Travels!

We had a week of travels! Woo-hoo! During Chris's October break from teaching, we took off.

First up was a night in Edinburgh, including dinner at one of the gorgeous vegetarian Indian restaurants there. Scrumptious.

The next afternoon saw us in Macclesfield for an MTFC game, and the Macc won 3-2! Woo-hoo! Given that Oxford scored their 2 goals in the first half, and the Macc scored their 3 goals in the second half, it was nail-biting stuff for most of the game.

Then we got to London and made a beeline for Nick, Sarah and Wills. And Lib (or Lobster) as it turned out, as well as Dave and Shelagh the next day. We had a lovely few days there, hanging out with various Nodens, helping Nick and Sarah move house and continually being amazed by wee Wills's expanding vocabulary. He is awesome!!! We also took advantage of the Hummingbird Bakery's cupcakes. Ahhhhhhh.

Then we hopped onto the Eurostar and hied ourselves off to Lille. I'd been a bit anxious about the underwater part of the journey, but it was over much more quickly than I expected. Lille was lovely, especially since our expectations had been lowered somewhat by people asking us why were bothering to go there! It was perfect for our purposes. We just relaxed, checked out the architecture and cobbled streets, chilled in cafes, etc. We were only there for a couple days, but it was very nice indeed.

The only disappointment was at the very end of our time there, when some visiting football fans got extremely drunk and tried to trash the big central square there (while we and lots of locals watched from a distance, horrified and ready to run should the mob come our way). But that was outsiders behaving that way; it didn't reflect badly upon Lille. We were happy to find out later that the visiting footie team lost the game! Also, in true French fashion, we saw a protest march go through the city. It seemed to be by and for uni students there, presumably to protest proposed cuts to univerity funding or proposed additions to the fees the students have to pay. Either way, it was exciting to see it in action. We were half hoping that something would kick off between all the marching students and the many policemen lining the streets, but it was very peaceful. No cars on fire or suchlike.

We got the Eurostar back to London and then a sleeper to Edinburgh. We woke up in Edinburgh to find TORRENTIAL rain. I mean TORRENTIAL. We'd deliberately scheduled a couple hours' layover in Edinburgh so we could have a leisurely stroll and breakfast before catching another train to Aberdeen. Ha! We were soaked within 15 seconds of leaving the train station! But we dragged ourselves to the bagel shop and thankfully found it open. We filled up there, and luckily the rain slacked off a bit by the time we left. The weather was uncanny, though. We'd had practically no rain the entire time we'd been on holiday up until we returned to Edinburgh. It was like we were being punished for coming home!

Nevertheless, by the time our train arrived in Aberdeen and we made our way back home, it was nice to be back. I'm looking forward to more travels asap, though!

Up yours, Trump!

I'm a bit late in posting this, but on 9 October we took part in an anti-Trump march in Balmedie. I wish it weren't necessary, but it was very gratifying to take part.

It was called the March of Menie, organised by families in Menie who are threatened by Trump's efforts to have the Scottish government force them to give up their homes. So he can build a golf course there. On land which is designated as an area of scientific interest. These families face a land clearance which harkens back to English persecution of the Scots, and the development of a golf course there could have a disastrous impact on the local fauna and flora. We're talking about a completely ridiculous notion in the 21st century but one that is nevertheless being considered by the government which is supposed to be protecting its citizens and land. It's frankly unbelievable.

Yet it's a very real threat. Trump's bulldozers have already razed sand dunes and relocated the sand to places nature didn't see fit to have it already. They're literally wrecking the environment which should have been protected, and the only thing standing in the way of the complete transformation of this still mostly lovely area into a golf course is a collection of famlies who don't want to leave their homes in that area.

These people live there; it's their community. They're not being asked to move for the sake of improvements to the infrastructure or suchlike, nothing to benefit them or Scotland at large. Instead, they're being pressured to move -- some of them to quite an unbelievable extent (see http://www.trippinguptrump.com/ for information) -- because one rich man fancies a golf course in a location quite possibly unfit for golf given the local weather and within a country which already offers world-famous golf courses. It all reads like a work of fiction.

Yet, again, it's all too real. Pardon my soap box, but this just shouldn't happen. These families in Menie have said no, and that should be the end of the discussions. The whole thing makes my blood boil. Trump should definitely be sent homeward...tae think again.