2008 Year In Review

It's that time of year again! Here's the best of 2008.

January was more or less devoted to getting my apartment and personal stuff packed up and stored before making the jump across the pond to live in the UK for a while. TRS played our last Ottawa show for a while at The Rainbow on February 2nd, and then I flew over the pond and headed to Bath to meet up with B and D.

A week later, we began our pilgrimage to Edinburgh. I turned 31, and we began what felt like a lengthy process of getting settled with a phone, internet, band accounts and a snazzy new apartment in the Old Town. I had my first identity theft experience when my credit card was stolen, and also developed a taste for haggis!

We started doing more blog-worthy activities in and around Edinburgh, such as going to an Edinburgh Capitals hockey game, hiking up Arthur's Seat (for the first of many times), and checking out the Zoo and Edinburgh Castle.

On the music front, I picked up a new guitar and a new guitar amp while we in TRS began the daunting task of planning a short but sweet tour of the UK. Meanwhile, we continued to work during the week and tried to be tourists on weekends. We hiked in the Pentlands, did a ghost tour of the South Bridge vaults, and discovered the Water of Leith walkway. Then came our first big trip out of Edinburgh, when B and I spent the May long weekend in Inverness.

In June we went hiking around Dalkeith, saw Stephen Malkmus in Glasgow, and went on the Mary King's Close tour (for the first time). Then we went to the Canongate Pub for Canada Day festivities with other Canadians in Edinburgh (where we met these fine people).

A week and a half later, B and I took our second big trip to Northern Ireland, which has definitely been one of the highlights of the UK for me so far. We took the ferry from Scotland to Belfast, stayed in Belfast for a night, then headed north to Bushmills, where we spent a day at Giants Causeway, which completely blew my mind. We also went on a distillery tour, and traveled to Portrush to catch a train back to Belfast for our flight back to Edinburgh.

We spent a day in Roslin at the end of July, and then the Fringe Festival began, and swarms of tourists decended on Edinburgh. We didn't experience much of it though since we decided to beat the crowds and have a visit back home for a month. TRS played four shows (Sudbury, Montreal, Toronto, and another show in Ottawa) before we returned to the 'burra in early September. We also went to a Hibs game.

A week later, and TRS arrived to kick off our UK tour! This was something we had been planning since December '07, so we were pretty excited to get it off the ground. We played five shows - in Edinburgh with our new friends from The Nukes, in Glasgow, another show in Edinburgh, and then we took a few days off. The next weekend we played in Brighton with more new friends in Los Fantasticos, and the next night in London. Five shows and twelve days of awesome, and a major feeling of accomplishment when it was all done.

After that, it was back to reality for a while. We made a terrific Thanksgiving dinner, discovered the Fife Coastal Path, and we finally went to Linlithgow to checkout Linlithgow Palace.

In November, B and I decided to go to France for Remembrance Day. We started by heading to Rouen in Normandy, which was just a short train ride from Dieppe. After a couple of days there, we went east to Arras, which is a very short drive away from the Canadian Vimy Memorial, which was absolutely incredible. I also reaffirmed my adoration for France and resolved to go back there again sometime soon.

December was a slow month, as B was working at the ice rink next to the German Christmas Market. We went to Bognor for Christmas, and back to Edinburgh for New Year. And that pretty much wraps up 2008!