REVISITS TO LEEDS AND CHATHAM

Sunday dawned late because we have gone to daylight saving.But the sun was shining and there was a lovely blue sky so we decided to take another trip across the river and visit the rest of the Chatham Dockyard. We packed a picnic (amazing what a bit of sunshine will do) and set off. At Chatham we did the 40 minute audio visual tour of the Wooden Wall shipbuilding diorama. An excellent display which went through the stages of building a Man of War in the 18th century. From the pattern floor, where the design was laid out, the saw pits where two fellows cut 8 inch planks from logs of oak, the caulkers,the carpenters - an amazing demonstration which showed how these great ships were built.

The we went into the Dockyard museum which traced the history of the yard from the days of Henry v111 right through to the Falklands conflict. This would be a wonderful history lesson for school kids, and it was filled with relics/descriptive paintings,models and everything needed to instill the importance of Englands reliance on it's navy. The Dockyards built hundreds of ships, including modern naval vessels and submarines. Sadly it was closed down late in the 20th century.

Leeds Castle we had previously visited in November last year, and as our entry tickets were valid for 12 months we took advantage of the largesse and had another look. The gardens there are superb and we started off by having our picnic with jackets and scarves tightly wrapped around!!!

A walk through the castle was enhanced by tremendous floral displays which had been created for the Spring Flower Festival. Each room had its own display prepared by various organisations, and although having been on show for nearly a week, still gave a wonderful touch.

We walked around the gardens and admired the black swan and her babes, then went to the Maze and the Falconry where a free flying display was to be held.

The African Spotted Owl (photo above) was the first participant, and he flew around the enclosure performing to his trainers wishes. He came to sit on each fence post in the post and rail enclosure, and as you can see dropped in to the post right in front of me.The episode finished when he simply refused to cooperate with his trainer any more, and sat on a ledge totally ignoring the commands/pleas of his trainer who finally had to walk across and pick him up.

The next participant was a kestrel, which when released did a very fast fly past over the crowd and then flew off to sit on the weather vane of an adjoining building. From here he simply enjoyed the view and ignored the tempting titbits being offered from afar. He finally flew of out of sight!! All quite amusing.

And so back to Langdon Hills and the enjoyment of daylight extending through to 8pm.

CHATHAM DOCKYARD

There has been a bit of a pause in blogging while we have had the computer reformatted as we were sick of waiting 15 minutes for it to boot up. Of course the data which I thouht I had backed up didn't get done because we subsequently found that the CD rom drive was cactus.Ho bloody hum! Bought an external drive to remedy that situation and then found that the Wireless network card was corrupted and spent some time sorting that out. Computers are wonderful things for using up spare time.
And all this time the rotator cuff injury that your's truly suffered from the fall in Norway back at Christmas is not responding to physio and painful nights are the result.But as they say, press on regardless and forget about golf for a few more months!

And so to Chatham Dockyards, an excellent display of the 400 year old history of this site where ships have been built and serviced over the years. We started off in the Life Boat museum which was first class. There were many actual lifeboats on display all beautifully maintained by a volunteer group of people. The record of lives saved, and lost, was a dramatic reminder of the service that these volunteer crews perform day in and day out.

Then on to a 19th century gunboat which is almost completely restored, and with a wonderful audio guide invoked the history of British Colonial power of the time.Apart from the cramped conditions in which the crews lived, there was a real sense of England exerting its authority on the colonies demonstrated. It must have been a bit awesome to see this thing arriving at a troublespot with marines on board and big cannons bristling threatenly.

The next exhibit was the last remaining Naval destroyer from WW2 the HMS Cavalier. As it is the official monument of those magnificent ships and their men, it is allowed to fly the white ensign. Again, the audio gave a great summary of the conditions and history of this ship, and it was suprising to find that the bridge, from where the ship was commanded, was in fact open to the elements. As the ship's history included escorting convoys on the run to Russia, one can only admire the men who stood or sat there in freezing conditions, totally exposed to the elements and battling gale force Artic winds.

A quick stop for lunch was a disaster. The Bridge cafe can only be described as dreadful.After half an hour waiting for our ordered tomato soup, we finally received a bowl of turgid crap with tough pieces of bread. Other suckers had ordered toasted sandwiches which arrived looking like pieces of rock served with potato chips and which, like our meal, were mostly left untouched on the plates. We actually wrote out complaints about it when we left the Dockyards and found that this was no surprise to the Manager!!I need hardly add that it is a franchise operation!

An inspection of the Ropery was the final part of our visit, and luckily we were just in time for a guided tour which was particulalry well done by a costumed "Mill Girl" who educated us into the mechanics of rope production. This included an actual
manufacture of a piece of rope.

As we walked our way to the exit we came across the resident steam train which (driven by volunteers) was pushing a large crane along the lines round the docks. The crane had decided that it did not want to stay on the tracks on a gentle bend and had gone straight ahead and naturally become derailed. The poor old volunteers were trying to jack this bloody great crane up so that they could get it back on track, but we didn't have the heart or the time, to watch their endeavours!!

The entry tickets are valid for 12 months and we intend to return soon to finish off the tour by visiting the Marine Museum.

LAVENHAM - THE TUDOR VILLAGE

A lovely morning sunshine inspired us to get in the car and take off to explore. On the cruise on the Nile we had struck up conversation with Phil and Jan (both in education). They were inveterate travellers who expressed an ambition to follow our example of stepping into the wide world and seeing as much as possible. They told us of a place called Lavenham, which they described as a "lovely old village" and which we discovered was not too far from here.And it lived up to its description.

The village was originally a significant town of timber framed houses and home to a thriving cloth industry dating back to the 16th Century. So we had to adjust our historical clock away from the "4000 years ago of Egypt" to a mere 500 years!!

IN the 17th Century the bubble of economic success had burst and Lavenham became a backwater with its inhabitants unable to afford to rebuild their houses. It was not until some three centuries later with the coming of the railway that Lavenham became relatively affluent once more.

