So, sorry for a fairly long absence on the blog front (minus the election "special" the other day). Truth be told I've actually been busy recently. You may or may not know that I was in Italy for a week, playing hockey. Despite one boy losing four teeth (unlucky Ross Hepburn) and the surprisingly good spring weather we actually won the tournament. The holiday was really good ta, thanks for asking.
What is most interesting about my trip looking back is that the entire journey was done by bus, an alternative forced on to many people now because of "that" volcanic eruption in Iceland. With the skies polluted people are having to travel by road, rail and ferry. You hear the stories about people who have had flights cancelled, and obviously it cannot of been ideal. But my trip from Glasgow to Rimini was 38 hours long and involved going through England, France and Switzerland. To many this would be an inconvience, but to my it was an adventure. I mean, I got to have a McDonald's in the Alps! You can't get that on a flight. My hypothesis is this; if you care to take life as a "glass half full" scenario, the whole concept of travelling round Europe could be fun. You can sort of see this in interviews in the news, which have become a game of Top Trumps to see who has had the most arduous journey:
"You had to pass through the Baltic States to get back from St. Petersburg? That's nothing mate, I had to walk from Paris to Bordeaux just to get a bus to Ze Brugge!"
It all follows that Monty Python sketch, regarding who had the worst upbringing. My sympathies go to Iceland, as a nation. Metaphorically, I have this image of a school trip, each country being a kid on this bus. You have the USA, the big kid who is the bully, with his chums like the UK sitting at the back of the bus. There's Iran, the guy who's a bit weird, a bit "too interested" in science, as well as North Korea, who's mentally disabled and probably has Columbine potential.
And then there's Iceland. Firstly, he loses all his pocket money, leaving him skint so he can't buy any souvenirs for his family. Unfortunately for everyone on the bus Iceland gets terribly travel sick, and he throws up. And I mean throw up. It completely coats the interior of the bus, and the smell alone forces all the countries to get off the bus, meaning noone can go travelling. Poor Iceland, it's not his fault, but he'll probably get kicked to bits after school tomorrow.
Thinking up metaphors like this is far too easy a distraction from revising.
DC
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