Rob's Adventures: February 2005

Beatles!

Beatles!
Originally uploaded by Rob Rutherford.

We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine...

Liverpool Cathedral

Liverpool Cathedral
Originally uploaded by Rob Rutherford.

Yet another church in England

Banana Dog

Banana Dog
Originally uploaded by Rob Rutherford.

Look for Charlie in this photo

Canada Boulevard

Canada Boulevard
Originally uploaded by Rob Rutherford.

City of Liverpool

City of Liverpool
Originally uploaded by Rob Rutherford.

As seen from the top of the cathedral

Liverpool

Last wednesday i went down to Liverpool for the day, simply to check out the city and see what all the fuss is about. Apparently a little band called the beatles was born there and the city makse such a huge deal about them.

I left for the train station at 8:30 am and arrived in Liverpool around 10am. the ticket was quite cheap, so that was a bonus. then i walked around the city centre for a couple of hours just trying to get my orientation, theni headed off to the River Mersey. along the river, are all the good attractions. There are ferry rides, old buildings, the beatles museum, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

well you can't go to Liverpool without doing something beatles, so i went on the beatles story museum. I really liked it. it was really neat to see how the band got started and learn a little bit more about "the band that defined a generation" (the museum's words, not mine.

then after the beatles museum, i hiked up the hill to the Cathedral and had a look of the city from the top of the tower! it was really impressive.

by the time all that was done it was 6pm and i was all tuckered out, so i stumbled back to the train station and caught a ride back home.

unfortunately i missed the quick train and had to take the "milk run" train, which stopped at every stop between Liverpool and Preston. I then had to get off at Preston and wait for another train to get me back home to Lancaster.

all in all it was a good trip. and the last one for a while...(well until next weekend when i'll be going down to Birmingham with one of the guys on the floor to see an Aston Villa football match) should prove to be good times.

one might ask me when do i find time to get my studying done? well that is what this weekend is for. i've grounded myself this weekend and am not allowed to leave my room until i get all that needs to be done, done.

anyways i have been on the internet for too long now so i'll jsut upload these photos and then get to work.
Rob.

Blah!

I realize that i haven't updated this thing in a while and yet something has happened that needs noting. This week marks the first week of being the "longest period of time i have ever spent away from home". The last time i took a long trip was when i went to Quebec two summers ago to do the summer language bursery program. I was gone for 6 weeks. I am now in my seventh week here in the UK. the time sure has flown by hasn't it.

apart from that news, i spent last weekend in Knutsford visiting with Mike and Hilary Watson. we had a really great steak dinner, and then just sat around the fire in their living room talking. After a bit Mike and I watched "Master and Commander: the far side of the world" which was a really good film, i really enjoyed it. everyone who has seen it (apart form my dad) has said that it was a really boring movie, so one can only draw up one of two possibilities, either my dad has really good taste in movies or i'm more like him that i care to admit! sadly the second possibility is probably more accurate. :)

I am going to Liverpool tomorrow, so i'll have some more photos to share with everyone when i get back. that is if the scalies don't steal my camera from me. Accoring to everyone i talk to, liverpool is full of scallies. they're people who like to steal stuff.

i've been hard at work trying to get caught up in my classes, and actually am succeeding. though i have been trying to start this one essay for over 2 weeks now. but we'll see how it goes.

well that is all i have to say, i'll update this journal with my travelling adventures sometime later this week or this weekend when i need a break from work. thats right i'm actually staying in to get some work done this weekend!

Rob.

Greatest Epiphany Ever!

So, i was sitting in my kitchen one moring after a night drinking and suddenly had the clearest revelation ever! It suddenly dawned on me that, wait for it, Ginger Spice was called Ginger Spice because her hair was red! You see i had always thought that she was called Ginger after the spice ginger, how wrong i was. In England, they call all red-heads gingers. It all makes perfect sense. If it hadn't been for the Ginger-haired Paul on the corridor, i would have gone on living in ignorance for the rest of my life, it was his Ginger hair that brought on this revelation. Thanks Paul.

