St David's 2013: Part 4

Our final day at St David's and the cathedral fed both body and soul. The body had its fill in the Refrectory for morning coffee and the soul gorged on Choral Evensong later on. Even if I do say so myself, we discharged ourselves rather well as a choir tonight.

In between, we did a circular walk taking in Porth Clais, St Non's Chapel and Caerfai Bay.  More sea and sky, with the water being much calmer than earlier on in our stay.Who could ever get bored with views like this?

Flowers are a rarity this time of year but we did come across a solitary yellow toadflax.It's not an uncommon plant so where were all the others?

Not many flowers, neither were there many birds to be seen. But we did come across the rather unusual sight of a Grey Heron on the rocks.

To avoid being hit by cliff divers, walkers should lean to the left.

For completeness, I should mention the bowl of Cawl my IWC had at the Oriel-y-Parc cafe in St David's. We really must make some of this when we get back.

St David's 2013: Part 3

We deserted Pembrokeshire today and headed north to Cardiganshire to meet long standing friends S & D at my undergraduate Alma Mater, Aberystwyth. Great to meet up with them and, rather selfishly, great for me to indulge in some nostalgia. I wish I could say that I spent three years immersed in my studies but.....let's just say that I sustained an interesting mix of academic and social activities.

The sweep of Aberystwyth as it clings to the curve of Cardigan Bay. Constitution Hill to the left background and the Old College in the right foreground. The promenade, always windy, was a great place to walk off a hang-over (or so I was told).

The Old College, where I sat every single one of my undergraduate exams, is the site of the original University of Aberystwyth. Founded in 1872, I believe it was the oldest college of the erstwhile University of Wales. It was built as a  railway hotel but acquired at a knock-down price by the University when the developers went bankrupt. In my day it housed most of the Arts departments but nowadays it's full of the administrative functions. It's a wonderful Victorian building with lots of interesting Gothic features on the inside. 

View from the prom looking west. As long as there's sea and sky in the camera viewfinder, there's infinite variety and interest.

12 Marine Terrace, of blessed memory. I had a room, out of sight around the back, here for two years. I was rather disappointed not to see a blue plaque commemorating my time there. Maybe that was around the back as well?

Aberystwyth Post Office. Not much to look at but a very special place in the annals of my political activism. It was there in 1967 that I, and about 30 others, held a 'sit-in' to protest against the Vietnam War. Did we achieve anything other than bemusing passers-by, infuriating the counter staff and irritating the local police? I like to think so. After all, it wasn't that long after that the war ended with the Fall of Saigon (on 30th April 1975 actually but it couldn't have been a coincidence).

And finally, I received a couple of blog-inspired presents from our friends today. Both are appropriate in their own ways. The first, a nod to my understated Republicanism, the souvenir edition of Hello magazine, jam packed with wonderful photographs of THAT christening (Photoshop here I come!). The second, a doll in a tutu to commemorate my recent foray into the world of ballet. What thoughtful gifts and ones that will give me unexpected pleasure. A frabjous joy! Thank you, D & S.

I leave these shores with considerable trepidation..............

...............at what mischief this lot will get up to in my absence. Perhaps they'll be gone when I come back? Perhaps it's all a nasty dream? Perhaps I need a holiday?

(If you are interested, the links will take you to some interesting comments on their respective performances. I particularly like the one at the end for Hapless Nick Clegg - it's well worth three minutes of your time to view).

David Cameron - A Prime Minister who can't lead.

 

George Osborne - a Chancellor who can't count.

 

Michael Gove - an Education Secretary who's semi-literate.

 

Iain Duncan-Smith – a head of the Department of Work and Pensions who’s unemployable.

 

William Hague – a Foreign Secretary who can’t read a map.

 



Owen Paterson – an Environment Secretary whose big policy is killing large numbers of animals.

 

Philip Hammond – a Defence Secretary who sulks when Parliament won’t allow him to attack.

 

Theresa May – a Home Secretary who always seems to be completely out-to-lunch.

 

Jeremy Hunt – a Health Secretary who makes everybody sick.

 

Chris Grayling – a Justice Secretary who specialises in making trials unfair.

 

Maria Miller – a Culture Secretary who is an utter philistine.

 

Eric Pickles – a Communities Secretary who makes everyone want to steer well clear of him.

 

Edward Davey – an Energy Secretary of stultifying inertia.

