English Postcards: Slim's Euro Trip Conclusion
on the last video of my European travels I boarded a train from Glasgow Scotland and was heading south Well I made it to Birmingham which is I guess central England more or less It's uh it's north of London at least Uh interesting place It's a little cool but it's not raining so that's good And you can see the ferris wheel in the background one of the reasons I'm here is there are a few of my YouTube friends actually lived in the area and so gives me a chance to chat and see how things are with them and uh you know maybe go for a pint or two Birmingham is England's second largest city and is well known as a manufacturers's hub at the center of Great Britain While blessed with plenty of green space It also is famous for its locks Not just the ones on Lover's Bridge but that other kind that connected the canals and moved supplies and goods since the industrial revolution Now those waterways are still in use and there's more canals in Birmingham than in Venice Now throughout those prosperous years those laborers needed somewhere to spend their cash and Broad Street became a hot spot for food bars and entertainment So it's no surprise that many musicians came from Birmingham like Jeff Lynn of ELO the band UB40 and some other rock band whose name escapes me And it was by a famous bridge that I was now headed to meet a fellow music lover and his buddies Hi Mark Pleased to meet you ! All right This is my friend called Steve How are you doing Well we made it right on With Mark Paul and Steve leading the way we only had one destination This was my first British pub And what a beautiful sight it was All decked out in wooden brass with all those tap handles reminding me of a big brass pipe organ full of beer With each pipe a different note the key I chose was in the tune of Guinness Cheers Slim Cheers Cheers Here we go Cheers Here's to a safe journey back to Canada Yeah And just a safe journey back to London I think it's about a safe journey back to my hotel is a way to start! and We'll worry about Canada later At least when I got to Birmingham I get to see you guys Yep Which is good I appreciate it You got me taking your time and show me around Well it's been it's an honor to meet you for a start of because as I say you you did help with the camper and if it wasn't for you none of the camper for the things that I did would would ever have happened anyway So uh it's all good Well hey you know if if it wasn't for people who watch my videos I wouldn't be inspired to come to the UK either But uh I have a very small I think it was about 6% or something UK Okay Um Canada's only 13% So it's not that big in Canada So you know all you know it's like only you know 50% less for UK is pretty good Yeah Um Australia but I'm not ready to fork over the dollars for Australia Yet let's start with the UK cuz it's just across the pond! right I said yeah Yeah You know what I mean I think best the best thing you've done is come to Birmingham because it would be we was when I told everybody that you were coming and they said uh well I believe that when we see it Yeah So when you first hinted to me that you were coming it was a few months back way back and he said I might do this Yeah I was I was thinking of it Yeah And then I was around his and I said well you know what this this could happen and he said yeah I and then when it didn't happen you thought well that's never going to happen Yeah Yeah And in typical Canadian planning you know what I wouldn't even say I wouldn't even say it's Canadian It's just my planning which is none I just try to do things in the spur of the moment and it's just it's almost impossible Here's the plan I don't have one Yeah And to do Europe without a plan uh I mean I it's just really really tough I mean travel is so more difficult now Yeah than when I started you know like 40-45 years ago Oh it's harder to travel now with the traffic as well It's there's more traffic So intense It's harder to get accommodation Everything's more money Um but I think it's because the world has gone electronic social media I you can't you know most people book everything over their phones Yeah Oh and everything's got to be booked as well Yeah that's it and using GPS and uh communication uh everything is by the phone Yeah which is good and it's bad It's instant but if you lose your phone you're see it's made it so convenient that everybody's doing it Yeah It's not an effort to you know back in the day you got a booking People wouldn't really bother But now now it's so simple to do You know it's so easy to do Just everybody just picks it up and I'm on I'm on the way Well it's kind of simple Whereas with me I mean I have a I have a phone Yeah And I can do anything with this phone except make a phone call Yeah that's right You can make and uh I cannot make a phone call with this ever since I got to Europe It has not worked as I put a a French SIM card in it and I can't make a phone call So hey go figure No you can't text Can't text No So but I can talk The phone has not taken away my privilege to have a one-to-one conversation to people And that's that's kind of what this was about Yeah You know I've had people well virtually all over the world that have watched my videos one time or another Um and I like to reach out every once in a while to them and actually shake their hand and have a beer with them Yeah that's the correct way to do it Yeah I think so Anyway Sim it's been a pleasure to meet you Yeah Same here it's been great Right on Never thought it would happen In fact when you're here I didn't think it was going to happen Well well the next time you're in Canada and you want a pint Yeah in New Brunswick We'll definitely be there Cheers Slim Cheers Cheers Cheers Cheers Well that pint cleared my head and I suddenly remembered something about that canal bridge that I'd mentioned earlier because on top of it sits a park bench The perfect place to sober up after a night of partying And there's even some drug-crazed hippies to keep you company How cool is that? Birmingham is home to something else which was very dear to my childhood Um when I was like 12 or 13 I was really into music and one of my favorite bands had this guy for a singer That's Ozzy! Black Sabbath I had their first album I had Master of Reality I had Paranoid I had Volume 4 I love that I grew up with that music along with Alice Cooper and the Rolling Stones and all that But I never thought I'd be where it all started out which is Birmingham They've got this bench here There's the Black Sabbath Bridge And we've got Ozzy We've got Tony We've got Terry Geezer Butler and Bill Ward's in the back Bill's not looking too good He's by himself there But hey I finally made it My uh what do you call pilgrimage to Black Sabbath is now complete So beer and Black Sabbath with friends was a great way to start my day But as the clock struck noon I headed down the canal for another rendevous Well unfortunately I'm not in Birmingham for long And later on today I'm going to grab a train head for London But before I go there's one more person I really wanted to meet because he's got a unique way of traveling camping so to speak and just getting around to see the sites that uh is very unique to this location Hopefully I can meet him and we can grab a pint And on the way I passed four Canada geese who are obviously here on vacation As I watched a narrow boat maneuver a tight turn I noticed a familiar face on the other side of the canal Mr Potato Head I recognize this guy saying "I'm doing to meet Slim potato head!" I'm doing very well A viewer such a Fan Oh right on Me too Just trying to get quick selfie Yeah Yeah Yeah So uh there we go Got a bit of canal Well well well How are you I'm great And uh welcome to Birmingham Well thank you As is tradition here we went off to chat in another local pub Look who I've got here Hello it's David from "Cruising the Cut" One of my favorite of all time vloggers and I get to meet him in person Well likewise Slim one of my favorite uh video makers I don't even call you a vlogger You are a craftsman of the art a storyteller supreme Well I do try to tell a story as do you generally try to Yes And uh what are the chances? Here you are in Birmingham England Hey you know what I needed a break So you know I've been through the US many many times I think it was time to go somewhere different My uh grandmother I think was from the Kent area right And uh the other side I think was Enfield somewhere around there right Southern southern part of uh of England Yeah Now you call it England you call it Great Britain but which is a preference? right Uh England is England Wales is Wales and Scotland is Scotland Yeah Those three together are Great Britain If you then add in Northern Ireland you have the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Makes sense Yeah So what are you? personally Half English half Welsh Okay but I call myself Canadian British British works You can't really say UK-ish It doesn't work British If you notice in the background I know this is not a good angle but we're by a canal and David literally camps and travels on the canal It's totally an awesome uh concept You know can't do anything like that in Canada No you've got a small amount of canals haven't you Somewhere I don't know a lot about it but you've got some Well I guess around Niagara Falls and stuff like that You don't want to go down the falls Ideally not No But there's uh for anyone who doesn't know there's about 2,000 miles of inland waterway canals um in England and Wales All connected It's a big network You can go all the way from London up north and east and west and just travel about in these very long thin boats that are not called long boats Uh they are narrow boats Uh because they are long and narrow And look at this No gridlock If you don't if if you're tired of gridlock and I think there's a little bit of gridlock in uh in Birmingham is there not Uh there can be on the roads Yes there can be on the canals Well there can be in summertime Yeah But but otherwise it's a peaceful way But they have another instead of grid lock they have locks and uh you do get stuck on that Maybe that's where the word grid lock comes from because when you have to go up down a lock or up a lock this can take all day Well it's uh doing it single-handed it's about 15 minutes per lock Uh but if you got a whole flight of locks it can take you all day Yes As the sign says it takes 38 locks to get to Fazeley And just near here there's one with how many steps to go down? There's one with 13 locks in quick succession followed by another 12 locks in quick succession And I did do that once on my own in a day and it did take all day So be prepared It it might be better than going on the road but you know there's a little give and take There's some disadvantages as well as well but the thing is you