LOOKING OUT 2016! Occasional
Comments on the Passing Scene in 2016 Barry and Margaret
Williamson See also: Looking Out 2018, Looking
Out 2017, Looking
Out 2013, Looking
Out 2012, Looking
Out 2011 December 2016 (England, France)
Bulgarian Village. Thank you for the
invitation to Jerusalimovo, the village we remember for its wooden cross by the
road.
Freedom of Movement. As Europeans,
we remain very sad and very angry at the horribly-named proposed 'Brexit' and
hope that whole nonsense soon collapses under the weight of its own
contradictions. The free movement of people is one of Europe's greatest
achievements in its long and tortured history and not something to be thrown
away on nationalistic and deluded patriotic whims. Let the 'Leavers' tour the
battlefields and cemeteries of the First World War, all along the now
non-existent border between France and Belgium!
Gourmet Defined. Many thanks for
your Magnum Solstice Opus straight from the keyboard of a Gourmet, a person
devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment, especially good food and drink (1820,
from French gourmet, from Middle French gourmet, from Old French groumet (“wine
broker, valet in charge of wines, servant”) from Old French grommes
(“manservant”), of Germanic origin, akin to Middle English grom, grome (“boy,
valet, servant”), of unknown origin, perhaps from Old English grōma (“male
child, boy, youth”) from Old English grōwan (“to grow”).
The Lolly for Real Men. Your final
crowning with the title of Gourmet comes with your discovery of an Irn Bru Ice
Lolly. This is the ultimate touch that leans towards culinary genius - and all
this on a remote Sicilian Beach, far from the madding crowd.
Not Yet Gourmets. We have not yet
gained that accolade, although we do have in the cheese larder the following:
creamy Lancashire, extra mature Cheddar, Emmental, Bleu d'Auvergne and Vache
Qui Rit Cheese Triangles. Today, we have added two Lidl Chocolate Father
Christmases to add that little touch of Je
Ne Sais Quoi. Cheese and Chocolate – now there are two words each beginning
with Ch. They should go well together.
Inland from Biarritz. The weather
here is amazingly good – calm, dry with temperatures in the mid-teens. This
area, not too far inland from Biarritz, has what they call a 'micro climate'
which goes well with the height of the average Basque (not including the
beret). The local crop is red chilli peppers and we are camped next to a large
field of them.
Film Choices. This month we have
also enjoyed 'Escape Plan', 'Bernie', 'Leon the Professional', 'Rush', 'The
Best Offer', 'Her'. Currently we are watching series 7, 8 and 9 of Foyles Law
as a Christmas Treat. Which is more than can be said of French TV, although we
did try Johnny Hallyday for a very short time.
Crossing the Pyrenees. As for us, we
are now on the southern edge of the French Pyrenees poised to cross into
northern Spain. From there we aim to head southwest into central Portugal.
After that, the crystal ball and the Delphi Oracle fade.
Marking the Solstice. The first of
our celebrations will be the Winter Solstice when the sun hesitates for a
moment, turns and begins its 6-month-long journey back from its southern to its
northern Tropic. Beyond that, Christmas will take a more muted form in this
country, much less influenced by the Germanic version of Yuletide, with its
overwhelming modern emphasis on the purchase, distribution and consumption of
commodities. We send and receive neither cards nor presents, since we have
neither letter box nor a postal address, but the miracle of email will provide
an essential link to good friends throughout the New Year.
Appreciation of a Fellow Traveller.
This is an extremely overdue thank you for the many new posts that you've
shared with us on your way across Europe to Greece. We very much appreciate the
blend of excellent and informative writing and wonderful photographs on your
burgeoning website. Not least, we are impressed with your regular use of the
internet and wonder where you find WiFi while on the road. We tend to use the
provision on campsites when available.
The Mani. Your comparison of the
Mani today with that explored by Patrick Leigh Fermour is particularly
effective and interesting. We know the peninsula well.
Punctuation. Your Irish story
reminds us of Margaret's favourite punctuation puzzle:
'The panda eats shoots and leaves'
'The panda eats, shoots and leaves'
What a difference one comma makes.
Fouras-les-Bains. Fouras-les-Bains is
on a peninsula on France's Atlantic coast and specialises in the catching and
sale of oysters and mussels. One of its two indoor markets is just for fish and
shell fish; the other for meat and vegetables. Both are open every day. Being
on a narrow peninsula, there is a beach on two sides of the town, one dominated
by a medieval castle which is now owned by the municipality. Entry is free and
there is a museum in the donjon, the central fortified tower.
Subjects vs Citizens. How civilised
is France, a country functioning for all its citizens. We agree with a recent
Guardian article that England is returning to feudal times, with vastly wealthy
lords still in their castles, taxing and sweating their zero-hour contracted
vassals, peasants, serfs – all now just known as 'subjects'.
Towards the Spanish Border. How the
days and the miles roll on. Today we aim to get just beyond Bordeaux, after
which another day should bring us within reach of the Spanish border. This
feeling of slowly making our way around the slight curvature of the earth never
fails to give us a sense of delight and wonder. Already, England with its frets
and worries has sunk well below the horizon and our line of sight.
Brexit. Reading Ed Milliband's piece
in the Guardian this morning, it seems to me that we can achieve all he wants
(and we want) by just staying in the EU and influencing change from within that
organisation. Change that benefits all 28 members, not just the selfish demands
of one. Inter-dependence should be the key word.
On the Road. During 2016 we will
have stayed in over 100 different places, from the southeast corner of mainland
Greece to the far Arctic north of Sweden and Norway. People and places are at
the heart of travel but for us the interest, the attraction, is in what lies in
between. The road and, where necessary, the stretches of water that have to be
crossed. This places an emphasis on the physical rather than the social world,
with people met only briefly along the way. Literally, en passant.
The Meaning of 'Pilgrim'. It's also
interesting (at least to us), that the word 'pilgrim' derives from the Middle
English (early 13th C) 'pilegrim', from the Old French 'pelegrin', from the
Latin 'peregrinus' or 'foreigner'. This gives the same root as the word that
might describe ourselves: 'peregrinators' or 'ones who travel about'. This word
derives from the Latin 'peregrinatus' – 'having travelled abroad'. So perhaps,
after all, we and religious pilgrims are different branches from the same tree.
Escape to the South. When the cold
struck in England, we headed for Portsmouth and the ferry to Ouistreham/Caen in
Normandy. Now, two days later, we are happily ensconced in France, far enough
south already to begin to feel the warmth of the sun. Yesterday's 176 miles
from Caen were accomplished in cruise control at about 90 kph, on splendid and
nearly empty dual carriageways. How spacious the Continent is and what a sharp
contrast with the jostling crowds of our little British Island. How far away
already are the lies and deceit of the Brexiteers and how petty their concerns.
If only a majority in England could share this feeling. But they don't and
probably never will.
When the Road Divides. As to where
we are actually going, we'll see how it goes but it will be democratically
agreed by a system in which Margaret has two votes to my one. One of us wants
Portugal; the other, Greece. At some point, the road will divide and then we
will know if the choice is for the road most travelled!
Memories of Skye. Interesting news
that you plan to fully experience winter on Skye. How magnificent that will be
in the snow. Barry has very happy memories of climbing in the Cuillins on
several occasions in his student days, camping on the then-empty beach at the
end of Glen Brittle. In those days, the Sligachan was a just a lonely Inn where
the road to Dunvegan split off from the road to Portree.
Landings in Norway. We have visited
the Normandy Landing Sites on previous visits, including one where we left the
car in Portsmouth and took the ferry to Cherbourg with our bicycles. Over
several days we then cycled along the Normandy Coast to Caen and the ferry back
to Portsmouth. This took us past all the landing zones which stretch between those
two cities: the Americans on Utah and Omaha beaches, the British and Canadians
on Sword, Juno and Gold. Most of the American dead were taken back to the USA
but many are buried in Normandy in a single cemetery, whilst the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission cemeteries are placed where groups of soldiers died.
Normandy Remembered. Highlights of
visits included the steeple at St Mere Eglise from which an American
paratrooper dangled throughout the 'longest day' (and survived), Arromanches
where the Mulberry harbour was built, of which remnants remain to this day and,
of course, Bayeux where the tapestry reminds us that Norman French once invaded
us with effects that last to this day! Just about every town around has a
museum dedicated to the landings. Some towns even have a museum to the French
Resistance – but we haven't paid to see so few exhibits!
November 2016 (England)
Tweets for Twits. Sadly, we don't
tweet and certainly not on a weekly basis. Indeed, we had assumed that tweets
were for the birds and for twits, as defined below.
In the Club. Back in dear old sad
Blighty, and being members of the elite Brownhill's Club, we are enjoying many
a free night on their palatial park. With free hot showers, swimming pool,
jacuzzi, good WiFi, washing machine, dryer, TV lounge, washing-up kitchen and
hook-up, not to mention free machine-dispensed coffee, tea, hot chocolate, soup
or orange juice as often as you like. Along with 10% off in the accessory shop
and bistro – the latter doing a roast dinner on Sundays. Our bus pass even gets
us into the ancient town of Newark-on-the-Trent for free. What's not to like
apart from the free newspapers being the Mail, Express and Sun along with
Jeremy Kyle on the TV.
Joining the Club. Now anyone can
enjoy all this – all you have to do is buy a Brownhills motorhome.
Knowing Where we Belong. Our 7-metre
German-built Ford Transit-based Carado is started to feel a bit inadequate
among Browhills sleek Fiat-based British-made models. So we moved for a free
stay with a hook up at Dick Lane Motors in Bradford: they focus on just
providing excellent service.
Aussie Travels. We have been to
Australia three times: two of the journeys started from Perth (including
cycling from there to Brisbane via Broken Hill), while a third passed through
Perth on a 6-month 16,000-mile complete circuit of the continent in a roughly
converted Toyota Hi-Ace pop-top camper van, bought and sold in Brisbane. What a
great country for the traveller!
Offer to Translate. Thanks for your
offer to translate the AA Atlas co-ordinates into lat/lon and OS Landranger
grids. We know of no-one who has done this considerable task and we would very
much welcome your additions. The 'Free Camping in the UK' article is one of the
most popular on the website and is clearly finding a great deal of use.