 

Nick Clegg – a Deputy Prime Minister who… um… does… er… well, he’s… well-well what I’m trying to say is… no, I mean… well I mean, what he’s there to do is… to… ermmmmm…

What I read on my hols

Considering how much I love the written word, it's only when I'm on holiday that I indulge my passion as much as I would like. At home, life always seems to get in the way of just sitting down with a good book.  So times away are always preceded by the relatively careful selection and storing of titles that I want to spend time with. A typical two week break would mean about seven books and, thanks to the Kindle, any problems with bulk and weight are a thing of the past.

Here's a list of the books that kept me entertained in Mexico.

The Uninvited (Liz Jensen): a novel with a plot which brought to mind The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. But with an environmental message. 7/10.

Traveller of the Century (Andres Neuman): a 'serious' novel set in a town somewhere in Germany around 1840.  A mixture of philosophy, literature, history, religion, surrealism, politics and some lust.  It was a book that needed the total immersion of a holiday to really get into it. 9/10.

The Lewis Man (Peter May): a detective story set on the Isle of Harris.  A good read with some great local colour.  8/10.

Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure (Artemis Cooper): I'd read a couple of travel books by Leigh Fermor and had enjoyed them. Disappointingly this book revealed that much of what he wrote was a fabrication.  He was a very colourful character and had an interesting war in Crete but he wasn't a person I'd want to spend any time with.  I didn't think it was particularly well written. 6/10.

The Russian Revolution: History in an hour; Ancient Egypt: History in an hour; World War One: History in an hour:  Three titles from the History in an Hour series which I got at a bargain price from Amazon.  I think they took 45 minutes each rather than the stated hour. Obviously they could only sketch a superficial picture of the subject matter but I found them well written and a very useful overview of some facts I'd forgotten. 7/10.

Occupation Diaries (Raja Shehadeh): written by a Palestinian writer living in Ramallah.  A record of the trials and tribulations of someone who confronts the reality of the Israeli controls on a daily basis. A book to make the reader angry. 9/10.

Not a real dud amongst them. Now why can't I read as much at home? Quite simply because I just don't have 6 hours a day free.

Oops, nearly forgot to mention that I could get the Guardian sent to my Kindle each day. A free trial 14 day subscription which fitted in rather well.

Vacaciones en México: Parte 5



Boo, hoo - it rained today.  Yippee - it was Yucatan rain. Which means it was warm and lasted just 30 minutes.  A trip down Memory Beach this afternoon when we visited Akumal, a place we stayed in some 14 years ago.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out that it is pretty much the same now as it was then.  But rather than witter on about that, I thought I'd post a few photographs I've taken, if only to show that every now and again I manage to press the shutter at something approximating the right time.

A turtle coming up for air.  It took one gulp and was gone.

Our eldest grand-daughter likes 'stare you out' competitions.  I don't think she'd outstare this chap.

Iguanas are running around everywhere, ranging from a few inches to about 4 foot long.  This one had just snapped up a fly.

A cactus that caught my eye as the sun seemed to backlight it.

Two cormorants sunning themselves after a catch.

Vacaciones en México: Parte 3

Our collectivo driver?

Still no rain and a day that saw temperatures well above 30C. It was also a day when we ventured to the Mayan fortress city of Tulum. About 30 minutes to the south of our hotel and we took a collectivo to get there. What's a collectivo? Small vans with room for maybe 12 passengers which ply their trade up and down the local highway between the main towns. You want to stop one? Put your hand up: there are few formal bus stops. You want the driver to stop somewhere? Tell him when you get on. No timetables and one set price per ride - a very affordable 35 pesos (about £1). A great idea but sadly too informal (and effective) to be used as a model for public transport in the UK. We much prefer to run buses that are too big for their passenger numbers, at a frequency that meets no-one's needs and with bus stops that are as inconveniently spaced as they can be. Now here's a weird thing. The driver on our return looked remarkably like Muammar Gaddafi. So much so that I'm beginning to doubt that his demise in Libya was quite as terminal as we were lead to believe.

Once at the entrance to the ruins, we had a chance to get familiar with what seemed to be the Mexican Code of Conduct for Tourist Queues. It goes like this:
1. Make sure, when maximum numbers of visitors are anticipated, to reduce the number of ticket booths open to just one.
2. Make sure that this single booth is staffed by an innumerate illiterate who only speaks an obscure Mayan dialect.
3. Make sure that the cost of the tickets involves the most difficult and most time consuming change-giving conceivable.
4. Make sure that as little shade as possible is provided for the queues.
5. Make sure that, every now and again, the queues are moved to keep everyone in the sun for as long as possible.

But it was worth it as the queueing technique made certain that at least 80% of the potential entrants expired from heat stroke and reduced the numbers tramping over the buildings. Just kidding: the attrition was more like 50%.