probably don't use a lot of fuel? No very uh parsimmonious on the field just chugging along at 3 mph enjoying the canals enjoying the peace It's all about slowing down And I don't think there's a lot of noise either No noise of the diesel engine which some are quieter than others but generally you get bird song nature people talking to you from the tow bar It's a it's a pleasant way of life All right yeh all right and what got you into this in the first place? Uh just a whim really I just decided to quit my job and sell my house and pop about and live on it So I did That's the way to do it I'm a whim guy myself It's it's a whim for me to be here in the first place I didn't plan anything I just sort of went I did want to go with my daughter I needed some time off with her because I hadn't seen her for a while So I went to France I went to Italy Now I'm in the UK and I'm loving it So if you're looking for a unique lifestyle try narrow boating in Birmingham Now David's a wealth of info on the subject and I could talk to him forever but those beers were taking effect and suddenly all I heard was blah blah blah blah blah blah Anything else to say No How about goodbye Welcome to the UK and goodbye Exactly Check out David you know uh cruising the cut and uh you're really going to love it I know a lot of people in the US are probably not as familiar but totally recommend it you know he could talk about anything and it's still interesting You are very very kind! and He's a good photographer too Thank you! Well I'm not going to be in Birmingham much longer I actually uh go on a train tonight to London which leads me to that British icon called the Underground And as my feet finally touch a London street the first thing I see is Big Ben As I glanced across the temps my stomach started to growl but finding good places to eat was a little confusing to me Some names didn't seem that appetizing and I didn't find a lot of vegetarian choices Plus where I come from spotted dick means go see a doctor !!! I usually love Indian food but this name made me a little queasy so I settled for noodles Lunchtime downtown London Ned's noodles which is uh rice noodles sweet and sour sauce and tofu About 10 lbs What do we get? That's it! Looks like a meal I'm feeling I'm going to lose some of it but there we go Noodle time Seriously nothing special I'm just hungry London is one of the most diverse cities in the world where Charles Dickens meets the devil and traditions complement the modern But it was George Gershwin that inspired my first visit to a landmark as I wanted to see if the lyrics to "a foggy day" were actually true Well two things were instantly charming as soon as I walked through the front doors No reservation was required and it was free It had all the stuff a museum should have and the architecture was quite interesting Now don't get me wrong it's a very impressive museum However perhaps because I just visited the Louvre in France and the Kelvingrove in Scotland I was feeling a little bit of museum fatigue by the time I arrived here but it does have some very impressive artifacts like the Rosetta Stone It's famous for being the key piece of the puzzle in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics as it was written in two languages and three scripts Unfortunately there's no infinite wisdom written here just a promo piece for King Ptolomy V from 196 BC Well after the British Museum had lost its charm you go for ice cream and waffles Now don't be too discouraged by my diet as it did get a little healthier later on After a little history I craved a little nature so headed to the famous parks of London In Hyde Park this lowhanging tree caught my eye and curiosity got the best of me Now this is cool I'm inside a tree underneath its branches I don't know what kind of tree it is but it's got its own little room underneath here It's so uh the branches are just so tight The little pigeon likes it too So cool St James Park has a lake that's known for its water fowl And between St James Park and Hyde Park is another famous landmark Buckingham Palace Big Ben showed me the afternoon was almost over so back to the underground I went Well I couldn't go to UK without seeing Stonehenge Today is the day Trains are the prime way to travel in England and most destinations here are connected by rail but the last part of this trip was by bus Thank you Home to the crows and still visited by modern-day druids This is where an ancient Neolithic temple has stood for 4500 years Welcome to the place now known as Stonehenge Now one thing that I found surprising is it's pretty casual here at Stonehenge The way it should be But I was expecting a lot of security and massive fences and like all these and signs Don't go here don't go here But uh I mean there are fences you know these little ropes around And as far as access no you can't go in amongst the rocks but you can walk around them fine Walking around them as as many times as you want And there's these areas these grassy areas you can sit out in And uh it's kind of neat And you know I mean you're supposed to be relaxed You're supposed to you know take this you know for whatever spiritual meaning or historical meaning that you may This is far more casual and it's a lot easier to appreciate As the sun dipped lower thousands of spider webs glistened in the grass As each time of day reveals a different Stonehenge Uh it's probably a little harder at sunset