Now as the title suggests we have had a brilliant weekend in Wales having lots of fun with, officially, the most fun, friendly, hospitable family in Wales. I saw Gwyn smile at least twice, and the sun shone.
Amongst the Welshy things we have been up to: eating leeks, watching rugby (GO Rocks!), drinking at rugby club, eating Welsh Cakes, big wheel at Cardiff Bay, going to Barry Island (including Nessa’s slots (?), Marco’s cafe), meeting Dai, Elwyn, Rhys, Huw and Maegan, watching fight between disaffected youths when I was running round the park, feeding chickens, drinking Stella. All very Welsh.
Car free family have also learnt the Welsh language, which we found remarkably easy: Araf plant. Tidy. What’s occurring. Crackin. Lush. Not sure what all the fuss is about.
And as you will see on the video, we explored contrasting mobility issues for urban and rural families – especially teens…..always a laugh!
But the conversation did highlight the ONE thing that is giving me worries about not having a car: getting Tess home from late night events. Reluctant to get a taxi and buses late at night, she cycles or walks. So what is the latest that I should allow her to get home alone like this?
But wait a minute…..
STOP PRESS: Tess caught a taxi home tonight at 11pm! Black cab – call when in it – give the number to father over mobile – safe and sound. Her friends are all starting to now. Would be nice to have an account for this – with some added benefits – eg a text to me when she is in the cab, a saved contact number to call me in case there are any problems (would be good for the cab company too as they would have someone to take responsibility in case there are any problems……mmmm)
In fact we need a settee; our old soggy one now having been destroyed by the cats, and the detritus of our lives down the back of the settee now starting to overflow. Nice.
And the bed element will come in handy for visitors to our diddy flat.
Having slept on Dot’s and also snuggled under a blanket watching TV 5 abreast, the decision was made. From the smorgasbord of sofa beds on offer at Ikea, it had to be the Manstad (L shaped to the right).
So, not having a car, what do we do:
1. Buy on-line. NO – not an option in Scotland.
2. Ikea Direct (I didn’t know about this, but having called the Edinburgh store they said it would be best). This involves emailing your request. Then Ikea gets back to you and gives you a quote. WE DID THIS. But no reply and we just couldn’t wait!! (Audrey and my nephew Chris are visiting this week, as are Chloe and Rebecca…can we have the Manstad sharpish please?)
3. Visit Ikea: Boo. Not my first option – not even my third…But hey ho. My main memory of Ikea is of Tess as a little girl throwing up everywhere, especially on Brian: a kind of aversion therapy. Especially for Brian. Anyway, so we go to the website to find out how to get there…
Ikea website gives us directions BY CAR - nothing by public transport. Thought you cared about the environment Ikea? Tess had a look around the internet and found that the Lothian Buses No 47, which goes right past our house, goes direct to Ikea. Oh joy.
Downloading the iPhone application “edinbus” we could see we had 20 mins to the next bus departure from the stop 5 mins away.
Life was looking up. Seamless lives.
So – we get to Ikea. We order our bed settee (boo – we have to wait a week or so – Audrey and Chris wil be on the floor), and buy another £150 of “stuff” we don’t need.
Even us public transport users spend money Ikea!!!!!
(Interestingly – well kind of interestingly) when we came home there was an email from Ikea Direct quoting the same price as we paid in store plus £20 delivery. I wonder if I will have to pay this for our new Manstad?
Food and locale: Everything you could eat and more, lager and wine, and lots of green grass (despite heat – lots of watering), plus air con
Entertainment: French Extravaganza (every bloody night)
Celebrity rating: 0
Carbon: Ouch
This year’s holiday:
Location: Robin Hood’s Bay, Boggle Hole, Fylingdale, Buxton
Operator: Cassidys (and my mate Ian)
Cost: 75% less than last year
Travel: Taxi, train, taxi, van (350 miles), lift from Ian, train, taxi
Food and locale: Quorn, pasta, flies, bitter/ale, cold and blustery, drafts
Entertainment: Ian, kids and amazing music (esp The Futureheads and Imperial Leisure)
Celebrity rating: 9 (Emma Roberts had been there once for Wild Child – see link)
Carbon: A lot less than last year!
Summary: I think this year’s holiday was the most relaxing I have had for years, and T&M enjoyed it more than they have a holiday in ages. Just drive (very slowly – that is the only ption in a 1972 VW Camper) and sit and listen to music. Even cooking on the stove was strangely relaxing (if not for the fly). Greece was more of a rush and a push to get there and enjoy – at all costs.
So – yeah, we hired a van. Result all round. Our friends at flightlesstravel (see link) may be onto something.
Wish I knew the full accurate costs of each holiday: money, environment etc
What an ace weekend. Old friends, new friends, lots of nice beer and laughing a lot. Very funny, mellow and just downright good! (and even Co-op bubbles and a fridge magnet)
Car Free? Well….
Home to Edinburgh Train Station – Taxi (I was late back from work and we had lots of bags)
Markinch to Festival -Taxi (last festival Bus at 630pm – bit early for a late one! (Hey, we also saw a showdown between local taxi drivers looking for our trade: all cracks off in Markinch))
Back from festival – given a lift (thanks Duncan and Boyley)
From Dot’s to Leuchars – lift from Dot
There’s lots of people who help us out with lifts, especially when we go to rural areas and need to get to/from the station. Good chat with Brodie about helping with petrol at the end of the blog…
So kind of car free.
Mind, we did take our strawberry pot incentive for using public transport. They were very sweet. (Could have done with verification (smartcard?): I talked to an old lady who admitted she had lied – the shame!!!)
This posting is dedicated to all chickens who have just laid their first egg.A perfect long weekend: camping (well, soft camping in Dot’s garden), friends, turbo-nerf-ball-throwing, G&T’s, fantastic trip to an organic cafe, lager, craft fare, takeaway…
..and the City Car Club alowed us to do this.
And what a day Thursday was: getting our Car Club membership through( the smart card opens the car) and then the Annual (smart card) Bus Pass (courtesy of my employerl!).
Shame these cards are not on one lovely card though, which could do lots of things and provide lots of incentives and rewards for its use. Just like the egg laying wool milk sow card (or should I say eierlegendewollmilchsau) that they have in Bremen which on one card delivers: car club, bus pass, electronic purse, tourist offers….(see link)
Having migrated back to the UK from Belgium on the 14th April with the car, the Family Cassidy were settling into Edinburgh. The car had been used a few times – to the tip a lot to get rid of rubbish, supermarket a couple of times, drive up to Fife once. But basically the car was just gathering grime at the back of the house and also getting in the way of our games of cricket out back! We were renting a flat about 2.5 miles from city centre on a well served bus route and about 1.5 miles from kids’ schools.
So…it was time to say goodbye to the car/voituire.
The Controle Technique (a test that every car which is sold in Belgium must have to guarantee it is safe) had been taken before we left and was only valid for another few days.
The Family Cassidy drove down to Hull to get the ferry back to Belgium and say hello to Francoise who was buying the car, and goodbye to VW…
What would happen? Tears? Beating of chests? What would we feel like without the car? Would the Cassidys without their Touran be like Dr Who without his Tardis…??
Only one way to find out…let’s just see what happened….6 June 2010 – start the clock.
Today started so well. Nice run up Arthur’s Seat and views which seemed to say “This is the day when England achieve”.
I had laughed at the Scottish strategy to win the 2034 World Cup by having children with Brazilians (see link) and thought that really, today, it would be the start of something big.
So we set off to Fife – 40 miles away – on the bus and train, to enjoy the game at Boyley’s footy party. It would be so easy to pop up in the car, but, that wasn’t a choice. Planning to get a taxi from the station (Leuchars) to Boyley’s.
Dot rang to say she’d pick us up and we could have a pre-match-relaxation-walk on the beach. Hurrah! This would not have happened if we’d driven -we’d have been straight to Boyley’s. All very sociable and nice. Thanks to public transport…?
I do feel a bit bad that people give us lifts: we go car free and they pick up the tab. But it wasn’t a big detour for Dot and we did have a nice walk. Flick was happy too.
Little did we know that England would never show up (well, we kind of guessed they wouldn’t).
And not driving meant I could ehjoy a beer and had empty bottles to throw at the telly.
So it was Tess’ first day at the new school (actually it wasn’t – it was her first day in a new class having changed year after a few weeks of arriving here in Scotland). At this stage we still had the car, awaiting our trip back to Belgium to sell.
Try and work out the main reason for Tess not wanting to walk? Was it really fear of falling down?!!! First correct answer wins a beautiful lounge suite (hint – it’s all mind maps I reckon…)
At least she finished the day singing…
Another normal breakfast in our home!! Go Maddie !! Just like your role model of the time (see link)
(News update: she has walked every day and gets up earlier to meet her mates earlier so they can all walk as a group. Nice one Tess)
So we wanted to go to York – about 2 hours away by train. Usually we would drive down – about 4 hours? Just easier.
The train was the option now: £70. We would have spent about £40 on petrol.
We usually have a bit of fun when travelling, but I do think train takes the (British rail) biscuit. So many lovely journeys – I instantly recall loads of trips on Eurostar to London, and loads of trips to from York when I was a student travelling to/from Lancaster.
This day we learnt Pirate language, guided through by our Pirate Host Maddie. We could have learnt Pirate in a car, but to be honest I would have been distracted and would have been a bad student. Just a bit less stress on the train. Even managed a McKewans (the only time anyone has a can of McKewans is on a train isn’t it?).
We paid child fare for Tess, having just jumped off a bus where we paid full fare, and about to jump on another bus, in Edinburgh, where she pays half fare. Tess is right – what IS the message to teens about the age of consent? Seems to vary just a tad. No wonder they are confused.