Free Camping in the UK. England and
Wales are the most restrictive of all the countries we know on all matters to
do with spending a night outside a campsite. This negative attitude, enshrined
in legislation, is made worse by the majority of legal campsites being in the
hands of the two 'clubs', each requiring a hefty annual membership fee. The
club is a peculiarly British institution, designed only to control and exclude!
And yet motorhomes are sold to a gullible public with the idea that you gain the
'freedom of the open road'.
October 2016 (England, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden)
Growing the Netherlands. About a
quarter of the Netherlands is actually below sea level and overall half of it
is below one metre above sea level. They are still reclaiming land,
particularly where the Zuider Zee used to be. It is now divided into two: the
Ijsselmeer with a barrier against the Wadden Sea and the Markermeer with a
barrier against the Ijsselmeer. It's in the Markermeer that land is being
drained, filled, pumped, etc.
Overland from Sweden. For the first
time we have made an overland journey from Sweden into mainland Europe using
the Oresund Link to Denmark (the longest road/rail bridge/tunnel in Europe at
about 8 km) and the Great Belt Bridge within Denmark (at 14 km). Now we are
only about 8 km from the German border.
The Meaning of Travel. People who
simply drive a motorhome from here to there in safe countries, stopping now and
again to take a photograph of themselves to show off to their friends, are
delusional in their concept of 'travel'. All they can do is stare across the
abyss between their own pathetic self-serving lives and those of the few who
have made the leap into the unknown. And what inept and inadequate language is
used to obscure and cloak that failure!
Escape. Perhaps we are doing no more
than escaping, albeit into a rich and varied life, but nevertheless escaping.
Since we sailed from Harwich 4 months and 4,000 miles ago, we have met native
English speakers on only two occasions and not even seen any others. We could
lose any idea of where we come from and begin to float in a space of our own,
communicating only with people of often very different cultures.
Looking Back – and Down. Motorhoming
used to be for travellers; now it has been taken over by the Thatcherite
generation, full of their own egos and engorged with their material success. If
we are not of a different generation with different life experiences, then that
is a lot of our years wasted! Years in a Yorkshire Polytechnic and stints in
India, Iraq and Malawi open ones eyes a little to the meaningless cavortings of
Little Englanders.
To a Friend Arrived in Sicily. Congratulations
to you on arriving safe and sound in your favourite corner on your favourite
coast. We can see you there, now. You know where you belong, and so do we. For
us, it's on the road.
To a Friend. Here is a warm response
from your long-standing (although sometimes reclining) friends, still in chilly
Sweden but soon to take intrepid steps above and under the sea into Denmark.
Aka the Oresund Link.
Comment after the Funeral. We are
both relieved and happy that the Birtley ceremony went well for you and the
majority of the family. Who knows what is really happening inside the hearts
and heads of people who have trapped themselves into a fixed external attitude.
What is on the front of the face is often a poor clue to what is happening on
the inside – this differentiation is learned in very early childhood. No doubt
it had evolutionary advantages (don't show the woolly mammoth that you are
afraid), but in contemporary society we need more integration at every level.
Differentiation, Integration – sounds vaguely familiar.
Meeting in the Norwegian Graveyard. We
are now 4,118 miles since Harwich into our summer Scandinavian journey. In this
four months we have met native English Speakers on only two occasions. Andy and
Ellen with their adult children, Kerry and Liam, were visiting the grave of
Andy's father Wilf Reed who was killed on 2 May 1940 in the failed attempt to
stop the Germans occupying Narvik in the far north of Norway. This was the
first time they had been to Norway and the first time anyone from the family
had visited the cemetery. It was lovely the way they included us in their true
pilgrimage. They had with them a wreath of poppies donated by the Royal Welsh
Regiment.
http://www.magbazpictures.com/the-battle-for-narvik.html
Meeting on the Swedish Campsite. James
and Julie with their two 9/10 year old children, are running a campsite in
mid-Sweden near the small town of Hammerdal. She was a teacher in the UK, he a
truck-driver (among much else). Tired of the stress of living and working in
England, somewhere in Kent, they sold their house for enough to buy the
campsite and move to a country they had never visited before. James has all the
skills needed to transform the site and its many cabins and other buildings –
and to bring my new but dead blue HP laptop, from Huddersfield PC World, back
to life!
http://www.magbazpictures.com/hammerdal-camping.html
Northern Lights on the Arctic Circle.
Having just crossed the open border from Norway into Sweden, we spent the night
on the Arctic Circle itself. Although some mean spirits, perhaps more in touch
with what they call reality, tried to spoil the occasion by hinting that the
earth's wobble has moved the Circle about one kilometre to the north. A very
unlikely story. To continue: we spent the night camped on the Arctic Circle (it
said so on a large sign), and at midnight the sky filled with wave after wave
of green light. The Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis. Those same mean
spirits muttered something about ions from the sun drawn in by the strong polar
magnetic fields, interacting with oxygen atoms in the outer atmosphere. They
said that it would have been red if Nitrogen atoms has been involved. What's
wrong with magic? Why couldn't it have been the god Thor showing his envy for
the lives that we motorhomers are living?
http://www.magbazpictures.com/on-the-arctic-circle1.html
Battles Won. We've just won our case
against the solicitors who handled Margaret's purchase of her brother's half of
their jointly inherited flat near Blackpool. The Legal Ombudsman got us a
substantial cheque from the solicitors and a written apology for their poor
(atrocious) service. The LO also agree that we can report the solicitors to the
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for their unprofessional conduct in
handling the complaint (a complaint about a complaint?). This follows our
earlier success with the Property Ombudsman against an Estate Agent who was
once mishandling the renting of Margaret's flat. We also get a thrill in taking
on these pompous self-righteous people – and winning - while living in the back
of a Ford Transit van in the corner of a series of remote foreign fields! If
only there was a Campsite Ombudsman, we could make a living out of this.
Autumn in the Far North. Temperatures
here are falling below zero overnight and snow is reported where we have been
further north in Sweden. This is the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
close bosom friend of the maturing sun. We didn't write that (some young man
called John Keats did it first); what we can write is that we find Jack Frost
lying on the grass and filming the windscreen in the sleepy hours after dawn.
Continental Brexit Blues. Already
the euro in our pocket is worth about 20% less than it did on the day before
the referendum and we can feel the many and varied frontiers of mainland Europe
slowly closing against us. If we were on friendly terms with Thor, we know what
he would now be doing with his hammer on our behalf.
Seeing is Believing. Our Glaswegian
friend Dan says: 'If I don't see you through the week, I'll see you through the
window' – or, in his case, through the windscreen.
Up and Downs of Cycling. When
overtaking cyclists riding the Alpine cols, don't feel sorry for them, just
give them space. We have cycled all the Tour de France cols in our time and at
our own pace, and there is no greater exhilaration or satisfaction than the
lung-bursting climb followed by the thrilling descent. Once, when cycling from
Bourg d'Oisons up the hairpins of the Alpe d'Huez, we were overtaken by a
walking race! The marshal smilingly handed us bottles of water and chocolate
bars as we passed. But we beat them down!
Reindeer are Safer than Elk. The
elk-hunting season is just under way and we're invited to a moose-roast
tomorrow. Thankfully, we haven't witnessed the hunt. Should be interesting –
the reindeer we've eaten further north was delicious. They are not hunted, of
course, but semi-domesticated and allowed to roam until the annual round-up,
like Pennine sheep.
Following the Sun. The autumn
colours in the never-ending forest are superb but the nights are now long and
frosty (minus 8°C recently), so we take a ferry to Denmark on Monday to start
migrating south before the snow comes.
Relatively Safe. If only the
lunatics hadn't taken over the parliamentary asylum, all would be well in our
world. They should have left it in the relatively safe hands of the neurotic
and the simply delusional.
Heading South in Sweden. So far we
have succeeded in finding a route south between the E45 and the E4 coast road.
The route has brought us some 300 miles through Ange, Ljusdal and so to
Rattvik. Each of these towns has its own campsite still open at this time of
year, although we have continued to enjoy more or less sole occupancy.
Sailing to Denmark. We have just
booked the Stena ferry from Gothenburg to Frederikshavn on Denmark's
north-eastern coast, ready for a continued drive south. The weather has been
splendid with clear skies and a consequent touch of frost on the grass in the
morning. It would be fascinating for to experience the slow onset of winter as
the days shrink, the temperatures fall (and fall) and the first silent
overnight snows arrive. What a transformation that would: but we prefer to
follow the sun.
Learning from Swedish TV. There are 3 or 4 free channels, including one
carrying excellent documentaries (travel, history, nature) and another just for
children. Sometimes in English with Swedish subtitles, the TV would is a good
additional help in learning the language. Not least, it's interesting watching
the Swedish language struggling to give a meaning to the many linguistic
extravagances of film and TV English/American! Yesterday evening we watched an
episode of the BBC police series 'Happy Valley' set in Calderdale around
Halifax, with Swedish subtitles to the language of Yorkshire.
September 2016 (Sweden)
Summer in the North. We have
thoroughly enjoyed this summer in Sweden and Norway, going as far north as
Tromso and finding new places (eg Senja Island in Norway) and meeting new
people, like the super English family who took over Hammerdal Camping, our
present site, last spring.
Sweden's Wilderness Road. We drove
round the Wilderness Road, which is 500 km (315 miles) long and rises to nearly
900 metres along the Norwegian border. It weaves its way around countless lakes
(the total in Sweden in 98,000), passing through endless pine forest with
intrusions of silver birch now turning an autumnal gold. The tree line is at
about 700 m (2,300 ft), above which is open tundra with roaming herds of
reindeer. Wonderful country, particularly at this time of year when the road is
for long periods empty of other traffic.
Greek Motorhome Dealer. The only
motorhome dealer we have used in Greece is on the Thessaloniki bypass. We don't
know if he fits solar panels, or indeed if he is still in business given the
parlous state of the Greek economy. Details are at:
http://www.magbaztravels.com/content/view/1608/30
Successful Free Camping. In order to
free camp extensively, you need to have a gas fridge, gas heating and gas
cooking. To go with this, you need refillable gas tanks – we have two 11-kg
tanks refillable at any location selling LPG (everywhere except Finland). We
also have 120-watt photo-voltaic panels on the roof and two large-capacity
auxiliary batteries along with a regulator and a 600 Watt inverter.
