Kr-Exiting to a New Chapter

Say YES to a NEW adventure: Krexit time.

Seven years and nearly 5 months on from my departure from Canada, it’s once again time to create a new chapter, in fact volume, to my book of life. As I have been hinting over the past months, it’s time to make my Kr-Exit from Britain. I am following in true Kristyn-style advice: if you don’t like what’s happening, then get to the root of it and make a change. In this case, I am literally uprooting from the source of the Brexit issue (59% of the West Midlands voted to leave where 51.9% of the UK voted out) and venturing into the palms of the  future decision makers of Brexit: À Bruxelles ou buste. 

I’m not leaving to become European because of Brexit, rather for this plant to flourish, it requires a new environment for some period of time. I’ve triggered my own Article(s) 50, and am on my way! Article(s) 50 in my case are the 50 pairs of shoes I apparently own and are currently being transported with the rest of my belongings to my new Continental abode in Belgium.

For those of you who are still confused about what is actually going on (part of the problem of Brexit), I have taken on a new adventure and am moving to Brussels, Belgium. It’s onwards and upwards in a new job with a new company.  

I’ve kept my chocolate making apron on and am moving to work with another Chocolate Giant based in Brussels. Simply speaking, I’m going to work in the heartland of fine chocolate (Belgium) with one of the world’s finest chocolate brands. I’d elaborate more, but quite frankly, the secrets of the world of chocolate are as coveted as escaping in one’s ingoing physical form from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. However, I will tease you with letting you know that you can expect some Brussels-Life type entries about my time on “the Continent” over the coming months. 

As I write this last (for-now) UK adventure entry from the perspective of my time in England, I would like to revisit all that is twee about the fine time I have spent on these fair Isles. A few years back I started to work through the book “102 English Things To Do”, and today I will share with you a few more of those happenings. 

I’ve already started with #3: Referring to ‘Europeans’ as if they were from a different continent distinguishing the geographical differences on either side of the Channel. However, the mentality that “English people believe they are essentially alone in the world, and would be downright foolish to rely on anyone else” is potentially part of how this whole Brexit polava was established in the first place. Leading me to #2: Dwell on England’s Failures which is perhaps  subconsciously why I haven’t yet subscribed for true British citizenship. Instead of embracing a persona which chooses to dwell on routine English failures such as consistently  late, overcrowded trains and celebrating tarnished mushy-peas-on-soggy-chips as a national foodstuff, I’d prefer to search out all that is positive. 

Of course, I’m not saying that all English-folk are celebrators of their nation’s mediocrity (#6: Be ironic where “irony might manifest as hyperbole”), rather that #1: Ignoring England’s achievements and the traditional English trait of admiring “‘pluck’ over skill” (#8: Cheer for the underdog) sets the nation apart from the more extrovertedly achieving countries of this world, from which continent I originate. So to my English readers, I would please ask of you to #12: Keep a stiff upper lip in regards to this paragraph whilst I go on to thank you and dote on some of the very makings of England and the English for which I dearly love (#17: Say please and thank you). 

One of my main reasons for loving the English is for their fostering of the unusual, and even further for their high value on #21: Cultivat[ing] eccentricity. Usually this pastime is reserved for the elite of the country where apparently in addition to painting his cows willow patterned, a gentleman named Sir George Sitwell “tried to pay his son’s fees at Eton  by offering the school vegetables from his garden”. I have seen these very eccentric sorts in some of my most favourite escapades in England usually when I have #38: Go[ne] to a finger-in-the-ear folk performance and join in the chorus. 

Live example of eccentricity in Camden Town

Ok, Glastonbury is modestly larger (#6: Being ironic, again) than an actual folk performance that one of our friend’s hosted in their living room last year; however, the former was definitely eccentric and finger-in-the-ear where the latter was, although a creative way to do some fundraising, very ear-pleasing. I suppose the Cider Festivals I have blogged about before have encompassed the elite eccentric, finger-in-the-ear folk performances, in addition to Things to Do: #’s 100: Drink traditional cider and 101: Visit a beer(cider) festival. 

Panorama of Glastonbury

When I look back to reminisce on when I have really felt integrated as an English-folk, definitely “responsibly drinking” many “small 1/3 pint glasses known as ‘nips’” of traditional flat, murky “dung, hay, mud, and bees”-essenced cider in a farmers field during a summer festival, then that is when! And what is the most eccentric of it all is that the word festival in England presumes there will be a good percentage of patrons using the excuse to cultivate there inner child and dress in costume, sparkles, tutus, and whichever clashing colours and patterns they can get their hands on for the duration of the weekend.

