Glasgow and Edinburgh Scotland UK: This is why I travel!

Greetings From Glasgow and Edinburgh Scotland UK!

The view on the ferry, almost makes me wanted to go back to the ships...almost.

This post is going to be a little long, I'll try to keep the photos down but I did take a lot. I tried to make it two separate posts but they intertwine so much it was too difficult to do so here it is, Glasgow and Edinburgh, my full Scotland experience. I took the ferry over from Belfast, with buses from Belfast to the ferry and the ferry to Glasgow, and although it was a beautiful trip it was also long and I was still feeling sick.

Meeting Up with Giles and Cristiana

I was texting Giles and Cristiana all along the way to let them know when I'd be getting into the station. I met them online through BJJ Globetrotters, in fact a few people refeered me to them as I was planning out the UK trip. We had decided that night would be better spent resting instead of training, so I was looking forward to an evening of talking with my hosts to really get to know them. I got into the station and within 10 minutes found Giles, who was very eager to welcome me to his town and help me with my bags back to his place. As we walked to the metro station Giles gave me a quick rundown on the history of the city. I told him about some of the places I've been so far, but it was difficult, my voice was very rough as my throat was so sore, so it was more of a low growl the first night of tlakign to both Giles and Cristiana. Once we made it back to their place I met Cristiana, who was waiting with some medication for me. They had just hosted Joon Wai, my fellow Jiu-Jitsu traveler I met in Blackpool, for the past week and he had just left the day before. Giles and Cristiana like to host fellow BJJ Globetrotters as their contribution to community when they themselves can't travel. I think that's a cool thing to do. they must hear some great stories.

Cristiana, having a profession in the medical field, was ready with some medication for my throat, a tea pack called Lemsip, which is very similar to the Neo-citron I'm used to in North America, but way more effective. Tea is something I've been falling in love with again, learning to take the time to have some daily. Warm drinks help your body so much, as I've learned, and although you need to stay hydrated, you also need to make sure your body is well. I find cold evenings, no matter how warm the day, and being worn out from a lot of training really wrecks havoc on my respiratory system and tea help restore it. I'll have to keep reminding myself this as I travel. So while I was staying with Giles and Cristiana I spent a lot of time resting and drinking tea to get back on feet, as well as sampling some of the local delicacies. The first night in Giles and Cristiana had planned to feed my haggis, I was actually looking forward to it as it's something I've always heard about but had never tried, no place better than to try Haggis than the homeland! I got to be honest, it was a bit of let down but in a good way, because it was just a normal dish of minced meat and vegetables, similar to meatloaf, nothing crazy about it. My friends back in Canada commented how gross it must be, being sheep organs and stuff, but my reply is this: There's worse things in your hotdogs and fast food, man! Once I was better they also fed me some pizza crunch, which is deep fried pizza and it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. There's also Irn Bru, an orange soda pop that is the national drink of Scotland and was actually pretty good, I picked it up once or twice later on, sadly it's not to be found over in Continental Europe.

Haggis with some mix vegetables.

Pizza crunch. Deep-fried pizza.

I can't thank Giles and Cristiana enough for helping me out, healing me up and getting me back on my feet. I was feeling pretty bad when I showed up at their place and by the time I left I felt great. They really made me feel welcome too, they're seriously good people and I'm so glad I met them. Meeting and staying with people like them is why I travel. I wish we sat down and did a video about their training and hosting Globetrotters and the stories they have, too bad I hadn't thought of this when I was there. I guess you'll have to meet up with them and ask them for yourselves now. Thanks again guys for everything, until we meet again!

Giles and Cristiana, thanks for everything guys!

Training Again!

I had a day of rest and while I wasn't 100% and not feeling up to rolling, I was up for training and going to class and just repping out some techniques. The club that Giles and Cristiana train, Marcos Nardini Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (MNBJJ) at is actually split between 2 locations and first location I was taken to was at a crossfit gym, Commando X-Fit Gym, and it was a memorable first night out. Maybe 10 minutes into class and the lights went out. Of course everyone took this as a cue to stop training and start rolling. Cristiana drove the car up to the front of the gym, which has a garage bay door, and shone the car lights on the mats. Someone else also had portable lights, for a photo shoot as I believe he was a photographer, so we were only out of lighting for a short while before class resumed. Eventually the lights came back on and all was back to normal, but this night still goes down as my second class in the dark during this journey.

Training in the dark.

During my stay with Giles and Cristiana we trained at both locations a few times and I met quite a few people throughout the time, in total between both location and different nights, it's a really big club. Both location are very different, the crossfit gym is covered in graffiti and the mat space is a section of warehouse space surrounded by weights and fitness structures. The main gym, which is a bit outside of Glasgow but has it's own dedicated space, is a pretty big matted space, with the walls matted as well. Everyone at both locations were welcoming and happy to meet a traveling visitor, a few even asked me to roll with them or some tips after class. I get the feeling there's a lot of brainstorming that goes on after classes there as there was always a lot of people hanging around afterwards.

