Could you eat 14 lbs of potatoes a day?

 Between 1841 and 1901 Ireland lost six million people. The population was cut in half. People had been emigrating prior to the famine, but that crisis opened the flood gates. 

My great grandpa John was born in Waterford Ireland to Phillip and Catherine  on the eve of the famine in 1844. He emigrated when he was 25 years old. So he left in 1869. He was part of the great immigration from Ireland to the U.S.

In 1845 half of the potato crop was destroyed by blight, a type of fungus. People managed to survive that year. When it came back the following year people started to starve to death.

For most of the Irish people potatoes were the daily diet. They were easy to grow and plentiful in the climate. The way Ireland was set up with the English owning most of the land and renting it to the Irish, it was all they could afford. So when the crop failed they were in serious trouble.

With little help from the English government they began to die of starvation and disease. They couldn’t pay rent so they were evicted by the thousands. 

0ne million people died during the famine. One million people left Ireland during the famine. After the famine and potato blight ended, people kept leaving leaving by the hundreds of thousands til half the population was gone, among them my great granddad John. He settled in Minnesota, married and had 10 children, among them my grandpa Joe. 

Grandpa Joe had eleven children, among them my father Bill. Can you tell they were Irish Catholics? 

The average Irish man ate 14 pounds of potatoes a day prior to the famine. Seems like a lot of potatoes doesnt it? It isn’t if you divide into 3 meals a day.  That’s 4.6 pounds of potatoes a meal or maybe 5-6 potatoes a meal.

Scotland weather and train snafus

 So we did a train snafu yesterday. Wasn’t the railways fault. So….when you go from Edinburgh to Glasgow or vice versa, there are different routes. Linlithgow is between them two. Not every train out of either goes to Linlithgow. So yesterday we got on the wrong train for the first time. We ended up having to go to the station (Haymarket) before Edinburgh. It’s the only place we could transfer to back to Linlithgow.

The thing is the train we originally got on was the long route stopping at lots of small towns. Took 50 minutes to get to Haymarket to transfer. Then it took another 20 minutes to get to Linlithgow. So 70 minutes for what would have been a 30 minute ride. Oh well. Live and learn.

I miss the sun. I think my brain and body know this time of year is when there should be sun. In the UK, particularly Scotland, it’s mostly cloudy. That gets tiring. In Scotland it is mostly in the 60’s.  

The weather goes from partly cloudy to cloudy to rain and back to partly cloudy all in one day. You never really know what tomorrows weather will be because it will most likely change. We are on an island in the ocean after all.

I miss warm weather, sunshine. It’s like fall here. I love everything about Scotland and I will come back here but I do miss the sun.

Seeing America from far away

 I was on my own today. M and I decided to go our separate ways for a day. I was sitting in a Starbucks today in a very touristy area of Edinburgh. I asked the barista “ how are you?” and she said she was glad it was Friday that working all week you are tired by Friday. 

I sat there thinking how all of us tourists must look to people like this. We look weary. Tourists hit the ground running and wear themselves out. Always afraid they won’t see everything. She probably gets tired of us and all of our various cultural quirks.

I sat there listening to a two American tourists talking. The young women recounted her other travels. Sounds like she had travelled lots as a kid. Probably comes from a family with extra money to spend.

It struck me how privileged we Americans are. How privileged I am. How many people can do what I’m doing? Very few. They don’t have the income. They have obligations. 

In the last few years I have wanted to leave the United States. I just couldn’t stand what it had become. All the violence, the political crap, the racism. I’d had enough. 

It’s interesting to see cultures where violence is not overwhelming. There is violence here. There is knife crime. One thing that isn’t here is the pervasive gun culture, the mass shootings, the everyday violence. 

Perhaps I am naive but people don’t seem to fear each other here like they do in the United States. They don’t hate each other.Things seem normal here. They don’t feel normal in the United States.

Edinburghs underground city

 Scotland is, and looks, so old. The buildings here have been left to age and look brown and black which makes them look even older. Maybe it’s the climate, lots of rain. Could be the effects of being on the coast. 

All of it make Scotland feel like you are going back in time. It’s weirdly eerie. I keep wondering what it must be like in winter with mist and fog. 

It feels like a Harry Potter movie here. The building, the old churches. Streets have alleys called closes. They have names like Mary Kings close or the Bishops close. At the end of them are usually houses. They were  usually named after a notable resident.

They were built for security against attack and had gates at the entry. They also allowed for high density housing in the old days. 

There is one that is really interesting. Mary Kings close. Mary was a merchant who lived in the close. The thing is it is this close is underground.

 It lay abandoned for many’s years until two brothers dug it out and now tours are offered. 