My elite festival attire: requires a posh hat and over-priced "riding" boots

This guy probably works in a bank and wears a suite Monday - Friday

Closing on Eccentricity, as has the Patron of the Eccentric Club in London (founded in 1781) HRH the Duke of Edinburgh (news in the past weeks that the Duke will step away from his royal duties), but continuing on with my highlights in England, was one event Robin and I attended a year ago called The Patron’s Lunch. I have always secretly wanted to meet Her Majesty and members of the Royal Family; however, receiving Her royal wave from about 10-feet away at a “classic British ‘street party’ lunch for 10,000 guests is acceptable enough for now. It was a typical British day flanked by hours of morning rain and queuing (#15: Form a queue) to get past security, pick up our picnic baskets so we could eat lunch (#93: Have a nice tea), and #92: Have a nice cup of tea. The Queen herself must have been rain-shy because by the time it was time to watch the parade up Pall Mall, the sun was shining in all it’s glory. 

Queuing in the rain..

Along Pall Mall for The Patron's Lunch

Can you see Her- yes you can!

Official tea (lunch), minus the tea.

To touch on some of the sights that make England such a wonderful place to visit, one trip we made over the past year that took perhaps far too long to arrange because of requirement to arrange correspondence with our MP (politicians are the same everywhere) was when we went to  #84:Visit Parliament. It is possible, with much planning and writing if you are a citizen or planning and queueing if you are a visitor. Robin and I once again ventured down to London for the day to have a tour of Westminster Palace and to climb behind one of the most famous faces in the world, Big Ben. 

View from the inside of Westminster Palace

To the top, and inside, of Big Ben

Admit one. No photography.

And on the topic of time, if ever you choose to visit London, I recommend partaking in #85: so you can Go to Greenwich and visit the Royal Museums. The novelty factor is high as you split East vs West and “see the famous meridian, the line from pole to pole, and jump from one side to the other of it”. Whilst you are picture-posing on this plane, don’t forget to meander a mere 102.5 meters to the east of the historic Prime Meridian of the World as that is apparently where the revised-in-the-80’s-thanks-to-satellite-technology true prime meridian lies… In my time I can say I have visited both the tourist-trap and true meridian lines and equatorial lines as there was a similar story in Quito, Ecuador.

Walk the line: the Prime Meridian line.

Finally what I love most about England, and was struck yet again by on my recent return from a trip back to Canada, is the rolling green landscape. In spite of an estimated 66 million (accounted for) residents crammed into the municipalities, apparently “only around 20% of the land of England is inhabited by people. The remaining 80% is empty.”, and for those of you who have taken a train out of a town or city, you will have seen this. I’ve touched on this before in the past, but by far the best of the English Things to Do is #86: Visit an AONB. Official Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) I’ve visited include recently the Causeway Coastline in Northern Ireland, and over the past seven years, Cornwall, the Cotswolds, Dorset, Malvern Hills, various parts of Devon, Gower, and the Wye Valley. 

The Giant's Causeway - Northern Ireland

The Giant's Causeway - Northern Ireland

The Causeway Coastline at Carrick-a-Rede Bridge - Northern Ireland

Of course there are even more beautiful areas within the country without the AONB designation and for the sake of box-ticking within this book a long while back, I kick-started my British mountain climbing endeavours by taking part in #91: Climb[ing] Scafell Pike- England’s “mountain”; however in the past couple of years I have also clambered around the other “mountains” of the Lake District and visited the UK’s first national park The Peak District. In short, you don’t need to find a coastline of England to appreciate the beauty of the land, such as many of the AONB’s are, rather a good pair of walking shoes and a selfie stick will do the trick.

Thorpe Cloud, Peak District

Milldale, Peak District 

Tenby, Pembrokeshire coastline

Tenby, Pembrokeshire coastline

With that, I will leave you (with another clerihew #50: Write a clerihew) and the fair land of Her Majesty the Queen as I embark on my new adventure in the land of waffles, fries, chocolate and beer. I enter Belgium more English than I wish to admit, where I have not yet in my time off bothered to brush up on my French (English Thing to Do #52: Fail to learn other languages) and will instead depart attempting #53: Speak[ing] in cockney rhyming slang: 

As my Mince Pies look alive 

I shan't be one to Duck and Dive 

Because my life’s Sausage Roll

is to Adam and Eve I’ll fulfill me soul.

As my eyes look alive

I shan’t be one to skive

Because my life’s goal 

is to believe I’ll fulfill my soul

Cheerio!

A Few More English Things To Do This Summer

English Summer- pfwah- no such thing, some say. But whoever denies that the past few months have been un-summer like are perhaps typically English in their pessimism and depreciation of things that are going well so not to show off (#5 of 102 English Things To Do) when in fact they are full-knowing that the summer has been rather good. Or perhaps, they are creating weather focused banter (#4) as a typical topic of conversation. Whatever the situation, the summer has been lovely and warm and nice (#47- taking on one of the apparently 44 meanings of nice in the Oxford Dictionary, which I believe is an over exaggeration); and if you haven't quite caught on, I've decided to review my summer in the context of a few more of the "102 English Things To Do".

