Eggscellent Easter Escapades

Roll on Good Friday... nothing quite like a few more days off when you've got no money and have only been working a month. Needless to say i wasn't feeling particularly inspired about the break after trying (and failing) to book trains, planes and buses to what felt like half of europe and with no success (well not on a budget of under 400 quid!!!). It was with a hint of disdain that i accepted Mez's idea of a weekend at home. So Good Friday was good. We recalled just how many times we'd crucified Jesus in the past day, week, month, whatever. Had a restful day. Was surprisingly good actually. Early night too which was needed. Slept in on Saturday morning only to be woken by the phone. It's something of an excitement when the phone rings. Especially when you don't know anyone in a city. Who would be ringing early (ok, so it wasn't that early...) on a saturday morning.

A familiar and mischevious tone came down the phone at me from a Mr. Jacob Grieve, enquiring about whether we'd like to come riding in the Peak district? WOULD WE EVER!!! So to the Wharncliffe track, Dark Peak went we, after a mad scramble to get up, have breakfast, rent a car, buy some tyres for our bikes (ooo you know how I love bike shops... specialised armadillo tyres - with a one year, puncture free guarantee!!!), put tyres on bikes, and drive there (about an hour up the M1... probably a bit longer than that if you drive at 70mph... but who does that on the M1 really???

Mez re-named the peak district 'the PEAT district'. Says it all really. Great to be married to a witty lady. Great to be out in the fresh air. Great to be in the company of great folk (even when they are much fitter than you and leave you for dead up the hills). Great to be covered in mud. And some great potential for summer riding when the tracks become rideable. Some great technical downhills. Great swelling on Mez's ankle from smashing it repeatedly on her pedals. Ouch! Great that I have a tough wife. We'll be back.

Sunday decided to drive the two hours or so to York for the day. Because we could. Cool old, walled city. Went for a walk on the wall, did the bus tour, polished off a bottle of NZ wine over lunch in an old pub then walked down the oldest (and most photographed) street in York, called little shambles (quite apt after a bottle of wine too!!! - Note the relaxed grin ;-) ), finished off with a boat cruise in a crude attempt to re-visit our very tasty lunch. (well that was mez's feeling anyway - i forget too easily she's not got sea legs. Nor has she river legs it would seem. But she has got nice legs. Which is a subject for an entirely different blog. This is a family show!!) When that didn't work we just went to McDonalds and got greasies to enable the two and a bit hour drive back home in a completely sober fashion...

So just a little shambles really! Interesting learning point. Check out the wee door (about a metre tall) on the side of the church (which Mez expertly captured while i sat and thought: 'man that's a cool bit of history' - for a change!!!) Apparently it's called the devils door, and it was opened during medieval baptisms so that when the child got dunked, the devil (cast out of the child... along with original sin i guess) could escape quickly out the door!!! Amazing how faith inspires different people in different ages to act I guess. Thus far the history of our faith is somewhat unglamourous. Chocabloc full of very human interpretations and errors. I wonder which of the faith practices future generations will look back on in our generation and shake their heads at in (almost) disbelief??? On the other hand it's a beautiful thing to know that throughout all generations God has been held up and esteemed as being an important fella to know. I guess all I know, is that what i do know is probably very very little. Certainly when it comes to God. Likely when it comes to understanding humanity and human history. i'll leave it at that.

So this was once a benedictine monastery, in the centre of York, which is symbolic for where the church once stood in public life (not necessarily for the right reasons mind you...) Desecrated by Henry VIII when the reformation came about... In the name of God eh?


So Monday then. Got up pretty early for a holiday, but with due cause... drove to North Wales to a place called Dolgellau (have marked home and the appropriate destinations on this beautiful map i found... won't tell you how long it took me to do that... but you better appreciate it's technologically advanced and adapted wonderfulness... or else!) Actually we went to a park called Coed-Y-Brenin which is a bit out of Dolgellau, but you get the idea. Interestingly enough Dolgellau sounds nothing like it is written. I thought welsh was about as widely spoken in wales as Maori is in NZ, but apparently this is not so, with somewhere over 60% of the population speaking it in some counties there. But we heard none of it. And wouldn't have understood it anyway if we had.

Again went biking with Jake and Justine, who again proved very enjoyable company, despite a fitness gap firmly in favour of the Grieve faction. Have to say that was probably the best biking track i've done - or at least on a par with some of the best stuff in the best conditions in NZ. Some pretty cool scenery, Great uphills, some technical, some chat-worthy on metal roads, all great technical downhills, rocky, without any ruts, but great fun. Met a cool couple with a great toy... a handlebar mounted camera that took short movies too... you know what i'm thinking... Nah, think i'd break such toys exceedingly fast.

Great day though that was capped off with actually making it back to Nottingham (despite the easter traffic) by just after 7 (left at 3pm). This meant we could go to the show we had bought tickets to which was cool. Show was called Carmina Burana, a spanish show playing at the local theatre royal. Spanish Flamenco Dancing, Operatic style singing, Flamenco guitars (x3 - Skip you'd have loved it), Some midgets, and a couple of dancing white stallions. Sounds pretty cool and it was but couldn't tell you for the life of me just what it was about.

There was a crying doll statue of the Virgin Mary which they sang and danced at very passionately, then that was winched up up and away to be replaced by an empty cross, which one of the female dancers then crucified herself on, and was lifted up, then lowered, crowned with thorns, then dragged away dead. Was all very interesting, theatrical - Ho! (clap, clap) Hey! (clap) Hey! (clap, clap) Ho! etc etc, but i haven't the foggiest what they were actually trying to say. Carmina Burana is a cool piece of music though. Previous cultural experience of that particular piece was in a movie about the doors and Jim Morrison. Very different.

But fun anyway. So that was our weekend. Hope yours was as SNAZZY!! Till next time, ciao.