This weekend, five JEBanoj travelled to the beautiful Peak District town of Buxton for the second annual JEB Summer Meet-up. The event was somewhat more sparsely attended than I had hoped, but whether this was my fault for accidentally arranging it to clash with the first weekend of the UK, or Tim’s fault for vetoing the funky piece of Wordart I tried to put in the flyer, is a matter open for debate Nevertheless, five’s company, six is a crowd, and those of us who attended had a very enjoyable weekend indeed

The original plan had been to meet in Buxton around two pm. Congratulations are due to Daniel White, the only person to achieve this aim. Marteno can be forgiven for arriving around three on account of his long journey north from London, and Mikeo had announced in advance that he had a prior engagement which would delay him slightly, but as for Tim and me … erm… well, we arrived just before four, having taken a roundabout sort of route

After a quick drink, the four of us stopping over headed off to check out our accommodation. We were just remarking on how excellent it was when a sudden phone call reminded me that I had texted Mikeo to tell him to meet us in the pub… and then forgotten to text him to tell him we we’d in fact moved on

Luckily he didn’t take it too personally, and we all headed out together to see the sights of Buxton. The first sight we saw was Wetherspoon’s, and, as is traditional at JEB get-togethers, couldn’t resist stopping off for a quick meal. Feeling the need to explore the local area more thoroughly, we soon moved on to another pub, a decision which could be regarded as having been a mistake.

It was rather a spit-and-sawdust affair, of the variety where everyone turns and glares at you when you walk in. We retired to a back room with a couple of pool tables, and whilst Daniel proceeded to thrash Tim, the rest of us sat around and meditated uncertainly on the rules Daniel then took on Mikeo, and in the process managed to unwittingly attract the attention of a hen party, who were the only other occupants of the room. Well to be precise, the bride-to-be appeared to hit on Mikeo, at which point Daniel gallantly decided to rescue her from certain disappointment with JEB’s favourite deviant, and proceeded to spend the rest of his evening pursuing her around Buxton and buying her drinks.

We and the hen party soon moved to a nicer pub in the upper part of Buxton, and whilst Daniel alternated in his attempts to coax us to follow the bride to Buxton’s only nightclub, a dubious-looking establishment called Mood, and his attempts to coax the bride to let him wear her pink tutu, the rest of us ate crisps and ably demonstrated the difficulty of coherently articulating the word “edziĝontino” after a couple of drinks.

By eleven the majority of us were ready for our beds. Mikeo sadly had to head back home to Congleton and was unable to join us for our walk on the morrow due to a prior engagement. Whilst Tim and I showed our age by retiring to the Bed & Breakfast for tea and cake, Marteno gamely agreed to accompany Daniel and his hen party to Mood. The rest of us were slightly worried as to whether they would succeed in navigating their way through the winding streets of Buxton and back to our accommodation, but happily the ever-prepared Marteno had his GPS to hand and all was well

Whilst Tim and I settled down to an excellent breakfast at nine, the party animals were a little slower to emerge from their beds. Marteno made it to the dining room just before the last orders for veggie sausages, but nearly an hour after we were supposed to have checked out, Daniel was still in his bed, along with a pink sash which he seemed to have acquired as a memento of his adventures.

I had a small adventure of my own at breakfast when the guesthouse proprietors, noting that we were talking at table in a funny language, asked if by any chance we were speaking German. We confessed that we were not, but when the lady revealed that she had a large number of German guests staying with whom she was unable to communicate, Tim happily dropped me in it by informing her that I would be happy to translate It was rather a struggle for my brain to make a quick gear change between Esperanto and German, but I managed to establish that they were very happy with their accommodation and help them order some dinner

Daniel eventually emerged, but announced that much as he would love to climb hills, he didn’t quite feel up to it, so the three of us that remained set off for the countryside without him. We parked at the Cat and Fiddle pub, which is located on a beautiful stretch of road outside Buxton, and had a pleasant hike across to Errwood Reservoir and up to Shining Tor, the highest point in Cheshire at 559m. Marteno and I greatly enjoyed the combination of the gorgeous scenery and an opportunity for exercise in the fresh air. Tim was a bit bemused as to the point of hiking, but nevertheless made the best of it and helped to raise everyone’s spirits with enthusiastic renderings of “Verdaj la junkoj, ho!” during the rare intervals where he had spare breath Marteno and I are now condemned to spend the rest of the week with the lyrics going round in our heads!

There was just time to return to Buxton for a well-earned meal and a slice of cake, before it was time to embark on our long journeys home. Tim and I managed to get lost again, but that’s another story! I would just like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who participated and helped make the weekend the enjoyable experience that it was I certainly had a great time, and it was a useful chance to practise my Esperanto before next week’s IJK. To everybody who didn’t come, you missed out and I suggest you immediately pencil some time into your calendar to join us in July 2009

Tags: Buxton, summer meet-up

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