House of Columns at Tulum

Yes, it was worth it as the ruins themselves are striking. Perched on a cliff over looking the Caribbean, their position is stunning. Lots of iguanas around, looking like impassive sentinels to the secrets of the site. We had visited Tulum previously, perhaps 15 years ago, when there were no restrictions on clambering over what you liked. Nowadays, this is forbidden. It's a shame as viewing the carvings and glyphs from a distance just doesn't have the same impact.

We finished off our visit with a dip in the rolling waves crashing on to Tulum Beach. Deep blue sea and white beaches - just as we remembered it. The waves were massive. Eat your hearts out, Cornish Surfers! You would be orgasmic at the size of them. and yet another opportunity to show my photographic prowess. I'm getting quite good at this.

 Now you see her. Now you don't.

Vacaciones en México: Parte 2

Hee, hee, hee - still no rain. Unless I'm very much mistaken, I think that this 5 day dry period for us beats anything that we had in 2012. That's obviously the answer: if we want it warm and dry, move to where it is.

Yesterday we decided to do something more energetic than sitting by the pool and/or beach and took a tour described as a 'jeep safari' into a local national nature reserve, the Si'an Kaan. It turned out to be a long day but one that we were glad to have done.  Briefly, it involved:

* A 2 hour jeep drive (we jeep-shared with a Bulgarian couple and took turns at the wheel) from Tulum down a narrow peninsular (Caribbean on one side and a large lagoon on the other) down to Punte Allen. A somewhat isolated village of around 700 people who made most of their living fishing for lobster (70% of the time) and tourists for the remainder. I should mention that there was no road and the track gave us a nice bumpy, rock and rolly, dusty trip.

* From Punte Allen (after a chicken taco snack from a chicken taco shack where they had the chicken taco knack) we embarked on a small flat bottomed fishing boat to head out to sea. It was great for wildlife and we got up close to turtles (leatherback or loggerhead?), manatees and dolphins. This gave me a great opportunity to show how accomplished a wild-life photographer I am. It's wonderful to have the skills to capture such vivid images as a lasting memory of our trip. I know my ITC was quietly impressed and showed she was by rolling her eyes and laughing. 


Well, the turtle was there 10 seconds ago - honest.




Just missed the manatees by a similar margin.




And this is where the dolphins had frolicked a short while before. What a display!

*  After all this aquatic wildlife, we headed to a mangrove swamp and did a little bird watching (cormorants, frigate birds, pelicans, egrets and a large raptor that refused to be identified).

*  Thence to a coral reef for some snorkeling. The ineluctable consequence of this was my having to get into the water. It had to be an over-the-side instant total immersion job - definitely not my preferred style. Luke warm - much relief at not having to scream on entry.  The fish sightings were good and my ISC and I both thought that the variety was better than every other place we've snorkeled at other than the Great Barrier Reef.

*  Off next to some sandy shallows for a bit of a swim and then back to Punte Allen for a buffet, at which they served a rather delicious rice pudding and a ghastly 'special' coffee. We did miss the chicken taco lack at our second visit to the chicken taco shack. Will we ever go back for another chicken taco snack at the chicken taco shack?

*  Back into the jeeps for the return journey. Same road. Same bumps but taken from a different direction. Did that make them better? No. The only difference was that it got dark and this added an interesting dimension to dodging potholes and fallen palm fronds. Dodging potholes we do in Cornwall but we seldom have to contend with palm fronds.

We got back to the hotel almost exactly 12 hours after we had left. And then we faced the difficult decision of where to eat. It's a hard life but we managed it.



Vacaciones en México: Parte 1

We took our feet on holiday as well.

It is rather nice being in Mexico. Nice but strange.  Why? It's not the quality of the hotel (which is excellent). It's not the temperature (just over 30 centigrade today). It's not the promise of doing something different (off into the jungle tomorrow). It's the fact that there's no rain. Yes, it is possible to be somewhere where the wet stuff isn't always coming down. We could get used to this.

We came out on New Year's Eve and missed celebrating the New Year on UK time. We also missed the local celebration as we were fast asleep. Maybe we'll stay awake for the Three Kings celebration on 5th January, which coincides with Epiphany. On the other hand..........

Ola!

Choosing a holiday wardrobe is always a trial and I like to 'go local' as much as I can. Dressing inconspicuously helps in avoiding any unwanted attention. I hope I've got it right this time.

St David's 2012: Part 1

Lych gate at St Mary's, Roch

Up early this morning and off to St Mary's church, Roch, to meet up with the East Wickham Singers for a rehearsal for tomorrow's choral eucharist. An interesting church with a few wall plaques of note. I was particularly struck by one commemorating two brothers killed in WW1. One of them already had a Military Medal and a recommendation for a VC pending at the time he went 'over the top' leading his brigade.

