tuesday, and on one day, there were lines to go to the beach because the car park was overflowed. Wow. So much for those cozy private beaches. It's not so bad - the Spanish are incredibly friendly, and...well, very attractive. It's good people watching :)

Cartagena

Love. This. City. For the history lovers, this town is oozing with historical significance. Founded during Phoenician times and central to the Roman Empire (known as Carthago Nova - new Carthage), Cartagena was and still is one of the major naval ports in the Mediterranean (source: wikipedia). It's also apparently one of the deepest ports in the world. Upon our arrival, we walked right up to the water, which is, because it's an active port, a built-up approach. Thinking it's a busy commercial place, one would figure that the water would be murky. But no, the water right in central Cartagena is perfectly blue and clear with little fishys swimming. It was so inviting I wanted to jump right in! We couldn't believe how clean and clear it was.

Cartegena's old city is welcoming and accessible, and the architecture is beautiful. Dominated by modernist and Art Nouveau-style facades, I couldn't help but keep my eyes moving above me, barely paying attention to what was in front of me.

Cartagena is filled with Museums, mostly related to Roman and Naval/Military history. Thanks to the Tourist Office recommendations, we opted to visit the Concepcion Castle, with a fantastic 360 degree view of the city. It probably wasn't the best activity to do at 12pm in the heat of the day, because we climbed the hill and arrived at the ticket desk dripping in sweat. The reception was fabulous and the gentleman at the desk helped us figure out how to get the most out of our visit and packaged 3 museums together for only 18 euros for the two of us. And the tickets were good for 2 weeks if we decided not go to to all of them! That's a great deal. I love the museum packages, we could have seen 6 museums for something like 25 euros.

The castle museum itself didn't actually have a lot to offer, but the audiovisual work that had been done was excellent and we learned a lot of history.

Next we headed towards the Roman Theatre - one of the largest outside of Rome. The museum there was apparently newly opened and of course I was thrilled to see that they have temporary and rotating modern art exhibits in the main entrance. I love the combination of ancient and new that I continually find in Europe! The museum is fantastic and walking around the theatre was great fun (despite the fact that the guard wouldn't let us sit down in the theatre - it's not like my bum was going to break it - it's thousands of years old!!!).

Our final stop after a picnic lunch took us to the Roman Baths Museum. I loved this museum. The Museum management could have easily left this an outdoor-blazing-in-the-sun site, since it's basically an archeological dig in the middle of a neighborhood. But instead, they built a very cool modern and open air ceiling with a mixture of steel and wood to compliment the ancient stones of the baths. Being able to see the floor foundations, original marble tiles, and even remnants of murals and frescoes was incredible. Great Museum totally worth a visit.

We had planned to stay for dinner, but since it was only 6pm, dinner would start until at least 10pm, and we were gross from the heat of the day, we opted for a siesta at home and tapas in Murcia.

Cartagena is only 45 minutes from us, and I can't wait to go back and walk the city more just to be in what feels like a new and old uniquely Spanish city.

Cheers.

Living in Norway - First Thoughts

We've been in living in Norway now for about 6 days now and thought I'd share our initial observations on this beautiful northern country. For those catching up, we're here until July 16th or so on a housesitting assignment. It's an arrangement where we stay for free in someone's home while they're on holiday and take care of the house and pets. We're caring for 2 cats, Rimi and Poesje (pronounced pozya), and Bryan, a german sheep/terrier mix. Sweet animals! It's working out pretty well so far! Scenery

I don't know about you, but when I think of Norway, I think of incredible natural landscape, like fjords. Well, to be honest, we haven't seen that side of Norway...yet. We did see a little fjord flying in; but the south end of the country isn't where the spectacular-post-card-worthy views are. Our housesit is basically smack dab in the center of the country in a river valley 25km north of Lillehammer. It's beautifully green, foresty and lush. Honestly, my first impression of Norway was, "it looks like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan." Rocky inlets, super green land, lakes dotting the landscape - just like Michigan.

We'd like to take a little road trip at the end of our stay with a nice gentleman with whom we couchsurfed our first night here that would take us to the west coast, past some of the famous and outstanding fjords and mountains. Cross your fingers for that. In the meantime, we've been enjoying living in a quaint rural home with spectacular views of the valley below. The 6 hectares (or about 14 acres) of land on which our homeowners live is both field and forest and completely isolated. There is literally not another home within direct view of our house. It's a new feeling to not have to close shades and worry about privacy. The driveway gate is a good 1/2 - 3/4 miles from the house. I like it.