The Guildhall of Corpus Christi dates from around 1530 is one of the finest surviving examples of timber framed buidlings in England and is substantially preserved by the National Trust.It houses a museum which shows the history of both the cloth trade and the agricultural activity of the town.

The main street is full of well maintained original buidlings including the spectacular Crooked House which is now an art gallery. A very interesting place to visit- and Carol found a butcher's shop with excellent meat!!!

FAREWELL JACQUIE

Sad news from home. Our dear old dog Jacquie had to be put down as she was very poorly. She would have been 16 years old in May this year, and we had hoped that she might survive until we returned, but it was not to be.

We have wonderful memories of her though. She was a great lizard catcher, and we well remember the time she came out of the bush with Hedgehog spikes stuck in her mouth when she thought that she was a hedgehog hunter. And flatulence was one of her occasional contributions!

Known as the "Queen of Groom Street" her morning exercise was to wander up the street to determine who had invaded her territory overnight, cock her leg (this was a female dog?) and overmark the predators. In the early light of day her white bum always gave away where she was.

Lovely memories of you Jacquie and it is good to know that the last few months of your life were spent being loved by Greg and Jeannie and those other Crows Nest residents.

Farewell.

SARAH'S BIRTHDAY

Sarah came over from Norway for her 29th birthday. Baard had booked to come with her, but,surprisingly he was called over to Australia for a Centrebet Conference.

Sarah arrived on Sunday, and with Carol working, she and Dad spent Monday doing some shopping - bought some lovely warm boots for snow walking in Norway, and generally relaxed. Tuesday, Carol was unaccountably struck down with a mysterious stomach wog, and had to ring the school to say she would not be available. And then we al took off for a day in London.

Popped in to St Pauls Cathedral, tubed our way to Leiccester Square, which Len knew was the wrong station as we were really aiming for Picadilly where we knew there was an excellent Japanese restaraunt which was to be Sarah's birthday present. Finally found it and had a really super meal - amazing how much a growing girl can put away!

Went to see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and then took a bus towards the Tower of London so that we could catch the train home from Fenchurch Street. Lot's of puffing and huffing - but we made it.

Wednesday we were going to drive down and see Peter and Mary, but Len was suffering from a nasty cold and we did not think it wise to risk giving the infection to Mary who is still recovering from her second hip operation. So we pottered around. Sarah made a lovely casserole and a pleasant day was had.

Thursday morning we haad to get Sarah to Stansted to fly home -BUT when we woke up there had been a heavy fall of snow. We heard on the radio that Stansted was closed -and then that schools were closed -so Carol decided to accompany us to the airport which had predicted it would open later in the day.

Swept snow off the car - and tentatively drove the 40 odd miles to Statsted where we dropped Sarah off. When we got home there was a call from Sarah to tell us that her flight had been cancelled, and that Ryanair (her carrier) could only tell her that their next flight into Stavanger was on Sunday!!

Carol got onto the internet and after some exhaustive tooing and froing managed to book seats on British Airways from Heathrow to Oslo late that day and a Norwegian Air flight from Oslo to Stavanger early the next day! Poor old Sarah - she had to get the Express Coach from Stansted to Heathrow and wait there for 8 hours to get to Oslo, then she sat up in the airport at Oslo until late morning to get home. About 36 hours in transit.

So it was quite a birthday to remember.

EGYPYT -FINAL BLOG

Friday was a relaxing day as we sailed from Edfu back to Luxor passing through the Esna lock. We were fortunate on both occasions with the lock as we were able to transit almost without ddelay. We were told that in peak times, there can be a delay of up to 24 hours in a queue to go through the lock which can only accommodate 2 cruise boats at a time.

The odd looking picture above is a work of art which our cabin steward created each day using the fresh towels! We had a crocodile,cat,bird on various occasions all created by twisting the new towels.

The dining room arrangements were set up on the first day, and we had the same table each day. What a coincidence it was to find that the two dining companions Chris and Michelle were from Upwood which is a village adjoining Ramsey where we had spent our first 12 months.Their two children had attended the school where Carol had taught, and Michelle was a teacher from a primary school.

Arriving in Luxor we relaxed before going off to the Karnak Temple for the sound and light show in the evening. The setting was marvellous and for once there were not too many people walking around. The commentary was excellent and we both thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

Saturday arrive and it was time to pack and ready oursselves for the trip home. As the plane did not leave until 20.30 hours we had all day to potter about. We decided to visit the Luxor Museum and walked along the Esplanade to the ticket office only to find that they would only accept Egyptian currency which we had nearly run out of.We were pointed in the direction of a bank and started off only to be accosted by an Egyptian who said he would guide us to the bank. Walking along he told us he was a language teacher from Aswam and was delighted to be of assistance. Changed some money and then our guide said we MUST visit the Market where there was a Saturday morning sale - it was "just up the road". Ho Hum. The market was a Papyrus shop and we were hounded into buying a couple of pictures (actually quite nice and reasonably priced)then we found our guide back outside ready to take us to another market. I offered him LE10 (a quid) but no he didn't want money??? He escorted us back to the Museum, by which time Carol had tried him out in French and realised he was certainly no French teacher (suprise suprise) and then when we got to the Museum he asked for English money.Stiff chees old son - we had cashed the last visible english currency in front of him at the bank! He accepted LE10 reluctantly!

Luxor Museum was all that we had been led to believe. Absolutely brilliant display of artifacts. Mummies/statues and tablets from antiquity. There was a double bed which had been recovered from the tomb of Tutankhaman -together with other furniture from that tomb. And there was a Chariot which had been reassembled from its stored parts from another tomb.The chariot was 3500 years old, and to look at the perfect wheels and axles made one realise just how advanced these people were all those long years ago. Our own Aborigines were truly insignificant.