On Paul and Sheila Berker. This
retired couple spend 3 or 4 months making very thoroughly researched and
reported journeys through a different European country each year. Indeed,
theirs are the most detailed of any travel logs that we have ever read and
provide the ultimate travel guide for the intelligent motorhomer. Their reviews
of the many campsites they use within each country visited is the most thorough
on the web!
Migrants Flowing North. Things have
changed a lot with the imposition of restrictions on migrant flows,
particularly from Greece along our route through Macedonia and into Croatia.
But we guess that it helps to keep the normal traffic flowing. We haven't used
the Szeged crossing (Serbia/Hungary) recently, but the crossing between Sofia
and Nis (Bulgaria/Serbia) is much shorter and gets you onto the motorway that
goes straight through Belgrade and on to Croatia.
Assurance on the Border. Our
experience has been that the old days of hassle on the borders have gone and we
have many fewer problems. The standard UK motor insurance policy now includes
Serbia along with the EU, Norway, Switzerland, etc. Although a lot of that
might change if the lunatics who have taken over the parliamentary asylum get
their way!
August 2016 (Norway, Swrden)
On Meeting Relatives in a Norwegian CWGC
Cemetery. It really does go without saying that we are deeply affected by
meeting you yesterday and experiencing something of what you are feeling. We
have visited many war cemeteries and battle sites in Europe and beyond, but you
really made personal what it means to die fighting, leaving behind deep
memories and sense of loss in the bereaved family. Even after 76 years!
Remembering the War in Norway. The
Norwegians themselves remember and mark those days of struggle and particularly
the role played by the UK (Britain and Northern Ireland!) This includes the
support we gave to their resistance in the 5 years of occupation that followed
the Narvik battle. Norway has its own memorial sites and museums as well as TV
programmes showing the horrors of German National Socialism. The other evening,
for example, we watched a lengthy and detailed film about Hitler and his
entourage in their last days in the Berlin Bunker in April 1945.
Within the Circle. We are about 200
miles in a straight line, or 350 miles by road, above or within the Arctic
Circle. At 69.6492° N, we are still a little way from Nordkapp at 71.17250° N
(about 69 miles per degree of latitude). It's getting autumnal already and a
bit nippy at night, but the days are still long with the sun only reluctantly
sliding almost sideways below the horizon before reappearing a bit further
east. It's a long time since we have seen any stars and we never seem to catch
the Northern Lights which do need more darkness than we get.
Changes over 26 Years. The first
time we were above the Arctic Circle was at the end of a 35-day, 2,000-mile
cycle ride in the summer holidays of 1990. That ride took us through
newly-opened Berlin with people still chipping away at the Wall, across the
river into Poland at Frankfurt an der Oder and on to Gdansk for a ferry to
Helsinki and a visit to Leningrad (as was). Some of that route we followed now,
in 2016, finding dramatic changes in Poland with the open country we once knew
now almost buried under cars, trucks, new motorways and sprawling urban
development.
Remembering the Romanian Orphanages.
Sponsorship for the 1990 cycle ride to Tromso helped us return with aid for
Romanian orphanages in October for the third time in that year, crossing the
Carpathian Mountains into the remote region of Moldavia. Those were the days,
my friend. Now we travel through memories, the past seen through the windscreen
of the motorhome, rapidly taking its proper place behind us glimpsed in the
monitor of the newly-installed rear-view camera.
Brexit and Anti Climax. We are
relieved that Brexit has fallen into a state of anti-climax after all the
excitement immediately following the referendum. May's move of putting Johnson,
Fox and Davis in charge of actually negotiating the dreaded deed was
interesting and a hopeful sign that it will fail. Perhaps more rational people
within the establishment are working quietly but forcefully behind the scenes
to put the whole thing comfortably back into bed. Then we can return to normal.
Open borders are fundamental to the whole post-WW2 project in mainland Europe,
and they will never give that up.
The German/Polish Border on the River
Oder. Things have changed since a million Russians massed on the Oder in
January 1945 before crossing it on the ice and advancing 40 miles to take
Berlin and bring WW2 to an end by the 9th of May. In the following
45 cold-war years, you could risk being shot trying to cross the Oder; even on our
1990 cycle journey we were not allowed to ride over the Oder bridge, but had to
take a train for two stops into Poland (it was the Paris-Warsaw-Moscow express
and we were a little anxious where we would end up!) Now a magnificent motorway
bridge flies over the river, a border which the speeding traffic barely
notices. This history is what 'freedom of movement of people' really means to
Europeans.
Poland Today. We passed through
Poland recently, driving from the German border at Frankfurt an der Oder to Gdansk
on the Baltic. We spent a couple of nights in Sopot before catching the ferry
from Gdynia across to Karlskrona in Sweden. Poland is very very much busier and
amazingly more affluent than on our first visit, cycling across the country in
1989!
Margaret Remembers Leonard Cohen.
His songs take me straight back to Durham University Folk Club, circa 1967,
when they were sung by bearded students with guitars and a pint of real ale.
Yeah, that's the way it was in those days! When my Mum gave me a record player
for my 21st birthday, the first two LPs I bought with the record tokens I got
were by Leonard Cohen and Elvis Presley! I had the privilege of watching
Leonard perform at Sheffield City Hall in the 1970s, dressed in black and
brilliant
On Senja. Well above the Polar
Circle, we are camped by a splendid fjord on Senja, Norway's second largest
island and barely populated. We've had some glorious cycling days but now the
season is over, the weather gradually cooling, and soon we will head south past
Narvik and across into Sweden.
Camping in Tromso. Our route
proceeded up the Inlandsvägen to Karesuando and on to Norway via Kilpisjarvi.
The weather was ideal for cycling while based at the delightful campsite on
Ramfjord, before moving on to Tromso. Though we had heeded a warning about
Tromso Camping, recent reviews spoke of a complete refurbishment with new
facilities so we gave it a try, for one night only, in order to cycle into the
city and back over the splendid bridge. Yes, the site has been renovated, complete
with plastic grass between each pitch, but the new unisex block is totally
inadequate, the kitchen had been taken over by a group of noisy Italian
students - and all for a mere 360 NOK per day!
Once there was a King. The town of Dorotea
is named after Fredrika Dorotea Vilhelmina, wife of Swedish King Gustav IV
Adolf (reigned 1792 – 1809). Her other two names are used for a parish and
another small town here in Lapland, the last vestiges of an almost defunct
monarchy which once ruled over Norway, Finland and parts of Russia.
Nostalgia. We'll save any further
badinage (and some goodinage) until we meet again, something that will make up
for any misgivings that we might have of returning to the Disunited Queendom of
Not-Quite-So-Great Britain and Disassociated Territories. Or are we just being
nostalgic?
The Inland Route. Only two roads run
north-south the length of Sweden: the coast road in the east along the Gulf of
Bothnia and our road, the Inlandsvagen, which as the name suggests runs right
up the middle of the country for a thousand miles or more. Its average height is
above 300 m (1,000 ft), undulating as it crosses river valleys or swings around
lakes.
Moving through Languages. We have
already moved through 4 language zones: Dutch, German, Polish and now Swedish.
Three of those have much in common being Germanic in nature: Polish is a Slavic
tongue, familiar to us from countries such as Bulgaria and Slovenia, but with
virtually nothing in common with any Indo-European language. Keeps us on our
toes, although as ever English is increasingly used between countries as well
as with us native English people.
Ancient Sites for a Modern Motor.
(Advice to a friend planning a Balkan tour). Your rate of progress, albeit in a
sleek Mercedes motor, is such that you may miss out on some great
archaeological sites. For example, Heraclea Lyncestis just south of Bitola in
Macedonia (aka FYROM!), and Buthrotum a splendid mix of Greek, Roman and
Byzantine remains south of Saranda, on the Albanian coast down near the Greek
border.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclea_Lyncestis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buthrotum
The former you will go near, the latter is a bit off your route but it does
have a simple hotel by the site where we stayed in 2010 and the coast road from
Saranda up to Vlora and Durres is new, good and amazing, including the
Llogaraja Pass at 1027 m (3,390 ft).
http://www.magbaztravels.com/content/view/1012/80/
Travel in the Balkans. 3rd party
insurance papers can be bought (probably not worth more than the paper) at the
Macedonian, Albanian, Bosnian and Montenegran borders (if the kiosk is open for
business). Crossing from Greece into Macedonia near Bitola in 2015, we were
charged €55 for 15 days insurance, for which the Macedonians profusely
apologised. It was just for Great Britain, they said, but soon it would no
longer exist (probably Great Britain as well as the insurance charge)
Legacy. If ever we do indeed somehow
leave 'Europe', our language, along with our Commonwealth War Graves Commission
cemeteries, will be a lasting legacy.
On a Visit to Cospeda in Austria. There
were two battles on the same day (14 October 1806) at Jena and Auerstedt near
the river Saale in Eastern Germany. Napoleon won, Frederick William III of
Prussia lost.
A Visit to Colditz Castle. This is
Margaret's account of that visit October 2014. The castle had been painted
white and most of it is now given over to a youth hostel! There are guided
tours to the little that remains open to the public.
“The grim bulk of Schloss Colditz (incongruously painted white) towered above
the town but we saw no direction signs to it. After lunching on fresh rolls and
croissants from Lidl, we had to ask the driver of a parked bus how to get up to
the castle. Leaving the motorhome on Lidl car park, we followed his directions
on foot, hoping to find a road to drive up and maybe park overnight. We walked
across the road, up a narrow cobbled lane to the market place, then climbed a
flight of steps signed Schlosstreppe to arrive at the castle, now partly a
Youth Hostel. The small sloping car park, accessed by a circuitous back road,
was strictly for YH guests only. The only entry gate was labelled for the Youth
Hostel, with no indication of a visitor entrance, yet we'd checked details
online ('open daily 10 am-5 pm, or 4 pm from November through March')! Walking
all round the castle perimeter, we found a courtyard where the workmen ignored
us, inside which we eventually spotted a tiny sign and arrow to the small
souvenir shop/ticket office. It seemed almost as difficult to get in as it once
was to escape!
