Posts filed under 'Travel'
Although we didn’t have the same temperatures in Edinburgh as in London, I experienced some of it while spending a week with Dan’s mum Jen in mid-July.
Jen and I spent much of the time in the garden, moving round the shade. Having had a very busy previous week with the annual preparatory course for language assistants in Glasgow, I was very happy to go along with this…
We also had some time with Jen’s mum Viv, joined on one day by Anna and Beri (Beri is Dan’s cousin) who were on holiday in London at the same time. On a second day out with Viv, we headed to a former castle and gardens in Kent. This was probably one of the hottest days, and it was good to walk in the shade of various formal gardens.
Later in the same month, I had a one-day training course in London, flying down early in the morning. As the heat build-up in the Underground was quite intense during July, I walked from King’s Cross to the office at Charing Cross, rather than take public transport. Doing this in the early morning was actually quite pleasant.
Coming out of the office again at around five, it was like walking into a hot bath of air…It’s a strange experience moving in and out of air conditioned buildings and trains/planes into regular uncooled settings.
November 30th, 2006
As part of our trip to Madrid, we stayed on for the weekend, and took a day trip to Toledo.
This is probably our moment to make a plug for the Spanish trains, which got us to Toledo in a very short space of time, and are also very comfortable. It showed us also how the landscape to the south of Madrid does remain fairly flat, although we had some hills to climb within Toledo itself.
Toledo is known for making swords, but also for marzipan - good news for me! We had to take a photo of one of the specialist shops, which had a model of the front of Toledo Cathedral. Given that the cathedral is huge and detailed, that’s quite a modelling job. We were happy to sample some marzipan, just to make sure the batch was up to scratch.
We enjoyed seeing a whole range of architecture, including an early mosque, a Sephardic synagogue and some more classical European buildings. There were also others with Visigoth influences, although we didn’t manage to see them too.
Here’s a couple of pictures to show off the marzipan - and the surroundings it’s made in.
November 30th, 2006
Ok, so I’ve nearly done on my comments about travels this year, but here’s one that was back in January.
One of the other parts of my job is school linking between Ireland and Scotland. It’s aided along by going to a partner-finding event with teachers from Scottish schools. Often these are in Ireland, and many a partnership has been cemented over a Guiness (or several) at the end of a long week of teaching.
In January, it was Belfast’s turn to host. I’d been there a couple of times before, for meetings with our language assistant colleagues. However, I hadn’t done a tour, which takes in the - possibly notorious - murals presenting both sides of the political divide.
To help us put things in context, the hosts kindly laid on a slide show on the first night. We were able to see pictures that we’d then see for real the next day, as well as others that have now vanished, either under new murals or have been cleared. The guide and deviser of the slide show was scruplously fair in portraying both sides, switching from Republican to Loyalist pictures and back.
I think few of the teachers who’d come from mainland UK had realised just how detailed the imagery is - I certainly didn’t realise there were so many symbols for each side to draw on. It was very powerful to be going in a coach along a local street, with little shops, and suddenly to hear that this was the Falls Road,and that buses didn’t serve at all at some points in the Troubles. I hadn’t realised how close the different neighbourhoods are to each other at points. Perhaps one of the most impacting sights was going along the side of a fairly normal looking estate, and see murals covering the whole side of a house on the end of a row. Our guide also told us that at times, some people tried to cover over the mural…and might be visited in the night to be told, in no uncertain terms, that the mural was to stay.
On a happier note, it was also a trip which included a Northern Irish ceilidh. It was a little confusing where some dances were the same as Scottish ones, but with different names; others had the same name but slightly different steps in between. The Scottish teachers acquitted themselves well, however. In proper ceilidh fashion, there wasn’t just dancing but also some singing, including from two Welsh teachers determined to keep the side up…
Our aim is, at some point, to manage to have a school partnership which includes Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. it didn’t come off this time, but maybe next year in Liverpool…
November 27th, 2006
The more chances we have to travel, the more we seem to bring back food…or try out new food.
We’ve been doing this for a while when visiting Italy. Some of the best options are ones our friends have introduced us to. A great alternative to crisps and nibbles is the tarrallo (tarralli if you have more than one, which of course you will), a little loop of seasoned bread baked to a similar finish to bread sticks.
We’ve also tried gnochetti sardi, not actually gnocchi but very small shell shaped pieces of pasta, which are wonderful in a stew. They cook right down but still have a little bit of a bite to them.
Our May trip to Spain was a chance to try out food that I’d read about for a while. We bought membrillo, quince paste that is meant to be best tried with sharp manchego cheese. We also found packets of very thick hot chocolate, and saffron that is much cheaper than in the UK. The market in Madrid had some fantastic pastries as well as lots of fruit - including grapes with double pips.