Looking back on the trip, I guess the big question is really "how did such an advanced civilisation disappear" and lead to those dark years of the Anno Domini?"
Like the Romans and the Incas and Aztecs they left great chunks of history for us to muse over and wonder.

The flight home was 5 1/2 hours getting us to Gatwick at midnight (2am by Egyptian time) but we found the car without any fuss and tootled off home exhausted but very content with the week.

EGYPT PART THREE

Tuesday morning we visited the Edfu Temple and in the afternoon we went to the temple at Komombo. At this stage we were pretty well "Templed out" and the significance of the various Pharaohs and dynastys was becoming quite confusing, so we were pleased to get back on the boat and find ourselves sailing off to Aswam which is the furthest southernly navigable part of the Nile.

That evening we had the Galabya party which required us to dress up in Egyptian style (see photo above). The "party" was a series of games (pass the bottle etc!) but everyone joined in with good spirits and it was a most enjoyable evening.

Aswam is where the High dam was constructed to form the massive Lake Nasser. It was built with Russian aid as the UK was on the nose with Egypt at the time. The lake covers some 600 square kms and provides hydro electric power to Southern Egypt. The city of Aswam is quite modern (due to the dam works) although we did pass through the old city with it's traditional mud brick buldings when we visited the High Dam.

Our first stop was a visit to the Aswam Quarry where we saw the unfinished obelisk. This obelisk had been cut from the quarry floor and had been almost complete on the top surface and both sides when a large crack appeared which caused the project to be abandoned. The method of completing the obelisk would have been to dig holes along the base of the granite block and insert wooden pegs. This was then soaked with water allowing the pegs to expand and eventually breaking the block away from the quarry floor!! The one just had to lift the 30 metres up, cart it off to the Nile (about a mile away) place it on some barges and float it off to Luxor - simple!

Next we took a small boat to visit the Philae Temple. This smaller temple had originally been in the valley which was flooded by the High Dam. It had been deconstructed and moved to higher land where is was reassembled.

On the way back to the Premier we stopped at the Papyrus Centre where we had a brief demonstration of paper manufacture and were then invited to purchase Papyrus paintings which surrounded the walls.Ho Hum -thank you.

After lunch we paid a visit to a Nubian Village by boat. One was invited to make the trip on a camel - but we passed. Nubians are a much darker coloured race of Egyptians coming from the far south of the country. Their life style is totally different and relies on community based cooperation. Whilst appearing quite poor, they had their TV,Fridge,Washing machines etc but otherwise led very simple lives. Carol took a photo of baby crocodiles which were kept in a bath for the children to play with! They are returned to the Nile when they get bigger (the crocs not the kids) Sadly, the children were all beggars despite a community aversion to the practice and it remains to be seen whether they will be able to hold on to the life style.

There was a Nubian show after dinner that night - but we both felt pretty fagged out and took a rain check as we had to be up and off at 4am the next morning for a visit to Abu Simbel.

Wake up call at 3.30am - a cup of tea - picked up a breakfast box and onto the coach.We didn't get too far before we came to a halt and joined a queue of coaches. It was explained to us that we had to travel in convoy across the 275 kms of desert for security reasons. There would have been some 60 coaches lined up waiting for the start gun. I haven't mentioned before that there was a continual presence of sub macine gun toting security guards everywhere we visited, and each coach was allocated one for this trip. It was dark of course, and whilst some passengers slept,I was fascinated with the slow approach of dawn and the desert landscape. There was a constant jockeying of positions between the coaches, and it was a bit awesome being overtaken on the quite narrow road while travelling at 70 mph!

We arrived at Abu Sembel at7.30 and were told we had two hours to view this magnificent temple before we had to get back on the coach for the return trip! With every coach arriving about the same time, the crowd was annoying and it is something that we found difficult to accept, not only from the point of view of our own ability to properly appreciate the site, but there must be a significant hazard to the preservation of the temples and their surrounds. The temple had originally been in the path of the Lake Nasser flooding, and it was Unesco who organised the moving of this temple and 21 others which were threatened with submerging. It took 10 years to dismantle the buildings, and more remarkably to cut the massive statues from their rock face and to transport and reassemble it all at Abu Simbel.Second top photo shows the size of the statues.

The trip back in daylight was an impressive desert race with overtaking and being overtaken some sort of game. We saw the desert mirage which was dramatic. In the distance it seemed that there was a sea of water with palm trees reflected in the water - but just a mirage.

After lunch we were taken on a Felucca ride across to an island where there was a botanical garden. The Felucca is the traditional Egyptian sailing boat and I was very impressed with the handling characteristics. Everything was pretty worn out, frayed ropes,patched sail - but she went!

EGYPT PART TWO

Monday morning we went to the Luxor Temple which was just across the Esplanade from where we were moored. The Temple covers several acres and is mind boggling in the size of the Pylons,Statues,Obelisks . There was a record of a high water mark where the Nile had flooded many years ago, which must have been a pretty impressive sight. Of course, the temple was partly buried by sand and debris until reclamation work started in the 19th century. It is remarkable that nearly all of the ancient tombs,temples and other ancient features, remained virtually untouched for thousands of years. Nowadays there is continual exploration and digging being carried out by both Egyptian and overseas Universities, which means that there is still a great
deal to be discovered.

The it was on to Karnak Temple.This is the largest temple complex anywhere in the world and represents the work of successive Pharaohs.

One of the outstanding features in Karnak is the Obelisk pictured top left. This monument was commissioned by a Queen Hatshepsut and is hewn in one single piece of Aswam Granite (we later visited the Aswam quarry) and is some 97 feet high weighing 320 tons. It was then floated down the Nile on barges, carried ashore and erected in the Luxor Temple. The hieroglyphics on the base of the Obelisk reveal that it was completed in 7 months from start to finish. I can't help thinking that those guys would have built the Eiffel Tower in a couple of weeks!