In 1644 the plague hit Scotland. Edinburgh’s narrow closes and overcrowded housing was a breeding ground for the disease. Marys close was quarantined. People were taken care of there and given food and water. Many died there. It was abandoned in

It lay crumbing and decaying until it was closed off and things were built on top of it. People still knew about it and managed to get into part of it. 

A man claimed he saw a ghost there. It was a little girl whose family abandoned her and she was looking for a lost doll. He brought a doll down there and it remains there to this day. 

It is known to be haunted and ghosts of people who live there roam the halls.

Beautiful Scotland

 

Bob Dylan on the train to Edinburgh

 Trains are both fun and not fun.. When things go wrong, sudden changes not so fun. We have (by the skin of our teeth) managed to avoid rail strikes. 

We have taken 3 longer train rides so far:  London to Cardiff, Cardiff to Manchester, Manchester to Edinburgh.  

In London you didn’t know the platform number till about 5 minutes before it was scheduled to go. So there was a mad dash for the train like someone was giving away free ice cream. There are no seat assignments so it’s a free for all . 

So Cardiff to Manchester, there is a last minute change of platform. Of course it’s up a staircase, so bag drag. The train is 30 minutes late. Then 4 stops from Manchester there is an announcement that because of a problem with the train, we have to get off at next station and get on another train. 

Manchester to London train was cancelled. Got new tickets for train leaving about two hours later. Of course train change but no problem. Then at some point they announce only four of the eight cars are going on from the next stop. Everybody else had to move up to the cars moving on. Fortunately we were already in car moving forward so no move.

This is where the trip gets interesting. An old guy with a leather  hat comes into the car and finds a seat across from a young couple. He proceeds to tell them his entire life story for the rest of the trip.

He was a musician in a rock group most of his life playing the guitar. They played everywhere around England and had lots of stories of what they got up to. They never really made much money. He has six kids, 9 grandchildren. He is on his way to watch one of his daughters play in a nightclub in Edinburgh. 

After all of that the conversation turns to football (soccer) of course. He is from Brighton (which he hates). He proceeds to talk trash about the womens hometown club Liverpool and the guys hometown club Newcastle.  They talk about Manchester United. He thinks they are overrated and old coach Sir Alex Ferguson (who is revered) was full of himself.

So we’re almost to Edinburgh and they come around to pick up trash and this guy has can after can of beer to throw away. The guy with the trash was amazed. This guy was blotto.

We saw him later on the platform and he had another beer in his hand.  By the way, you can buy booze on the train.

Edinburgh city of hills

 There have been times on this trip when I have thought we should pack it up and go home. Especially on travel days. Sometimes I want to be in my own home, my own bed.

Then something remarkable happens. Like the train trip to Scotland where I see some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.  Beautiful ocean views, rolling hills with cows, sheep and horses. It makes it all worth it.

How can I let some minor inconveniences stop me? It would be insane to miss out on all of this.

So settled in our new airbnb, the best one

 so far. That’s been the hardest part, adjusting to staying at new places. 

Found out today Edinburgh is a city of hills. Seven of them in fact. Experienced a couple of them today . Also lots of old stone stairs.

Today(sat) we went to jazz/blues festival which required going up a long hill, going through a narrow steep walkway with several flights of stairs. I did ok. London s underground got me in shape for it.

The jazz/blues festival was great.

The Scottish coast is stuuning

 It is travel day. We have already begun the fiasco. It's 945 am. We have to leave the airbnb at 10. We get a notification that (WAIT FOR IT!!) the train is cancelled!! So it's only canceled to out train transfer point. So you are thinking get a ticket to the transfer point and continue on your merry way. 

I looked at at later trains  - sold out. I thought I better getter get another train quick with the way this is going. I'm sure it's chaos at the ticket counter. So I booked it thinking I'll get a refund for the first one.

So the new one is at 235 pm. We have a 3 hour wait. We are perched on the 2nd floor of Picadilly looking at people scurrying around.

SCHREEEEECCCHHHHH!!! Stop the blog! I take back whatever I have said about the rail system. This 4.5 hour train was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Starting with rolling hills of wheat fields and pastureland with cows, sheep and horses to the beautiful Scottish coastline, it was otherworldly. 

We travelled along the coast for probably an hour and a half of the trip. Gorgeous cliffs and beaches. Pretty coastal towns.

I was thinking what it must be like to live on a big hill with the ocean view on one side and rolling green hills dotted with trees on the other side. A paradise.

UK Train fiasco # 129 in which I tear half of my hair out

Sit back and get your popcorn , this is a long story.

 The UK train system is expansive and efficient if you know what you are doing. We don’t know what we’re doing.