In the afternoon we went for a walk near the Treffgarne Gorge. We had intended to do a circular route but this was spoilt by some undecipherable footpath diversion signs. Nonetheless we had a good 4 mile stroll with some fantastic panoramic views of coast and mountains. In the distance we could make out the Preseli Hills. Strange to think that some of the monoliths used to build Stonehenge came from there. It's a long drag to Wiltshire. But not to the tea room at Nant-y-Coy Mill where we repaired for light refreshments. Simple things done extremely well and a place definately worthy of a return visit.


Preseli Hills in the distance



In the footsteps of Rhys the Anonymous

Here we are back in St David's for our annual sojourn at the cottage we rent, Glowty. Arrived last night and went out for a stroll along the beach at Whitesands. Glorious views but, oh dear me, it was cold. Winter is a coming in.

And Rhys? Absolutely no idea  but he left his signature in the sand. I do hope he enjoys his time at St David's as well. Perhaps our paths will cross sometime this week? I'll keep my eyes open for someone who looks like a Rhys.

Stuck at Dublin Airport

Well, here we are stuck at Dublin Logan Airport as our onward flight to Bristol has been delayed by around 3 hours. The reason given? "Operational delays". Whatever that may mean. After an overnight flight from Boston, we are not pleased. Aren't we the ungrateful ones? After all, they've given us a breakfast voucher in compensation for the inconvenience. A great pity there's only one place to redeem it as we are in departure bay purdah - we can't go back into the main body of the terminal to take advantage of the better facilities on offer there.

But, wait! There is more. The flight has been cancelled and now we are being a much later flight to Cardiff and then a bus back to Bristol to pick up the car. And the alternative? Er, there isn't one. So, Cardiff here we come and goodbye to Aer Lingus as we'll never fly with them again. I'll accept that operational problems do arise and that cancellations are sometimes necessary. But there is no excuse for keeping passengers in the dark about what's going on.

And what 5 things have I found to do when stuck at an airport?
1. Fume.
2. Fume.
3. Fume.
4. Fume.
5. Fume.

Autumn in New England: Service interrupted

We've reached Boston for the final few days of our trip and immediately hit wi-fi problems! The hotel system is down, which means that I can't post anything. Many thanks for those of you who have sent me an e-mail querying the lack of posts. Normal service will be resumed as soon as the techies sort out the glich.

Autumn in New England: Part 7

A covered railway bridge



An uncovered road bridge

Another day and another breakfast with a touch of the Mrs Cropley's. A blueberry (and bran?) muffin is very nice with a cup of coffee mid-morning and a mixed vegetable frittata, accompanied by a rocket salad with a sharp dressing, makes for a wonderful light lunch. But both for breakfast? Well cooked but weird.

Our guides turned up (Mary-Lou with one of her arms in a sling) and we planned the day. It was raining so we decided against walking in the morning and left it as an option for the afternoon. Off we went and soon made a detour to see our fifth covered bridge: this one being a covered railway bridge. It was actually in a very tranquil spot and I found it unexpectedly pleasant. Pleasure can be found in the least expected places.

We then drove to the hamlet of Plymouth Notch to visit the home of the xth president of the USA, Calvin Coolidge. He was nicknamed Silent Cal and in deference to his memory, ..........................

From Plymouth Notch we took a 4-ish mile walk along a steep country road past the graveyard in which many of the Coolidge family are buried and up through the trees. At the midpoint we saw a chipmunk that had the grace to stay still for me to take its photograph. Was it Alvin? I think so.



THE chipmunk

 After this we made our way through the countryside (lots of foliage colours) to our next, and final B & B, the October Inn, just 8 miles out of Woodstock. And what another nice place to stay it is too. We took the opportunity to pop into Woodstock for a nose around. A charming place with a discernibly relaxed atmosphere and, joy of joys, a Farmer's Market in full swing. Lots of fresh produce and lots of free tasters.

Back to the October Inn, where the hostess, Edie (Edith) pointed out an extremely interesting tree in her yard. After years of experimentation and much hybridisation, they had come up with an apple/pumpkin chimeric tree. In the early summer, it bears small apples (apparently with a Cox flavour) and in the early autumn they are able to pick small pumpkins from its branches. I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes. Prunus pumpkinensis is what to look for in your local garden centre.

The October Inn

Prunus Pumpkinensis bearing its autumn fruit

And after all that, an Italian themed dinner with no sign of Signora Cropley in the kitchen! Hooray, a result! I went to bed happy, snuggling up to my jelly weiner (but that's a story for another day).