OT - Extended absence / travel *complete (updated 9/9/03)

Jo C · Post by **Jo C** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 11:55 am

Hi,
I could have been on Inis Oirr at the same time as Ava - I was there for a day, not sure exactly when. Strange things happen - I had a postcard from a friend from Croagh Patrick dated the day I climbed Croagh Patrick! Didn't see him there though.

The Fleadh was great - my cousin was competing in the under 12s concertina and she played very well - we thought she should have had 2nd or 3rd especially as she beat the girl who came 2nd in the Munster fleadh, but the ajudicator (sp?) didn't agree. He had a thing about playing with bellows across your knee.
I watched in full (almost) the whistle and fiddle senior competitions which I really enjoyed, and the whole atmosphere was great. It was very crowded, but I don't think it was any more so than Willie Clancy week last year. Apparently they're going to try and keep it slightly smaller next year anyway.

Jo.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Thu Aug 28, 2003 3:49 am

Getting grammatical instruction in London here; Martin claims he has no accent and we are trying to get rid of my own.

Saw lots of the sights yesterday, got my money changed... I keep going to currencies that are a worse exchange rate than the one I was on before. I'd finally gotten used to the relative prices of things in Euros and now I have to translate to pounds, ah well. At least I've learned how to say "bananas in pyjamas" and "mud, salt crystals, rocks, and water" correctly, and that's the important thing, really. I dare say.

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Thu Aug 28, 2003 7:15 am

avanutria wrote:At least I've learned how to say "bananas in pyjamas" and "mud, salt crystals, rocks, and water" correctly, and that's the important thing, really. I dare say.

Perhaps you could post a clip?

Cees · Post by **Cees** » Thu Aug 28, 2003 9:43 am

Wow, sounds fun!! I second the request for a clip.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 7:43 am

No, I think not. However, we can add the following terms to the vocabulary list:

Kippers, naff, tickety boo (outdated but funny anyway), 'spend a penny', bollard, cheerio, pillar box, Leicester and assorted other town names along the same lines of Leicester. It usually takes me several tries to get the town names right when I get quizzed.

I also picked up the next Rocky Mountain Session Odd Instrument at Hobgoblin music.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Sun Aug 31, 2003 5:36 am

I hereby declare that I saw Beth safely & in one piece onto the 6am Piccadilly Line service out of Northfields, heading towards Heathrow. If she doesn't turn up safe for Tinker, well, she will, that's all.

Beth and I have had a blast these last 4 days - she's seen everything in London worth seeing, including the Giant Green Gherkin, if from a distance in many cases. Probably. We did Windsor Castle on Friday, and got to gawk at Guardsmen in their Busby hats, and check out all the souvenir shops in the castle (was it seven or eight, Beth?) but buy nothing (all tacky tatt).

London is being taken over by Starbucks - on Wednesday we say eight different outlets. Then again we did walk about eight miles (my feet tell me) round London, from the Tower of London across Tower Bridge, along the South Bank, across London Bridge & climbed the Monument (311 steps), back down & a visit to the Tate Modern (we liked the kinetic sculptures), past the London Eye (big ferris wheel) and the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, through Horseguards Parade up to Trafalgar Square and along the Mall (rhymes with pal), saw Buckingham Palace, then through Green Park (it was pretty brown with the dry grass) and back along Piccadilly through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square to Covent Garden, then home footsore but happy.

Beth's concertina playing is coming on strong, and she plays fiddle way better than I play concertina. All those buttons! We played many tunes together, and have a set worked out (The Trip to London/Father O'Flynn/My Darling Asleep) for when we next get together.

Missing the young lass already, right now she and Ben should be zipping through the Greenery of Ireland in their hire car. Beth is really easy company, probably because we're both scientist/engineers at heart, and want to know where all the sofas go to.

Have a great rest-of-trip Beth, and thanks for all the fish! (and the music book and my lucky dollar)!!

Post by **Dale** » Sun Aug 31, 2003 11:16 am

I went by Bob Tedrow's shop again the other day. He is now devoting most of his professional time to building his concertinas. What I find amazing is that when I say he builds them I mean he builds them from, basically, raw materials. He makes the buttons. He makes the springs, he makes the bellows. It's amazing. Takes about 40 hours to make one.

The thing I find the most amazing, though, are the bellows. All those pieces and all of those joints and when he moves them in and out you hear NOTHING. I mean not a whisper.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Sun Aug 31, 2003 12:07 pm

Martin Millner wrote:London is being taken over by Starbucks...