Language

I have no knowledge whatsoever of Norwegian. None. Ok, well now I know how to say thank you (Takk!) but other than that, it's completely foreign. This makes reading signs and trying to pronounce things really fun. Like this word: Havrekli oppskrifter. Say that. It meas "oatbran recipe". Or the word: hovmeister. It means, "butler." One phrase we do really enjoy is something along the line of: Vash de go, which means, "here you go" as in, here, eat this, bon appetit. There are a lot of similar sounding words which does make it easier. It's very fun though.

Money & Economics

It's no secret that Norway is expensive. Having been in Mali, Senegal and Morocco I'm used to experiencing what an underdeveloped country is like. In the UK we got used to being somewhere that had a stronger currency and was therefore more expensive. However, I have never been in what I would consider an overdeveloped country. Everything is at least 30% more expensive here than on the mainland of Europe. For every US dollar we spend, we go through 6 NOK (Norwegian Kroner). To give you an idea, the 1.5L bottle of Coca-Cola we bought today to go with our duty free rum was 29 NOK, just under $5. Petrol, or regular gas for the car, was 15.3 NOK per litre, that would be 56.61 NOK per gallon (roughly) or $9.4/gallon! I will never again complain about things being expensive in the US!

But why is it like this? My question was, if prices keep rising, and everyone complains about the cost of living, why are costs rising? Can't it be controlled? I still don't have an answer, but did read this interesting Reuters Article on Norway that gave a good overview of the situation. There's also this one, which explains that Norway is the second largest producer of oil in the world after Saudia Arabia (didn't know that!!). In short, this is a super rich country. High taxes equal strong social services, but also a high cost of living. Everything is pristine and efficient.  Ironic that the power in the entire valley went out our first day here; and since there's no natural gas lines in the country, everything is run on electricity. Everything.

Groceries & Living

Expensive living to us means lots of homey time doing homey things. Baking, cooking, walking the dog, etc. And since we have nothing but time and the sun never goes down our extra long days make for a perfect lifestyle of productivity, relaxation, nature-loving hikes and eating. No wonder the quality of life here is so good! We're making all our bread, cooking tons and we even bought a whole salmon which Jon impressively gutted, fileted and cut up - without the benefit of having a filet knife! Tomorrow = bread baking plus the great salmon cook-off as we prepare our 9-10 portions of beautiful salmon.

The grocery store was a fun experience, despite everything being 3-4 times more expensive than in the states. That salmon was by far the best deal of all - 117 NOK for 3 kilos! That's $20 for a whole 26" salmon! However, if you want to buy 250g of ground beef (about 8oz) you'll pay $6. Iceberg lettuce (isbergsalat) was $2.25 while a 1/2 gallon of milk (lett), and not fancy organic special milk, was $4. We were price hunting too and finding the cheapest products that also looked good.

We did treat ourselves though, because why travel if you're not going to branch out and try new things?? So our splurges included local sweet cheese (geitost ekte) and reindeer sausage (spekepolse reinsdy). Mmm I'm looking forward to it!

It seems like the good deals at the grocery stores include yarn (there's a very large yarn section), hot dogs (called grillposer- don't know why, but they're a good deal), and frozen fish (salmon is orret rund).

Anyway I know I've talked about the cost of things here, but that's the way it is. And it's not just us, everyone we've met is focused on money and the cost of living - and also of course living a good life. Makes me really appreciate our daily sauna time. Yay.

Don't forget you can see all our pics on our Seeking Fireflies Flickr page!

Newcastle's Castle Keep

A visit to the Castle Keep in Newcastle, England shows you the inside of the castle as well as sweeping views of the city. [youtube url="http://youtu.be/A_Czb_yxVoQ" fs="1"]

When you rule the world...shouldn't you get their food?

It has been awhile since I wrote a food post and after a month in England, I think it is about time. There are those who would have you believe that English food sucks, and they're kinda right to a point; but the ever growing number of Michelin stars points in the other direction. However, I can't afford to eat in a Michelin starred restaurant!!! With the pound at $1.53 and our budget travels in full effect, even lunch would be extravagant. I would also point out that the great majority of English people can't afford to eat there either. So what does that leave us with: Normal food for normal folks, and thats what I'm gonna talk about.