Entry was €4 for the small museum only, or €8.50 for a 45-minute tour, or €15
for the full-length 90-minute tour, depending on timing and if there was an
English-speaking guide available. We were lucky that a Dutch couple were about
to be taken on the short tour in English, so we joined them rather than wait
until 3 pm for the next long tour.
Our guide, Aleksis, was just as interesting as what we saw! Half-Polish,
half-Slovenian, he was brought up in Bradford (complete with Yorkshire accent)
and is now married to a local German whose mother was a nurse at Colditz when
it was a psychiatric hospital after WW2. His father had escaped Poland and
joined the Allies against Germany and he had many stories to tell of the
inmates of Colditz (including Douglas Bader and Airey Neave) and their
escapades.”
Our pictures of Colditz are at: http://www.magbazpictures.com/visit-to-colditz.html
Five Websites. Here's a summary we
have recently written of our six websites, in chronological order:
http://www.magbaztravels.com/
Originally developed by Bec and Kev in Australia in 2005. It is for and by
long-term, long distance travellers by motorhome and/or bicycle.
http://hollybank.magbaztravels.com/
Developed by Barry for Peter Frankland who has never added a single word! We
once 'unpublished' it but he pleaded for it to be returned. But all the work in
it remains ours.
http://www.murdochmackenzieofargyll.com/
Developed by us for Rev Murdoch Mackenzie to contain much of his writing and
some photographs. I met him and worked with him in Madras in the 1970's when he
was Minister at St Andrew's Kirk in that city. The website became a memorial to
him and his life when he died in Edinburgh in February of last year. He was a
great man. We keep in touch with his wife, Anne (a medical doctor) and his
eldest daughter, Ruth, both of whom now live in Edinburgh.
http://www.macdonaldsisters.com/
This is an amazing and extensive range of art and design by the MacDonald
Sisters, who were related to Murdoch. He put the collection together after
their deaths and arranged the photography. The collection itself is now in the
Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre in Portree on the Isle of Skye, Murdoch's
ancestral home.
http://www.magbazpictures.com/
Using the same software as the above two websites, this is a repository for
hundreds of our photographs, particularly of earlier journeys, including some
while still working at Holly Bank. It's a much easier format than MagBazTravels.
Pointless Prosperity. We are now in
Sweden, having taken the 10-hour ferry from Gdynia/Gdansk to Karlskrona last
Sunday. We are hurrying north in the perhaps forlorn hope that we will soon
leave behind the surrounding hordes of unnecessarily enormous Swedish
motorhomes. How pointlessly affluent the Scandinavians have become since our
first journeys here in the early 1990's. Then it was just us and a few Germans
in Hymers.
Leaving Europe. How sad it is that
even the BBC calls the mainland of Europe simply as 'Europe', as if Britain
were no longer any part of it. Voting to leave Europe? What nonsense. 'Europe',
'Mainland Europe', the Countries of the European Union' and 'The EU' are all
different concepts and places and need to be differentiated to stay rational.
July 2016 (Sweden, Poland, Germany, Netherlands)
How Long is a Cycle Path? The
cycling is excellent in the Netherlands and now here in Germany. The former has
15,000 km (9,300 miles) of dedicated cycle paths, the latter 40,000 km (25,000
miles).
East Germany. East Germany looks a lot better than it did in
the Iron Curtain days (1945-90), but still not on a level with West Germany.
Karl Zeiss is still here in Jena with their amazing lenses and we are in the
area of Weimar (with Buchenwald Concentration Camp nearby), Dresden and
Leipzig. Lots of history with the Czech and Polish borders on the road east.
Perhaps we will pass Colditz Castle en route.
Reflection on Camping Sakar Hills in
Southeast Bulgaria. Staying at Sakar Hills in the summer of 2008, following
our 3-month, 3,700-mile (6000 km) complete circuit of Turkey, it immediately
became one of our oases. A base in which to settle for a while, to refresh, to
get to know the area and some of its people, to become part of the local scene.
We have been regular visitors ever since, most recently in October of last year
on our way into Greece after a journey through the far east of Europe. We
almost wish we were ready to settle down!
Entering Germany Just Like the Old Days.
We move on today, a bit further towards the German border. We have our new
Brexit visa ready, along with a few Deutschmarks since we seem to be going back
at least half a century. How's things behind the Iron Curtain?
Social
Democracy in England? Yes, we are still in Holland. It is very much
like England could be if it had a social democratic government, proportional
representation, a much reduced monarchy and people who are citizens rather than
subjects. And lots of cycle paths, the ideal expression of a government working
for the people and the public good, rather than for private profit.
On Being English in the Netherlands.
We are still in a state of shock and disbelief after the referendum, a state
echoed by Dutch people we talk to. Indeed, as soon as we are recognised as
being English (a GB plate and GB sticker, a Union Jack, a yellow rear number
plate, a right-hand drive vehicle, our language, etc), there is only one
subject they want to talk about. Summarised in one word: Why?
Why?. We think of the words of 'Some
Enchanted Evening' from the musical 'South Pacific'
Who can explain it?
Who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons,
Wise men never try.
More like 'Some Disenchanted Future'.
Responses from Friends to the Referendum
and its Consequences. We have welcomed our recent exchange of emails with
friends in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, USA,
Australia and Indonesia, all expressing disgust at the nature of the
referendum, the manipulated result and consequent paralysis and collapse of our
self-styled democratic system. If this is 'taking back control', we'll go for
anarchy.
Subjects of Her Majesty! The new
prime minister could invoke Section
50 of the Lisbon Treaty using the Royal
Prerogative, thus bypassing parliament:
“A distinguishing feature of the British constitution is the extent to which
the government continues to exercise a number of powers which were not granted
to it by a written constitution, nor by Parliament, but are rather ancient
prerogatives of the Crown. These powers derive from arrangements which preceded
the 1689 Declaration of Rights and have been accumulated by the government
without Parliament or the people having a say.”
There's a Welcome in Ireland. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/01/europeans-invite-brits-to-relocate-promising-pubs-marmite-and-social-awkwardness
This article ironically invites the English to come and live in Ireland,
reversing centuries of Irish re-settlement. Margaret is a quarter Irish (on her
mother's side), and is seriously considering a change of nationality. I already
have the independence of being born in Yorkshire
June 2016 (Netherlands, England)
Early Migrants into Britain. The
original inhabitants, who began the re-population of the empty British Isles
after the Ice Age some 15,000 years ago, came from an enclave in Northwest
Spain which was sheltered from the ice. They walked along the edge of the
Continent of Europe and into the British Isles while the sea was much lower and
frozen. They are still the biggest single contributor to our DNA. Later
migrants came in relatively small numbers and only made a small contribution to
our DNA. For example, the Normans mainly provided us with a ruling class who
are still present, but they didn't mingle much with the peasants. Still true
today!
On Being Read. As
for our stuff being read: we find it hard to imagine that happening while we
are writing something. Writing is a private matter and it's almost bizarre to
imagine some complete stranger reading the words and forming some sort of
opinion. Or not, as the case may be. So we just write and put it into an email
or on a website and then leave it at that. In other words, it's hard to know
how best to express something to be read by unknown persons, so it's comforting
to know that it does sometimes strike a chord.
Dutch Cycle Paths. As
for us, we are keeping well and enjoying the freedom given by the vast network
of cycle paths here. We can literally ride between any two places in the
Netherlands, near or far, on a dedicated path free of traffic. Some cycle paths
parallel main roads, others make their own way through woods, across fields and
along dykes. If only the government in the UK really governed (ie provided for
the real needs of the people) rather than endlessly playing their own
London-based games.
The Referendum in Dutch Pictures. Attracted by their
comprehensive and well-illustrated coverage of 'Brexit', we bought three newspapers
yesterday (24 June 2016) from a small shop in the village of Otterlo, in the
forest about 20 miles north-west of Arnhem. We copied about 27 pictures,
translating caption where necessary. The newspapers, along with Dutch TV are
really struggling to understand the vote for Brexit, using humour, anecdote,
history, serious comment and images. In microcosm, the photographs give a
fascinating glimpse of mainland Europe's reaction to the referendum.
Remembering the War. The Dutch
village of Otterlo has a memorial to the 17 Canadian and 6 British soldiers who
died there in April 1945, liberating the area from what the memorial calls
'five years of the horror of Nazi occupation, bringing once again the light and
joy of freedom'. In scrambling and competing for merely material advantage,
have the people of England and Wales forgotten that there were and still are
other values worth fighting for?
Reaction to the Falling Pound on the
Night of 23/24 June. In a few short hours during almost the shortest
night of the year we have just watched our income steadily fall off a cliff. It
plummeted against the euro by 8% in 5 hours! It continued to fall until it was
18% lower. And this is called 'taking back control!'
Who is in Control?. It was with some
relief that we learned that control was being taken back elsewhere: that Thomas
Cook was running out of euros for holiday makers, that UK ATMs had been stuffed
with money in case there was a run on the banks and that the Bank of England
had 250 billion pounds in hand ready to prop up banks if needed. Scotland and
Northern Ireland are already thinking of leaving the UK, Gibraltar is under
threat again, the EU can't wait to act while the Tory party sorts out its
leadership, and Cameron's deal with the EU to limit benefits for migrants has
now been cancelled. Add to that the prospect of 150,000 members of the Tory
party electing Johnson or Gove as the next prime minister, leading a party in
power with less than 25% of eligible votes. Our democracy taking back control?
Who are the Exiteers? What explains
the catastrophic referendum result? Obviously it's the nature of the electorate
that voted to leave: largely older, white, working class people with little
education beyond the age of 16 and living in areas of the Midlands and Northern
England devastated by Thatcherite de-industrialisation. Perhaps even they may
be surprised by the devastation they are causing worldwide – and it's just the
first day! Greece's neofascist party, Golden Dawn, sends its congratulations
and wishes it could do as well.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/209867/article/ekathimerini/news/golden-dawn-welcomes-brave-decision-of-british-people
T-Shirt Needed. After 50 years of
feeling at home throughout the Continent of Europe, we are already feeling a
little out of place among our fellow-Europeans. We need a T-shirt with the
words 'It wasn't us' in several languages! What other excuse can we give?
