Life with Robin – England, 2019
Fri, Apr 5, 2019, 1:28 PM
It\’s Friday the 5th noon-ish here which means its before 5 AM there. After a grueling week which I won\’t go into, mostly because I don\’t want to have to relive the details, I finally have the unpacking done and put away. It feels like I\’ve slept for days which apparently I needed.Tomorrow is Market day and I am looking forward to it. I hope the weather stays as sunny and warm as it is now instead of the cold rain and whistling winds we have had since I arrived on the doorstep at 3 AM Monday morning. Yes, you read that correctly. What a nightmare it all was.
However, here I am safe and sound and feel a bit rested now. As a side note, the Taxi Driver from Hull was an extremely loud speaking African man who spoke English well but in his native accent. Upon hearing my accent he asked where I was from and when I told him he had the idea that Arizona was like Africa. I had to explain the difference in weather, and \”no, we don\’t have elephants and zebra\’s there\” as he imagined.
Today I\’m finishing up some bits and pieces of business, such as filing for the money that UK law states they have to provide me if a flight is delayed for a certain amount of time. After a couple of days in an airport, I\’d say the flight was delayed wouldn\’t you? Between the flight insurance and the airline, I\’m hoping I can get the 600 Euro plus the original cost of the flight. I also want the $5 back for each time I had to rent a cart in the airport. What a rip off that is. It\’s like ordering a meal and then being charged for the fork.
I look outside the window and it\’s sunny but the wind has started to whistle past again The clouds are drifting past. The ocean is only 12 miles away so perhaps another storm is brewing over the North Sea The North Sea runs from Scotland down to the English Channel and the winds often bring the Seagulls to his windows but not today, not so far anyway. Nine months ago when I was here there was hardly a time we were in town that we didn\’t hear them flying overhead as if right on the port, which in fact, the city of Hull is which is only 10 miles away. Can I just point out that Bridlington, the coastal beach town is 25 miles away, which is NOTHING in America. Here, it\’s a bus ride to town and a train ride for 45 minutes with all the stops at the towns or villages ( yes both) as these little English villages can have their own train stop. Then it\’s off the train and another hike to the bus station in Bridlington or the same distance hike through a neighborhood to the water and shops. We opted to walk and I\’m sure will do again. I didn\’t send pics of Bridlington last time that I can remember but will do this time for certain.
It\’s peaceful here. No noise from the street or neighbors so far. Some of the locals are a little strange, but are all strange to someone and perhaps even at times to ourselves. What does it matter? \”Let your freak flag fly,\” I say. Well….that and \”cheat to win!\” I first heard this at the jousting of a Renaissance Festival I attended years ago and have never forgotten it because It still makes me laugh! The White Knight on his white horse, stalwart and noble pledging his honor and integrity to the fair virgin maiden to win her hand while the Black Knight on his black steed simply shouts \”CHEAT TO WIN!\” It was hilarious. It also sums up ALL of Washington right now! lol and NO this is not an invitation for political rants or opinions. Just saying!
This is all I can think of for now my friends and family. Will have more after the trip tomorrow as that bus ride is always a story in itself. Looking forward to the gut-wrenching butt pucker it will surely produce as this is all part of the English experience lol.
Please let me know you\’re getting these, just a word or two so I know you are getting them and still want the emails.
Love to you all.
Bye for now XO
Robin
Date
Greetings Dear family and friends,
It\’s Saturday, April 6th which is Market Day in Beverley.so off we went. Waiting for the bus the winds were whipping around and although I had on 3 layers including a windproof raincoat it left a bone chill that found all the arthritic areas of my body especially my right knee. I was quite happy when the bus arrived and I could get out of the wind. I might have enjoyed the ride to town except the driver seemed to be in a hurry today and the ride felt like riding an old jeep with no shocks. We were being tossed to the right and left, bounced up and down with each speed bump as if he was in a contest to see who he could make hit their heads the hardest. I could imagine the chortle when he would hit a curb or hit the brakes. English bus drivers are clearly not a happy lot.
The town was full of people. We had walked down our usual alley which emerges at what is called \’the Wednesday Market\’ area to find a new proprietor had set up shop where a little grocer called \’Jacks\’ used to be. Jacks had been in business since the 1800\’s and Robin tells me his family used to do ALL their shopping there when he was a kid. There were no large stores back then and you had to do all your shopping from these little privately owned markets. Now it was a fruit and vegetable shop where the products inside looked to be airbrushed like a movie, all perfectly formed and brilliant colors. Looking in the window they all looked too perfect like they weren\’t even real. I wanted to go inside, but it was full of people we decided to go to the main market and look at the fruit there. The next time I\’m in town on a weekday will pop in and tell you all about it.
Walking through the brick and terracotta tile streets of the town we had to weave and bob through the crowds and clusters of shoppers. A man was standing in front of one of the shops playing his guitar and singing. He was actually very good and we threw some change in his guitar case. I gave him my thumbs up of approval as I strolled past and he nodded a thank you while he kept on singing. I could have stood there listening for a long while, but it was almost 3 and I hadn\’t eaten since the day before so hunger pushed me onward. We wanted to eat Fish and Chips at Sullivan\’s but they were also packed so we decided on a sandwich from the best food truck in the market.
