About Gugelhupf, Eve’s Visit, Cymru, Bed-/Bathroom-Sharing and “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgylergchwyndrobwillantisiliogogogoch"

Hiya me lasses and lads, “yu'r alrigh’”?! 

This is the typical thing that you'll hear up here in Leeds: Everywhere you go people will friendly ask you if you are alright...I kind of like this way of greeting people, even though it is like a standard phrase, but it still somehow shows the Brits' friendly way of being.

Leeds: Parkinson Building

The more time I spent here the more conscious I become of the fact that time is passing by extremely quickly. I can't believe that it is already March...I know I keep repeating this over and over, but it is just unbelievable.

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So once more, decisions have to be made what is going to happen next. There are many possibilities, but also many uncertainties what to do...gosh if I would just know it than it would be so much easier ... People who know me well, know that I hate to make decision, I already find it difficult to make up my mind what I am choosing on a menu hahaha. But even so this week I have been productive and brushed up my CV and sent out some applications.

…but well I don’t want to bore you witht existential life questions. And anyway the quote I mentioned last time "you have to choose to be chosen" should serve as a guideline anyway. Enough jabbering, let me tell you what I was up to lately.

I did a fair amount of travelling, some good weekend trips and I had a wicked time at school. We actually did the baking for our little cooking exchange. It was so much fun, the kids really enjoyed it. But of course , as could have been expected half of them did not bring the right ingredients. It was hilarious to see how they managed to make a Gugelhupf without certain crucial ingredients...but it is all about improvising, isn't it?! You have to make do with what you get...and the results were quite yummy. We talked a lot in German and I really had the impression that they liked it. So “Gugelhupf” is for sure a word they will remember, not sure if they will all be aware of the fact that it is an Austrian dish though. But at least they have learned some stuff!!!

Austrian/Leodensian Gugelhupf in muffin cases with lots of icing sugar on top

Apart from Austrian Gugelhupf, I've also tasted the famous Betty's Scones. We went to one of the first and apparently best tea rooms in Yorkshire (or one might even say the UK) and had a Betty's Cream Tea, which is basically tea, scones, clotted cream and jam. Even though I do not like raisins this deluxe pudding was really nice...and anyways it is more about being able to say: “I’ve been there. I've done that.” – another tick of the “must do before I get old” or someting along those lines…
For those who do not know what a scone is: A scone is a British quick bread made of oatmeal, wheat or barley and baking powder, which is particularly popular in Scotland. The pronunciation varies greately: some may say "scone" like in "John" others prefer to say "scone" like in "Joane"...but anyway it is among the most favourite tea pastries in the UK.

cream tea in Betty's Tearoom in York

In addition to the indulging of the UK cuisine, which to be fair is delicisous and not all dull and boring as many might claim, I've also re-visited one of my most favourite cities in the UK, namely Newcastle. It has been my second time there, and once more I was absolutely charmed by it. The girls and I did a trip there and had a really good time. Newcastle is known for its good nights out, so we decided to buy a ridiculous ring, a big flower and all of us wore it...which was a blast!!

the Newcastle-weekend can begin!

the Angel of the North

on the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle

"Put flowers in your hair and rings on your fingers"...Newcastle

After that exciting weekend, my friend Eve from back home came to visit me. 

with Eve in York

An exciting ten days of walking, talking, day trippin’, chatting, laughing, sleeping, drinking, driving, eating, travelling, running, and taking tons of pictures lay ahead of us. 

British backyards in Saltaire

Saltaire

Leodensian Nights

The first couple of days we spent together in Leeds and its surroundings, we had some lovely 7spices curry (best curry ever), visited Leeds, were out and about during the night, as well as we forced ourselves to visit as many surrounding towns as possible even though we were tired. So even after a long night out we made it to Manchester, where we met two friends from university. They invited us for some lovely dinner and showed us a really cool café. It is one of those hipster cafés which are super trendy…Like in so many other cities former rather downtrodden parts of a city suddenly turn into THE in-places, which of course makes everything more expensive and forces original less wealthier residence to move on. Even though I am conscious about this harsh fact, I have to confess that I am a sucker for arty places. So I was thrilled to visit the bohemian part of Manchester, which is called the Northern Quarter. It is full of trendy hipster places. I am sure I said a hundred of times “I love this place”…while having my lovely goat cheese sandwich and my yummy latte. Well and I have to say it once more: “I love that place”.

The Tea Cup and Cake in Manchester (Northern Quarter)

 For those who will go to Manchester the place I am talking about is called “Tea Cup and Cake”. There was another fabulous place where I have already been two years ago…but once again I can’t think of the name, my brain is really a sieve ;). After visits to York, Manchester and Saltaire we rented a car on Monday, which we called Bobby, and headed west. On route we made a couple of stops to visit such lovely places like Chester or Llandudno, our ultimate goal was the Isle of Anglesey in Cymru.

Isle of Anglesey

Bobby, Kathrin and Eve

and of course also Dave was with us (Holyhead on Isle of Anglesey)

Welsh people are proud people!! As much as Austrians always underline that they are not Germans, Scots and Welsh also highlight that they are not English … that it is not England where they live, but Great Britain. Back in the times (around 770) Welsh people called themselves “Y Cymry” (fellow countrymen) and their country “Cymru”, while the Saxons called them “Wales” which derives from the Old English word “wealas”, meaning foreigners. So “What is in a name?” Who decides which term to use? Again, a clear power struggle. Thus, in order to allow them to name themselves, I am trying to use “Cymru” instead of Wales. Giving voice to those who are often silenced. Oh dear me...