Dutch Address and Language Lesson
Kamping de Koornmolen (Camping Corn Mill) Tweemanspolder (Two Men's
Meadow) Zevenhuizen (Seven
Houses) Near Gouda (Good for
Cheese) Zuid Holland (South
Holland) The Netherlands (The
Lowlands)
Dutch Cycle Paths and Cheese. We are just enjoying being in a place where cycle paths radiate in every
possible direction. Well mapped (we have bought an atlas showing every single
one in the whole of the Netherlands) and thoroughly signposted, the paths can
take you wherever you want to go – from long-distance rides, to making your way
round towns and villages. The centre of towns are often large squares,
accessible only by pedestrians and cyclists. Yesterday, for example, we cycled
into Gouda (25 miles return) entirely on dedicated cycle paths, and had a
welcome coffee, toasted sandwich and apple cake, sitting in the big square by
the 15th C Town Hall, opposite what is now the Cheese Museum. What a
civilised country!
Everyone, but Everyone Rides a Bike.
We moved on today about 60 miles further into
the Netherlands and we are now on the edge of a large National Park (De Hoge
Veluwe) just north of Arnhem on the Rhine. Yesterday we cycled about 40 km in
and out of Gouda: if anything there are too many cycle paths here, making it a
good idea to have the satnav to hand as well as a good map. What remains
amazing is the sheer number of people of every age, shape and size who ride
bikes. Apart from the usual young men in lycra and on racers, few people have
any special clothing or gear or, indeed, anything but a basic standard bicycle.
Very young children ride in trailers or attached somehow to the front or the
back of mother's bike. Then they advance to their own little bike. Something
never seen in the UK are teenagers and pensioners alike, riding their bikes
quite naturally as if to the manner born.
Happy to be Beyond the Borders. We were happy to get out of the UK with all the lies and nonsense around
the EU referendum dominating the media. Did Cameron ever make a bigger mistake?
Translating a never-ending war in the ranks of the Tory party into an
opportunity for the great British public to get 50 years of resentment off
their collective chests. It was too much to expect a wide-ranging debate on the
complexities of EU membership; it was bound to settle into something most
people could handle (helped by the gutter press and the 'social media') -
immigration. Mix that up with nationalism, patriotism, football (what bad
timing that is), xenophobia and ignorance and you have a deadly cocktail.
How to Kill a Trojan. Many thanks for the patience of Rebecca, I got into safe mode in Windows
10 via msconfig (and out of it again). After trying Malwarebytes, Junkyard,
Kaspersky and RKill, all to no avail, I ran Hitman Pro which picked up two
Malwares (one in my documents) and 248 tracking cookies. After I signed up for
a 30-day free trial, it removed the malwares and things seem back to normal.
Let's hope it stays that way!
Response to an Email from a UKIP
Sympathiser. What a lot of nonsense this is. Pure propaganda worthy of the
early days of the Third Reich. You, Malcolm, have travelled in a sufficient
number of EU countries to know that each and every one of them is very much in
control of its own laws, culture, economy, language, religion, cuisine, postage
stamps, public transport, energy, education system, armed forces, health
service, roads, tolls, etc, etc. Often, as travellers, we wish that they had
more in common! If your thesis were correct, every European country by now
would have become identical, but they vary in every way possible. How do you
compare Sicily with Finland, or Ireland with Croatia?
EU Laws and Regulations. There is a
major difference between EU laws and EU regulations. EU laws have to be agreed
by ministers, prime ministers, presidents elected by each of the 28 countries.
Sometimes requiring a majority vote, sometimes unanimity. Often they have to be
endorsed by each country's parliament. There is also the European parliament,
elected by every voter throughout the EU. There is also public opinion and the
media which wield considerable influence on policy.
On the other hand, agreed common regulations and standards that govern
commodities and trade are essential and will remain so, whatever our future
relationship with the EU.
Free to Travel in Europe. It is a
fantasy to think that the UK could have access to the EU's free market for the
movement of goods, services and capital, without also agreeing to the continued
free movement of people. With that gone, would you like to travel in mainland
Europe with a 3-month Schengen Visa in your pocket, not able to return within
another 3 months?
Anti-Democratic Forces in Europe. There
is a lack of democracy
throughout the EU: it is the power wielded by the massive trans-global
capitalist organisations and the influence of hyper-rich gamblers in the
stock-exchanges and tax-avoiding havens around the world. Can you not draw some
conclusions from the recent dreadful end of BHS where the workers' pension
funded was stolen to buy super-yachts and private jets? Where is the democracy
in that?
We make people like that into noble lords or knights! The only body capable of
bearing down on these robber barons is the EU. It would be very sad to see the
British (and Northern Irish) people retreat onto their islands, with 'control
taken back' by the likes of Johnson, Gove, Smith and Farage (the latter person
stood for parliament 7 times and failed each time). Your future safe in their
greedy hands?
How Democratic is Britain? Where is
the democracy in the UK? In the 2-sided parliament? In the once in 5 years
election system where most people's votes are wasted? In the House of Lords? In
the 60-strong Royal Family (is this what you mean by 'sovereign')? In the
unelected Public School Boys dominating the political, religious, legal and
military life of the country? In the privatisation of health, education,
prisons and probation services? In selling off all the great public utilities
to foreign governments and their agents? Tell us, is this democracy? Did the EU
force us to do all this?
We Should Remember Them. We cycled
45 km today in the Arnhem area with many memories (museums and Commonwealth War
Graves Commission Cemeteries) of those days in 1944/45 when we and our allies,
working together, were very much involved in Europe - and what a difference we
made!
Happy Memories of Greek Gorges and
Islands. It's a long time since we were on Crete with the
motorhome (in fact we were there when we heard that one Tony Blair had won a
Labour Victory!) We enjoyed the Samaria Gorge walk, which we did both ways. We
left our little Greek motorbike at the top, walked down with the crowd (on
their way to a boat out from the bottom), then stayed the night at the foot of
the gorge in a small B&B before walking back uphill next day, a climb of
about 4,000 ft (1210 m). That was much more fun, with the world to ourselves
until we crossed paths with the next troop coming down. We also visited
Santorini which is typically Greek – and infuriating - to close ancient
sites/museums etc just when people might want to visit, like after 3 pm or at
Easter! Most museums do close on Mondays, though, throughout Europe.
England En Passant. After Ionion Beach in the
Greek Peloponnese, we returned to England via Sicily, Italy, France and
Southern Ireland – a good way to enter the UK on the ferry to Scotland or
Wales, thus avoiding The South. Sorry but we do come from Lancashire and
Yorkshire, God's Own Counties! Then a busy month or so of shopping, visits, MOT
and motorhome service, etc. We now have a rear-view camera fixed at the back
and wonder how we ever managed without it. So we have been on the move and
staying in places with crummy or no WiFi until we arrived on the Stena Line
ferry from Harwich into the Hook of Holland earlier this week. That is a splendid
daytime crossing on the world's largest passenger ferry, no less, and booking
through the Camping & Caravanning Club got us a 10% discount, free upgrade
to flexi-fare and a free daytime cabin!
Early Dutch Reaction to the Quality of
the Referendum Debate. The absurdities of the
debate are portrayed here on the TV, albeit at a distance, in Dutch and with an
air of disbelief. The English/American language and culture are very popular
here: they feel very close to us but puzzled. A bit like the family when Dad
begins to show the early signs of dementia. They hope for the best but fear the
worst. With little optimism, we are busy collecting euros before the value of
the pound falls right through the floor.
Attacked on the Beach by Trojans. As soon as we landed at the Hook of Holland and used the WiFi on a
nearby campsite, my new HP laptop (with Windows 10) picked up what I think is
called a Browser Hijacker, in both Internet Explorer and Chrome. On some
occasions a desired url (eg saving a piece in Mambo) is replaced by another,
which is an advert for gambling or pornography or things of that ilk. In the
worst case it replaces my url and I lose the link I wanted (ie my work is not
saved). Sometimes another window opens which I can then delete. The worst instances
are with Mambo, Weebly and opening the English-language Greek newspaper
Ekathimerini.
The Distractions of Suburban Life. The ordinary 'suburban' way of life encourages the filling up of time
with the routine, the safe, the repetitive, the familiar, etc. What amazing
forms those distractions take, including adding to the degradation of ancient
sites by hordes of tourists on foot (or by horse!). It needs almost a constant
effort to resist those seductive forces to show off, to compete, to bolster the
failing ego.
Why should they be resisted? Because life itself, being alive, should be an
adventure based on openness to learning, to new experience. Being conscious and
aware are wonderful gifts and need to be guarded and developed, at least by
those who are capable.
A Sense of Direction. Whatever they
are called – aims, objectives, outcomes, goals – it's good to have some idea of
what might be achieved in the future. States C, D, E, etc after the transition
from A to B! Or even a sense of direction, starting with John Lennon's 'How can
I go forward when I don't know which way I'm facing?' The metaphor of the
journey is a good one: start with a general sense of the overall direction and
some of the things to be achieved along the way. Concentrate on the process,
the journey itself, rather than on getting to a particular place. For example,
enjoy the cycling rather than thinking only of reaching the end!
Oases. Travellers need an oasis, a
watering hole, somewhere with a palm tree, a few camels, a tent flapping in the
afternoon heat with belly dancing in the evening.
Dick Lane Motors. Dick Lane in
Bradford did some excellent work on our motorhome and we now have a twin-lens
reversing/rear-view camera (what did we do without it?), a 120-watt solar panel
on the roof, a working alarm, a working compressor for the rear suspension, an
MOT, a directional TV aerial and a wall-mounted TV bracket. The rear view
camera monitor fits over the rear-view mirror in the motorhome cab (which was
of no use, with no rear window), and two views are automatically selected: View
1 (looking down, for reversing) or View 2 (watching behind while driving). It
is made by Vision Plus - see www.visionplus.co.uk/shop/rear-view-systems/.
