Journal Entries
Stockholm 27-9-2005
Posted Sep 27, 2005
Stockholm was the first point of call on the cruise and I have to say the place about which I have the foggiest memory. As I was travelling alone I decided that the safest and best way to see places in the short time available was by organised tour. For Stockholm I chose a panoramic bus tour in the morning and a boat tour in the afternoon. In retrospect this was a mistake because it didn't leave much opportunity to actually walk around and experience the atmosphere of the city. On the other hand Stockholm is built on a large number of islands so finding my way around in a single day would have been difficult.
So what do I remember. Certainly Stockholm is a beautiful City with lots of interesting architecture and I do want to go back for a longer visit to explore more closely. There is an interesting mixture of old and modern. For example amongst the buildings of the Old Town there is a floating modern sculture called Venus which currently consists of a face and hand ( seperated by about 10 feet) looking up to the sky and pointing at Venus as it passed by Stockholm. Apparently a body is to be added and the citizens of Stockholm are very excited about finding out what gender the sculpture is ( my money is on female but I don't know why). As with everywhere I was lucky enough to visit the city is very clean.
The pride the people have in their City is exemplified by the fact that a number of cranes on building sites are disguised to look like giraffes.
I will post a few photos in the Lockin to give a flavour of the place.
I should also mention that the ship was small enough to pass through the Keil Canal which was a very serene experience and a great joy to a number of bridge and train spotters on board. It also provided the first sight of the wind farms at are all over the Baltic Shores. I didn't find them an eyesore at all and perhaps the shoreline is a much better place to site them here rather than on say the top of the N Yorks Moors - just a thought.
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Sep 27, 2005
Cruising 25-9-2005
Posted Sep 25, 2005
First day back from a wonderful cruise around the Baltic during which I visited Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallin, Berlin, Copenhagen and Oslo. Far too much to put into a single post so I will dedicate an entry to each place. Also my photos are not in digital format so I suspect that there is lots I will only remember once they are developed. Still I suppose the most memorable things will come easily to mind.
I'm going to start with the actual experience of cruising which I've never done before. The term "luxury" in the brochure was certainly not an exaggeration. A ratio of 350 crewe members (except for the Officers most were Philippino)to 550 passengers was certainly enough to ensure that all needs were catered for. From a cabin boy who seemed to change the towels every time I washed my hands to very attentive dining room waiters and bar staff I found them all very lovely people who took great pleasure in providing a good service. I have to say that at first I was rather uncomfortable with this almost "master/servant" relationship but after spending some time chatting with them I discovered that they all definately had a plan - 4/5 years at sea 10 months a year and then back home with enough money to set them up for life. Good luck to them as they certainly work hard for their money. 
Mustn't forget to mention the galley staff who provided magnificant fayre. Each day started with morning tea served in the cabin, followed by full breakfast, next came lunch which was a choice of a 3 course sit down affair or buffet style on deck, to see you through to dinner was afternoon tea complete with sandwiches and a huge variety of cream cakes (all baked on board) and decorated with ice carvings, dinner was usually themed to fit with where we were at the time - I sampled Reindeer off Finland - and just to stave off the possibility of night starvation a healthy supper was available. Of course there was always a supply of fruit in the cabin and a chocolate placed on my pillow every night. Just as well I stuck to morning tea, breakfast and dinner most days. 
A certain ex-Speaker of the House of Commons was a fellow passenger. She ( can you guess who it was now ) gave a talk on her experiences as Speaker which was very interesting. Other entertainment included deck games, bingo, lectures on the various destinations and classical music, classical concerts and variety shows. Then there was the library and the communal jigsaw.
I met some lovely people including those I sat with for dinner whose company I enjoyed enormously. 
People from all walks of life from those who had saved for a long time to treat themselves to a once-in-a-lifetime trip to High Court Judges.
The only down side to the whole trip was the relatively short period of time spent in each port of call. Still that means I have a very good reason to go back. 
Discuss this Journal entry [8]
Latest reply: Sep 25, 2005
Robin, Brian and Nando 22-06-2005
Posted Jun 22, 2005
It's ages since I blogged. I have intended to loads of times but when I've read other peoples' entries my life seems so unworthy of comment.
However, I have to tonight because I promised to report on my evening out last night so here goes.