We decided to make the 27 mile trip to Liverpool. It’s one of those places everyone has heard about because of the you know who’s. 

So okay, no big deal. We’ll go directly from Eccles to Liverpool. Eccles train station is very small consisting of 2 platforms on either side of two tracks. There is one guy in a very small ticket booth. 

So I had bought what I thought were two tickets online the day before. For some reason I couldn’t get an e ticket so I printed them at another station the day before. I got two tickets or so I thought. Ah,no, it was a ticket and a receipt. Called them and they told me to call another number to straighten it out. I decided to buy another ticket instead and print it at the station. It wasn’t that much money.

So tried to print it and it didn’t work. Went to guy in the booth and he printed it. We asked him what side we go to and he said platform 2. Went that way and there was a “to Liverpool” sign . Great.

Go down the stairs and notice an electronic sign says train to Liverpool is at 11:37 but our ticket is for 11:15. Huh? We asked a person there does this go to oxford road, our first stop and they said no, it’s across to the other side. Well it’s like 11:14, so we rush up the stairs, down the stairs to the other side just as the train pulling in. Turns out our train goes into Manchester before going to Liverpool. 

Now for some reason there are two train changes on this 30 mile trip. First one goes smoothly. Have 9 minutes to make the change. The train is 3 -4 minutes late (ding ding ding warning!) So we come to the next change and pull in late. We get off and notice people start running in the direction of our new platform. So we start moving quickly the half mile(!) to the other platform. As we are coming down the four flights of stairs the train pulls in. We barely made the train.

So okay La dee dah spent a few hours in Liverpool. We have etickets for way home. We go to the place where we scan into the station. Doesn’t work…. Ask staff there WTF? They tell us we have to go to another station a few blocks away. We drag our sorry butts over there. 

It turns out that even though our tickets were from Liverpool Central on the itinerary, we were supposed to walk to Lime street station from Central. Who in the #%~$&@ has walking as part of the ticket?!

We were way early, having had more time because the original time on the ticket gave you 20 minutes to get there to Lime street but it was a 5 minute walk. So we got on this train and there were no train changes home and we lived happily every after. The end.

Moral of the story: look at your tickets closely before using them.

Beatles rule Liverpool and make people a few bucks too

 So today we went to Liverpool, home of “Ladies and gentlemen the Beatles!” (Their first appearance on Ed Sullivan show in 1964). I was nine when they played on Ed Sullivan.

This is Beatles town. There are Beatles stores, Beatles restaurants. There are Beatles bus tours called the “Magical Mystery tour” in which you can visit where they played before they were famous, John, Paul and Ringos childhood homes, where they went to school, etc.  I hear they stop where Ringo used the toilet once. Har.

There are Beatles museums. I imagine there are old guitar,

lyric sheets, clothing, etc. One place has an ashtray with a cigarette that was actually smoked by John Lennon on May 6, 1965.

Here’s an interesting fact; “ After a 2008 topiary tribute to the Beatles was unveiled in Liverpool, Ringo’s leafy head was cut off after he said he missed nothing about his hometown”.

You might think I don’t like Liverpool. I loved it! Especially the waterfront. Oh and I love the Beatles Who doesn’t?

Manchester’s eerie library

 Manchester is one of those places that you would need to spend a long time to discover it all. There are lots of things to see in the center but also in the neighborhoods along the canals and rivers.  Two weeks is too little time.

I went to the John Ryland library today, probably the coolest place I’ve seen yet. It was a woman’s tribute to her husband opened in 1900. 

It is an amazing place that looks like an ancient church. It has these reading rooms that stretch the length of the building all in a row down both sides. Inside each rooms are all these old books behind glass dating back hundreds of years. The oldest one I found was from 1415.

No one can take any books out. It is a place to store a vast collection. Once in a while a researcher will request to see a book and it is brought out, but rarely. 

It is kind of an eerie place that is dimly lit. Feels like there could be ghosts. 

Getting your prescriptions filled for a slow traveller

Naturally I love Mani. I love all these places. 

The women's European cup for soccer started here last night. Over 70,000 people at the first game. That’s amazing for womens sport. Never happen in the U.S. By the way England won against Austria. 

So I am on 3 medications that I take every day. I knew that this was going to be a challenge.  So starting looking into how to get more. Asked a pharmacist who told me I have to see a doctor and have them prescribe. He gave me a number.

No go. Said he never should have given me the number. Went to another pharmacist. Gave me a number to a private doctor that you can see the same day.