Well nothing else exciting has happened to me since York, although i am going to Manchester this weekend to visit with Mike and Hilary on friday and then on Saturday i hope to meet up with my Uncle John and his family. As i have never met him it should prove to be a very interesting weekend. Really hope it goes well. Also i might be going down to Liverpool this comming wednesday with my friend A.J. should prove to be exciting.

Anyways i just got a phone call from Tony, he is dropping off my suitcase in 10 minutes so i am going to go and wait for him. so keep tuned in for more....TALES OF INTEREST!!!!

Trip to York

So it has been a while since i have updated this thing, and i have a bit of news to share so i figured that, in a last ditch attempt to procrastinate from course work, i'd recount my adventures in York last weekend.

The university travel shop every so often plans day trips for students to go to certain cities for the day to have a look around. Last weekend it was York. I believe that in a few weeks they are planning a day trip up to Edinbourgh (i know i always spell that name wrong) but i'm not going to go on that one as i feel that Scotland deservs a bit more time than one day.

Anyways about York. The bus departed from the underpass, under Alexandra Square, at 8:00am. We (that is my American friend, A.J. myself, and the rest of the students who were on the trip) arrived in York about 2 and a half hours later. York is a beautiful city. It has an old Roman wall surrounding the city centre and a huge cathedral called the York Minster.

A.J. and I decided to to not head directly to the Minster because we assumed that is where the rest of the students would go, so instead we headed along the wall in the opposite direction, just to take in the city and have a look around as to what the city had to offer. We made our way around to Clifford's tower, the only remaining part of the old castle that used to stand in York. It was built by King Henry the 3rd, and was the site of the Jewish Massacre in 1190 during the anti-semtic raids of York.

Was using the GPS watch that my mom bought me before i left as a going away present. have to say that it is the coolest watch ever! it lets you know how far you've gone and how fast you are going. A.J. and I walked for 2.8km along the walls and had a rough total of aobut 5km for the whole day. (I say rough total as it doesn't work indoors, because it relies on satillite signals to work and has to be outdoors.)

After the Castle (which had a breath-taking view of the city) we decided to go to the Castle Museum, which was dedicated to the history of the british people. It's displays show how everyday life of the british has changed throuout the years, starting from the Elizabethian era continuing through until today.

After the Museum, A.J. and I headed through York's city centre towards the Minster. we stoped to have a look into a few of the old churches that were on the way, as well we strolled down a few of the very famous streets of York.

Finaly we arrived at the Minster. We had a look around by ourselves, but then felt that maybe a tour might help us appreciate the cathedral a bit better so we followed around one of the tour guides who was very informative and really gave me an appreciation for how old and how much history was there.

One of the highlights of the Minster was one of the stained-glassed windows that is famous just because no one has no idea why it is there. it is a picture of a funeral, of a monkey, with the entire funeral procession consisting of mourning monkeys. the funeral mass is being held my a chicken, and a fox is involved as well. funny.

After our tour, which in my opinion ran a bit too long, we headed under the Minster to the old Roman ruins. i got to visit the sight where Constantine (a Roman Ceasar) was named Caesar by his dying father. This of course marked a change in history as it was Constantine who allowed Christianity to become a legal religion thus effectively allowing it to grow and become one of the most widespread universalizing religions of the world. As the caption that the sign said, it was where world history was made!

I really wanted to get up to the top of the tower, but for somereason the last trek up the 200-something step tower is reserved for York residents only and they wouldn't allow tourists up. I tried to tell her that i was a York resident, but my accent gave me away.

After the Minster, we wandered around the street of York for another hour and then it was time to go catch the bus back to Uni. It was a great day, but i definitly want to get back there, as i didn't get to go on the Viking museum tour (a York must) and i'm going to get up that tower next time!

So that is my recount of my trip to York.

but before i sign off, just wanted to wish my Mother Happy Birthday again. as well i want to wish my Grandma and aunt Sherrie safe travels, they are in San Francisco visiting my cousin Alicia and her husband Tom. Sherrie send me some photos!

Okay all the best to everyone!
I'm off to find other inventive ways to avoid doing my homework.
Catch you on the flip side!
Rob.