Royally tripping with a right proper, bloody bloke
ericRADDATZ ecraddatz@yahoo.com

Blowing all of my two weeks vacation time in sunny Florida was customary for so many years while living in Chicago. It led me to move here years ago.

Now finding places to travel while residing in my vacation destination fantasy becomes even more of a challenge.

So, deciding to travel to the United Kingdom was not made quickly. Certainly I am aware that with the weak U.S. dollar - everything I buy will basically cost twice as much as here. Yes, I know terrorism threats are as high as they've ever been. And I do understand that the overall global reputation for Americans is sour, at best. Still, the eccentric adventurer, social connoisseur and flamboyant filmmaker in me said yes, take the trip of a lifetime. Go see fish and chips, bangers and mash, men in kilts and oh yeah, the oldest film festival in the world, Edinburgh International Film Festival, the 61st annual no less.

Across the Atlantic, through lush, millstone cobbled bridges and fences, sheep peppered rolling greenery known as the Midlands. I thought I had stepped foot into a movie. Past a town known for its tarts - the pastry kind, my first teashop experience taught me an economic lesson. The numbers for the lunches are the same, it's just that we have to pay double because we are Americans. The ploughman's lunch for 6 pounds ($12) offered a sign of hope, though. It came out with a side portion of Brie cheese the size of a slice of my favorite deep-dish pizza. The kind of portion of Brie that would cost $10-12 in the States was offered here as a side companion to a pretty decent sandwich plate.

COURTESY PHOTOS The Tower Bridge in London and Eric Raddatz inside Mons Meg at the Edinburgh Castle.

There must be a lot of good cheese here, I thought. Wallace's "Cheese Grommit" kept playing in my head while I stepped through Tesco where I encountered an equally large portion offered for only 60 pence. (That's $1.20 if your keeping track.) Ahh, I've found my food staple for the trip and a bargain even with the conversion rate.

Cheese, in abundance in the UK with bread just as fresh as it was good, honored most of my meals in this journey. It was sometimes accompanied with a homebrew of cider, other times with teas. I've simply fallen in love with the teas.

Indian food also took on new meaning for me. Some of the best can be found there with a street or two in London offering diners nothing but competing Indian restaurants with delicious dishes, fully equipped with finely dressed Indian gentleman at each door offering discounts to come to their eatery. "10 percent off for your group here," one offered. "A bottle of wine compliments for the ladies," another allured. "We've the best on the street, we've been here the longest" was the one that won out. Mostly because it was nicely air conditioned and he went 20 percent off with free drinks for all of us. I've never tasted a better chicken korma and naan bread in my life.

Of course the touristy spots like the Trafalger Square, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, the Themes, the House of Parliament and the London Tower offer the right backdrop to the best of cinematic eyes. Still, you can also combat the British pound and increase your social culture level modestly, if not significantly by enjoying beaucoup museums that are, get this, free. Some of the finest art in the world for free? That's definitely for me. The British Museum, Victoria and Albert museum, the Tate modern, Natural History Museum just to name a few are packed with a societal culture and history unmatched here. Did I mention they are free?

In fact the whole city is a bit of a museum. Stoney masonry masterpieces, complete with occasional dragon and gargoyle statues older than my great, great, great, great grandmother stood watching me stroll through a busy metro city that was, in the opinion of some, the center of the universe. Passing pubs where Mark Twain and Charles Dickens drank gave me a little chill. Walking past the crown jewels and artifacts from Kings and Queens that started and shaped the once little grassy area known as Londinium into the international cultural and economic mega Mecca that I tubed, walked, bussed and taxied through set me into occasional hypnotic awe.

Shooting up through the center of the UK to Scotland, though, I believe I got some of my most magnificent views. Field after field and farmhouse after farmhouse and river after river gracing a colorful sunset trip, I got a taste of just how grand and old this country was. I drifted away a bit before I got to the Festival in the land of kilts and the oldest film festival on the planet.

Edinburgh International Film Festival summed up what makes indy movies great. Creative and imaginative film artists embarking on a town that offers everyone's visions for everyone to see, in a quaint, relaxed and accommodating atmosphere.

Watching fresh films that will be picked up by much larger production companies as well as the awful goat-chokers inspired me equally. From the former, an aspiration to film pieces as great and the latter, that I too have a chance to get accepted by the big boys. Hob-nobbing with the folks who film, act in, judge and create such pieces gave me amazing insight. Simple pub meetings with mega sales and marketing geniuses allowed me to get a pulse on the 'market' that is out there.

Preparing for departure from this grand adventure gave me a settled and socially enriched feeling I'm certain I could not have enjoyed staying in town and going to the average Fort Myers watering hole, sorry FM. From caring pubmasters offering the likes of the best roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, bangers and mash and cider I still am still searching to find in stores here, all the while expecting much less than the customary 20-25 percent tip here to the average bloke on the street showing a courteous and proper respect to me, albeit the American, left me a little warm inside as well.

The cab driver taking me to the airport was curious about what we American's enjoyed about the trip. I recited tales passionately and then asked if he would say in his lovely accent "If it's not Scottish, it's crap!" He, unaware of the Mike Myers reference in Austin Powers quickly concluded "Well if it's not Scottish, it IS crap!" Thank you I said. It's a wrap. And for this, my next film, I hope that will one day grace the likes of the Edinburgh International Festival in years to come.

- Eric Raddatz works as an Assistant Art

Director at Gulfshore Life magazine, films

indy productions through town and is still

looking for the perfect cider.