There is a way that most English food comes: Fried, to within and inch of its life, or in a pastry crust. The one exception is cheap curry (a left over from Indian occupation and a welcome addition to British cuisine). Fish and chips, pasties, pies, etc. are everywhere and relatively cheap.

Their are a couple of classics that are worth a note:

Pasty - A pastry sort of pie (think small flaky calzone) with traditional fillings such as steak and ale, lamb and mint, and the Cornish pasty which is like beef stew in in pastry. Cheap.

Pies (hopefully pork :) -  These are free standing little pies filled with similar things as in pasties with the exception of the pork pie. One of my favorite British snack foods, the pork pie is a lump of minced and spiced pork with a substantial layer of gelatin in a pie crust. It is meant to be eaten slightly chilled, but this may make the gelatin layer a little off-putting for some. Jess found them to be intensely "meaty". Cheap.

Black pudding - This is a blood sausage that is cut into a little disk and usually fried. It is part of the traditional Scotish and Irish breakfast. It is quite solid and has a lightly spiced taste and is mostly oats or some sort of grain with small bits of meat and blood. There is really no way to make it sound appetizing but I assure you that a lightly fried egg on top of black pudding is an amazing way to start the day! Cheap.

Little places that do what I like - There is a picture of a whole pig in which Jess and I partook in Edinburgh. It just goes to show that there are little places who take their stuff seriously and offer great food at reasonable prices. I had a good sized sandwich stuffed with tender pork and a piece of the cracklin, topped with BBQ and haggis (spreadable kind of the Scottish classic) for under 4 pounds. A great find. Thanks Jess!

In general, a lot of food is consumed in pubs in small towns and villages (before 8:30!!!, good luck getting food after 9 PM any night in the UK, unless is is donar or a similar fast food). Larger cities of course have various restaurants and there is a large difference in price and quality. You can usually find an okay meal in a pub, like a pie and mash or burger, for about 8-10 pounds. Good food cost a lot of money and is comparable to US prices except that it is in pounds!

Now, on to beer, another English staple. The beer here is generously poured (20 oz pints), a fair price (about 3 pounds per beer), and really rather uninspiring. There is a craze to have "real ales" which are basically English made beers that are pulled from the barrel without carbonation. Some are okay, but I really believe that this beer is meant to be consumed in volume. From someone that is used to an ESB type of beer, and that is mostly what is availible to them, this will seem quite nice; but I'm from Portland and we like our beers to be aggressive, strong (UK beer is between 3-4.5% alcohol by volume; Bud is over 5% to give an example; most NW beers are well over 5%), and packed with flavor which is about as far away from British beer as you can get. Imported beer is available on tap (called a lager) and is usually at least 25-50% more expensive.

A real surprise is that there are a number of very impressive ciders about in England that are exactly the opposite of their beer. Note, I'm not talking about Strongbow, which is basically fortified apple juice and not very good; I'm talk'in scrumpy! Scrumpy is quite flavorful (although it can have an unpleasant bitter taste for some), sits at about 7% abv, and cost as much as the beer. A 50 CL bottle will set you back about 2 pounds in a store and a pint (20 oz) will cost maybe 3 pounds and lay you out on the floor.  4-5 pints equals a kick to the head the next day, so indulge at your own risk.

Wine is expensive and not good here. Granted, we just came from France, but even English people know their wine sucks and import it. Unfortunately, it seems importing wine to the UK makes it about 4x more expensive than in France and with half the quality.

What about spirits you might ask? Well, this is a mixed bag. You know there is something north of England called Scotland and they make a little drink up there, maybe you heard of it. In all seriousness, Scotch is an amazing spirit and really unique in the world of liquor. Too bad it is so damned expensive (I believe more expensive here than in the US much of the time). So here is the rub:

Bartender: Would you like a scotch?

Me: Why yes I would love one.

Bartender: Okay, just let me grab the metal 35 ml (about a child's finger at the bottom of the glass) pour device required by the UK government and i'll charge you 3 pounds. Enjoy!

This sucks. Charge me what you want, but good lord, pour me a proper drink!  Here is another thing: I'm in Scotland, but it is discouraged for bars to arrange tastings and you are expected to just buy a full pour. I know just enough about scotch that I can be expensive in a bar doing something like this. If you have the means, it is apparent to me that distillery tours are the way to go.

