England with Callum, day 2
Oct. 12th, 2008 08:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thrihyrneSo it's actually Sunday now; yesterday was too busy to post.
Callum and I got up, had some breakfast, and got ready for the day. We drove (no, let me clarify: he drove!) to Chichister in a Mazda convertible a friend of his is letting him borrow since his usual car had broken down. The weather has felt much more like July here, so I had the fabulous experience of being on an A-road (not quite a motorway) going to Chichister to see the cathedral with the top down, Callum at the wheel, the two of us chatting as though I were always around. That's been one of the most amazing things, actually: he and I have been talking so much we no longer hear each other's accents, if that makes sense. At first I really noticed his accent, but now I 'hear' him as an American, and he 'hears' me as a Brit. I haven't talked and laughed this much with someone in ages, it seems.
There's also a running joke in that he has 2 bags of potting soil at the bottom of the narrow stairs, so every time we go out, he says, "Mind the earth!" :)
So we got to Chichister and walked around the cathedral. At the university I attended, the choir went to England for a week-long tour every 4 years, singing choral evensong every day, and we went the year I graduated. Chichister was one of the cathedrals where we sang, so that was a pretty amazing thought. I'd been there, but it was 16 years ago. The weather was glorious, and we decided to stay and have lunch at the cathedral cafe. I got a sausage roll, which ended up not agreeing with me as well as I'd have hoped. :P
Next we went to the nearby former port town of Emsworth, a cute, fairly posh place by the water, as nearly everything is in this area. We walked along the water and talked and talked. It was low tide, and there were loads of swans. We stopped to indulge in some ice cream before leaving and returning home. It was time just to sit back and have some coffee (yes! he's a coffee drinker, thank goodness!) and ended up watching an episode of a TV show called Merlin, showing on one of the BBC channels. After that, I asked for "show and tell," as Callum has loads of books, art, and just interesting stuff. I almost made him hoarse. After another episode of Merlin, it was really time to get fish and chips. We didn't actually go Friday night. ;) So, to the busy downtown Portsmouth area we ventured, and then out to a part of the shell beach he loves, where there were a surprising number of people set up to fish. It was nighttime by now, and misty, and the moon shone on the water. The ambiance was hushed due to the mist, a magical time as, yes, we continued to talk and walk along the shell beach in the night.
Once back home, well, we played around on the internet, talked fanfic and some of our stories, both completed and WsIP, talked some more, had more coffee and some chocolate biscuits, and when it was some crazy hour in the morning, decided it was time to shut up and go to bed. ;)
I'm not sure what's on the docket for today; I need to start getting serious about figuring out what I'll do my last few days as I hadn't planned them, and have realized that (*cough*) I don't actually have a map of the U.K., so I should probably plan pretty well now. I don't have a laptop, and my cell phone doesn't work over here, though I did know that in advance. My thought is wherever I go, I'll stay at a B&B since I also can't lock my suitcase as I'm borrowing it from my neighbor, and a hostel might not be ideal in that situation. Also, at a B&B the owner(s) can suggest local things to do, so we'll see.
I'm also mighty cheesed off at myself in that I've scoured my bag and the cord for my camera for me to download pictures; I thought I'd packed it, but apparently not. So no pictures until I get home. ::seethes::
Hope you're all well!
Callum and I got up, had some breakfast, and got ready for the day. We drove (no, let me clarify: he drove!) to Chichister in a Mazda convertible a friend of his is letting him borrow since his usual car had broken down. The weather has felt much more like July here, so I had the fabulous experience of being on an A-road (not quite a motorway) going to Chichister to see the cathedral with the top down, Callum at the wheel, the two of us chatting as though I were always around. That's been one of the most amazing things, actually: he and I have been talking so much we no longer hear each other's accents, if that makes sense. At first I really noticed his accent, but now I 'hear' him as an American, and he 'hears' me as a Brit. I haven't talked and laughed this much with someone in ages, it seems.
There's also a running joke in that he has 2 bags of potting soil at the bottom of the narrow stairs, so every time we go out, he says, "Mind the earth!" :)
So we got to Chichister and walked around the cathedral. At the university I attended, the choir went to England for a week-long tour every 4 years, singing choral evensong every day, and we went the year I graduated. Chichister was one of the cathedrals where we sang, so that was a pretty amazing thought. I'd been there, but it was 16 years ago. The weather was glorious, and we decided to stay and have lunch at the cathedral cafe. I got a sausage roll, which ended up not agreeing with me as well as I'd have hoped. :P
Next we went to the nearby former port town of Emsworth, a cute, fairly posh place by the water, as nearly everything is in this area. We walked along the water and talked and talked. It was low tide, and there were loads of swans. We stopped to indulge in some ice cream before leaving and returning home. It was time just to sit back and have some coffee (yes! he's a coffee drinker, thank goodness!) and ended up watching an episode of a TV show called Merlin, showing on one of the BBC channels. After that, I asked for "show and tell," as Callum has loads of books, art, and just interesting stuff. I almost made him hoarse. After another episode of Merlin, it was really time to get fish and chips. We didn't actually go Friday night. ;) So, to the busy downtown Portsmouth area we ventured, and then out to a part of the shell beach he loves, where there were a surprising number of people set up to fish. It was nighttime by now, and misty, and the moon shone on the water. The ambiance was hushed due to the mist, a magical time as, yes, we continued to talk and walk along the shell beach in the night.
Once back home, well, we played around on the internet, talked fanfic and some of our stories, both completed and WsIP, talked some more, had more coffee and some chocolate biscuits, and when it was some crazy hour in the morning, decided it was time to shut up and go to bed. ;)
I'm not sure what's on the docket for today; I need to start getting serious about figuring out what I'll do my last few days as I hadn't planned them, and have realized that (*cough*) I don't actually have a map of the U.K., so I should probably plan pretty well now. I don't have a laptop, and my cell phone doesn't work over here, though I did know that in advance. My thought is wherever I go, I'll stay at a B&B since I also can't lock my suitcase as I'm borrowing it from my neighbor, and a hostel might not be ideal in that situation. Also, at a B&B the owner(s) can suggest local things to do, so we'll see.
I'm also mighty cheesed off at myself in that I've scoured my bag and the cord for my camera for me to download pictures; I thought I'd packed it, but apparently not. So no pictures until I get home. ::seethes::
Hope you're all well!