A Stroll Through England

trying to play catch up on the events of the past two weeks.

Not long ago my boss and I took the overnight ferry from Belfast to Liverpool, England with the goal of picking up much of his purchased antiques scattered in auction houses around the country. My primary function in this mission was to drive the van and to "motivate" any troublesome auctioneers, mostly by dangling their prized tweed jacket over a high ledge. The former task was a bit daunting as 1) I have not driven much in the last year 2) Fairly new to right-hand driving on the left side of the road. Throw in about 200 technically challenging "roundabout" intersections, a van load of irreaplaceable antiques, and a undiagnosed narcoleptic "navigator" and you have a disaster blogpost just begging to be written. But, as a champion of adverse situations, I managed to get around England and back to Belfast with the cargo more or less unscathed. The tour was brief and logged many miles but I was able get good roadside view of the stunning English countryside as well as some of the major cities: Liverpool, Nottingham, Birmingham, Bath, and Manchester. It was also a bit enjoyable to get an inside view of the antiquities underworld. I tried my best to fit in by staring approvingly at seemingly worthless pieces of crap and saying things like "Righto good chap." My attempt at faux snobbery was transparent and I was largely ignored at the auction houses until I started telling people I worked for Antique Roadshow. I then got them back by telling them their goods were worth nothing.

There is a chance I will be back in England/Scotland/Wales for some more this business, so I will try and record conversations for our enjoyment later.


Cheerio,
BQ