Well, there is a whole world of food and drink up here that I did not touch on, but you will have to read about it elsewhere as I have been rambling on for some time and we try to keep these things manageable. I look forward to siting down to a lovely NW pint and telling you all about it!

Observations on English Culture

Now that we’ve signed out of England and are in Scotland for a few days, I thought I’d give a few observations on English culture as we’ve experienced it. To our English friends – feel free to dispute or corroborate any of these claims! Even though England may not seem as foreign or different as some of the places we’ve been (hello Mauritania and Morocco), it offered us insights into another culture – and that’s worth something. Be Specific!

Something you never really think about is how people in different countries handle the idea of getting a product the most economical way. For example, in the US we will often ask service providers what the best solution is, whether that be suggestions on meals or which combination of services are the cheapest.

Here, that interaction simply does not happen. It took us three bus rides to figure out which ticket option was the cheapest – simply because in England you have to TELL the driver exactly what you want, not ask for which is best. It did not work (twice) when we asked; “We’re trying to go from here to Newcastle and back. What’s the best way to do that?” We ended up just paying too much for all day tickets to places we didn’t need.

This also happens in restaurants. Generally if you ask a server what they like best or which they recommend, there’s a bit of a blank stare accompanied by a, “I don’t know, they’re both fine.”  Samples of beers in pubs are plentiful however, which is a similarity I appreciate!

Photos from England

Pedestrians Beware

As much as the ‘pedestrians have the right of way no matter what’ rule drives me crazy in Portland, the polar opposite isn’t so desirable either. English roads are riddled with roundabouts. It’s like a transportation planner put one and thought it was pure genius so every intersection in the entire country should have one. This means that it takes hours to go somewhere quite close. For pedestrians it means a similar fear of going near the road as I had walking along the streets of Marrakesh and Cairo. It’s a fear that says, “stick one toe in that road and a car could do anything at any moment!!” The added challenges of the roundabout plus a dirth of drivers that signal (not that you would know which way they’re going even if they did signal), plus the fact that they’re driving on the wrong side of the road (yes English friends I did say wrong) all leads to really having no clue as to how to cross the road at a roundabout.

Another observation on the transportation side of things is that people are really concerned with who got to the bus stop or queue first, and if you got there before, they will always step aside and let you board. Hmm.

Accents & Greetings

An interesting observation we’ve made is how focused people seem to be on the different regional accents here. England isn’t that big, but people seem to be able to identify a slightly different English accent at first mention of any words. Certainly we have different regional accents in the States, but America is HUGE. Just an interesting thought.

I do really enjoy, however, being greeted with a cheery, “Hiya!” or “You alright there?” instead of, “Hello, how are you?” Folks in the service industry also ask, “Can I help?” As opposed to, “Can I help the next person?” Little things here and there that we notice…

We’re also Similar

Aside from a few differences, some listed above, and a seemingly insatiable like of black tea and biscuits (that would be crackers in American English), our two cultures are very similar. Jon and I were both surprised at many of the societal similarities – being politics, social construct and lifestyle similarities.  It’s pretty easy to be in England – if you take away the death-a-bouts and the cost of living.

Moving On

It was an enjoyable few weeks in England, we saw so many castles, beautiful green countryside, laughed over plenty a pint and been astounded by the history here. It’s off to Edinburgh for 5 days now. During our time in England we’ve spent an enormous amount of effort working on our next adventure, which hasn’t come without struggle. Apparently when you can go anywhere, making choices becomes kinda overwhelming. We’ve finally had to realize that no matter where we go we will see something new, have a unique experience and probably enjoy ourselves. That’s nice.

First Photos of Scotland

Jon and I have ventured into the world of housesitting. It’s a way to see a new place, yet have a home (i.e. free accommodations). We’ve secured a job in Norway and will be flying to Oslo on June 26^th and then up to a town called Follebu about 30km outside of Lillehammer. We’re hoping for a laid back, yet scenic 2 weeks in the countryside.

We also just secured a second housesitting gig in Murcia, Spain from the end of July through August! Murcia looks lovely, and is close to Alicante and Cartegena. This = jess beach time. Yay.

See ya’ll on the other side of the North Sea!

PS: If you want to catch up on our latest photos, visit our Seeking Fireflies Flickr page! We're also uploading more videos on our Seeking Fireflies YouTube channel. You can subscribe! Ok that's my only commercial :)

Global Travel: Irresponsible or Growing Opportunity?