The other incredible feature is the Hypostyle Hall which comprises 132 Columns each over 40 feet tall and is absolutely awe- inspiring.

. While this is some three kilometres away from Luxor Temple, it was originally connected by an avenue lined with Lion statues. Parts of this avenue are still visible, but most of it has now built over and whether it will ever be completely restored remains in the lap of the Gods. Karnak is on the original site of Thebes , the ancient City.The Temple is again spread over several acres and contains several large statues of Pharoahs and a lake which was used for entertainment. It was here that we enjoyed a "Sound and Light" show on the last night of our tour.

Back to the boat, lunch and we sailed for Edfu passing through the Esna water lock. While waiting for our turn to enter the lock, several Bum Boats came alongside with shouts of "Hello" and displayed their wares to the passengers. They threw shawls,scarfs,dresses etc up onto the deck of the Viking Premier and bargained their hearts out. Rejected items were simply thrown back!!

That evening there was a "cocktail" party at which the various officials of the crew were introduced. Just as the emcee introduced the Skipper as a qualified Nile skipper, there was an almighty bang as the boat hit the side of the dock. Dinner (more food) was interrupted by a birthday cake celebration with the waiters parading through the dining room banging drums and singing -I'm glad it wasn't my birthday!

EGYPT AND THE NILE

We flew from Gatwick to Luxor in Southern Egypt by MonarchAir, a charter service, which, while somewhat cramped, did at least provide excellent airline food. Five hours passed, and we landed at the lovely Luxor Airport and were quickly guided onto coaches and transferred to the Viking Premiere.
Sunday dawned with an early wakeup call - breakfast and then onto the coach and off to the Valley of the Kings on the West bank of the Nile. This was our first exposure to the only real problem on the whole trip - the number of tourists!! There are some 350 cruise boats on the Nile, and each one seems to have the same itinerary for its guests. So one has to accept that there are crowds.

The valley of the Kings is a Limestone area and was chosen for the construction of tombs for three reasons:- The dryness preserved the mummified bodies.The area was quite remote giving security. The rock was able to be cut. Remembering that these tombs date back some 5000 years in some cases, one can only wonder what sort of tools were used in the major excavations.

We were given tickets to visit any three of the some 80 tombs in the Valley, not all of which are able to be visited. The best known tomb is that of Tutankhamun and it was discovered in 1920 by Howard Carter. This discovery was made after Carter had worked for five years removing debris from the tomb of Ramses V1, and one can imagine the immense amazement on his face when he finally opened a door to find the mummified King surrounded by all of the possessions which had been buried with him to enable him to pass onto the next life.

The tomb of Thutmosis 111 requires a fairly exhausting climb up steps through a narrow defile and then down into the tomb itself. The inscriptions on the walls depict various events in the life of the God and associations with other Gods and Spirits which will enable a successful afterlife. The sarcophagus was empty, the mummified body (as in many of the tombs) having been taken to museums around the world.

Our guide, Gamal, had a degree in Egyptology from Cairo University and was most knowledgeable. I must confess though that after listening to him for some time I was totally confused about the relationship of Rameses,Thutmosis,Sethos11,Amenophis11 et al!! One particular Pharoah stuck in my mind as having reigned for some 65 years, sired 130 sons ans 120 daughters by a number of wives including three of his own daughters!!We know how he spent his time!

The it was off to the Valley of the Queens and a visit to two more tombs. Then we went to the Temple of Hatshepsut. The top left picture shows this incredible temple. It had all the appearance of a recently constructed building, but it was in fact thousands of years old, and had been carved into the side of the mountain behind it!!
There is just no way that one can contemplate the enormous amount of planning and work needed to create this extraordinary building.

Back to the boat, lunch and a rest before a welcome meeting at which we were given sound advice on avoiding "Delhi Belly", told about the market traders' practices (always bargain and bargain again) informed that we would be expected to provide tips for the crew (L2 per person per day) the porters and coach drivers (L1 per day).

After dinner we were entertained by a belly dancer and a Dervish dancer - fascinating.

More to come

A MEAN TIME IN GREENWICH

After having slept in Saturday morning, there did not seem much of the day left for venturing too far. But we have been constantly thinking that we should be able to drive into London itself, and find a parking spot. It is a bit of a daunting task, because the traffic is pretty horrendous and you have to keep a very keen eye open for all sorts of signs and directions.

Anyway we took off down the A13 with Limehouse Station in our sights, as this is the last stop that our usual train makes before terminating at Fenchurch Street. It all turned out a bit of an anti climax with traffic flowing along quite nicely, the Station duly being spotted,and, after only a couple of circumnavigations we actually parked in a "Permits only Mon to Frid" spot which was exactly opposite the steps leading into the station. How good was that!!!

So we caught the Docklands Light Rail train and headed for Greenwich just a few stations away. The "Cutty Sark" is being refurbished so we were unable to visit , but we wandered on into the Greenwich Maritime Area, where a nice lady guided us to the central point anad told us some of the history of the area. Christopher Wren was the architect of the magnificent buildings which face the Thames, and behind which is the actual Greenwich Observatory. The buildings are all occupied, although the Old Royal Naval College is no longer used by the Navy but houses University activities.In the painted Hall Carol was accosted by who is a teacher at Harristown and was in UK visiting her son!!!

We had a light lunch in the Old Naval Hospital building and then went into the National Maritime Museum which is a building that was once part of the Royal Palace of Placentia once the monarch's primary residence in the 15th Century until the end of the 17th century.

The museum is free and contains more than one can possibly take in the couple of hours we had to spare. We were not keen to remain in London and drive back to home in the dark - b ut we did see quite a lot of the museum and certainly intend to return to the area for a further exploration. The other fascinating place we must go to is a pedestrian tunnel under the Thames which was constructed at the end of the 19th Century.