May 2016 (England, Ireland)
Food from the
Heart' by Margaret McLean. Margaret wrote
the following to Margaret McLean. “Dan surprised me with a gift of your book (a signed copy, even), which I
will treasure. Not just the recipes, delicious as they are, but your writing
and photographs are a lovely collection, recording your lifelong love of good
home cooking. The photos and reminiscences evoke times and places so well that
Barry (a good home eater) really shared my interest in your delightful book.
There are some familiar tales of growing up in the 1950s and 60s, and recipes
for both old favourites and new treats that I can't wait to try, back in our
motorhome next week. We did like the piece about the Wee Hurrie at Troon, which
Dan introduced us to last year - and we still wonder what the name means.”
Email from Greek Restauranteur Mike
Stergiopoulos. “Dear
friends, You are fantastic, every time we talk feel very happy.
Also do not forget to tell you how much help me with your overall kindness. I
wish you chronia polla (many years)
and to have good health and see you for many more years. I
will wait for you forever. Your friend Mike.”
Counting the Miles. Yesterday for me
(Barry) was yet another birthday on this long journey through life. I checked
the other day that the earth is still proceeding round the sun at about 18
miles per second or 66,000 miles per hour. A journey of about 580 million miles
(930 million kilometres) every year. This means that my next birthday, marked
by revisiting the current position of the earth in its orbit, is rushing
towards me (and all of us) at breakneck speed. The challenge is to slow life
down and live it to the full.
Coincidence is the Basis for the
Traveller's Life. 'Coincidence' could be defined as: accident, chance, serendipity, fate, a twist of fate, destiny, fortuity,
fortune, providence, freak, hazard; a piece of good fortune, a bit of luck, a
bit of good luck, a fluke, a happy chance, happenstance, co-occurrence,
coexistence, conjunction, simultaneity, simultaneousness, contemporaneity,
contemporaneousness, concomitance, synchronicity, synchrony, clash, conflict,
correspondence, agreement, accord, concurrence, match, fit, consistency,
conformity, harmony, compatibility, dovetailing, correlation, parallelism,
similarity, likeness.
Everyone has Their Own Party?. The Irish general election
took place on 26 February with no clear winner and 2 months of negotiations
haven't succeeded in forming a coalition among the 4 major parties. Like
Scotland, Ireland is likely to have a single-party minority government. We find
it fascinating that politics has changed so dramatically from the alternating
2-party system that has existed in the UK since parliament began. Perhaps
digital technology will allow people to vote directly, issue by issue, rather
than working through delegates who are elected only once every 5 years. Direct
democracy would produce some very different results!
Getting Inside the Brain. Just
finished watching Episode 5 of the Brain (a 6-part BBC2 series by David
Eagleman). It really is thought-provoking and potentially life-changing when
put together with what else is known of our nature and origins. I think that we
can safely forget/reject anything written or 'known' about the human condition before
the middle of the nineteenth century – before Darwin and Marx and then add in
Einstein at the beginning of the twentieth. Ever since then the detail has
begun to be filled in with knowledge of evolutionary processes, the workings of
the brain, etc. Eventually there will be a full understanding of the human
condition – although perhaps too late for us. Meanwhile, we must understand
what we can!
Gone West. Where we have been in
County Cork is further west (about W 10.2°) than the westernmost point of mainland
Europe at Cabo da Roca (around W 9.5°), just west of Lisbon It doesn't get snow
or frost hereabouts in this corner of Ireland, being too far south and west and
it catches the warm Gulf Stream face on. Looking west, the Irish say: 'Next
stop America', which was very true for many of them.
May Day and Easter Sunday All in One.
In Greece yesterday it was the Orthodox Easter Sunday, the highpoint of the
year, when families gather to roast a lamb (or a
goat-that-shall-be-called-lamb) over an open fire. By coincidence, it was also
May Day when they gather wild flowers and make a wreath to hang on their front
door (a Greek friend once hung one on our motorhome door). So yesterday they
would be combining two traditional festivals and we wish we were there. But, we
also very much like being here in Ireland and these are the dilemmas of the
traveller.
April 2016 (Ireland. France, Italy)
The United States of Europe. Along
with most people in mainland Europe, and Ireland, we don't even know why there
is to be a referendum on EU membership. We don't like being forced to take
sides in a squabble between public school boys within the Tory party. We don't
want to appear to support either Cameron or Johnson. We think that the EU is
one of Europe's greatest achievements, albeit a work still in progress. It's a
half-way house between the Europe that spent hundreds of years fighting among
its many countries and a peaceful fully United States of Europe. What better
model than the USA? They were big enough to intervene in Europe several times
in the 20th century to sort out the madness of war – with Germany, then the
USSR and then in the fragmenting Balkans.
We also enjoy the freedom we and many millions of others have to wander within
28 countries, crossing borders and staying where we will.
Memories of Ian Hibell. Cycling used to be excellent at providing contact and rich experiences
but these days we are somewhat loath to trust the kindness and skill of every
driver who comes up behind us on narrow and ever-busier roads. It only takes one idiot behind the wheel, as World
Traveller and Consummate Cyclist Ian Hibell amply demonstrated when killed in
Athens on 27 August 2008. He is never to be forgotten.
The Friendliness of the Irish, the Land of
Apostrophes. We couldn't settle here in Ireland, but it's a country where we would if
we had to. Beautiful country of mountains, peninsulas, coves, rolling hills,
green fields and market towns seemingly untouched by the passage of time and
the cancer of capitalism. The shops (of great variety) are still those of the
individual owner, with their name (with apostrophes) over the window. Sometimes
there are two apostrophes as in O'Donnell's.
There is even a Barry's, albeit as a
surname. Barry's Tea is a strong
popular brand. And there are few signs of the multinationals that have taken
over British towns and cities. The people here are so friendly it's not
possible to pass someone without an acknowledgement, a wave, a greeting. And
they are full of talk and good humour. That is, there is happiness here.
Iceland in 1972 Recalled by the Barkers.
Their photographs of travels in Iceland from 1972 are splendid of both them and
the country. They really look as though they belonged to that time and to that
amazing setting. We wish them the very minimum of disappointment on their next
visit at the changes that must have been wrought, if only to the nature and
extent of tourism. This in turn will be outweighed by the unchanging splendour
of those landscapes, the fauna and flora and the very presence of Nature in its
most creative mood.
A Cate by Any Other Name. Ruminating around the name 'Cate', it is obviously a variation on 'Kate'
and a diminutive of Catherine or Katherine. It has origins in the Greek name
for an early female Christian Saint, now known in English as Catherine of
Alexandria. In Greek, the name is Aikaterina which links to the Greek
word katharos meaning clean or pure. This is the origin of the modern English word catharsis, meaning the release of pent
up emotions, a cleansing, a purification.
Memories of Cycling in the Hebrides in
1989. At Spring Bank, we were both able to get away
for 9 days to ride 360 miles through the Western Isles of Scotland. We started
from Oban, taking the ferry to Barra and then Lochboisdale in South Uist. We
rode up through South Uist and Benbecula to Newton Ferry in North Uist. A small
passenger (-cum-bicycle) ferry took us across a stormy sound to Leverburgh in
South Harris via Berneray Island. We then rode up to Callanish in Lewis where
we stayed two nights in a crofter's cottage next to the stone circle, visiting
Stornoway. Riding back to Tarbert, we took the ferry to Uig in north-west Skye
and rode down through Portree to Armadale where we took a ferry to Mallaig on
the mainland. Another 80 miles, through beautiful highland and sea loch
valleys, and two more ferries got us back to Oban via Mull. Our memories of the
islands are mainly of the crofters, still following their old ways, in a
remarkably bleak, wet, beautiful, storm-swept landscape. So bleak that we often
had difficulty finding somewhere to prop the bikes when we stopped!
Migrants in Greece. We travelled
overland from Scandinavia via Eastern Europe last autumn, arriving in Greece in
October 2015, with no difficulties at all. Of course, the number of migrants
has escalated since then but they are concentrated in a few 'hot spots' where
the media go for their photographs and stories: on 4 or 5 of the Greek islands
just off the Turkish coast in the eastern Aegean, in and around Victoria Square
in Athens, at the Port of Piraeus south of Athens, and many thousands still
clustered around the closed border gate with Macedonia at Idomeni. We would say
that there are no problems, except perhaps extra security checks at borders.
We've certainly had no negative reports from any other travellers.
Migrants in Patras. We haven't seen
any migrants ourselves during a winter in the Greek Peloponnese, except a few
climbing over the wire fence to get into the port in Patras as we left the
country. From there ferries go to Italy (Brindisi, Bari, Ancona, Venice or
Trieste) and the migrants were hoping to hide in or on a truck. Each of them was
young, fit, well dressed, male and carrying no luggage of any kind. The two
officers in a parked police car occasionally chased them back to the fence without
even getting out.
Greece Overland. Our last 3 journeys
to/from Greece have been overland, using a variety of routes, such as
Greece-Macedonia-Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia-Austria etc and
Slovakia-Hungary-Romania-Bulgaria-Greece. We have also travelled to-from Greece
via Montenegro and Albania
A Gap in the Wall. There is the old (probably Buddhist) story of the man who grew up in a
city within walls, completely absorbed in the social world, the day-to-day
minutiae of events and problems. One day, he found a gap in the wall and walked
outside for some distance, climbing something of a hill. Only in looking back,
having gained some height, did he realise how insignificant all those little
worries and games were, in the greater scheme of things. The city was only one
small isolated place in a great landscape. There was so much more life on the
outside. Problem was, when he went back into the city to tell the people of his
experience, they didn't understand what he was talking about! None would dare
breach the wall.
Italian Road Builders. We are now in southern France, heading west. It's noticeably cooler and
the Alps look splendid with their toppings of snow. The road engineering where
the Alps meet the Mediterranean coasts of the Italian and French Rivieras is
beyond the imagining of the UK's authorities. Countless tunnels of varying
lengths are linked by viaducts soaring above the gorges. Turning inland to
Turin, the climb we took culminated at 4,300 ft (nearly the height of Ben
Nevis) before entering the 8-mile long subalpine Frejus Tunnel linking Italy to
France.