Called them and made phone appointment which was cheaper than in person. So next day wait at at appointed time. Nothing. Called them an hour later and the woman had put me down as in person. Couple hours later nurse practitioner called me. Able to give me one month supply. Messaged a local pharmacy. Cost: $60. 

Went there few hours later. Not ready and oh by the way we can’t fill one of them. We ran out. Called back to NP office. They gave me paper prescription to try at another pharmacy. Cost for two meds for a month supply:$30.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to get it or not. It is usually combined with another med. We’ll see.

How can she travel for a year?

 You are probably wondering how did she manage to do this? The whole travel the world for a year thing? Doesn’t she have obligations?

Before this I lived in an apartment and paid rent, electric gas. I had a cell phone bill. I had credit card payments. I was buying groceries every week. 

I had no car. That saved me a lot of money. No payment, gas, insurance. I used an hourly car rental that was a block from my house. 

I ate out, went to coffee shops, events.  Bought stuff on Amazon. In other words I had a normal life.

I have a decent retirement income after 30 years as a nurse plus social security. It’s average. I had a small business that earned me about 9,000 last year.

The biggest reason I could do this is that I didn’t have any big obligations. I don’t own a house. Didn’t have payments or have to worry about it while I was  away. No car to pay for or store. I am retired. No work obligation. My son is not married, no grandchildren yet.

The biggest thing is I have always been is a risk taker. Not afraid to do something different. Always confident I could take care of myself. I have a big sense of adventure. 

I thought what is the worse thing that could happen? I would hate it and have to come back. I would have to come back for a family emergency. If I had to come back, the world would not end. 

I have made sure I have money in the bank for any emergencies or extraordinary circumstances. I also have credit cards. I will only use them if I need to. I have health insurance in case of emergency.

I don’t know what the future holds. Something could happen that brings this to an end prematurely. In the meantime I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.

View from Manchester Deansgate tower

 Lots of people out today. Tram was full with people standing. 

Went down to central Manchester. The tram’s slowness and many stops let’s you see different areas. Manchester is a city of rivers. They meander through the city. A lot of neighborhoods are named so and so key. 

In the 2000’s the city decided to develop an isolated area with nothing on it. They decided it was a place that skyscrapers could be built. It was named Deansgate Square.

Four very tall residential buildings were put up. They range from 460 to 659 ft tall. The tallest building has 62 floors. That is the tallest building in Manchester. Imagine living on the 62nd floor!

Here is a picture of the towers and a view of Manchester from the tallest one. Obviously view is not my picture.

This slow traveller loves Cardiff Wales

 Interesting contrast between London and Cardiff. London has 9.5 million people and covers a huge area. Cardiff has 485,000 and is compact. 

London is frenzy, Cardiff is calm. The biggest difference I’ve noticed between the two is the people. Londoners seem posh. It seems like nobody goes out of their house without making an effort to look good. Not everybody, but most. 

I don’t want this to sound classist. It is not intended that way at all. The people in Cardiff seem like regular everyday people. Working people. They aren’t trying to impress anybody. They dress how they want. Casually. Very few people here are made up like models or celebrities.

I feel more comfortable in Cardiff. They are more my kind of people. They will look you in the eye. Say hello. In London no one said hello. It’s probably just the difference between a big city and a small city.

Wales is like the working class cousin of England. There are rich people here but they don’t feel visible. They probably shop in London. Spend lots of time there. 

Cardiff gets 20 million tourists a year. The bay is beautiful and it feels like that area is going to to explode in popularity in the coming years. Cardiff has lots of shopping. Central Cardiff has lots and lots of small shops of all kinds, many in arcades and shopping centers tucked away. Lots and lots of pubs. Beautiful green spaces. Lastly it has rich history. 

Cardiff is a place you have to explore in the nooks and crannies and alleys to find interesting things. It’s worth it.

Cardiff fascination’ history to this slow traveller

I never planned to go to Wales thinking Wales? Boring. It’s anything but…

Loving history like I do, it’s an interesting place. To me, anyway. This was one of the big coal capitols of the world. At its height it moved 11 million tons through Cardiff harbor a year. I cant even imagine what that must have looked like with train car after train car being loaded onto ships. Ships coming in from all over. The town was built on it. 

It made a lot of people very rich. During the Victorian era. I’m sure Cardiff was a mix of the wealthy and the working class who worked the docks. People from around the world who crewed the shipped coming into the harbor settled here, representing many countries including Somalia, Yemen and Greece. The area around the docks became a multiracial community. 

After World War 2 coal production almost completely ceased leaving Cardiff in economic decline. Refugees came from war torn countries in the 1970-80s.

The bay was redeveloped in the 1990s into a place for entertainment and water activities. The Welsh parliament is there. There is a large arts center there.