because uh a lot of the buses go back at like 4:30 but um you can get around that as well And those are the people I really want to talk to Just beyond the gate at the fringes of a field the viewpoint is a little different This is where today's gypsies reside No longer in wagons but in vans or caravans as they call them here Britain has a large wild camping community And being blessed with a more moderate climate than North America the travel season is a lot longer I see many advantages to renting a van to explore Britain In the distance are small mounds called barrows These are ancient burial grounds from the Bronze Age With dusk approaching this is the most magical time to view the rocks as it's believed they were all intentionally placed to align with the rising and setting sun On the last few minutes of daylight the stones glow in ghostly colors and the crows stake out their thrones as the tourists depart for those lucky enough to spend a night here It must be a transcendental experience But unfortunately I also have to uh rely on transportation And the last bus leaves in a few minutes So I bit a dude to Stonehenge Got to go An orange full moon replaced the setting sun and glowed all night as I slept By morning it had faded as a new journey was about to begin I'm on my way to Dover Dover is a port town in Kent on the southeast corner of England It's known for its chalk white cliffs its ferry terminal to France and the Dover Castle As I'd never visited a castle this was my first destination But not without a classic British breakfast a vegetarian one at that from Cafe Milange And it was awesome Dover Castle is one of the largest in England Initially built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror But it was King Henry II that built the stone fortress you see today in the 12th century Now there is at least one structure that's much older This Roman lighthouse built when the Romans invaded in AD43 This makes it one of the oldest buildings still standing in England today Wandering these halls you feel the sense of confinement in these massive walls And the eerie sounds that echo in the corridors are not howls from the dungeon Only those whiny little kids of tourists It certainly had that medieval charm Although I wish the gate fee included a jeweled goblet of wine I took one last look over the battlements and spotted a coastline that beckoned to be explored Fortunately there was even a foot path As the sun was getting low it was time to put this walk into high gear After about half an hour I finally reached the place I was looking for Well it was about an 8 mile walk but I made it to the outlook for the White Cliffs at Dover Right there is the English Channel and way over there is France I watched one last ferry dock before nightfall Time to go back up North But on my way back I found something I wasn't expecting to see a pickup truck and with a camper on the bed This was a nice setup and it confirms that even on the white cliffs of Dover they appreciate wheeled travelers Another day over another train to London and one final destination I needed to reach New Barnett is a burrow northeast of London and I had a personal quest that I had to fulfill from here This old photo from 1895 shows my late grandmother Violet seen in white out on a horse and buggy ride in Eping Forest Her father who is beside her on the rains also had a hardware shop in New Barnett I was curious to see if the original building was still standing Well according to the phone I'm real close 61 I'm here I believe the original address took up two spaces and it was the one on the right that had the identical pillars on each side This was definitely the right building but instead of a hardware store it now sold used clothing so I went inside to check it out When I told the lady at the counter she was thrilled to find out its history and passed on my picture to the local historical society Time for a special photo Here's my great-grandfather Rudland in 1922 and his greatgrandson in 2024 102 years later Well it's great because it's now a hospice and it sells used goods for really cheap prices to people who just can't afford new Is there anything I got? Well I had my eyes on something red A record Westside Story Not exactly British but hey it's only a pound My quest now fulfilled It was back to the trains one more time I did make a stop at Cambridge Circus and Charing Cross This gave me a chance to marvel at Zach Lieberman's 4-minute work entitled "Color Stripe Study" at the Outermat Now remember the bad luck I had at restaurants? I finally got it right right by ordering banjan birani at the Baga restaurant home of authentic Persian cuisine It's eggplant and yogurt with rice vegetable nan and a fruit juice What a meal! Ummmm! Melts in your mouth Really good On my very last morning it finally rained I had traveled through France Italy Scotland and England without even an umbrella except this last day Well this is my last double-decker bus ride as I head for Heathrow airport I really love this tour of Europe but I really miss my cabin as well It's time to go home I hope you enjoyed this video Check out my others as well Perhaps the sky was crying as I bid Europe goodbye It was certainly a wonderful journey a part of the world I would love to return to A special thanks to Mark Paul Steve and David And a sincere thank you to all my viewers who came along for the ride Safe travels everyone
2025-05-10 19:35
