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Published: January 8th 2007
Wyvern the Dragon and Monk Bear
The Welsh Symbol and a souvinier from The Gloucester CathedralOn my night of arrival Sam took me to a local pub for the pub quiz night. Pub quizzes are really big in the UK. The questions are also much more difficult than you would think for testing a bunch of inebriated people. I was lucky to arrive at all with many parts of Britain under a fog alert.
Gloucester is probably a typical smaller English town. It does stand out with its enormous cathedral and small canal running through the centre. The weather was mild and mostly sunny (or foggy); a nice break from the torrential rain and winds in Glasgow. As always, it is the people that make the place and I was never lacking in invitations for parties, dinners, and pub nights. I probably spent more than a healthy amount of time drinking. I also have never spent so much time in churches- either taking part in the service or taking pictures.
On my third day in Gloucester I was nearly stranded in the middle of the English countryside. After Will’s little Peugeot more or less slid all the way down a mud trench disguised as a road, we thought it was completely hopeless. With no
Pub Quiz
My first night in England. You can see how thick the fog was. signal on the cell phone, no help for an hours walk away, the sky getting darker, and the rain getting heavier, we started resorting to desperate measures. Trying to fill the deep tracks made by the car was impossible. After the decision was made to try to go up the steep muddy, grassy field Will started reversing his car into position when we noticed a car in the driveway of the “celebrity recluse house”. The honey-mooning couple had just come back from grocery shopping. They made us tea and called the owner of the property. We were eventually dragged out of the trench by a grumpy farmer with his pick-up truck. In post trauma discussion I told Will we would have had to break into the house to keep warm if worse came to worse. It was also a good thing we didn’t try to go up the grassy field. Even if we made it across the rain soaked field it would have been hard to get across the barbed wire fence. Talk about being lucky!
The rest of my time in Gloucester was much less distressing. Highlights of the trip include a day trip to a Welsh castle,
New Years Eve in Oxford, and jacuzzi baths in a decked out washroom at Sam’s. Built in radio, heated towel rack, deep jacuzzi bath tub- need I say more?
I also went to my first rugby game. I had no idea that so many people would pay over $40 to stand outside in the rain to watch this game; forget retractable roofs, heating and plush seats. It’s thousands of people standing for over 2 hours in the open air freezing their socks off chanting “Gloooooo-ster”. One thing I’ve learned since living in the UK is their passion for their sports.
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Sam
non-member comment
Oh my god
Well, ladies and gentlemen... what can I say? My darling boyfriend just LOVES the camera!!! It was a pleasure to host you Hansee... I hope it wasn't all too weird for you. Looking forward to that Glasgow visit. xx