Well after all of the excitement at the tv studios on the previous day I was ready for a bit of a lie-in. At breakfast I met up with Anne and Trevor, as well as Joanne and her friend. It was nice to see them again for a bit before heading our separate ways.
The hotel, as most places have been nice enough to, allowed me to leave my luggage before catching the train. I spent a nice late morning/early afternoon riding the “wonderwheel” as I dubbed it in Manchester (a massive ferris wheel, not as big as the London Eye, but still)
and then caught up with some shopping before heading off on the train around half two.
I actually need to calculate how many miles I’ve done on the train already… it’s a bit mind boggling and it’s about to get bigger.
I arrived to Garforth (“Where?”, the non locals would say) around 4 pm and about 10 minutes later, out emerges my friend Kay… and we very much had a “movie reunion” moment hug which actually felt really good as I’d been nursing a massive headache since much earlier in the day (as my sleep patterns have been rotten as of late). Kay and I were in the same residence in France eight (!) years ago and we found each other on the internet earlier this year, and it was so wonderful to see her again.
It was very much hit the ground running after our walk to her house and subsequent catch up. Kay is the Akela of a scout troop, and that means she’s running the ship. I had been warned about this before and knew that I was going to talk about Scouting and life in Canada, which I did for about ten minutes, which included some entertaining questions from eight year olds, such as:“How many pairs of socks do you have to wear when you’re in snow up to your knees”
And the even more entertaining
“Have you ever been trapped in your house because of the snow?”
Followed by the ever so dangerous
“What football club do you support?” To which I reply, in a whisper “Which should I?”
“Liverpool United”, the kid chips in.
“I support Liverpool United!”
Then there was a clear split of lovers and haters of the new Canadian at that time!
That being said, I redeemed myself when I revealed the excitement that was smores. We were having a campfire that night complete with songs (as it was Guy Fawkes night later that week). I chipped in with “Fish and Chips and Vinegar”, complete in a round. Years of camp songs with my parents was finally paying off! Later on after we finished off the smores I was delivered the compliment “That’s the best thing I’ve ever had!”
Which means I had won back one footballer.
At the time I write this, Kay is on pack holiday with her group, and that’s what she was wrapping up final plans for at the end of the meeting. I had definitely had fun at the cub scout meeting and interacting with children made me miss quite a few of them back at school (yes, I’m allowed to miss you, it’s perfectly acceptable).
We got back to the house and I got to meet Jeff, Kay’s husband. Turns out Jeff is from Rochester, New York and his relatives have a cottage very near to where I have done tons of diving. Must get their phone number… JUST KIDDING, KAY.
At about half nine we found ourselves at the local pub for quiz night. While this does exist in North America, the pub quiz night is quite prevalent in the UK. You pay five, maybe ten pounds for your team’s entry, and then you answer questions that are given over the loudspeaker. Traditionally there is also a picture round… frustratingly one picture was of a Countdown Dictionary Corner guest that I couldn’t remember the name! Go figure. In any case you write your answers down and everyone is issued a bingo card where you have your answers – so not only do you have to be good, you have to be lucky. We were on the first, but not on the second. Doesn’t really matter; turns out the prize was a gallon of beer, and given the context of the beer that night, it’s not something you would have wanted to win.
Day Soixante-Cinq brought a trip to “RePlay” to pick up more supplies for the pack holiday. Kay’s cohort in scouting crime, Helen, brought her car round and we were off to Leeds. RePlay was a small clearinghouse of craft and gaming supplies, with the theory that everyone should have access to play-things. I was very impressed, and wished that there more stores like this back home.
After our Leeds journey, we headed off to York for the day. York is a wonderful walking city. Our first stop was a pub where Guy Fawkes was thought to have hatched his famous gunpowder plot. Kay got a good kick of my hilariously theatrical fight with the ketchup bottle; I guess that’s what happens when you don’t use the malt vinegar.
Following lunch, we did a lot of window shopping – most of which I can’t talk about, because it involves gifts for some people who might be reading this blog. However I was delighted to find in a toy shop a deck of oversized playing cards – we’re talking as big as your standard piece of 8.5x11 printer paper. “Host your own game show”, it said on the back. Hmm. That’ll be a challenge.
Kay had suggested something fun so we went to Jorvik, a Viking museum. Turns out that the Vikings had lived in York many many moons ago and I was very impressed with the whole kit and caboodle - including the interactive exhibits that were quite the assault on the senses. We even saw a humongous piece of poo. Viking poo.
Truly, this blog is the height of classiness.
They even have scratch and sniff postcards (two of you are getting those, please see the humour in them).
We stopped back at Betty’s Tea Room on the way back to the train station to have high tea but it the queue was horrid so we bailed and went out for a cheeky half. A cheeky half, I’m told, is when you want just a spot of lager but not enough to get too buzzed. And it’s cheap, so we tried some local ales.
Jeff had some meetings to take care of so Kay and I looked through some of her wedding pictures; before long we headed out to a really nice Indian restaurant where we dined on naan, rice and three different chicken dishes.
Our waiter was particularly entertaining – I’ve even blagged my way to a free meal the next time I come due to my celebrity status! I tell you, this Countdown appearance is paying off!
Cheers,
Vick.
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