Kissing the Blarney Stone... Delphi teen visits U.K.
By Dee Dellenbach

The green hills of Scotland Jimmy Reed went on an adventure this summer and met a midge. As a member of People To People, Reed traveled to Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England acting as a goodwill ambassador. He said midges are like mosquitoes, only they have "teeth." They don't like to fly over the water, so natives in this part of Scotland built their homes over the water. Reed is pictured at one of these homes. He is the son of Kimberly Reed of Delphi and Jim and Michelle Reed of Burrows. Photo provided

Riding the London Eye, touring a medieval castle, seeing Big Ben and cruising the river Thames are adventures that Delphi 10th grader Jimmy Reed thought he'd never have a chance at. This summer, he did them all and then some.

"It was awesome; I loved it," enthused Reed of his ride on the London Eye. Similar to a Ferris wheel, the Eye has transparent capsules, each of which holds 23 people. From the top, Reed could see virtually the entire city including Big Ben and the river Thames. Big Ben was Reed's favorite site.

As a ninth-grader, Reed was nominated for the People To People program, which sent students to England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. He met monthly with several other students in the region who were part of the program, and together they researched and gave each other reports about the countries they would visit. Their objective was to learn about other cultures and to teach their hosts about American culture.

One of Reed's favorite exploits was a tour of medieval Warwick Castle. He said he saw the working catapult and the castle's armory, which displayed actual armor.

He also saw Stonehenge, cruised Lock Ness and had his photo taken with "Nessie," went white water rafting, toured the Tower of London, went to a pub to watch a soccer match, toured lots of castles, toured the home of William Shakespeare, lodged three nights with an English family and attend a play on the London stage.

"I tried a lot of different kinds of food," said Reed. Some of it was good, he said, like the fish and chips; but other things were "utterly repulsive," like the pat. Surprisingly, he enjoyed the haggis which is a Scottish dish consisting of the minced heart, lungs and liver of a sheep or calf mixed with seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal.

When his grandmother learned that Reed would be visiting Blarney Castle in Ireland, she requested that he kiss the Blarney Stone. Legend has it that anyone who kisses the stone will either have good luck or will be able to talk anyone into doing anything.

So Reed climbed to the top of the castle, leaned backward over the wall and kissed the stone. He said it was an adrenaline rush being up several stories and being upside down. He said he transferred all of his luck and blarney to his grandmother. (Look out for Margaret Reed of Burrows.)

Admittedly shy, Reed said the traveling and new experiences were good for him and gave him a new outlook on socializing. He even made a good friend while he traveled and plans to stay in contact through e-mail.

Also the experience has given him a new curiosity about the history of England. He said one of the castles had a fantastic interior, featuring lamps with motifs of dawn, noon and dusk; walls depicting the four seasons; and windows with motifs of the seven days of the week.

Antiquities were always an interest of Reed's and now his interest is even sharper. Two souvenirs he purchased were an hourglass and a quill pen.

Now that Reed has caught the traveling bug, he'd like to see a few places in the U.S., like the Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge.