Where we are and where we are going

We haven't been in touch with some of you lately, so we figured we'd give a outline of what the future holds for us (assuming all goes according to plan!).

But first, a little about what we've been up to lately. This wee photo collection misses out a bunch of stuff, like where we take our Glasgow Fiddle Workshop classes, and museums we've been to, and our fish-and-chip excursions. But we'll try to fill in more about our lives here as we have time.

Here's a little of what we've been up to...

Riding around Glasgow, to and frae, across cool bridges by night and day!

Touristy sights:

This is a carving in a church that was designed by Glasgow-native Charles Renne MacKintosh. Beautiful!

Fall colors! And super-slick-when-wet dead leaves on all the roads and cycle paths! Be aware! (Also, wet granite pavers can be slick. boB had a crash a few nights ago because the pavement was so slick. Ouch!)

On cold nights we have beer-tasting experiences at home. Boddingtons, at £4 per four-pack, is on the left. In the middle is Morrison's "Traditional Best," at £2 for a four-pack. On the right is Morrison's Savers Bitter, at an outrageously screaming deal of £0.89 for a four-pack. Quite a deal, that stuff. And it can be used to strip paint, tan leather, and clean your carbeurator! 

bob is standing infront of Babbity Bowster- one of our favorite spots for traditional music sessions. 

Super friendly atmosphere, welcoming people & fantastic music!

Here is (was!) our favorite coffee shop - we stopped there once a week for a coffee and chat. Except that this week it CLOSED!! That's terrible! The proprietor is/was a hilarious fellow whose dry wit never ceased to entertain, and sometime left boB speechless to reply! Now THAT is quite a feat! But, sadly, they closed! We're crushed...!! 

The coffee shop is (was!) right across the street from one of our other favourite hang-outs ...

The College Of Piping! The Advil Highlanders are going to be a bagpipe band!  Well... Someday. 

We're just playing on practice chanters for now, which is a good thing for our neighbors because it's HARD to make good sounds come out of just the practice chanter! And, someday, when we fire up a full set of Great Highland Bagpipes for the first time, the whole world will hear of the Advil Highlanders ... as they sonically simulate the slaying of a flock of geese by a herd of tone-deaf Tom cats!  

Seriously, though, we're having a great time learning basic techniques and tunes, and we are making great progress. Our tutor is Willie Morrison, South Uist-born and from a long line of pipers. He's an outstanding tutor, takes his work seriously and demands perfection, and is also easy-going and encouraging. When we have to leave Glasgow we'll sincerely miss Willie. 

This is a mural in the practice hall at the College.  The whole mural is about 15 feet long!

This is the garden at the Pollock House, an historic manor near where we live. We could go on for hours about the history of this place... But we have music to play!

Anyway ... Now a wee update on what's coming up next for the Advil Highlanders. This is a roughish outline, and subject to change when the wind blows something better in our direction. 

Next week is the Scot's Fiddle Fest in Edinburgh! We've got train tickets booked and plan on 3 full days of music workshops, lectures, sessions, and concepts. And.... PIES!!!! Lots of pies frae Auld Jock's Pie Shop. If we can fit it in we may also visit a bagpipe maker... Maybe? 

We will remain in Glasgow, taking music classes at the GFW (Glasgow Fiddle Workshop) and the College of Piping until early January, after which we have a wee trip to Ireland planned. We were able to book a flight to Dublin for a mere £40 - for both of us! Who could resist a 17-day Ireland adventure in the dead of winter??! Well, we couldn't!  We realized we could leave Scotland briefly in order not to use up the remainder of our precious 6 month visa.  With this wee Ireland diversion (Ireland is NOT part of the UK), we can extend our stay in the UK for another 2 weeks - allowing us to return to Glasgow for a real Scottish Burn's night celebration on January 25th (the birthday of the late Robert Burns, bard of Scotland) and the incredible 'Celtic Connections' festival occurring in late January. And we were lucky to catch two of the last tickets to the legendary Transatlantic Sessions at the Celtic Connections!! We are beyond excited!

