Journal Entries
?
Posted Jan 6, 2007
I just stored a new journal here - I saw it on my conversations list. It was called "for your amusement".
I have "refreshed" several times to check. But it's completely disappeared?
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Latest reply: Jan 6, 2007
Well it's not often we get to do pub quizzes here in Germany, you see
Posted Dec 17, 2006
We had our local English Christmas "do" here in town last night.
There have been many foreign students at the university here and plenty of them are expat British or Irish. Many have stayed on in the town, having got married or having children during their time at the university. This crowd organise a turkey dinner in a students' pub around this time every year.
So last night all the crowd (who originally come from places like Margate, Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast) were together for a chat, a meal and a Pub Quiz.
Tony and Stewart had made up a really hard quiz - too hard for Christmastime. The marks were quite low. There was a fair mixture of German and English questions. Anyway, well done boys, because it's hard work to put a quiz together and it was fun anyway.
Next time we'll put in a bit ourselves and organise some better singing of carols - everyone there was singing really enthusiastically and there are some good voices. We didn't really dare do too much this time because we're not full members of the clique and didn't want to trespass on their evening's plans. I reckon we can do that now.
So watch this space next year - Let's see if we can't get a few of them shedding the odd tear 
of nostalgia as the evening goes on and the singing gets mellower.
Discuss this Journal entry [18]
Latest reply: Dec 17, 2006
I paid a lot of money to ride Michael Palin
Posted Dec 11, 2006
I visited my parents again this weekend.
Having done everything on public transport, I could make this mind-boggling comparison.
The journey to the airport in Germany (from my home to Baden-Baden) takes about 1 hour by car. The journey to my parents from Stansted at the other end takes slightly less by car.
I paid 5 Euros to get to Baden Airpark by train and bus this end.
I paid 14 GBP return - it would have been 11 GBP single - for the train from Stansted to my parents' village.
The journey this end involved 90 minutes actual travelling and 2 x 20 mins wait.
The journey in England consisted of 53 mins of train travel and a 43 minute wait in Cambridge.
I haven't checked out the kilometres, but as the car travel comparison shows - they're about the same, in England the journey being somewhat shorter.
So, converting the travel units to Eurocents/minute and using a currency conversion of 1.4 Euros to the poind I paid
5.55 cents/min for the German train and bus ride. (500/90)
29 cents/min (based on the single fare) ((11 x 1.40)/53)
18.4 cents/min (based on the return fare) ((7 x 1.40)/53)
It's not quite an accurate comparison as part of the journey in Germany was by bus, etc., but, put like that, it's staggering, isn't it. I rely on public transport a lot when I'm on my own in Britain, and, although it's cheaper than hiring a car when there's only one of me, it doesn't leave much space in the budget for much else!
Ah - and where does Michael Palin come into all this? Well - the British Rail companies have to do something will all that money, I suppose. And "One", which is the company who covers East Suffolk and the Cambridge-Ipswich line, has spent it on plaques giving their rolling stock names. And I happend to get on the "Michael Palin" at Cambridge station on Friday.
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Latest reply: Dec 11, 2006
Another world
Posted Nov 9, 2006
In case anyone is interested in the ramblings of my eldest son, he's given me permission to post the address of his blog on here. He is doing a six month stint at university in Marseille and is learning French as he goes along.
Although he grew up speaking English, his written English (and sometimes his grammar) isn't quite up to scratch. I was rather disappointed on reading it, but, on the other hand, there are only a few real mistakes (he can't get into the habit of writing nationalities with a capital letter, even though I've told him to do it).
His spoken English has improved since he went, though, as he hangs out with a group of English students who are staying in the same halls of residence as he is.
So if you're interested in what a young aspiring German engineer thinks of life in France, feel free to read and comment:
http://eblog.mbant.de/
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Latest reply: Nov 9, 2006
Back from Italy
Posted Oct 22, 2006
Well, actually I've written two journal entries since I got back, but here's a summary:
Everything went exactly as planned. That is always reassuring, if a little boring.
Flights, hotels, car hire, the lot.
We flew to Bari, which is on the South East coast of Italy, right at the bottom, just above Brindisi. We spent the first few days just inland from Bari, at Casamassima. From there we could get to loads of interesting places, and the hotel manager always gave us maps and told us where to park.
The place names are so lovely down there: Polignano, Monopoli, Locorotondo, Alberobello, Gioia, Tricase, Fasano - all invoking idyllic countryside and rural atmosphere. This was the case, too mostly.
Alberobello was our first outing. This is a whole village built of trulli - the local round houses with little conical roofs. It has a unique character and some of the trulli are open for viewing as museums, showing the everyday items of the people who lived in them. They were built and in use from the 15th to the 18th century as shelters for the people and animals. One trullo was really big - inside it was the church with very modern decoration. Another actually went into two storeys - this was where the Bishop lived.
http://www.ostunithewhitecity.com/puglia/alberobello.htm
We visited Matera, which is a UNESCO protected village, a whole valley - or rather a gorge - where the original housing was in caves in the side of the hills. The last cave-dwellers were (reluctantly) evacuated in 1968. Now some of the caves are being fitted with mod cons and used as quaint country houses by rich people. The inhabited rocks merge into the uninhabited rocks, and the natural appearance of the whole valley and its use of the lay of the land is the reason it is protected and is so unique.
Ostuni is a charming little Baroque town, all on a hill.
Otranto is a port, looking on to the beautiful blue sea, with an 11th Century cathedral, whose entire floor is a large mosaic showing the history of the old testament and lots of other symbolic pictures.
http://www.hull.ac.uk/languages/research/medieval.html
Of course, we visited Bari, too, which is a port and a fortified castle, as well as being the place where St Nicholas is buried. He gets around, does old Nick. Anyone who's been to Greece will have encountered him as the patron saint of loads of churches and of fishermen, he is a big number in Russia, and, of course, he is the patron saint of children and is the origin of Santa Claus. The Basilica San Nicola is really peaceful and has a wonderful atmosphere. The crypt, where the remains of the saint are buried, is Orthodox, and while we were there, a priest was chanting in (we think) Russian, and it seems a constant vigil is kept over the tomb.
Lecce is a Renaissance town, rich in ornamental church facades. Here we saw some big city atmosphere, mainly in the form of beggars, and other signs of poverty.
Gallipoli is another fortified port with lots of tiny, narrow streets and people's washing standing outside the doors.
Then, of course, there are endless caves - only the best-known one (Castellana) has cafés, restaurants and souvenir shops set up around the entrance - the others are simple holes which you are shown through by a wizened old local chappie. At this time of year, my husband and I were frequently the only visitors - making a group of 2!
Even in Bari, the towns were mainly just used for living in, and the old town centres (usually signposted as "centro storico")there was little to do but look at the Churches. You passed dwelling after dwelling, the kitchen doors wide open to the street, and very few places where you could stop for a coffee or a meal.
When we did find restaurants, the food was very good and not too dear. The wines, of course 
were out of this world.
We didn't actually choose to go to expensive hotels, and had fairly simple accommodation, but adequate and clean. In fact, there didn't seem to be many hotels above *** level at all.
It was too cool and windy to bathe in the sea in October, except on beaches protected from the wind. The light and the landscape are very striking (possibly the time of year).
There was an incredible amount of rubbish on the beaches and in the streets.
The people were usually quite nice, but they have a long way to go before the area can really take on tourists.
The peninsula is fairly mountainous and you keep losing radio stations as you travel around in a car. On the East coast it can easily happen that you find yourself listening to a Greek or an Albanian station. But the music was the same everywhere!
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Latest reply: Oct 22, 2006
You can call me TC
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