Snowdonia_Lanberis Pass

driving around Snowdonia_listening to "The Cave"

Eve driving around in Cymru and England!!!

close to the Minor Track (Snowdonia)

in Betws-y-Coed

Cymru is a beautiful part of Britain, the northern part is dominated by the natural reserve of Snowdonia, the rugged landscape and the Cambrian Mountain seem like a natural barrier, shielding them from the influence of England, preserving their distinct Celtic identity and Welsh language. Even though Welsh is only spoken by about one-fifth of the 2.7 million inhabitants it is still a very dominant language in the Northern part of the country…mmh it seems as if the north in general preserves its distinct identity, instead of selling out to global trends and rules. It is a country with a split identity – you can already see this when you contemplate road signs and city names. They are not only extremely long, but also utterly unpronounceable for non-Welsh people. Even so, they carry a distinct meaning. They don’t just call streets “Strawberry Lane” “Albion Street,” etc. but they describe the surrounding landscape. We’ve been to one of the cities with the longest city name in Britain, and possibly in the world which tells you an entire story of a church, a girl and the surrounding landscape: “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgylergchwyn-drobwillantisiliogogogoch”. The name is unpronounceable, and people only know the town for its long name, but still it was quite interesting to go there. So we did what every typical tourist does: Drove into town. Asked for the train station. Stopped Bobby. Took our cameras. Went to the station. Took a picture in front of the sign. Bought a postcard. Tried to pronounce the name. Ended up with saying “cho-cho-cho”. And left…..mmh short visit but funny one ;)

gosh what a long name!!!

Seeing this patriotic pride and their determination to call themselves Welsh and not English is marvellous, it reminds me of myself. Here, in England I notice that I become more and more patriotic. So we “minorities” have to stick together: Power to the Welsh, power to the Scots and of course also to the Yorkshire lasses and lads who are often patronized by people from the South.

After Wales we also managed to see Charles Darwin’s hometown (Shrewsbury), followed by Cambridge - the city of punting and biking - and finally my oh so beloved London, which after having been there seven times I am still not weary of!

Cambridge bikes_every bike has those cool baskets, might as well get one for myself!!

spring in Cambridge

coffee time in London

London is just a fabulous city. As one might imagine I was excited, smiling the entire time and so looking forward to going to Camden Town. Kathrin and I spent a lovely day in Camden, shopping like maniacs (this is where I spent all my money, which turned me into a poor person…some more days left until I get finally paid!!!)…but well even so I have now cool new purple sunglasses and a well cool dress and grandma shoes, aren’t I a hipster ;) We’ll see how long I wear it though!

 

our "Fawlty Tower" experience in Bedford!-night of bed- and bathroomsharing!

Well, I am owing you one more story about our trip…this is the weirdest and most random thing that has ever happened to me so far. It is a story about a shared bed and bathroom, pictures hanging at an angle, dancing receptionists, toilets breaking down and much more things ;) On our way to Cambridge we decided to stay in Bedfor for the night - closest town, definitely cheap and possibly easier. Turned out to be a misconception though! We were walking the street of this little town at 9ish p.m. looking for a B'n'B and after numverous "no, we are full" and a Lituhuanina lady who could only say "fortyyyyyy" we ended up in the hotel (if you can call it that) "De Pary's". From the outside it looked all fancy, but the inside was a completely different matter. Not only was our room cold, a mess and smelly but upon opening the bathroom door we were suprised by the chef of the hotel borrowing our bathroom. We had to laugh so hard, it was incredible.  At least we got a good laugh out of it and a yummy breakfast. Kathrin kept saying “this is like in “Fawlty towers”, an old British TV series, which I’ll have to check out. The entire place was litteraly falling apart, not only did I break the toilet paper dispenser, but the cupboards were broken, one person started painting the door while we were having breakfast and the chef ran off to go to the doctor with her boyfriend in the middle of our breakfast.

De Pary's in Bedford

Now I am back in Leeds, busy planning our next trips (hence also the bingo which we did not win) and thinking about next year...decisions have to be made even though delaying them is also really tempting.

Bingo with Kathrin, Neil and Alex

I am looking forward to hearing from you guys, in this manner

TA-RA

PS: One more thing: I want to tell you about a a really genius book I am currently reading.

It is an experimental Chicano novel by Salvador Plascencia called The People of Paper. He tells a family's story from multiple points of view, thus allowing us to see the different ways different people experience one and the same event, as well as underling the multiple elements shaping the Chican@/Mexican characters of his text. Of course, this is nothing new and would not make the book to stand out. The special thing about his novel is that it constantly questions your reading strategies and forces you to be able to cope with new ways of telling stories, new ways of seeing things. The pages are always different. There are some pages where you find two columns which show the experience of various characters but have to be read one after the other, while on the next page the two columns are meant to be read in turns. So you constantly have to re-negotiate meaning . What I personally find the most amazing thing of this novel is the fact that Plascencia cut a whole in the book to erase a name, or that he put a black dot over a certain passage, which again only gives you a restricted view, showing us that as reader we are not omnipotent. Some people might put the book down and be like "what is that all about" but I LOVE it, it is so great, can't wait to continue reading. You should definitely check it out, because even though it is so experimental the plot line is easy to follow!