Nowadays Cardiff relies on finance, tech, retail and tourism. Cardiff gets 21 millions tourists a year! 

Cardiff Bay in 1890s and today.

Beautiful Cardiff slow travel

 Beautiful day in Cardiff today. You can tell this is a port city because lots of seagulls flying around and calling loudly.  

I absolutely love Cardiff! It feels like you can breathe here and it’s not so dirty. There are so may less people and it feels more relaxed. Because of all this I am more relaxed. It’s nice.

I loved London, but like New York it is so fast paced and crowded. It’s like stepping into a whirlwind and trying to keep up with it. I’ve always  lived in the city but no where near that size. It’s fun to visit but wouldn’t want to live there. 

In order to really discover a city, I’m finding you have to look into its history. The basis of Cardiff and all of Wales for a very long time was coal production. It was once one of the biggest coal suppliers in the world. Brought lots of wealth here. Especially to Cardiff which had the port where the ships came in. 

In order to give the rich people something to do with their money back in the 1950s arcades we’re build in central cardiff. They are referred to as Victorian arcades. They are little shopping streets or alleys inside buildings. There are shops and restaurants. Really cool. The oldest is the royal arcade. 

I’ve only visited one but intend on going to all 8 of them.

Cardiff clear, Cardiff cloudy,etc.

 Cardiff is such a breath of fresh air. It is a much smaller city than London. It's under 500,000. The air is fresh. Everything is green. It's not congested. It's not hustle bustle. We don't have to use the train here. It's walkable or you can take the bus for really cheap. 

When we got here it was cloudy. We lucked into finding the bus to where we're staying. Then we went past it and had to walk back. No big deal. Our airbnb is very nice in a really cool neighborhood called Pontcanna. It has huge stone houses.

Todays weather has been interesting. Went down to central Cardiff for groceries. Beautiful and sunny.  On way back downpour. Took the bus partway. Get home sun comes out. Then thunderstorm. Then sunny again. Now thunderstorm. Really hard rain and hail. Thought the picture with galoshes appropriate.

When I looked at the forecast for the week we are here, I was worried. Rain everyday. On closer examination it looks like what happened today happens everyday.

Cant wait to explore Cardiff!

Snooze you lose slow travel

 Today we leave London and go to Wales.

The hardest part of this trip will be the traveling. Today we left the air bnb 3 hours early with idea of stopping at McDonalds (I know yuck) to get at least coffee. 

From there we just went to Paddington station. So we got there at maybe 10:45am. Our train is at 12:17. We had no idea how this was going to work so went way early. 

Our train wasn’t even on the board when we got there. Sat outside station for a while. Went back in and it was on the board, no platform. So how does this work?

M went up to info desk. They told him 15 minutes before leaving time, platform number will appear. Then you have 15 minutes get yourself on train and in a seat. 

So next it says the train is delayed. Uh oh. Oh did I say everybody waiting  or sitting in front the big electronic sign. Most people have to stand. It’s very bizarre that you have to stand there waiting the platform letter to appear.

So within 5 minutes the letter appears. All these people start moving toward where the platform is. It’s like a rush to get to the train.

When I ordered the tickets, you could choose a seat so I did. I think that was baloney. Everyone sat where they wanted. Did they rush to get window seats? Or a four seat table place? We’re they afraid they wouldn’t make the train?

I think it’s that people have been trained you better get your butt in the seat, no dawdling. This train has a schedule to keep. Snooze you lose.

The oldest house and street in London

 OK I survived the 90 degree heat. Trying to sleep isn’t easy when you’re sweatin’. The windows here are not the pull up type. They are the open outward type. They don’t open very much. There are no screens  So I hung my head out window in the 6 inch opening all night. Har. This all reminds me of childhood when nobody had air conditioning. We maybe had one fan. it

Yesterday I had one goal: Visit Cloth Fair street. The oldest street in London. On it is the oldest house in London. 

It is named Cloth Fair because once a year merchants would awa was have a fair in the church yard across the way and sell, you guessed it, cloth.

The house was built in 1600. I’m sure the street had been in use way before that. The church across the street was built in 1123, St Bartholomew the Great. 

It just blows me away to stand on one of the original streets in London that dates back so far. To think what it must have been like in 1123. What were the peoples lives like?

 Their houses would have dirt floors. There would be animal pens, barns all around you. Surrounding the village would be farm fields. You were ruled by a king.  You would live til maybe 40. Women wore long dresses covered by tunics. 

The house and church survived the great fire of 1666 in which 50% of London was destroyed. Imagine half your city lays in ruin.

This is what I love about London, the history. It’s so interesting and it’s  around every corner.