I was lucky enough to spend a week skiing in Austria over half term, it’s a beautiful part of the world and I am always grateful of simply being in the mountains. In the mornings I would poke my head out onto the balcony to look at the weather on the mountain, or to report… Continue reading Great tit (Parus major)
Category: Travel
The Campsite Nazi
Dad was a camp site Nazi. It’s not something I hold against him, it’s a state of mind he developed to deal with children, adults and animals on camping grounds. I can’t remember when he became a Campsite Nazi, but it must have been around the time of the Welsh Holiday incident when he arranged… Continue reading The Campsite Nazi
5 steps to a disastrous experience with rentalcars.com
The car that we booked through rentalcars.com simply didn’t materialise at the airport in Kefalonia on 6th July 2013. We waited and waited but nobody appeared to “Meet and greet” us as promised. Just what you fucking well need isn’t it? Getting up at 4am with a hangover, getting on a flight and then standing… Continue reading 5 steps to a disastrous experience with rentalcars.com
A vote on Europe is the last thing we need
When it comes to ideas and interests in life, my teenage years seem have been the most formative, as they probably were with most people. During the 80s along with my brother and two friends I started riding my racing bike seriously, and with that came the obsessing over continental cycle racing. Not only was… Continue reading A vote on Europe is the last thing we need
Are off the peg bikes really any good?
I brought a bike a few months ago on the Ride to Work Scheme, a Fuji Cross 3.0 in black and green. A new bike, as exiting now as it was when I woke up on my birthday to find a glossy white five speed racer at the end of my bed. Happy days. Buying… Continue reading Are off the peg bikes really any good?
Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space
A day before the space shuttle launch in 1982 Mr Atkins, our primary school teacher at the time, asked us to find out something about the men who pioneered space travel. Easy I thought to myself, just look up Neil Armstrong, that’s all we knew about space, Neil Armstrong. At home, we had half a… Continue reading Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space
Berlin, we have a lot to learn
I’ve always had a particular interest in post war communism, and as a child I couldn’t get enough news footage from Red Square, the Politburo and the Berlin Wall. The Soviet Union seemed to have something that I found fascinating, not communism because that was too obvious and oppressive. It was probably the fact that… Continue reading Berlin, we have a lot to learn
Aldeburgh
A few weekends ago myself and Mand spent a day in a place that I’ve returned to many times since I was a child, the Suffolk coastal town of Aldeburgh. Apart from the phoney art galleries that have shamelessly replaced the bucket and spade shops, it’s changed very little over the years. It still has… Continue reading Aldeburgh
Dordogne 2006
It’s not often that I really feel that I’ve managed to get away from things, and by that I mean forgetting about work, debt, Ashley Cole and all those other tedious inconveniences that blight my life on a daily basis. In the past decade for example, I can count on my hand the occasions when… Continue reading Dordogne 2006
V2006
Now that I’ve been relegated to the passenger seat on a full time basis I can gaze out of the window to my hearts content and drift off without crashing. This comes from my mum’s side of the family. On those long car journeys to Scotland as kids she would stare in fascination at the… Continue reading V2006