I had roast beef in its own gravy on a large bun with cooked onions and a heaping pile of mushrooms. It was melt in my mouth tender and I enjoyed every bite of it. The wind has stopped and was considerably warmer sitting in the sun making my usual mess as drippings from my sandwich were getting everywhere. lol
Robin was nice enough to get me an extra handful of napkins and called me a \”mucky pup\” (messy eater) to the woman. He also came back with a plastic instrument and said \”here you go, a serviet\” which he pronounced with a French accent. I said a polite Thank you but thought to myself….Isnt the word FORK easier? lol
After eating we bought some fruit and veggies. I got some oranges that were so incredibly sweet it was like candy. The baby sweet carrots were a taste all their own. I grabbed some mushrooms, grapefruit, bananas, onions and tomatoes. I meant to get Spinach but def will this Saturday. We found a stall in the market selling fresh cage-free eggs and got a dozen as well as some freshly made Bramble preserves. A bramble is like a blackberry/raspberry cross and this jam is YUM.
There were no gulls flying overhead today and I was disappointed about that. I love it when the gulls are around, screeching and dipping for pieces of fish or anything else people throw down. Off to Tesco\’s, we went for a bit of shopping and I have to say I did NOT miss the baskets they have. There is no controlling them, they roll all over the place with the slightest touch and I am always chasing it from running away from me and bouncing off someone else\’s cart. My legs get a good workout though, so I guess that\’s something.
Back home at last and groceries put away. Nothing new exciting to write about. Spent the next couple of days writing.
Robin
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- Our Coach Arrives!
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- Wednesday Market, Beverley
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- Now What Shall We Have????
Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 8:36 PM
Woke at Noon-thirty and decided to go to town. By the time we had coffee and I got dressed, caught the bus, etc. we were in town by 2:45. Had a few things to get like a lead to connect the printer, coffee filters, and other assorted odds and ends. Wanted to try to get fish and chips again but the shop was packed so we got them to go and sat outside on a bench in the sunshine. The gulls were in town today which was cheering but it was the pigeons who swarmed me. Of course, I had to feed them a few bites of potato and fish.
After eating we wandered into a few bakeries like my GPS was set to FIND PASTRY. Copelands had freshly baked scones and with the Bramble Jam, it should be well worth the backtracked walking to obtain them.
Stopping at Nero\’s coffee house for a cup of the most delicious hot chocolate Ive ever tasted in my life I decided to go out and wait at the bench in the little courtyard while Robin got a cup for us to share. This is England. The air is clean and clear and crisp and I\’d much rather be outside than inside any chance I get,
Sitting out in the little courtyard watching all the people walk by this overwhelming sense of reality set in. Not the wild-eyed wonderment of the previous visit last year. This new look at this country was sobering and somber. After being here, then going back to the states and coming back again I realized how these people all seem to live in the history of this place. Some things are new and modern but mostly, things are the same as they were years ago. At least it seems that way in this little town. It would be worse in the smaller towns and villages and I can\’t imagine how people live in the hamlets here. You would think they all have a car like in the states but they do not. For some of these people, there is a train station that can take them into a larger area for shopping etc, but for others, there isn\’t a train close by nor a car to get them to a train. For these people, they depend on a bus to take them to the nearest store which can be a half mile or farther walk to the bus station then well over an hour on the bus to get to the store. After they get back home it\’s been an all-day excursion. These people are elderly. No one would move into one of these places if you didn\’t have a car but what about the elderly who have lived there all their life?
No one uses horse-drawn wagons anymore but Robin tells there is still such a thing as Gypsy caravans of horse-drawn wagons, all brightly painted, that still travel across England. Robin tells me he used to walk into the woods at night looking for them when he was a kid and into his teenage years. They were the \’Romany Gypsies\’ a specific race of people who lived the caravan traveling life. These are your traditional fortune tellers, crystal ball readers, violinists, etc. He would walk out on the path where they would always follow and look for the fires and sit and watch them a bit. Sometimes they would invite him to share their tea or coffee hanging from a tripod over the fire. Sometimes he would accept but he was always cautious of them, not sure if he should trust them.
He tells it \”I went out for a wander at night through the country roads that went through the woods and the gypsies were camped on the side of the road in the woods.\” He tells me always knew they were in town because there would be a knock on the door, usually a pair of women, trying to sell \’pegs\’ which are hand carved wooden clothespins banded together at the top with wire. They would also try to read your fortune. Anything to make a little money. The second way to know they were in town was on Market day. The gypsies had one great passion and that was for China. On market day they would come into town spending the money you had just given them for the pegs on China from the stalls. His term was \” China was irresistible to them….like a shiny thing to a Magpie\” END QUOTE lol.
So he would go out and wander the back roads looking for the campfires in the woods and sometimes they would call him over and other times he would just hunker down, smoke a cigarette and watch for a few minutes. He said he would just keep walking on because it was a loop road and would bring him back to town. He loved walking at night. He still prefers to work at night. I asked him if he was out looking for a young victim, a young gypsy girl, aka his dinner.
I warned you all that he was an Old World Vampire. No one believes me. Just as well, safer that way, Hahahaha! I\’d love to see the look on your faces right now…\”Holy shit! is she SERIOUS? Where\’s his picture? Is he a REAL Vampire?\” The answer is of course not, or I\’d be a Vampire too by now wouldn\’t I….although he DID promise to turn me this time so we shall see…..to answer your burning question….No he doesn\’t sparkle! lol. My train of thought derailed on the Gypsies…… but I think this letter is quite long enough so I will say goodbye until the next time I venture out
Love to you all
Bye for now
Robin