This post was written by me (Jess) with healthy input and editing from Jon. Over the last 6 months, 9-12 months really, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether the decision to sell our stuff, leave our jobs and go on the road was plain irresponsible or an attempt to live life to the fullest before it passes by.  With us closing in on 6 months out, and spending my 31^st birthday in England, I think it’s both.

When we decided to make this trip, we met a lot of people that said, “Oh I could never do that!” Or, “I have too many responsibilities;” or “I could never afford to travel like that.” Well, I had responsibilities, and I really don’t have much money. But what Jon and I do have is drive, flexibility and creativity. It’s working out for us so far. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s working.

Part of the reason I wanted to take this trip was because I wanted to stop working simply to live. I stopped believing that I was required to live the status quo life - that it wouldn't be that outlandish to want more hours in the day of enjoyment than occupying a desk. There's nothing wrong with the 'status quo' life - it's just not for me at this time. The meager funds that we had could actually provide for us for quite some time. And, we’d have the rest of our lives to provide for family, house, job, material goods etc. Now, we are the healthiest we are ever going to be (well, despite the series of illnesses we had early on in the trip). So, we decided to buy experiences. Luckily, and we’re really honest about this, we have the privilege of being highly educated, middle class Americans. Sorry, but that’s a reality.

When looking through the lens of the ‘status quo’ lifestyle, one that involves a career-track full-time job, regular rent or a mortgage, and other ‘adult’-like responsibilities, what we’ve done is horribly irresponsible. You could say, “Jess you had a great job, you were on the up and up, it was going so well!” And yes, it was, although I did feel a bit overworked, there was still something missing for me (see our earlier blog post about it here - Taking the Leap).

But when thinking about buying experiences – an alternate lifestyle is interesting. I’m not talking about some ‘alternative’ live in the woods type deal – I’m talking about financial stability, location independence.

While driving along the Northeastern English coastline the other day our friend got me thinking about this whilst listening to a song. There’s a bit of 22 year-old defiance there that I don’t identify with, but nonetheless, it got me thinking. I have pasted a few lines below with a link to the song by Frank Turner.

“Oh when no ones yet explained to me exactly what's so great About slaving 50 years away on something that you hate Look I'm meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity Well if that's your road then take it but it's not the road for me

And I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all I will not grow up"

I thought about this song, and the lyrics as we drove and I said to Rob, “You know, I don’t mind growing up.” And it’s true, it’s actually quite fun. Plus, I’d much rather be 31 than 16 again – for me every year gets better as I learn more about myself and the world in which I live. Rob so poignantly replied, “Yeah, I guess growing up is really just about taking charge.”

Well said, Rob. Although growing up is about taking on more responsibilities, it’s about thinking independently about your life, grabbing the reins and not just sitting by while life passes.  That’s at least my young 31-year old take on it.

This form of taking charge wasn’t some flighty version of let’s up and leave and throw caution to the wind. Our trip was a highly calculated risk – one whose consequences and possibilities were carefully weighed.

This trip has already afforded us opportunities to take charge – of our finances, of our marriage, of the things and experiences that really truly matter to us.

Anyway now that I’ve thought about it a bit, I have to change my original statement. This travel experience isn’t irresponsible at all in my mind – in fact it’s the most responsible thing we could have done as adults. Because, in the end, if we hadn’t taken charge and chosen this experiment - even though I miss my friends, the people I worked with, the garden, the car and yes I really miss my pillow - I think after awhile I would have been miserable just hoping that someday I might be able to travel and see the places I’ve dreamed of. The best part is that it wasn’t that hard in the grand scheme of things to make those dreams a reality. I recommend trying.

What’s the worst that can happen? People say it all the time, but really, I would challenge you to ask yourself: what is the worst that could happen?

Video: 16 Hours in York

Jon and I spent a short overnight in York - here's what we were up to! [youtube url="http://youtu.be/K0BPk0ztl2E" fs="1"]

Touring England - Off the Beaten Path

At long last our blog is fixed and we can resume sharing stories from our travels with you. First up - touring England - off the beaten path and in places you probably wouldn't normally go to, but are brilliant (as they say). Our time in England has been driven by 2 things - where our friends live that can host us, and when they're available for a visit. To be honest, I didn't do any research about England or what we should see and do. I've personally decided to approach this leg of our journey with a hearty go-with-the-flow attitude.

