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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1973-09-05, Page 2Stumps at the beach Sugar. and Spice. By Bill Smiley Travelling is tiring. It's eleven o'clock in the morning, with, temperature in the self-respecting tourist stomping around' looking something,' But, my wife, is on: the 'bed having, a snooze, and I rnytelf am almott relieVed' that I have to write a column 'and don't have to get out there and tromp. About' tromping. If you're going to do Britain, 'bring along your oldest, most comfortable pair of shoes. that noise you hear in the background is the barking of thousands of tbUrist8' dogs as the furriners wearily climb yet another flight of stone steps, We're in the middle of a heat wave here in Chester. Back home it would be just pleasant beach weather, bUt, the Brits, who suffer stoically through the normal rigours of their windy, rainy isle, can't take the heat. , Thit morning's newspaper reportsthat millions are fleeing to the beaches, that reknit hotels are jammed, that the saie of deodorants is booming, and that it is expedted there will be ten million cars On the roads thit weekend, Thank gOodnett We're not touring by car. ' HighWayt are completely inadequate for the volume of traffic. The' cars are piled up in hundreds, about tWenty.feet. apart, and when something happens, there are usually fedi' or five cars involved, An Enlithman on the train told me that ',The trouble with England it that we never do anything until our backt are to the wall." He was commenting on. thOte same highWayt WhiCh Were built for the traffic of twenty years ago, with no thought of the future. Well., that 'S the way they've gone into every war, twenty years behind the tithe's, but they've managed to muddle thrtingh o so far,• Speaking Of , wars, it it driven home to the tourist, throtigh' innUtnetable plaques in castles and cathedrals and other public plabet, what a tremendous toll of British bled d was taken in the two great 'wars. One plaque in the Castle in Edinburgh reveals that one 8COttish regiment lett 'nearly 700"bifidert and almost 8,000 Other ranks in World War I. Edinburgh Castle it a. fascinating My -friend Dick WittingtOn ' a history buff, Walla go right out of his and Would, have to be dragged away by the AcinStalitt, larY when he saw the magnificent displays Of ancient : and honorable uniforms, coats. of weapons arid -Stith,- the Bruce would be tollirig in their. graves as I chomped my the* mein On the massive rock Where heroid deeds were done arid the course of history dhariged. But I think he might' turn purple with outrage had ne seen us eating-Chinese food •up there on the great brooding Castle. Rock. Even I 'had an uneasy feeling that William Wallace and Robert Chinese restaurants are common here, but I dn't think. their food is as good as .that ins. Canada, ',On , the. whOle., 7 I 'detest the 'stuff, but My wife loves it, so I wind up hacking at an egg roll when I'd rather be getting into some Dover sole. Food prices here are a little lower than at home, but not Much. There are thousands of tatty little restanrants, some- thing like our ',greasy spoons". Poor food badly cooked, litter everywhere, and sloppy service. At the other end of the stick are the claSsy joints: excellent 'food beautifully Cooked, elegant surroundings and four waiters hovering. But you'd better be well fixed with travellers' cheques if you wander into one of them. • there's not too much in between, though most hotels, even small ones, serve a decent^ dinner for about four dollars. Bars have sandWidhet,and the, good pubs have hot and cold jun- d iet. SoMething that irritates me no end 'is the coffee racket. You are served an enormous three-course dinner, so ;-.1avitk. you can eat only half of it. Then the, robbers Want eleven' or twelve pence for a cup of coffee, EVen though I'm dying for coffee and the meal itself Was reasonable in price, that bit of Scottish blood in nie makes me reflite to pay about thirty cents for a cup of-Abe worst doffee in the world. That's ' about the only thing that annoys me, and it's Childith on my part. Generally, the English and Scots we've come in contact With are the soul of courtesy and friendliness. We've not had a single unpleasant incident, thoUgh I must adMit that the natives have a penchant for doing most things backwards. Example. In London, fbOoked a room in an Edinburgh hotel, I paid the 'agent the full price for two nights in the hotel. The hotel turned out to be the worst one north of the TWeedi but ORA'S ariOthet stoll. O.K. Checking out of the Edin- burgh hetet, I asked for a reCeipt. They wouldn't giVe the one. OBilt I've . paid for the room", I. eXpOttUlated, Sett, we 'Canna gie ye a rrtedeipt, because ye. haveriii glen us any moor. We hie only the VotiCher,11 I protested velienienty but Caine Up against thit, indomitable Scottish mWrit that, hit held the thin red line So any tunes, and had to retreat in diSarray. Up the Scots! Meanwhile, time for a half Of bitter„ and a Creek' at Chester's EOMan wall. Hii*Onq Walked it for thirty years. a perfect day 80's, and any should be, out at a castle or • 01171.00010 'In gBrussels Post WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1973 BRUSSELS ONTARIO -.Serving Brussels and the surrounding community published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario by McLean Bros. Publishers, Limited. Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Tom Haley -.Advertising Member Canadian Comrnunity Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association. Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $4.00 a year, Others $5.00 a year, Single Copies 10 cents each. Second class mail Registration No. 0562. Telephone 887-6641. We appreciate you! Any weekly paper that really wants to be considered a friend of the family relies very heavily on a small group of people - its rural correspondents. They are indispen- sible and this week, we'd' like' to say , thanks to them: Regularly and faithfully every week copy from these writers in small communities all over —the area this paper serves is mailed in to the office. In one case copy is often picked up from, a box on a tr e e, but that's another story. Our correspondents give our read- ers news they can get nowhere else toe important day to day details of their friend's and neighbour's lives. Those who send us this' news make •our paper personal and we believe that the personal is still important. Of course there are world' issues and everyone should do their best to ' keep informed about them. But the local (and what some people consider trivial) news An the Br'ussels Post helps our readers keep their per- spective in an.exploding world.The kind of news our correspondents send, and it is mostly good news, comes as a sort of relief from the daily horror of a lot of our inter- national and national news. The cheerful personal news that our rural correspondents contribute is not, however, an excuse to ignor the problems of the rest of the world because everything is rosy - around here. Our ".Mr. Smith visited Mrs. Jones" type of news should be a reassurance that a sense of com- munity and of caring what happens to our neighbours exists in.this in- creasingly impersonal world. From-this base of security we can afford to work outwards and extend some of -our •neighbourly con- cern to the rest of the world's problems. Thanks to our correspon- dents who help make this possible. Letters to the editor: July 30,1973. Hi there Brussels, • Once again, we would like to extend our thanks foe helping Make Our vacation another goodie. We enjoy staying at the Donald' da.bOOte camp, the fish6 ing, the peace and quiet and your whole town in general, The added bonus of ing presented so well by your young people Certainly Win appreciated by Our three kidt.- PrOtid you well may be of your- selves, Hope to be back again come hill fair time, and thanks to stiiphensons Bakery, diets start again today, The ROgert LOndOn, Ont P.S. treS, We got, a 'Op and he Is A beent, thanks for ;your inqiiitiet.