Prof. Marcos was a great guy, he was happy to have me and always greeted me when I showed up and made sure I was getting along great in class studying the technique. It's a small thing but it make a big impact, just talking to your guests, making sure they're comfortable and catching on to the lessons. That's what will get people to keep coming back. At my last class, as the rest were all doing king of the mountain type rolling he pulled me aside and we had a roll for a good 5 or 6 minutes. I was wrapped up in a ball and didn't know what was going on most the time, which is a usual feeling when rolling with Prof. Marcos I'm told, good times!        

Prof. Marcos, great guy! 

Wandering Around Glasgow

I ventured out one day to check out Glasgow and see it's sights. There's a place in the middle of town called the Lighthouse, that's not really a lighthouse, but it is a tall spire to climb up and look out upon the town on. There's also The Necropolis which is amazing to walk around.

The stairs all the way up the Lighthouse, I feel like 1989 Batman, I coming for you Vicki Vale!

View from the Lighthouse.

The Art Museum.

The statue with the cone in his head in from the museum. There's a long story about it.

Taking In the Sights of Edinburgh

As soon as I got into Edinburgh I could see how beautiful the city was, with the old architecture everywhere. I had to walk up a lot of stairs as the hostel, Castle Rock Hostel is up at the top of the hill beside the Edinburgh Castle, so I wasn't in the mood to be stopping and taking many photos but I did set a day or two to walk all round town and take as many pictures as I could of this place. Here's some of the best ones.

Edinburgh Castle, my view from the door of the hostel.

During my walk around Edinburgh I found the Kinloch Anderson building. They're the top company, run by a single family, in making tartans, kilts and Highland dress. As an ex-designer I have always had a love for tailoring and fashion history, the Kinloch Anderson building is part store, part museum and part manufacturing warehouse, so it hit my interests on all levels. It was a delight walking through their small museum and seeing all the display pieces.    

Back to Glasgow For a Tournament 

Never watched a match from this angle before, quite the different experience. 

I was only in Edinburgh for a day before heading back to Glasgow to help out with a BJJ tournament. I was score keeping for the one of the mats, which was a new experience for me to watch matches from that perspective and with that responsibility. I, like most people, don't intensely watch every match at a tournament unless a friend or teammate is competing, but when you're sitting at the score table it's a different story. I was watching every match, and the referee, intensely every time, making sure not to miss anything. My head so numb and I was so tired by the end of the day, but nothing was missed.

Giles and Cristiana were referees for the tournament, so it was cool to see them again. It was actually them that got me into helping out and meeting Lawrence, who runs BJJ 24/7 which is his Jiu-Jitsu tournament company. I also got to see Scot and some of his students from UTC Blackpool as well as others from MNJJ, it was a just like the tournament in Nova Scotia, having a mini reunion with most of the past gyms I had visited. It was a good time, I watched some really high level jiu-jitsu, got to spend another day with new friends and even made a few more, and I even got back to the hostile in Edinburgh before midnight too!      

Meeting up with Giles and Cristiana again. 

Rick Young's Black Belt Academy

I was able to make it out for a class in Edinburgh one day to a school I've heard spoken very highly of, Rick Young's Black Belt Academy. I sent Sensei Rick a message and he was happy to have me, I call him Sensei because he started in traditional martial arts and holds several black belts on top of his BJJ black belt. When I met him at the gym he was the politest person ever, showing me around and telling about the place. As it happens Sensei Rick was also having another school visit the same day. I gym is on the second floor and is a big open space of mats but with his already big class and the other gym visiting, it was quite a packed class, especially for a weekend class. There were well over 50 people there, I think.

Packed class, there was another row or two of people watching not shown in this photo.

After bowing in and doing the usual warm up routine Sensei Rick broke the class into two groups, white belts in one and everyone else in the other, he showed a basic sweep to the white belts and then showed us a footlock defense from 50/50. Throughout class Sensei Rick would bounce between the two groups and throughout class we worked on techniques from 50/50. I was a bit confused for a minute because I had heard that Rick Young's is a more old school academy so working 50/50, but then I figured with no gi so popular now a days leg locks are on the rise, so knowing how to defend yourself just makes sense.

After the awesome rolls with the technical beasts and class was finished I thank Sensei Rick for having me again, and had a great chat, he was genuinely interested in where I was from, where I had been and where I'm going. I could tell he was really passionate about the art and not just welcome everyone int his club but really get to know them. It's too bad that given my schedule I could only make it out to his club this one time.

Sensei Rick. A true gentleman and great instructor.

After a few days taking in Edinburgh and wishing I booked more time there I was off to have my first lessons in Catch Wrestling. I had Met Mr. Roy Wood at the Snake Pit in Wigan earlier, now was time to meet Mr. Chris Crossan in Stockton-On-tees and get a crash course in the art at his gym LPW - Legit Pro Wrestling.

There was a bagpiper at almost every corner in Edinburgh. 

Until next time,
see you on the mats!
OSSS!!

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