We benefitted from my colleagues’ experience when we all met up in the evening. A few had previously lived in Spain, and so we tried baby octopus (surprised at how good it was), grilled asparagus with lots of salt and pepper (I changed my previous dislike of asparagus) and a fair few other things as part of the tapas experience.
I managed to have some time in Berlin between my induction courses in Germany and Austria. I knew it had lots of good Turkish food, amongst other things. My surprise was just how popular the cocktails were…a little reminder of its former decadence in the Thirties? As I was leaving Berlin on the Thursday, there was also a good food market on in the Hackescher Markt, just opposite the British Council office. We have Pizza Express outside our office in Edinburgh, but it’s not quite the same!
In Graz, Austria, the local speciality was pumpkin oil, a strong green colour, which is served with every salad. But it’s also good with meat, and is meant to be very good for you. When I stayed on for the induction course, food was a key part of the way the centre (a former castle) was run. You could buy local organic apples etc - but equally lots of cake was available every breaktime. The honesty boxes were working overtime…but just in case you missed out, they kindly served cake at the end of every lunch time too. And strong red wine to finish up the course. Or finish off the tutors, most of whom then had to dash back up to Vienna and the outskirts for teaching next day.
We tried a ‘tourist menu’ in the Trastevere suburb of Rome with a certain trepidation - would it be good? In fact, it was a fantastic meal, allowing us to try some Roman specialities we knew, such as spaghetti carbonara, but also the veal dish saltimbocca, which we didn’t. It really does ‘jump in the mouth'’ as the name has it…
It’s just as well I’m writing this after an evening meal. My apologies if it’s making you hungry. Or maybe not. I may have kicked my cookbook buying habit, but I’m still happily cooking away. My great plan for the Christmas holiday: making my own tarte tatin, having now acquired some pans that will go on the hob and in the oven. Jamie would approve.
November 27th, 2006
There is plenty to say about Rome, our next destination after Ischia, as part of our Italy trip in October. One thing we hadn’t expected, however, was all the cats…
You can buy calendars of cats on famous monuments - and certainly if you go past any of the Roman sites at night, it doesn’t take long to spot them moving about among fallen masonry. In fact, some of the sites have put up notices informing passersby of attempts to neuter the cat population to try to keep it under control.
Observing cats at work, posing for cameras in various settings, led us to consider a day in the life of a professional cat in Rome:
Morning: the park on the top of the Aventine hill (close to where we stayed). Attract young German boys who want to sit and stroke you. Best achieved as a pack of three where each cat is a different colour, for pleasing photographic contrast.
*Cats who want to work overtime can also appear at the park on Saturday mornings, where there is a good chance of appearing in a few wedding photos as the bride and groom pose for photos after a ceremony in the adjacent church. Should the bride wish to sit on a seat with the cats, claws must be sheathed.
Late morning, early afternoon: a spot of calendar modelling. it is best to get into your favoured historic location in time to have a nap. This allows the photographers more of a chance to capture your best side, and to rest from the morning’s labours.
Mid afternoon: Appear outside the Colosseum. The well trained cat can keep the body motionless while turning its head to face each of the three photographers in sequence. Ideal for attracting attention of tourists who don’t want to pay the charge for being photgraphed with a gladiator.
Evening: a little evening stroll around some other monuments, or a quick look for food in any food bins outside restaurants. Nervous cats beware: this time coincides with the evening stroll, which can include humans with small yappy dogs.
Further options for suitable cat remuneration should be put to the editor.
November 27th, 2006
That’s mud to you…Ischia (see post re noise of the surf) is renowned for its hot springs and volcanic mud. As a treat, Dan and I decided to have one of the treatments each, and I went for the mud treatment plus shower (very necessary afterwards).
The room where they did the treatment had a little cut out at the base of one wall. When the lady in charge was clear what I wanted, she called ‘Bucket of mud please!’ or something similar through the wall, and they slid in a tin bucket full of hot mud…
You mostly lie back on the mud, which is spread out on a table with a useful plastic sheet to keep the mud in the right place. Further dollops of mud are added to hands, feet, knees etc. Then they wrap you up, add an extra blanket on top, and leave you to steam for fifteen minutes.
I would say it is pretty relaxing - the weight of the mud on your hands means that you have no inclination to move. Although you might worry what would happen if a fire alarm sounded, for example.
Clearly, the mud gets everywhere. You get the option to hose yourself down with a hand held shower after, but really you need someone else to help with the shower too, so you’re not left with mud anywhere too embarassing. Another option on the fango option is seeing the fumaroles elsewhere on the island, where steam comes up through mud.