After much research (turns out it is difficult to ferry with bikes internationally), we booked a ferry to the Netherlands for early February. We hope to stay in Amsterdam for two weeks visiting Melinda's Dutch friends and host family. After a terrific year abroad in high school,  she sadly hasn't seen these lovely people for nearly 20 years! It's high time to get reacquainted and show boB around her old stomping grounds in Amsterdam. 

In order to stay in Europe/elsewhere for as long as possible, we need to reduce our cash outflow. We can't really work to make money, but there is an alternative. Check out the website called HelpX.org, and you'll get an idea. Generally, if one volunteers time and effort (aka "work") then one can have free accommodation and possibly some allowance for food.  So we've been searching the interwebs like madmen in hopes of finding the perfect European work-stay opportunity. 

And winter in Ireland isn't so hot, so to speak, even though there is a lot of HelpX opportunity there. 

So ... where better to work in the winter than sunny Southern Spain? Winter in southern Spain? Sounds great! 

After a good bit of digging and emailing, we found a hostel in Seville to take us on for 7 weeks! We'll go there after Amsterdam, and "work" (don't call it that, cuz then the authorities get all up in a bunch about it... It's volunteering!)

We are currently organizing to meet up with boB's folks in April for a vacation in Spain and Morocco. We are even looking for potential work in Morocco afterwards. Lots of opportunities abound on HelpX, and we couldn't help but laugh at this outrageous ad-

We are a Berber family in a village on the edge of the Sahara desert. We have a bivouac with traditional Berber tents situated 8 km from Tamegroute, the village where we live.  We would like to find someone who wants to live in our Sahara Desert Bivouac for a while, take care of it and keep it clean and tidy for tourists. There is a well with water a 5 minutes walk from the bivouac but there is no electricity, only candles. We offer you accommodation in our typical nomad tents, but food isn't provided if no tourists are present. However, we can buy food and organise food transport for you by local people for a symbolic price or you can be independent and take care of your needs on your own, as you prefer. The Sahara Desert Bivouac is sometimes full of tourists, sometimes there is only Ali who takes care of the bivouac or cooks for tourists, but sometimes there is no one there for days. So we are looking for serious people who are flexible with rough conditions in the desert and who don't mind spending some time alone. It isn't easy to live there, and nights are sometimes very cold, so be prepared. Try not to have big expectations. It seems romantic to try to live in the desert but we have to remind that it is also very hard and if you're not well organised, it can be complicated. We are always ready to help you, give you advice or teach you how to live in the desert, however we try to find responsible and independent individuals who are able to take care of themselves and not to put themselves in danger (for example, a spontaneous walk by your own in the middle of the night in the desert isn't good idea at all no matter how much you enjoy silence and shiny stars). I am sure that you will remember this kind of experience for a long time, but it mostly depends on you if it will be pleasant or unpleasant one. People who already have similar experience of living in remote wild areas without water and electricity (desert, mountains, islands...) are more than welcome.  If you think that all this Sahara Desert Bivouac lifestyle is too much for you, we are also looking for a professional photographer and web designer who is able to improve and manage our current web page and create new web pages as needed. In that case you would be sleeping in our house in the village with all meals included. Don't hesitate to contact me for more information and hope to see you soon in our Sahara Desert Bivouac or in our village. You are welcome here anytime!

Tempting now, isn't it? Too bad boB and Melinda are not professional photographers and have no web design skills. 

Anyway, after Morocco, then perhaps to Ireland again. That's the idea at this point, anyway. 

Our ultimate desire is to return to the UK again next summer, once they will let us return again (after July 17, 2016). To make that possible we hope to work ...er, volunteer hard, live affordably, budget wisely, and thereby extend the adventure as long as we are able!

 

Our plans change as we find other grand opportunities and come up with even wilder ideas, and so the adventure continues!

We miss you all and will keep you posted on new developments in plans. Stay well! We hope you are all enjoying a lovely November!