18 MONTHS - THE HIGHS AND LOWS

It's cold and wet -an afternoon at home and a reflective mood have led me to have a look at the past 18 months of living here in England. So - the Highs:-

Having my brother Peter there ready and waiting at Heathrow and quickly taken to the hospitality of his home.

Catching up with Clive Bowring and visiting the IOW.

Staying a night with John and Brenda Shapiro in their lovely old cottage.

Arriving in the lovely little town of Ramsey and finding the flat on the school grounds more than adequate for our needs.

Joining Ramsey Golf Club and meeting some super blokes in the Seniors division.

Finding out that we had dozens of National Trust places to visit within easy driving distance.

Going over to France with the car and surviving the driving, at the same time visiting some fabulous places and staying at some super Gites.

Christmas in Vienna and the Christmas Day Mass with the Vienna Boys Choir. A piece of Sacha Tort.

The Lippizaner Horses and the wonderful sound of Ave Maria sung in the courtyard.

The Christmas Fair at the Summer Palace Schonnbrun.

The Isle of Wight in a waterside hotel.Joining the English Heritage at Osborne House.

Visiting Dick and Eileen Lancaster at Blandford Forum - a 55 year old reunion.

Developing an interest in the Fens and it's history.

A visit from David and Nancy

Iceland - the waterfalls and geysers. The wonderful dog sledging and the warmth of hospitality shown at Senna.

Pub roast lunches.

Prague - getting rid of the "traditional Czech lunch!

A visit from Graeme and Dianna

Norway -seeing Sarah and Baard.

The Flam Railway and the great train trip across to Oslo.

Finding out that the Oslo Hotel also provided a light dinner in the price.

Getting lost up in the hills and the lift in a car when we were lost and tired.

Making friends with Ruth and Tim and visiting their lovely home.

Making friends with Pam and Maurice at Ramsey.

Cornwall and the tiny cottage. The beautiful villages by the sea. Tintagel Castle.

Yorkshire - another lovely cottage and Mrs Coates the lovely owner. The moors and stone wall fences. Great pork pies
found at a little village. Unbelievable scenery.Bolton Abbey.

Yorkshire again via Wales Chester and The Isle of Mull.Trip in a canal barge draawn by a horse.The fabulous aquaduct. The Isle of Mull a treasure in itself - can't forget the hand dived scallops bought from the divers themselves.Tobermorey a little gem.
Stirling Castle and the odd couple running the B and B at Pickering. The steam train to Whitby and the original Sir Nigel Grenfel -what memories.

Carol's birthday in Paris with Sarah joining us.Travelling on the Eurostar under the Channel. The coach sightseeing trip with a difference. Notre Dame.

France again this time to see Jeanette Alain and Morgan - the trip to the Grand Canyon,four wheel driving with Jeanette - wonderful days.

Norway for Christmas - Baards parents and grandparents joining in on Christmas Eve at a memorable party. The Cabin out of Gol -Cognac with Rolph - dogs pulling skiiers - the seeing eye poodle.

THE LOWS

Arriving in UK suffering from the "trots" courtesy of Malaysian water.

Buying the Vauxhall and finding the clutch slipping the second day on.

Cashing our travellers cheques and finding that the Bank treated them as cheques and had to wait for clearance.

No shower in the Ramsey Flat.

The school was a disaster- Carol very unhappy with a shithouse administration.

Blowing up the engine in the Vectra because I forgot to check the oil.

Finding out we had to pay the rates of 800 quid on the flat.

Long delays at airports going through security.

Hairy landing at Toulon courtesy of Ryanair.

Finding out that the transfer of the car registration had not taken place!

The problems with British Gas and their bill for 7,900 quid - never resolved.

The delayed flight from Oslo home to Heathrow - then the taxi taking us to the wrong St Giles - the lonely wait on an isolated railway station to get the last train.

Basildon Golf Club and the muddy course Yuck
















V

ST PAULS

Another wet weekend so we decided on a trip to London. The local rail service is called c2c -why? It runs from Southend on Sea to City- see!! Anyway they have just increased the fare from 9 to 10 quid for a day return which includes all travel by bus or underground in London so it's not too bad.

St Pauls Cathedral was our main target today and, despite my reluctance to pay to go to church, I have to admit that this was one of those times when my parsimony was unfounded. As it happened we had a "two for one" offer in conjunction with our c2c ticket, so I actually got in for free! On the basis of this largesse we decided that we would pay for a guided tour and made a very wise choice.

St Pauls is so much more than just a Cathedral. It is an architectural masterpiece,a repository of English history and tradition and an overwhelming experience irrespective of religious feeling.

We sat in the Chapel of St Michael and St George where holders of the KCMG have name plates on the pews and in which they are entitled to have their family weddings/baptisms and funeral services. There is also an OBE Chapel which gives similar privileges to holders of that award.That's the Order of the British Empire (not the Over Bloody Eighty club!!)

The tour took two hours and I think we could easily have spent another two hours looking at the various plaques/monuments and tombstones. Our guide,Michael, showed us a plaque dedicated to those men and women, who, in WW11 went up onto the roof of the cathedral during the blitzes and, in the cold and darkness of the blackout then prevailing, guarded the building from the incendiary bombs which fell quite constantly. The Cathedral did suffer some damage during the blitz from high explosive bombs, but to no great extent. It was said that the Germans deliberately avoided damaging St Pauls because it was such a significant landmark to tell them just where they were over London!!

We climbed several million stairs up to the Whispering Gallery which is at the base of the rotunda and offers superb views of the transept below. Carol ventured further upwards leaving the poor old man to recover, and the picture above is one that she took from the roof of St Pauls. It was a pity that it was such a shit of a day.

Lunch in the crypt was crap! But with some sort of revived stamina we staggered off to visit the Handel House Museum in Brook Street. I had not realised that Handel had not only lived in England for some 36 years, but became a citizen of the country and wrote his Messiah here.

