https://www.stevedrice.net/ 2026-04-25T07:35:04+00:00 https://www.stevedrice.net/ https://www.stevedrice.net/_media/wiki/dokuwiki.svg text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:04+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/introduction UK Journal What follows is a “journal” of my trip to the United Kingdom in the late summer of 1995. This contains the thoughts that occurred to me on the trip, as it happened. I have made NO effort to correct any grammatical or spelling mistakes contained in the document in order to preserve the feeling of freshness about the information. text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:05+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part1 Toronto The next day I wake up, have my normal shower, get dressed, wake up my sister who is sleeping on the couch as she normally uses my room (remember the room- mate I mentioned earlier? She has taken over Karin's old room. Karin is looking forward to having her own room so we are working on moving my office into the basement, with the cat litter, so she can use my office space). She is not all that happy in the morning, neither am I. We are both short with each other as I drive to the a… text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:05+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part2 The Voyage The next morning, I have refused to set my alarm so I wake up, semi-conscious, at about 9:30 and for the next 2 hours refuse to get out of bed, I finally get out of bed, shower and change. I decide that I will drop my luggage off at the front desk and return later on my way to the airport. This is kind of handy since I think that it would be text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:06+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part3 Stonehaven After getting up this morning I hoped to have a shower using the shower located in my room. My “room”, by the way more closely resembled a closet in that it was small, about eight by eight feet, cluttered, a bed (VERY small, are all Europeans 5 feet in height?), a sink, a chest of drawers, a shower stall, a text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:06+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part4 Pittenween You might ask “Where the heck is Pittenween? I thought that he said he was going to Edinburgh, much bigger and MUCH easier to say?”. Well, it is a... story (not a long one, to be sure, but a story nonetheless). After the disappointment of yesterday being stuck in that hotel in Stonehaven, I was determined to make today better and it looked like providence was also lending her hand in this endeavour. I got up at my normal 8:00 am time that I am forcing myself into and went down f… text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:07+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part5 Glasgow Well, I am finally here, a little worse for wear but here nonetheless. I got up fairly early this morning sneaking around the house at which I stayed hoping not to wake anyone. The breakfast was very good, although very filling. I don't know if I could stand fried eggs, MANY slices of toast, orange juice, tea/coffee, three different kinds of meat (all fried) and cereal. The tea I could do without though I didn't have the heart to leave it so I swallowed my pride and drank it anyway. text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:07+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part6 Glasgow - Thursday, August 24, 1995 Well, the first day of events here at Intersection. It was quite a busy day. The breakfast they provide me for staying here at the University dormitories was, as per normal around here for B & Bs, exceptional. Though it was a bit tough getting that extra cup of orange juice text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:07+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part7 Glasgow - Friday, August 25, 1995 Another day at the convention, this time a full day. After breakfast this morning I saw that a group of people sitting at another table were going to the convention so I invited to give them a ride if they needed it to the convention. One person picked up on my offer, another said they would but did not show up in time (I had to get the car before the parking ban comes into effect at 8:45). My luck, he was from Chicago! It would have been nice to talk to a… text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:08+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part8 Glasgow - Saturday, August 26, 1995 The convention was quite interesting today, I finally received the book I wanted but I have still not met one of the people I wanted to today. I hold no hope (in all honesty). I did, however, attend a panel discussion with one of my favourite authors so, hopefully I will be able to snag his autograph tomorrow at his autograph session. text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:08+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part9 Glasgow - Sunday, August 27, 1995 Got up fairly late today, I just could not pull myself out of bed at 7:15 as normal so I slept in until 8:15 or so, I did not have to worry about the car as it was Sunday so that was fine. Breakfast was, as normal, quite good. The first day I was here I walked into the eating area and was taken at the size of the place, it could seat about 150 people. Many people were walking about with food and such so I walked around a screen where they were coming from, … text/html 2015-10-03T14:45:09+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part10 Glasgow - Monday, August 28, 1995 Yep. I am still in Glasgow, I was going to leave but they were showing the coverage that a British television station did for the convention starting at about 6:30 pm so I figured that it would be ok to stay for a bit