Monday 21 January 2013

Holidays at home

After returning from the desert I only had a couple of days left before I flew back to the UK. I was immediately thrown back into Newfoundland culture when I went to see the Mummer's Parade. Despite my constant questioning it was never exactly explained to me what it was about. It just seemed to involve various people (Mummers) wearing weird clothes, covering their faces, often wearing bras on the outside of their clothing walking through town carrying sticks with bottle tops attached to them...Having just read the Wiki page, it makes a little more sense: 
This was then followed by drinking copious amounts of wine with friends and learning about the wonderful board game "The Settlers of Catan."

We caught it in Bannerman Park outside The Colonial Building. It was very strange...
But a whole lot of fun to watch!

I subsequently departed Newfoundland, leaving a couple centimetres of snow behind. Flying a little over 1000m east to come the same distance and then an ocean's worth back to Heathrow I finally arrived in good ol' dreary England. Greeted by my father and driven back up North we chatted about the finer points of living in Canada, evidenced by stopping at the motorway services and getting a coffee at Starbuck's, me explaining that it's normally Tim Horton's if you want a latte in St John's.


No sooner than I was back in Skelmersdale I had organised my week to catch up with as many people as possible. I never thought I would say it, but boy have I missed travelling by train! Travelling to Liverpool, Manchester and Wigan before Xmas I barely had chance to "relax", not that seeing some of my best friends was a chore though!

Before I knew it it was Xmas and the traditional do at the Phillips household. 3 different roasted meats in 3 days is something we should never stop doing. My niece had recently turned 1 and therefore could participate in Xmas more than last year. Suffice to say she got spoilt rotten, and who was I to miss out, getting her a fantastic moose teddy bear all the way from across the ocean.
I thought it was about time I used a few birthday and Xmas presents. Excellent breakfast.
The best we could manage of a Xmas family photo.
Next stop on the list was New Year's in Edinburgh. For the last couple years we've done house party Hogmanay in Edinburgh, but our usual host was on the other side of the world. Someone stepped up and another fantastic tradition continued. I had a fabulous turn of the year (from what I can remember...) and I realised again how much I want to live in Edinburgh at some point in my life.


Me and my girls after getting very excited about Jackie Bird.
Princes Street gardens looking fabulous and festive as usual.
Utilising the train network again there was one more person that I couldn't bear not seeing if we were on the same landmass again. Off to Birmingham for the first time (well since getting caught in a football riot outside West Brom's stadium) I met up with Em and Ross, enjoying lunch at the Handmade Burger Co. on the canal. A lovely day wandering round the surprisingly scenic Birmingham city centre.

After a few more days at home with the family I was then off to my first Geology conference in Bristol. Armed with my research-proposal-come-poster I lugged my huge suitcase down to the south-west. With little time to explore Bristol I enjoyed a quick sarnie outside Bristol Cathedral, then headed to the first session, wandering past the Bristol Earth Science department that also looks like a cathedral.

The second day poster session happened to coincide with my birthday, leading to one of the more nerve-wracking yet subdued birthdays of recent times. My poster went down well with the few that cared for mineral isotope geochemistry, leaving me to enjoy the evening at my leisure. Ending up going for Thai food I had a lovely day overall, culminating in 3 very brainy geologists singing "Happy Birthday" to me in the rain.


I would love to go back to Bristol at some point and have a proper touristy look round.
Immediately after the conference I headed to Heathrow to fly back to Canada. I think my journey back home deserves a post of itself, so watch this space for a typical Stacy travel story. All in all, I had a fabulous time at home, sharing the holidays with family and friends, as well as getting my geek on. Not knowing when I'll be back in the UK next is an unsettling feeling, as I now have a bit more perspective on how amazing my people and my home country really is.