Left work around 6.30pm and went up to Nandos for some nosh. Chose the
lemon & herb chicken ( I don't have Dagesh's asbestos tonsils so piri piri is not my style ) with spicy rice and coleslaw all washed down with a Portugese beer - Super Bock. Absolutely delicious. I wiil be back but not for a little while or I will get Nandos overload and that would be a shame.
Went to the theatre to see " old big 'ead - the spirit of the man." which centres on the intriguing similarities between 2 of the East Midland's favourite sons namely Robin Hood ( my current loyalties do not allow me to acknowledge Doncaster's claim to be his true home ) and Brian Clough. Both played by Collin Tarrant many will recognise as Insp. Andrew Monroe what used to be in The Bill. Extremely entertaining 2 hours and fortunately the theatre was well air conditioned
Got home around 10.30 and mooched around ML for a while. I had an e-mail from PF with a photo of Guy the Lamb. He's one of Shy's and his photo is now proudly displayed in the Lockin for anyone who wants to see.
All-in-all had a pretty good day of it yesterday. Unlike today which started badly and then just got worse. . All work stuff though so not very interesting. 
Now I'm hot footing it over to ML for a while before bed.
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Jun 22, 2005
cricket and shopping 21.5.2005
Posted May 21, 2005
Woke up this morning feeling much better than yesterday and surprisingly with no hangover.
Went into town earlyish to collect my newly framed and signed poster of Michael Vaughan. It is now proudly adorning the hallway. I really admire Michael and if I'm honest find him quite appealing in the looks department. 
However it is his ability as a cricket player and captain that I find most admirable.
Brought some lovely crusty bread home which I had with ham for lunch before going of to hairdressers.
The girl that does my hair is getting married in September and poor girl is obviously having a very fraught time organising things. It doesn't help that so many of her regular customers automatically assume that they will be invited to the whole thing whereas she just wants close friends and family at the ceremony. She's so nice she doesn't like telling them they're not on the list. I told her that it's her wedding and she can have what she wants - it's not her fault if other people are making assumptions. I've been invited to the Hen Night which is at a 60's Night in an outdoors venue. Fancy dress is expected. I must seek advice of ML on the costume although I will probably err on the hippy side rather than min-skirt. 
With newly preened hair I went of to do monthly shop at Supermarket. Home around 5ish so it was 6pm before I had stored the supplies and sat down with a well earned cuppa. Listened to Steeley Dan CD and had supper. Now enjoying a glass of white wine. 
NOMS now to be reported on weekly basis.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: May 21, 2005
Auditors and anniversaries 20.5.2005
Posted May 20, 2005
It's always nice to get to Friday with the weekend to look forward to but this week it feels better than ever.
Not only have I had to work the full 5 days for the first time in ages but have worked very long hours mostly running around after the internal audit team. It's not that I have any objection to an audit visit. In fact I would quite welcome it if they came along with the intention of spreading the best practice they must see as they visit offices around the country but they don't. It seems to me that the prime "competence" for any Auditor is having a glass that's half empty. In other words their mission in life is to find things to criticise and if there isn't anything important to find fault with then any number of minor matters will do. In all of the 30 years I've been experiencing these visits the very best thing that's ever been said in the Audit report is " we found nothing to criticise".
Anyway this time the only thing that was criticised was that not all of the papers they requested were immediately available. The fact that we archive all papers in a repository 10 miles away and are charged £25 per retrieval ( whether that is 1 piece of paper or a van load so to keep the cost down the standing order is 1 retrieval per month - as recommended by previous Auditors )didn't seem to be the answer they wanted. Only another 12 months before we have to go through the process again.
Although I'm happy to have got to the end of the week I am feeling down today as it is my wedding anniversary. The first one since Eric passed. I visited him earlier and had a good talk to him - some very irrational and angry at words at first but I forgave him for leaving me in the end. Now I am not really sure what to do with myself. I feel very much in need of a drink but am worried that if I start it could turn into a binge. Perhaps I'll just have a cup of tea for now. 
Then again a binge every now and again isn't necessarily a bad thing so perhaps I will go for alcohol after all.
. Really I just want to go to sleep and not wake up until tomorrow but that's a bit unlikely.
NOMS + 3 weeks ( apart from 1 little failure for which I have forgiven myself)
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: May 20, 2005
Polly Tunnel
Researcher U1530077
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."