Me, heading out for the evening. This photo has been heavily colour-adjusted, to remove the gloomy impact of the sunset.Paul was on the steps by the green, phoning his fiancée, then his father. As I approached, I spotted that Strange Stuart, in his red suede shoes, was hovering, clearly hoping for an invite to join us down the hill for dinner. What he didn't know is that we were heading off campus, so once that became clear, without us even speaking to him he wandered off in search of another peer group.
I feel a little sorry for him in a way; he's obviously socially seriously inept but just wants to be included. I have a fair amount of sympathy for that, I have felt just like that for long periods of my life.
Paul and I walked around to the back entrance to Holgate House, where Kirsten's impressive Land Rover is parked. To pass the time, I went onto YouTube, and we watched the Hale and Pace video about Yorkshire Airlines, that we have been giggling about on and off all week, so funny. Paul is really good for YouTube links, and it's thanks to him that I've been chuckling about Look Around You all week (best links are here and here).
After a while, Roy and Kirsten appeared, and we stepped into their enormous Land Rover, and drove into town. We parked in the Prince Bishops shopping centre, Paul and I got some cash out, and we went in search of a restaurant.
Oldfields Restaurant, courtesy of Google Maps.The first place we tried was a red painted affair called Oldfields, and despite being half empty, finding one single table with four chairs around it seemed wholly beyond the restaurant staff's somewhat obselete intellectual equipment. I shouldn't carp really; I've been surrounded by quantum and nuclear physicists all week, but how bloody hard can it be to pick a table for us?
So, we left, had a wander, and I took the opportunity to phone home and speak to Alan.
The view as we walked up Silver Street, whilst I was on the phone to Alan.I have been missing him quite a bit today, and it was lovely to touch base. He ribbed me gently about describing Fort William Kev as 'furry', which he is. But neither Kev nor Alan need worry, for many different reasons, including me being married and therefore unavailable, and Kev quite plainly being straight!
Cafe Rouge.We found ourselves in a Cafe Rouge, but it appears that we read the Bella Pasta menu outside instead, as when we got inside, Kirsten was disappointed to find no pasta on the menu, as she really wanted some.
We had the drink that we had already ordered, along with some olives and some fantastic miniature French sausages, then paid up and left. That was a whopping eighteen pounds, but I suppose if two of your party are having glasses of wine (Paul had red, I had white), that bumps the prices up straightaway.
Let's all look at Kirsten's ring... so to speak.We got a decent look at Kirsten's pretty engagement ring. I'm not generally a fan of diamonds, but this ring is pretty, subtle and delicate. It suits her down to the ground.
Bella Italia, viewed from the river.We went down the small stepped alleyway, and into Bella Italia, and had a lovely meal in there. Roy and Kirsten shared an antipasti starter, I had calamari, I forget what Paul had. We were having an interesting conversation about children, when Kirsten stood up, said to Roy, "can I talk to you for a moment?", and the two of them vanished! It was a pretty uncomfortable moment, and I started to wonder if I had said something to offend them.
Paul and I chatted lightly for a few moments trying to ignore the elephant in the room (a Grey elephant I suppose), about what a nice restaurant it was, about how the view of the Weir was excellent (nearly typed 'Weird' then!), and then the two of them came back, Roy a little more quiet than before. No idea or hint what that was all about, but after a few minutes, we were fortunately talking as if nothing had happened. I still would love to know what went on though.
I had risotto di funghi for my main, Paul had a rare steak which looked mighty fine. Roy had Marco Polo, which looked very good, and Kirsten had a penne dish which looked very nice too.
As the time drew on and we laughed and joked, I reflected to myself that Roy and Kirsten have had a very difficult residential week. In addition to Kirsten's usual quest to find something unacceptable to complain about (and there have been quite a few justifiable complaints!), the two of them apparently had a dramatic falling out with Andy, one of today's tutors, over something as ridiculous as their graphs for one of the tasks.
Granted I've only heard their side, but they say that the tutor did not like their graphs, and made them redo the graphs. This then left them behind, and they were struggling to catch up for the rest of the afternoon. I think I too would have been unhappy and muttering obscenities under my breath.
Interestingly, I worked hard on the first graph that we were asked to do by hand, and Scottish Paul, the other tutor (he's excellent; deeply sarcastic with a very finely refined sense of humour) told me that (tutor) Andy had been so impressed with my work, my graph particularly, that I had been singled out for a special mention in the lunchtime staff meeting. ("You were mentioned in 'Despatches'!", said Scottish Paul). I was rather humbled to hear that.
It came time to pay the bill, so we each paid, and realising that Jimena's optional lecture (something about electron scattering I believe) was about to start, Kirsten put her foot down as we drove up South Road.
As we went, knowing that the rest of the night is likely to be busy, as is tomorrow, I sent Paul, Kirsten and Roy a text, which read, "I'll say it now before the crap school disco, and before I am too tired to remember my own name, but I just want to say that it's been a brilliant week. I have loved being in your company, and I love all three of you like brothers and sisters. Looking forward to causing trouble with you again soon. X"
I had intended for it to be read when they got back to their room, but Roy read his just as the car stopped, and as we all got out, he thanked me, and then put his arms around me, evidently quite touched.
As Paul walked off to his room in Elvet block and as we all walked inside, we overheard his phone ring. He answered it, and said in a cheery voice, "Hello cuntface!" This is apparently his affectionate nickname for his fiancée. Well, whatever works for them I guess, but if someone said that to me I would rip off their head and shit down their neck.
I got back to my room, parked myself in my leather armchair, and found a text from Paul, which read, "I am less articulate, I will merely say I enjoy the company of ye three, ye merry band of brothers, on a deep level. You all rock, and I am humbled to know you. Here's to the next one! :)"
That's my fill of residential schools though; much though I get a huge amount out of them, I'm not doing another one! They are exhausting and rewarding, and it's not really fair to Alan, to leave him behind for a week.
And so to what's left of the evening. It won't be a late one; there are still two lab sessions tomorrow (9am until coffee break, then coffee break to lunch), followed by the afternoon debrief, when we get handed the TMAs - the business end of the course. I am not looking forward to receiving the TMA, but it has to be done.
Tonight I have to pack my cases, and I understand we have to have checked out of our rooms by 10am. I am not sure how that's going to work, since we won't be finishing tomorrow until around 3pm. I believe we can leave our luggage with the porter's lodge, and then collect as we leave, but I will be keeping my laptop bag with me. There is far too much information of value on it, plus all my photos and sound files from the week, which I will have to spend next week sorting through.
I can't wait to get home, and to getting Alan back into my arms again, but at the same time it will feel strange to leave here. I wonder when I will ever get another change to be in a university physics environment - mind you, I thought that after I finished SXR103!
Sorry this has been such a long blog, I don't mean to ramble. There will probably be more later; I strongly suspect that Paul is out for what he can get this evening (especially after his allegedly near miss with Katherine the other night) so a couple of stories may follow.
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