My heart goes out to you, Martin. That has to be some of the worst-abused java on the planet. How something so scorched can be so fashionable is beyond me...I say the Emperor has no clothes. :roll:

Sounds like it was a great time!

Um, yeah, where do all the sofas go???

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 3:22 am

Indeed we are zipping round Ireland in a hire car, and we think the general jet lag and disorientation has passed now, so today is the official start of the trip. We're in Ennis, the second time for me, which helps with navigation. I told you not to worry about finding a second copy of that book, Martin - Custy's Music is the next stop after the library here.

Oh, and Martin, the tube started up about a minute after you left - we just made it! But I had a good half hour to spare at the airport. Next time we'll set several alarm clocks!

Martin Milner wrote: We did Windsor Castle on Friday, and got to gawk at Guardsmen in their Busby hats, and check out all the souvenir shops in the castle (was it seven or eight, Beth?) but buy nothing (all tacky tatt).

Tacky tatt? That didn't come up in my lessons. Let's see, there was the Guidebook shop, the China Shop, the Middle and Lower shops in the main outdoor area whose name I can't recall, the shop in the chapel, the minishop at the exit of the chapel. Was there another shop after the apartments? Can't recall... But on Wednesday there were 9 Starbucks counted for the day, on Thursday 3, and on Friday 2. One of those was the same one each day as it's the one near Martin's house.

I've explained the sofa theory to Ben, at least as much as I could recall from the bits I heard when I wasn't laughing, and he seemed mildly concerned about the matter. Or perhaps he was just concerned about my choice of friends!

Say hello to Fish for me, and remember - mud, salt crystals, rocks, and water... you know, when you come to the states we could try to find that Jetty...

--Beth (and Ben, wandering about the library behind me)

Roger O'Keeffe · Post by **Roger O'Keeffe** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:34 am

Anyone interested in emulating Ava's odyssey might be reassured (or not) by reading the following item from The Irish Emigrant:

The lost Bed and Breakfast

Three Italian tourists spent their Irish holiday with no luggage after they misplaced their Dublin B&B for four days. The three men, who are in their 20s, checked into a B&B before visiting the Guinness Store House and driving around to find a place to eat. After dinner, they realised they had no idea where their B&B was located. They were forced to sleep in their rental car for two nights, having failed to find a B&B with a green door across from a school on a street with no trees.

Despite having lost their luggage, passports and airline tickets the tourists travelled to Kilkenny and Waterford for the next two days where they say they had a wonderful time. Meanwhile their plea to the Tourist Victim Support Office was linked with a report from the owner of the "missing" B&B about the luggage which had been abandoned in her home. The gardaí were, however, unable to contact the men since they had left their mobile phone chargers back at the B&B. By Thursday the men were located and reunited with their belongings. Their missing landlady, Sheila Prior of Charlotte House in Manor Street, offered them free accommodation until their departure on Saturday. The three are said to be already planning their next holiday, in Ireland.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 6:05 am

Heehee. Fear not, just stay out of Dublin and don't hire a rental car your first time, then you know you're always within walking distance of your gear!

Oh, and buy a cheap daypack at Dunnes for lightweight rambling and never let go of your instrument case. I wouldn't even let Martin carry it - the habit was too ingrained at that point. My daypack now has tar from Inis Oirr and dust from the Cliffs of Moher embedded within it, it's a scrapbook in itself.

(Hey, how come my concertina got steadily heavier throughout the month of August?)

From the Galway "e-2008" net cafe, the cheapest I've seen in the country.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 6:59 am

avanutria wrote:Hey, how come my concertina got steadily heavier throughout the month of August?

Not I trust from Az pouring Coca Cola into it...

:roll:

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 8:52 am

Well, maybe it's a proof that Coca Cola is lighter than air! While my Cola was inside Ava's concertina, it made it lighter... Then, with time, the Cola withdrew from the instrument, thus making it heavier. I should patent the technique!

clarinetwhistler · Post by **clarinetwhistler** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 5:16 pm

Hey, Beth, sounds like you've been having a great time! Thanks for the postcard ... the boys posted it on the fridge

We'll look forward to seeing you and Ben one of these days--at least the next time we head up to Seattle. And, we're looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

Take care,

Paul, Barb, and da boyz.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 12:50 am

I'm home...

*clunk* zzzzzzzz.....