The Dis-ease of Patriotism. As for the UK referendum, we share the puzzlement of most mainland
Europeans. Why have it? What is the problem? The EU is just about the greatest
European achievement in its collective history. Various powers in the past have
tried to enforce a union, from the Romans through the Turks to Napoléon, Hitler
and Stalin. Now 28 nations have voluntarily agreed to work, play and live
together, with other countries queuing up to join. Why want to leave that?
Nationalism and jingoism lead to patriotism, which according to Samuel Johnson
is 'the last refuge of the scoundrel'. And there are plenty of those in the
Tory and UKIP parties.
March 2016 (Italy, Greece)
Greece
in Long-term Crisis. Greece is a splendid country with very honest
and welcoming people and it is ideal for motorhoming. The never-ending economic
crisis has bitten deep, but that has somehow made the Greeks more open in
talking about their lives and their problems. The migrants are clustered in a
limited number of places – in the islands of the far eastern Aegean, in and
around Athens and the port of Piraeus and along the northern borders with
Macedonia. We haven't seen any migrants in the Peloponnese; you would have to
go out of your way to find them should you want to help.
We very rarely see any police here which itself is a sign of a trouble-free society.
The Greeks go about living their lives in their own way, feeling safe within
their families.
Moving On. You are leaving A and are now moving to B. However much A may have
changed, however much B will be more appropriate, there is still a sense of
loss in leaving A. It's almost a bereavement and it needs a period of mourning,
a period of adjustment. Many people do indeed miss A and some return, be it a
place, a country, a relationship, a habit, a job. What is to be avoided, we
think, is hovering between A and B. Not able to let go of A, not able to reach
or fully adjust to B.
As travellers, we constantly pass from A's to B's. Right now we are reluctant
to leave Greece, which we love dearly, and not sure about moving to Italy. We
can't hover in between – that would be the middle of the Adriatic! But we have
got used to the processes of change and we just call it travelling and this
month marks 21 years on the road. Transitions are made easy because we don't
have to move our worldly possessions, we just take them with us, even when we
only go shopping. But the temptation to 'settle down' is always there – the
ultimate B. Although the final B is death itself from which there is no return
to A!
Touching on Reality. Talking of realism: the whole migrant thing has at last made some sort of
contact with reality. It really had got out of hand and Greece is now left to
pick up the pieces. We once collected food, clothing, toys, medicines and
toiletries on a large scale and rushed off to give it all to people in real
need. We did this three times in one year – it was the year (1990) when Romania
threw out its dictatorship and the terrible conditions in the orphanages were
discovered. But then those conditions exist throughout the world. India still
has at least 700 million people living permanently well below the poverty level
(a dollar or two a day) – much worse than any migrant in Europe. Who can cope
with that? Where is the rush to help there?
Memories of War-time Internal
Displacement. None of the migrants have ventured down into the
Peloponnese; they have a single aim of getting out of Greece by any means,
going north and west towards Germany.
As an evacuee (internally displaced) from the bombing in Hull in WW2, I have
little sympathy for them. At least half are economic migrants, jumping on the
bandwagon; many are young men who should be helping to sort out the problems in
their own country – fighting, rebuilding, whatever. Children should be found a
safe place if they really are in danger (much of Syria and Iraq are still
safe). Carrying them across Turkey, across a stretch of water only made unsafe
because of the poor equipment, and then right across Europe, choosing which
country they prefer, is certainly not safe. Many children have been abandoned
and are travelling on their own. Let us be realistic about what kind of people
we are dealing with here!
Civil War? We
see that the Greek tractor blocks have been removed and we hope that traffic is
now flowing freely on the main road to Sofia. It's Macedonia's turn now,
getting blocked up with migrants. And the UK may well leave the UK on a whim
whilst one side of the Tory party fights against the other. When will normality
return?
On Leaving Greece. We are still here, finding it as hard as ever to leave this beautiful
land. Not because of the tractor blockades, not because of borders blocked by
and against migrants, not because of random strikes by dockworkers and ships'
crews: it is just because this is where we belong. However, we do have a Minoan
Line ferry booked from Patras to Italy on 10 March and thence we aim for Sicily
– though, given the informality of Greek ferries, a brief telephone chat to a
young woman in Patras could soon change the date once again!
February 2016 (Greece)
Travellers Blogs. The Murdoch Family logs
of their great overland journey from Delhi to Edinburgh are examples of the
best of travel writing. They have the vibrancy that comes from the reality of
the accounts. They present the journey just as it was with all the artefacts of
travel. Too many people moving about in motorhomes (we wouldn't necessarily
call them 'travellers') write 'blogs' that are far too self-centred. These are
the written equivalent of the 'selfie' photographs we are now plagued with. We
call them 'ego trips'. In contrast, the Murdoch family accounts are refreshing
and inspiring. They made real contact with the people and places along their
route. We and others thank you for sharing those experiences.
Jeff's Wheelchair Walks. Our dear
old friend (and once Barry's student) developed the website Wheelchair Walks. Jeff was paralysed from the neck down following a
cycling accident in 1989; living life to the full until his death in 2017. It was really impressive how his website
steadily expanded with more and more entries, photographs and videos. We
watched the '5 Weirs Walk' with amazement and wonder how many Sheffield people
know about it. It is also good to see the Blackpool to Fleetwood route along
the sea front, which we have cycled. It goes through Cleveleys, where Margaret
was born and grew up. Mum ran a boarding house on Beach Road, Dad was a tram
driver. Mind you, the so-called improvements to the promenade have erased all
the landmarks of childhood (free playground, open-air theatre for the Punch
& Judy man, site of travelling circus and fair, etc) and replaced them with
paying attractions. The new trams are very good, though, and a nice idea for
covering the return route for wheelchairs.
A Family Divided Against Itself. Life at Ionion Beach Camping in the Greek Peloponnese has become even
more interesting. George and Theo, the two sons of the original owner and
originator of the campsite, have fallen out and finally agreed to split the
campsite into two parts: Theo gets the apartments, the existing swimming pool
and beach bar, while George gets the campsite and is now building his own
swimming pool and some bungalows-to-let. Each side now has its own Reception
office and WiFi system (ours is very good) but things like the central
restaurant, shop and laundry with washing machines remain in dispute: Theo is
currently building his own Breakfast Bar! There is a wall between the two
halves (the Austro-German residents call it Berlin) but the beach and the sea
remain undivided (so far!).
Who are the Motorhomers? There is an idealised world of motorhomers, all travellers sharing and
empathising, in tune with each other and with the world they live in. Sadly, we
meet many others who are no more than holiday-makers with loungers to lie on,
glasses of wine to sip and cheap novels to read. And many more who have spent
their children's inheritance on a German luxury model, wanting only to show off
their latest gadgets: they no sooner stop than their satellite dishes search
the sky for familiar and comforting programmes There are the cheapskates,
forever free camping in their worn-out Kombis. And the moaners, complaining
about how 'Europe' is so different from where they live in the UK (which
presumable isn't in Europe). And the members of UKIP, unhappy at how 'their'
money is being wasted throughout the EU. How good it is to meet a real
traveller, someone just simply on the road as a way of life, open to whatever
experience brings.
Still Crazy After All These Years. Now entering our third decade on the road, we still agree with how we felt
soon after setting out:
“Long-term travel is associated with retirement, and for us ageing gives
urgency and poignancy to the whole process . . . we may never pass this way
again! We have no regrets about our choice of this rich way of life and remember
vividly the moment we finally closed the front door of our house, started the
engine and set off for the Channel ferry! We hadn't owned a motorhome or
caravan before, all our travel had been with bicycles and a tent, but we
quickly realised that a motorhome was the only way we could afford to
travel for long periods of time, comfortably, freely and carrying all the
things we need for a full life (including the bicycles and a tent!)
The rewards of travel are enormous and it doesn't lose its freshness and its
challenge. Subjects that were dry as chalk dust at school – Geography and
History - take on colour and vitality, joining others as a natural part of
everyday life: Ornithology, Geology, Languages, Economics, Politics, Religions,
Art and Architecture, Photography. Our own qualifications in the Sciences,
Business, Education, Archaeology, Modern Languages, Computing, Secretarial
Skills, take on new meaning and usefulness. The radio again becomes the miracle
it once was; books and maps become travelling companions; and travellers met
for an evening become friends for life.
Motorhomers need only do what they are doing – no more and no less. Life can be
lived more intensely in the present moment, replacing habit and routine with
the ever-fresh stimulus of journeys on Robert Frost's 'road less travelled'.
This is the way to slow the ever-accelerating rush of time.”
When a Chum is also a Friend. Cheers mate, where 'Mate' is Australian for Chum. In the Nederlands it
is 'Kameraad' which isn't quite so friendly. Don't think there is a Yorkshire
word for Chum, they are too circumspect. Lancashire has 'Pal', the Germans use
'Krumpel'. Geordie is 'Marrer'. We don't have any French friends (or Amis).
What a nice word 'chum' is. It's somehow more friendly than 'friend'. It also
has a special Scottish usage, as well as referring to a large Pacific Salmon
(not the Scottish MP, although he may be somebody's chump). More worryingly,
the word derives from 'chamber-fellow', or so it said. And then there is (or
was) the dog food, enriched with nourishing marrow bone jelly.
Tractors Block Tyres. We got 4 new tyres fitted last week, which took a long time to be
delivered from Athens due to the tractor 'Blocka'.
We've also had the motorhome serviced at the excellent Ford garage in Pirgos
(which had a small earthquake on Sunday), so at least the motorhome is ready
for the road, if not us.
Cleaning up Quotes. Starting a little spring cleaning around the website and tidying in
little visited corners, we came across the following quotations about bicycles
and bicyclists. We can identify with all of them: http://www.magbaztravels.com/content/view/1654/29/
Greece under the Heel of Enforced 'Austerity'. Now all the work is done in the olive groves, it's time to go on strike
and take the tractors out to block main roads, motorway junctions and border
crossings, to protest about pensions or subsidies or hospitals or Germans or
the price they are paid for the crop. The Greek word is 'Blocka'. Sadly, the popular protests are rising in intensity and
the economy is back in peril, with almost continuous talks going on with the
European Central Bank, the IMF and Eurozone ministers, negotiating the next
tranche of the loan.