longer. I will be able to get an early start tomorrow, I am hoping to make it to Liverpool tomorrow (or perhaps past it text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:00+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part11 Criccieth - Tuesday, August 29, 1995 Yes, I am not in Portmeirion as the hotel was full, instead I got the guard to recommend anywhere else to stay so he recommended this village which is about 15 minutes away from the village. It is a nice area right next to the Bay here in northern Wales. I had a good diner at a local restaurant where a nice looking Canadian was also working, it is fun to listen to the various accents of people around here, the signs in Welsh are VERY interesting (and confu… text/html 2018-09-29T18:37:46+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part11ssss text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:11+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part12 Somewhere north of Machynlleth, North Wales - Wednesday, August 30, 1995 Just visited the village of Portmeirion (the place where the television series “The Prisoner” was filmed). It is quite interesting, built by a man who wanted to demonstrate that you do not have to tamper with the landscape to build an interesting bit of architecture. He built it on the side of a hill, leading down to a bay. It is quite pretty and very interesting. I was quite surprised at the number of people there. I… text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:11+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part13 London (yep, London) I made it! Here I am in the heart of London, about 3 blocks away from the King's Cross station WITH the car. The latter is the source of much of my problems right now, I would like to keep it and go to Oxford and Stonehenge but I have decided instead to return the car (nice that they let me return it to King's Cross) and get a tour of Oxford (walking tour). This answers a few of my concerns, travelling to Oxford on my own would be no where near as informative so I figure… text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:12+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part14 London - Thursday, August 31, 1995 This has been a very busy day. Here at the guest house (or whatever) I was moved from a double room to a single room across the hall, of course, I was gone most of the day so I had to move all of my belongings to the first floor (I am on the 4th floor, 3rd in number only) text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:12+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part15 London (where else?) - Friday, September 1, 1995 Boy am I tired. Running around, even if it is on the Underground, is very tiring. I am busy organizing everything for Paris tomorrow (picking out what information/pamphlets I need to take with me, including my passport). It strikes me that I will need a holiday when all this is over, hard to imagine that in only three days I will be back on the dole (working again). I am thinking that I will have to take the Tuesday I get into Prince Albert o… text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:12+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part16 London (and, sort of, Paris) - Saturday, September 2, 1995 After the early morning start, after about 5 hours of sleep, I caught the first subway to Waterloo station and from there picked up my tour to Paris. An altogether busy yet enjoyable (as usual here) day. text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:13+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part17 London - Sunday, September 3, 1995 Last day in London. So what did I do with this day? Where did I go, what did I see? Funny you should ask, I was just going to tell you... As I was smelling funny, I first visited the local laundromat and was surprised to see that my white shirts came out of the wash as a nice shade of baby blue. I have nothing against the colour, it's just that they are SUPPOSED to be white, I hope I can bleach them text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:13+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part18 Home? - Tuesday, September 5, 1995 I am now on a plane to Saskatoon, heading back to the place that has been my home for the past year in Prince Albert. The day is fairly cloudy yet it has not really had a chance to begin yet. Yesderday was quite a ride and did not exactly start off with a smooth beginning. After my breakfast, I was packed and ready to go, having known that I was a bit over the 30 kg weight restriction on the plane with the numerous books I had brought AND that I was over t… text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:14+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/part19 Final Thoughts Well, from the New World to the Old World and back again. It has been a long trip but one that I would do again at the drop of a hat. I learned so much and I feel that I have grown somewhat. Before leaving, England was real in that I could imagine that it existed and what it looked like but until you are actually there do you realize that this is indeed a whole new (old) world. There are people living there, in a very different environment then here. This point was driven ho… text/html 2015-10-03T14:46:14+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/europe/uk/journal/sidebar * UK Journal * Toronto * The Voyage * Stonehaven * Pittenween * Glasgow * Glasgow - Thursday, August 24, 1995 * Glasgow - Friday, August 25, 1995 * Glasgow - Saturday, August 26, 1995 * Glasgow - Sunday, August 27, 1995 * Glasgow - Monday, August 28, 1995 * Criccieth - Tuesday, August 29, 1995 * Somewhere north of Machynlleth, North Wales - Wednesday, August 30, 1995 * London (yep, London) * London - Thursday, August 31, 1995 * London (where else?) - Friday, Septe…