One of the volunteer ladies took us in hand and we were given a fascinating talk about those times and the associations which Handel made during his years in the house. Well worth the money (two for one again!!)

On Sunday we drove to Lakeside and saw a beautiful movie "Miss Potter". Absolutely perfect entertainment although we were two of only three people in the cinema!A quick visit to the Farmers Market there (it is held on the 1st Sunday of each month) where we bought two large punnets of strawberrys for a quid. It was nearly closing time and the vendor gave us the last two for the price of one. A great two for omne weekend.

CHRISTMAS IN NORWAY PART TWO

Boxing Day was very foggy and so the train trip up to Oslo from Fredrikstad offered very little scenery. We had some time to wait for the train up to Gol, so we walked up through the main street of Oslo and saw the skating rink in the park and generally orientated ourselves from our previous visit there in May.

The train from Oslo was terrific - very quiet and superbly comfortable. The scenery is so wonderful that any thoughts of reading a book during the 3 1/2 hour trip were quickly abandoned. On arrival at Gol, Baard was there and told us that the Station waiting room had coffee and biscuits which in fact turned out to be Gluhwein and chocolates - very acceptable. A twenty minute drive brought us to the Cabin amidst the snow and Freydis and Rolf were there to welcome us once again.

It is hard to describe the beauty of the landscape up here in the mountains and the serenity of snow covered land. The Cabin was wonderful - spacious,warm and demanding relaxation.

Next morning after bacon and eggs (!) we all went for a hike in the surrounding country. Ice and snow abounded and one had to be careful where the feet were being placed. OOps! Yours truly fell flat on his back when his feet simply refused to grip. Sarah and Carol immediately thought "Oh My God - HIS BACK!! How do we get an ambulance up here. No problems - picked meself up and plodded on!

We reached the turning point of our walk at a superb Cabin situated on a crest with views of the surrounding countryside which was quite breathtaking.Picture at top.

Thursday dawned at Minus 10 degrees! After another sumptious breakfast Rolph said we would go for a drive around the countryside. We drove along snow and ice covered roads with banks of snow on either side, through the most beautiful country finally coming to a ski resort where it was obvious that Rolph and Baard regretted not bring their skis! We saw people skiing with their dogs pulling them along, and one delightful black poodle who was a "seeing eye dog" - so much for Ben's Pete!!

On the way back to the cabin we stopped at a traditional Norwegian "cafe" where we were introduced to Roemmegrot a sort of porridge on which one sprinkles sugar and nutmeg - delicious but very rich. A last stop at a Chalet not far from the Cabin revealed some incredible Chainsaw carvings - and so to home.

Up early for Baard to drive us down to Gol to catch the train to Oslo, and a visit to an ancient Norwegian Church on the way.A fascinating building ,which was not open unfortunately, but very much reminded Carol and me of a similar preserved building in Olso - ornate/wooden/and windowless!

Sarah came on the train with us and we had another wonderful trip through fascinating country. Took a taxi from the station to our Hotel which was another of Carol.'s booking successes.Plenty of room for the three of us and nicely situated for walking through the Oslo central city. We had dinner quite early (after all it was dark at 4 pm) great hamburgers and an overpriced carafe of house wine - but just what was needed to round off the day.

Sarah went off on the airport bus in the morning to return to Sandnes, while Carol and I went down to the City and got a lense put back into my glasses.It was cold and raining and there seemed little point in hanging about in the City so we went back to the hotel, had a coffee,checked out and caught the airport bus to Oslo airport.Our flight (which was due to leave at 8.30pm) was the last scheduled flight at the airport, so we found the very substantial building almost empty. The flight was then delayed until 9.50 (due to big storms at Heathrow having delayed the inward flight)- so we had a considerable wait. But we bought a bottle of wine in the duty free, sat down in a closed restaurant,Len pinched a couple of wine glasses from the bar area, and we relaxed!No one said a word.

Arriving at Heathrow, we waited half an hour for the bags to appear on the roundabout and then caught a taxi for St Giles Hotel. Horror Horror. After a while I realised that the taxi meter was getting beyond what was expected. I asked the driver if he was taking us to the St Giles Hotel at Feltham - NO WAY - he was off to the St Giles Hotel in Piccadily in London!! The meter showed L32 at this stage and the driver told us that we were facing a further L30 to go back to Feltham. I was not impressed, but Carol restrained me from telling him to f... off for his fare, and he dropped us at Kew Gardens Railway Station which fortunately happened to be on the line to Feltham. We waited (with some trepidation) on a cold empty platform for what was the last train of the night which thankfully appeared on time (12.20) and we duly arrived at Feltham without having paid any fares. Bed was never so inviting!!

A wonderful week made perfect by the hospitality of Freydis and Rolph - and just so great to meet Baard's family and enjoy their company.

CHRISTMAS IN NORWAY

We had booked a night at the St Giles Hotel in Feltham which is near Heathrow for December 30th for two reasons. Firstly they provided car parking at a very reasonable rate, and also our return flight from Oslo on that date was not due into Heathrow until 10pm. As we had planned to call in to see Peter and Mary for lunch on New Years Eve it made sense to stay over. The taxi from St Giles to Heathrow Terminal 3 was L15 which was pretty reasonable. We had bags of time up our sleeves mainly because we were a bit worried about the confusion that was current in Heathrow with a few days of thick fog which severely restricted flights.

We always seem to find plenty to do at airports, and on this occasion we bought a new digital camera - a Sony Sureshot - Super little pocket sized camera with 7.1 pixels and lots of gadgets!!

Baard and Sarah met us at Oslo and we drove 120kms down to Fredrikstad where we had booked a hotel for three nights. Checking in we found that the allocated room did not have any lights! New room - into bed and slept like logs.