Apart from my Kili break, we have spent much of the summer doing one of the most English "things to do"- #28, "Sitting in a cottage garden full of hollyhocks". However, we spent most of the time building our cottage garden (well, actually just our normal (nice) back garden) to sit in. Apparently, English gardens are typical in content and design: a mix of flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruit trees. Dense planting in massed banks with a sense of order and disorder. Typically, daisies, pansies, wisteria, roses, lupins, peonies, and geraniums. I'd like to add that the fuchsia is a key element to an English garden, especially when planted in a hanging basket. I'll let you judge for yourself how well we've done. 

We take much inspiration from visiting other English gardens and we recently visited one of the biggest English Gardens- the Eden Project. Built from a quarry in the early 2000's, the land has been sculpted and transformed into beautiful gardens that host learning, art, and conservation projects. Famously there are two biomes that house an equatorial rainforest and Mediterranean garden. Outside, there are plant exhibitions of native wildflowers and cultivated plants that are used in human everyday life and presented in an educational way. These included various herbs, fruits, medicinal plants, hops for brewing, and weed. Not weeds. Weed. Yup, about 20 feet long and 6 feet deep of wild growing marijuana plants situated between the lavender and hops gardens. Nice (interpret as you will).

Grounds at the Eden Project

English Garden outside the Biomes at the Eden Project

Mediterranean Biome

Art Installation- Eden Project

The Seed- Eden Project

The Eden Project is in Cornwall in the south of Britain and during our mini break, we managed to tick off three other "Things To Do", one of which was # 97: Eat a real Cornish Pasty made in Cornwall. For those of you that don't know, a Cornish Pasty is "a cheap, portable snack" for the miners of yore and has Protected Geographical Indication status (not only reserved for Champagne and Feta). The foodstuff is a robust pastry folded in a half-moon shape. The filling "should include no less than 12.5% beef, plus swede, potato and onion, with a peppery seasoning.". As an attempt to get into the spirit of the South, I attempted the dish myself a few weeks prior to the full Cornish experience- however, with chicken instead thus naming the dish a lonely Chicken Pasty (pronounced PAH-stee) with no legal designation. Still tasty (TAY-stee), though.

The Cornish Pasty is not the only Cornish branded foodstuff from England, and using the term Cornish seems to project a certain level of indulgence and quality that when in comparison to a like good, makes the Cornish good far superior. Other examples of Cornish goods are Cornish Cyder (with a y) and Cornish clotted cream- a cream somewhere in-between a normally high fat cream and butter. Ice creams specifically made with Cornish cream are an extra quid a scoop (so more delicious??); where a Cornish Cream Tea is most definitely not comparable anywhere else in Britain... I have tried my fair few. Although, I believe that the citizens of the next county over (Devon) would contest. Devon cream vs. Cornish cream- the life long debate of creamy indulgence.

And while on the topic of typical English foods, staying away from home in a B&B lent itself to #94- Eat a Full English. A fried breakfast with bacon, eggs, fried bread (although not on this occasion), sausages, tomato, baked beans, and mushrooms. Components of a full English from the local builder's greasy spoon would normally be "all fried together and served in their own fat". However, my arteries were thanking the B&B owners for baking the components in the oven. Mmmmmmm... oven baked sausages!

Closing off the Cornish getaway, we partook in a slightly modified English Thing To Do #25- Go to sleep in a deck chair on the beach wearing lots of clothes, because of the cold. This mostly happened because we were on the coast and it was meant to be summer (and by summer, I mean not raining), so we felt obliged to go to the beach. However, it was probably only 12C and windy, so we took to the nearest rock and I donned my scarf to take in the view- surfers in head to toe wet suits attempting to ride the foot-high waves. Sound anticlimactic? You are right. But in practising for my British citizenship, we did as most Brits would and were "determined to have a good time, since having a good time means staring at the sea as if it were a broken television set". However, unlike Alex Quick (the author of 102 English Things To Do) relates, we did not have deck chairs, but we did have a nap after our Full English

Padstow Beach

And with the end of the summer, I end this entry with the last "Thing To Do" which is # 50: Write a Clerihew (about my experience at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant). According to Wikipedia, a Clerihew is a whimsical  four-lined biographical poem usually making fun of famous people. It is structured in the rhyming scheme of AABB. Length and meter are irregular. And apparently Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant is meant to be the Don of seafood in Cornwall (or even the South West coast of England). 

Rick Stein OBE

Self-styled king of flesh from the sea

Cramped in like sardines in a can

Less flavour than food from a Gran.

Foodie Alley- Rick's Cafe, Rick Stein's Shop, Paul Ainsworth No. 6 all in a row.

Well, maybe that was a bit harsh... but the point is, we should have spent our £150 at Paul Ainsworth No. 6. Although, we did glimpse the man himself and the famous Carol Vorderman.