After three: di mi fango, fango, fango…
November 27th, 2006
It sounds like something you create on a synthesiser, but this was actually the sea around the island of Ischia, in the bay of Naples, where we started our main holiday of the year in October.
As the water is less affected by tides than it is around the UK coast, the swell was pretty constant all day, and the sound too. There was a particular low growl to the sound, and even though the waves did come up the beach by varying amounts, the sound remained the same. I tried timing it, and the pattern was just under five seconds almost every time.
It was particularly good to listen to at night, and I tried leaving the French windows open so I could hear it as I was dropping off to sleep. Sadly, my enthusiasm for such a romantic sound was tempered by us both being bitten thoroughly by mosquitoes…Not so different from the midge bites on a west coast of Scotland holiday, then. But certainly warmer - even in mid October, temperatures were in the mid 20s centigrade, and even came close to 30 one day.
I had previously been unsure about a hot beach holiday - when you’ve grown up with Scottish beach holidays, rain is an expected occurrence at least at some point (and is indeed welcomed to keep the midges off). But after three days, I started to get the hang of sun loungers, particularly with a very useful adjustable part for shading my eyes. A pool that was the temperature of a warm bath was also a good incentive!
Our one word of caution: if you want to try Ischia, which we really enjoyed, it seems advisable to speak either Italian or German. Most of the other hotel guests were German speaking, and the hotel staff switched between greeting you in Italian and taking your order for dinner in German…Further practice for me, but it left Dan out a bit.
November 27th, 2006
One advantage of trips abroad is the opportunity to try out the local food and drink.
When we had a few days in Graz, Austria, coffee arrived on individual trays, each with an additional glass of water. We worked hard to try out coffees in lots of different locations across town - one way to visit stylish places on a budget.
Graz is getting well known for its ‘friendly alien’, the curvy modern art gallery next to the river Mur. Not as well known, though it deserves to be, is the ‘island on the Mur’, a shell shaped structure that acts as a bridge but includes an outside cafe and an inside bar. It’s particularly beautiful lit up at night.
Probably the most beautiful option is the bar near the top of the Castle rock. This can be reached up a slope around the side, but as the rock also includes a glass lift, and an interior that looks like a Bond villain’s lair, you can guess which option we chose. It was so pretty we pushed the boat out…and had a hot chocolate instead.
Sadly we’re not gaining any money from Ryanair for our support of Graz, but let us know if you want any more top tips on where to visit.
November 26th, 2006
We’ve been lucky on our holidays that we’ve been able to see some great buildings, paintings etc. One particular treat this year was being able to visit Madrid, on a work trip in May. Dan was able to come with me, and we stayed on a couple of days afterwards. The Spanish national agency where the meetings took place was conveniently on the same street as some of the main art galleries, making it fairly easy to plan what to see.
We visited the gallery which houses Picasso’s Guernica towards the end of one afternoon. It meant that we could view this particular picture for longer than we might have done. Looking around other rooms nearby, part of the impact was coming past the entrance to the Guernica room and catching sight of the painting again. It’s surprisingly big, allowing you to move along and look long and hard at different sections.
Stepping back outside into warmth and colour, after the monochromes of the painting, it was great to feel alive. However, just a few blocks down the street from the gallery is the Atocha railway station, which you may remember was affected by bombings. It was certainly a reminder that some of the big themes on display in the galleries are not that distant on the outside.
November 26th, 2006
Spending time with our friends Rachel and David in Italy is also an opportunity to catch up with their kids’ special phrases. Their youngest, Thomas (now 2), is fully conversant with Thomas the Tank Engine stories, and these are the phrases we came back with from our October visit this year:
1) “Chicken in a school…” For use when sounding a note of caution. (Thomas the Tank Engine gets his deliveries wrong one day: the children are delivered to the farm, the chickens to the school etc.) Particularly useful for when grownups are continuing to talk for far too long at the dinner table, and you wish to gain attention.
2) “James happy again!” When you want to bring a happy ending to a situation. This is Thomas’ own invention. It mostly relates to the character James the red engine in the Thomas the Tank Engine stories. Given that Dan also has a colleague, James, there is potential for expanding its use, particularly if bringing James hot chocolate.
3) “Cinders and ashes!” cried Thomas. When words fail, it’s good to know that Thomas the Tank Engine has given us an acceptable way out for expressing strong emotion.
4) “What’s that?” (repeat at 10 second intervals) Mainly used when reading a book together. Thomas knows full well what it is: Thomas a Train, Bertie a Bus, Terence a Tractor etc. But you volunteered to read to him, after all - he has to let you feel included.
We’ll probably need to devote a separate post to all those great phrases we’ve picked up on previous visits - and from other kids we’ve met. But at least you can speak fluent Thomas the Tank Engine after reading this.
November 26th, 2006
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