Baard picked us up at 11am and showed us the sites of the Old City - a 17th century walled city of remarkable beauty. Being Christmas Eve there were no shops open (hooray) and few people about to interrupt our sightseeing. Back to the hotel with Baard telling us that he would pick us up again at 4pm to go to Rade where his parents live and where we were to have Christmas dinner.

What a night!! Baards parents Freydis and Rolf were lovely people and superb hosts, and the presence of Baards brother Are together with Grandparents Mor Mor, Farfar and Farmor made it a wonderful occasion.I love the names given to Grandparents- Mor Mor is Mother's Mother, Farfar is Father's father etc. After a great meal we assembled to "Open the Presents" - a function which took some time as everyone had given something to everyone else. Rolf was my sort of bloke, keeping the drinks flowing!!

The next day we were picked up at 11 to drive over to Rade for lunch - en route visiting the marina where Rolf keeps his lovely double-ender cabin cruiser -it was on the hardstand for winter and we will have to try and get back in the Summer months to go out on it! Smorgasbord lunch with crab and prawns etc - food food and more food!See the photo above. Back to the hotel - another good nights sleep and looking forward to the train trip to Oslo and then up to Gol where the Hansen's Cabin is.

A WEEKEND OF ENTERTAINMENT

No pictures for this one. Last weekend we went to London to see a show "The Producers" which was fabulous. We took the train up early to have a wander around before going to the show at 2.30pm. We walked from Fenchurch Street Station into the city area, past an incredible building known as the Beehive.Then past Lloyds which I think is a most unattractive building. We asked a workman where we could find St Pauls Cathedral, and he obligingly took us along the street to point out exactly where it waas. He was a Bulgarian, and obviously keen to try out his English.

St Pauls was 9 quid to look through, and as we did not have a great deal of time to spare, we decided that we would put a visit there onto the back burner. Took a bus up to The Strand and found Covent Garden which was mass of Market stalls and street entertainers. Jugglers, acrobats and singers aplenty - the atmosphere was terrific. To our surprise we found ourselves looking at the Theatre Royal which was where the show was - which solved the problem of having to look for it!!

We had lunch in an Italian cafe - excellent smoked salmon and a pizza with a "free" glass of wine. On to the show. It was a musical full of comedy and as one would expect, superbly presented. At the interval we went into the bar and paid 6.pounds fifty for a stubby of beer and a can of lemonade - thank God we didn't want champagne.
This part of London is pretty familiar to me as I stayed in a Hotel on the Strand when I first used to go over to London, so despite some reluctance from She Who Must Be Obeyed, we were going in the right direction for Charing Cross station, from where we took the underground.Taking a punt on train times to Laindon (our home station) we stayed on the underground to West Ham arriving to find he C2C train just leaving. But the service is good and we only had to wait 15 minutes for the next one.

Sunday we had free tickets to the movies courtesy of The Times and Landrover as part of a promotion.The cinema where the film waas shown is at Lakeside, a major shopping complex about 20 minutes away from home. This is the third time that we have taken advantage of these offers to have a pre-release showing. The film was about the famous picture of the raising of the American flag by Marines on Iwojima. A bloody and tragic film which had us both a bit shell shocked when it was over.

And so to home and the exciting prospect for Carol of only three days left of the school terms before the Christmas break and our trip to Norway.

And

CANTERBURY

The website for Canterbury indicated that there was a German Christmas Fair being held in that fair City, so with thoughts of our previous experience in Vienna last Christmas, we departed early for the 60 mile trip. The forecast was 2 - 8 degrees so we went well prepared.

Seeking a parking spot in Canterbury we drove around with little success, and then when we stopped at a road junction, happened to notice that there waa steam pouring our from under the bonnet of the faithful old Vectra. An inspection revealed the cap of the reservoir had blown off and was fortunately sitting on the engine, meanwhile the water had disappeared down the street! And of course this was one time that we had not taken the mobile phone with us!! A young man stopped in his car and asked if he could help - then offered his mobile phone which we used to call our Roadside assist from the Insurance company. About 40 minutes later they arrived (having driven from Dover 20 miles away!) and soon had us back in business. Naturally it was Len's fault - he had checked the oil and water before leaving, and after topping up the reservoir had obviously failed to screw the cap back on tight enough to prevent the resultant blowout!

So we found a parking spot (2 quid all day) and trundled off to find our Christmas Fair. Canterbury is a most charming city, a mixture of old and new due in no small part to pretty severe damage inflicted by German tourists in the 1940's using bomb releases instead of Leicas! There was very much a festive air about the place and it was very pleasant to stroll along the streets. We eventually found the fair which consisted of a mere five stalls mainly involved in selling Glewein and German sausages ! Disappointing to say the least.


So we visited the Tourist spot featuring the Canterbury Tales. This was excellent value with a series of dioramas, each one relating a Canterbury Tale.Top photo was taken there and Len is the figure on the left! Then we went to visit the Cathedral,an absolute must. It dates back to the 6th century although it has been rebuilt and added to over the years. It is a bit awesome to stand on the spot where poor old Tom Becket was put to the sword in 1170. And the Western Crypt is almost 1000 years old which adds to the eerie feeling. There was an Evensong Service at 3.15 which the missus wanted to attend, and as I hadn't seen a Pub handy I thought I might as well accompany her. It was very ritualistic with lots of bowing and scraping, but the choir was superb and as my hearing reluctantly failed to catch a single word of the reading, it turned out to be a pleasant experience.

Did a bit of shopping naturally, and savoured a hot glass of Glewein (3 quid a glass!) and then back to the car. Carol drove home, stopping at the first service station to buy some anti freeze to top up the aforementioned reservoir.

TILBURY FORT

Since the early times, England has always been exposed to the threat of invasion. The Romans, then the Vikings and The Dutch (The Dutch??) in the 18th Century they actually made their way up the Medway and caused a considerable amount of havoc and damage before before being repelled.