How sad it is to see the effect of all this enforced 'austerity' on ordinary
people and the many simple small businesses that have had to close. Meanwhile
840,000 migrants passed through Greece in 2015, while it got no support from
the EU and relied on volunteers on the Aegean islands. Now Greece fears that
borders to the north will close, and it will become one giant refugee camp,
something it can ill afford, not to mention the effect on tourist numbers to
the Aegean islands of Kos, Lesbos, etc.
Where have All the Motorhomes Gone? We've
been here for over 2 weeks now on the best campsite we know in Greece, and
apart from the 3 long-term couples who George calls the Winter People (Hans
& Inger, Kurt & Heidi, Walter & Monika), there are no other campers
at all. A French van came for 2 nights, a Dutch van for one night, and that is
it! German motorhomers are simply afraid to come to Greece. We walked through
the next campsite along the beach the other day, and they are also empty – just
one Austrian van and everything very overgrown.
Labourers in the Olive Groves There's nothing but olives for many miles around here and the
orchardists have been busy for weeks now, stripping olives off the trees by hand
to fall into nets stretched on the ground. Then bagging them. Then taking the
bags on overloaded ancient pickups to one of many olive mills (there's one in
every village). What would they do without undocumented illegal immigrant
labour? It used to be Albanians and Bulgarians, now it is people from Pakistan,
Iraq and Afghanistan. Syrians seem to get fast-tracked towards Germany.
January 2016 (Greece)
Old Harmanli. “Harmanli ('Threshing
mills') is our favourite town, 10 km from Biser in southeast Bulgaria, founded
by the Turks in the 16thC around a caravanserai for travellers on the road to
Constantinople. It has a wide range of places to eat and drink, post office,
banks, shops and a bazaar, with a busy Saturday market for local produce. The
only historic sights are a stretch of wall from the Ottoman caravanserai, near
the tall Hebros Hotel, and the old hump-backed Gurbav Bridge built in 1585. It
now spans a dry diverted river bed, behind the police station, near the tennis
club/restaurant.
Reading on a Wet Afternoon Indoors. (Margaret writing to
author Joe McNally). “I've just been reading the draft chapter of the
next Eddie Malloy story on your Pitmac books website. It has brightened up an
unusually cold rainy afternoon indoors and I'm looking forward to the finished
book. There seem to be some old favourite characters, as well as new ones to
get to know.”
A Reflective Irishman. Patrick O'Gorman first contacted us when he was travelling in Portugal
in his campervan. His was probably the most reflective indeed introspective
travel account we have ever had (other than our own, of course). He has now
settled back into life in Ireland and he is now encouraging both Literature and
the Arts: http://www.patrickogorman.co.uk/Iconclast/Welcome.html
The Contemplative Reindeer. Especially liked the photo of reindeer outside the meat factory (not to
be shown to the under-sevens)!
Chance Meeting. We met David Wallis over the toaster in a
Penang hotel, one of those moments that take on a significance
only with hindsight. David lived near the beach in Indonesia's Aceh Province,
managing a cement factory. He was there on 26th December 2004 when the
tsunami struck and stayed to help with rescue, caring and rebuilding. In the
aftermath he produced two fully-illustrated diaries (here and here) and become
critical of the inevitable failings of major charity organisations who took
over the best hotels and restaurants. It was a privilege to play a small part
in the work he did, stemming from that chance meeting at breakfast.
Where has All the Writing Gone? We
notice that we are receiving fewer serious long pieces of writing. The end of
year letter has been replaced with daily semi-literate tweets and endless
online phone-photographs, Facebook etc.
Bec and Kev's Morning Chronicle Project and the
Cotton Mills of Manchester. As soon as we saw the photograph of the Morning Chronicle page, we
realised what an enormous change there had been in the media, the way
information is presented and in the sheer quality (one could say beauty) of the
language. A wall of words when now people want videos where the image changes
every 3 seconds! The content of the articles is also fascinating. The detail in
the Chronicle article about working conditions and the different specialisms of
the mills is all new to us. We were aware that Manchester was the home of liberal
thought and practice, led by mill owners who had a good reputation for looking
after their workers – eg keeping to the agreed length of the working day. The
Guardian, once the mouthpiece for the Liberal Party, was of course founded as
the Manchester Guardian.
Margaret's Family History and the Cotton
Mills of Manchester. Margaret's granddad Herbert was a foreman in a cotton
mill in Manchester, where he clocked up 50 years' service. Grandma Annie worked
at the loom in the mill until she married granddad and produced Margaret's
mother Ethel and Uncle Harold. I came to know and admire Harold; he served in
the army in Italy, was involved in the landings at Anzio and the taking of
Rome. Fascinating to listen to him. Herbert's mill closed in 1939 and he looked
after it through the war years, keeping the machinery oiled etc. Ironically,
when the war ended, the mill never re-opened.
Engels, Marx and the Cotton Mills of
Manchester. Although born German like Marx, Engels lived and worked in
Manchester for about 2 years between 1842 and 1844 and for 20 years from 1850
to 1870, during which time he was employed in his father's cotton mill. He
helped to support Marx financially and worked with him in his writing,
publishing and political activity. Engels' own writing included 'The Condition
of the Working Class in England' published in 1844. 1848 was the year of
revolutions throughout Europe, it was also the year of publication of the
Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels. But somehow, England remained
untouched. Indeed, capitalism continues to reign supreme, its ideological
apparatus evermore effective.
How Travellers Make Contact. We are motorhomers and cyclists and are very aware of the way in which a
motorhome on its own can insulate you from real contact with people and places.
On the other hand, in a motorhome you can carry all you need, have a great
sense of freedom and are never at a loss for somewhere to sleep, eat and pee.
More recently we have made journeys using a van or a car and finding rooms and
places to eat, including some time in Tunisia and Bosnia. This was a good
compromise for us – we feel past the strenuous days when we could back-pack and
use public transport. There is no ideal way to travel, although our many
long-distance bicycle journeys came the nearest!
Climbers' Songs. For some reason not to be understood by mere mortals, in my student days
a song about Rothesay was included in the repertoire sung in the bus returning
the East Yorkshire Mountaineering Club (almost an oxymoron in itself) to Hull
from a day or a weekend of rock-climbing in the Pennines, North Wales or the
Lake District. So much so that many of the words are still imbued in my brain,
along with much else which is taking up space that might be better employed. http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_rothesayo.htm
The Puzzle of the German Umweltplakette. We had a 6-ton Fleetwood Flair RV until about
3 years ago, with a V8 petrol engine, but somehow we managed to avoid Go Boxes
in that time. Nor did we enter German towns that require an Umweltplakette, so
we have no personal experience. We can find no mention of emission categories
for petrol-engined vehicles between 3.5 and 7.5 tons. It's clear for vehicles below
3.5 tons (cars and light vans) and above 7.5 tons (HGV's). But not in between.
You do need to have a category to enter into the Go Box, so perhaps you either
make one up or ask at the place where you get the box.
The Greek Peloponnese versus Portugal. Unlike Portugal, there are virtually no motorhomes in the Peloponnese in
the winter. Most campsites are closed, the few that are open are either
literally empty or with just a very few die-hards in place. Even the usual free
camping spots are empty, although there are no fears of fines here and locals
extend a warm welcome to any visitors. Indeed, the police are also missing,
perhaps they are all in Athens and elsewhere keeping the lid on potential
unrest, or 'encouraging' hundreds of thousands of migrants to get on their way
north to Macedonia. However, beneath all that, the Greece we love goes on,
albeit rather more slowly.
Banning Free Camping in Portugal and the
Nature of Evidence. Thank you for your piece about free camping in Portugal
which we will feature on our website with full attribution to you. You mention
only two specific stories, which may be based on local factors; it will be
interesting to see if this clamp down is more widespread, if it is part of a
national policy. We fully agree with you that people who have spent tens of
thousands on a motorhome ought to be able to spare a few euros for an Aire,
helping the local economy in a small way. In Corsica, the locals call visiting
motorhomers (largely French) the 'tomato-eaters', because that is all they buy.
They free camp and bring everything else with them!
Greeks Bearing or Selling Gifts? Was it Homer who warned to beware of Greeks bearing gifts? Seems there
is no problem with Greeks selling gifts, except ice cream. The local
supermarket had an Xmas tree on top of the ice cream freezer so we had to ask
if we could see what they had. It's empty, we were told. They'll get some more
next April.
Changing Places. The young woman who works in the car hire office in Pylos has the
ambition only to work in London (she speaks good English). We laughingly
suggested that we should change places, she smiled but it isn't really very
funny.
Information for Motorhomers. This an interesting
query, concerning the moral values of advertisers, dealers and magazines in the
motorhoming world! Anything that is commercial is inevitably run on capitalist
lines - which is why our website is entirely free of adverts and there is no
membership or subscription. You will find plenty of unbiased free advice there.
The Greek Tragicomedy. The Norman Atlantic story is part of what we call the Greek Tragicomedy.
There have been many tragedies in recent years at this end of the Balkans, but
there is also an air of comedy in the way in which they arise and are handled
(or not, as the case may be). In the case of the ferry, the tragicomedy also
extends to Italy.
http://www.magbaztravels.com/content/view/1276/30/
The point of tragicomedy is that it should never have happened, there is much
there for those willing to learn and sometimes it's better to laugh than to
cry. Greece now is full of black humour (if it's still OK to say that), their
only realistic response to what is happening to them and their country as
things continue to run out of control. Better that than riots. Reminds us of
cycling in Iron Curtain countries in the 1980's as their economies were
collapsing and people told Communist Jokes.
Special Days? Christmas and New Year
are just yet more days for us. There is nothing different about those days in
any noticeable way except what a false ideology imposes on them. Although the
ideologies themselves are interesting – pagan, Christian and now 99%
capitalist. Fascinating to see whole societies programmed into what they are
supposed to do on these days. Acting out roles by the million! Even the Greeks
are starting to put up fairy lights, although they probably don't know why.
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