Southend & Kent

We spent our first few days in England in Southend-on-Sea with a former co-worker of Jon's, Jim, and his partner Kieron. Kieron and Jim were fabulous hosts and not only introduced us to Southend, its pubs and the wonders of Tesco (England's super large and cheap grocery store - for which we have so much love), they took us on an amazing day out and about in the County Kent. We visited stately homes, a castle, old medieval cities, had an incredible afternoon tea in a garden and experienced a true countryside pub.

We spent time playing board games, cooking and baking (so nice to bake after being on the road!) and I fell in love with what I now believe to be the best television show (despite it being for kids) - Horrible Histories. We had such a wonderful time relaxing in a town we certainly would not have gone to.

Peterborough, Nottingham, Cambridge & March

Our next visit was to a university friend of Jon's, Dan, who lives just outside of Peterborough in the small village of March. The land is much more flat north of London, with green farmland stretching for miles. It's lush and beautiful.

Our first full day took us to the famous city of Nottingham - yes I thought the same thing at first as well - Robin Hood! We decided to go on a little Robin Hood adventure - the snapshots of which you can view on our new YouTube channel (where we'll feature our new vlog - hooray!).  Nottingham is much bigger than I would have imagined. I must have still had an image in my head of little village below a castle. Not so. What is amazing is that there are hundreds of caves carved out of the sandstone beneath Nottingham. We ventured into 8 or so of them and got to see the oldest (and therefore most significant) underground tannery in the UK. Hard to believe it's underneath a shopping center.

Our Robin Hood finding mission took us to Nottingham Castle - only to find out that there's no castle left. Boo hoo. But it was a great view of the city - and again, probably not somewhere we would have gone! Walking down Maid Marian Way was kinda funny.

We also took a day trip to Cambridge, home of the famous university. Cambridge is stunning - I can't believe people go to school there! We enjoyed another day of incredible weather walking the old city and musing at the people punting on the river (pushing boats through the canal - it looks silly when you can't see their legs).

Our final venture in the area was a night out on the town...of March. March is actually interesting, in that it used to be an island surrounded by marshes, and has evidence of Roman settlements (thank you wikipedia). What we discovered also is that it is home to 3 fabulous pubs, all of which have character. I'd never heard of March, but in the spirit of going to places you'd never go - this was a really fun and interesting stop along the way. Thanks for the fabulous stay Dan!

On to Welwyn Garden City

Next stop was to see friend of mine, Esther, whom I haven't seen since 1997. Esther welcomed us into her lovely flat in Welwyn Garden City just outside of London. Another unexpected gem, old Welwyn is one of the more charming villages we've seen, complete with old tudor buildings, a tiny canal and flowers covering old stone houses.

Being so close to London, we couldn't resist spending a day in the city. With 6 hours in London, we managed to visit 2 incredible museums - the British Museum of Antiquities and the Tate Modern Museum of Art. The British Museum was absolutely amazing. We'd been to the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo - but wow, the British Museum has an incredible Egypt collection. Plus - we got to see the actual Rosetta Stone. Not bad. I've also been continuing my Harry Potter kick by seeing Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross among other sites. Yeah, I'm dork.

Up to York

Moving on from Welwyn (thanks Esther for an incredible visit!) we stopped over in York for a night. What an amazing city! Complete with a walled old center, incredible cathedral and apparently lots of ghosts as it's touted as the most haunted city in England, this was a good stopover. We even made a second video about what to do in York with 16 hours or less.

Newcastle, Durham & Hadrian's Wall

After York we continued our journey north to stay with another wonderful college friend of Jon's, Rob, just outside of Newcastle. We're just a few days here so far, but we've already seen the beautiful old city of Durham (whilst enjoying a free music festival in which Rob played - well done!) and made a day trip to see Hadrian's Wall. Built in 127 AD it was the official border between what is now England and Scotland (they didn't exist back then). It crosses the entire width of England at this point - 70 miles. We were jealous of the people hiking along the wall.

The landscape is different that far north - rolling hills, but less trees. More exposed rock and more topography. I hope we get to see Scotland, and some of the coastline. This is how I imagine it.

After I reflect on this it really makes me realize - by golly we've seen a lot in 2 short weeks in England! I can't have even imagined venturing through these little towns, villages and sights, especially having done no preparation for it. But it's been really charming and wonderful to spend time with friends and get to know the area. Can't wait for more!