So it is no suprise that The Thames, that great river which flows into the heart of London, should be a natural target for would be invaders, and consequently the object of much defence.
Tilbury, which is now the enormous port for cargo from around the world, is near the mouth of the Thames, and it was here that a fort was established in the 17th Century. With a commanding view across the extent of the river, it's early fortification consisted of the old canon and ball, which with their limited range and rate of fire, were only just a sufficient deterrent to trespassers. It was taken very seriously, and the powder stores in which dozens of barrels of gunpowder were stored had walls almost three feet thick and copper plated doors to avoid any chance of a spark.

Later developements saw the introduction of more sophisticated weaponry including 9" canons which could hurl a rifled shell some 5 miles. Mind you, it took an officer and five men to load and fire the beasts. Modern times saw the installation of rapid firing anti aircraft guns and 6" naval guns which had total command of the River.

The barracks for the other ranks were originally quite basic, with small rooms containing 4 beds each of which was the berth for two soldiers. It was said that during the colder months, the windows and vents were securely closed giving rise to some ghastly thoughts about the resultant smell from unwashed bodies in close proximity. The officers, of course, had separate and quite elegant quarters, despite which, several of them elected to live at Gravesend across the water where there was more opportunity for entertainment. Such was life in those days.

English Heritage maintain the site.

APSELY HOUSE - LONDON No1 AND THE GLOBE

Top left is a gallery at the Globe. Right - Apsley House and below the view outside the Globe site

It was forecast for rain on Sunday so we decided to make a trip to London and visit a couple of English Heritage sites - Apsely House - the home of the Duke of Wellington (the Gumboot man) and the Wellington Arch just opposite. Carol also took advantage of a special rail travellers offer of one free entry to the Globe Theatre and Museum.

Aspely House is known as No 1 London. It sits adjacent to Hyde Park Corner- which is in fact a monstrous roundabout. The House was gifted to the nation in 1947 when the incumbent Duke told his brother that he would negotiate with the Government of the day to take it over as the cost of maintaining the property was beyond their means!!Nothing to do with Inheritance Tax of course.

The family still retain private rooms in the house, but the remainder is simply a wonderful museum of Wellington's life and his passion for collecting art. It was the practice in days gone by to reward heroic achievement with great tributes in gold and silver, elaborate dinner services and settings, all of which are in abundance in this beautiful setting. Tributes from Egypt/Turkey/Russia and other grateful nations freed from the scourge of Napoleon line the walls and cabinets. The art galleries are stupendous, covering many famous painters and their works and all superbly presented. The audio guide, available at no cost is ,full of great information on all of the areas visited, and includes commentary from the current Duke.

Opposite the House is the Wellington Arch, the centrepiece of the Corner. There are three floors of memorabillia leading to viewing galleries with great views of the surrounds. On the way down from these galleries there are a series of rooms, one of which is dedicated to the system of "Blue Plaques". These plaques are mounted on buildings through London to signify some historial record of a famous person who had lived in those premises. It certainly adds interest to a walk around the City to find a plaque signifying that Mozart was once resident in this humble building. The room also offers the opportunity for one to nominate someone for consideration of a plaque. Some wag had that very day suggested Ricky Ponting!!

Off to Picadilly Circus and a superb Japanese lunch. Then a bit of navigation to find ourselves on the South Bank of the Thames to the Shakespeare Museum and the replica Globe Theatre.

The replica was the brainchild of an American, Sam Wannamaker, and is a truly remarkable bit of historical recreation. Built of timber and with a thatched roof (imagine the council regulations that would have been invoked with that!) the building represents what would have been the sort of environment of the 17th Century. This part of "London" was called Surrey, London being on the other bank of the river. In it's original form, the theatre would advertise that it was presenting plays by flying a flag, and patrons (customers) would have themselves transported across the Thames to enjoy the spectacle.

In the front of the stage was the yard, where for a penny the hoi poloi would STAND in the open air throughout the entire performance, absolutely crammed up against the stage. Better off customers were seated in galleries surrounding the Yard, and the well off enjoyed boxes on the wings of the stage. Our tour guide was able to convey a picture of what it would have been like during a performance, with no stage lighting or amplification, no set props, and a crowd who were a vocal as they wished. One of the guide' s descriptions was of the smell that would have pervaded the theatre. Unwashed bodies close together, with the favourite lolly - raw garlic!!

Altogether a memorable visit - and we think that we shall have to actually visit during a live performance to get a total picture.

LEEDS CASTLE IN KENT

This is an unusual place. Not only because it has survived since 1119, but, with many and disparate owners, it became a grand home for an American heiress to the Standard Oil fortune who lived there from 1926 until her death in 1974.

The castle has Norman foundations,a mediaeval gatehouse,the Gloriette built by Edward 1st and update in Henry VIII's times, a Tudor tower and a 19th century country house. The bay window shown above was installed by Henry VIIIth.

In 1926 Olive,Lady Baillie, together with her husband Arthur Filmer bought the castle and embarked upon a lavish refurbishment using the finest French architects and designers to create an elegant country residence. On her death she left the castle to the Leeds Castle Foundation, a private charitable trust whose aim is to preserve the castle and grounds for the benefit of the public forever.

It is extensively used for weddings, conferences and banquests. There are 24 bedrooms most of which have bathrooms reflecting the modern necessities of a great country house. I did think about booking this for the potential wedding of my daughter but thank God she has not made such a commitment!

The extensive grounds and gardens have several lakes which are the home to hundreds and hundreds of water birds. These include black swans which were imported from Australia. There is an aviary which houses several endangered bird species, a falconry, a grotto, a maze. All set in majestic parklands. This is a truly remarkable and memorable place to visit.

The day we chose to visit also turned out to be the day on which there was a Food and Crafts fair, which probably accounted for the hordes of people and near full car parks. Housed in large marquees there was an amazing array of craftwork, food and drink and fortunately we had forgotten to get some actual cash to take with us, so that purchasing was strictly limited!!