The interior of Sainte Chapelle, near Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

We got to Paris, which seems just as grimy and overcast as London, but a bit colder. Although we were sitting in the middle class for Eurostar (not first class, and not standard), this time we don’t have a good view. Nevertheless, we are fed. The Gard du Nord is crazily busy, and just as hectic as ever. What a joy it is to speak a little French again.

We walked to our hotel – quite a long walk and quite confusing as the hotel had changed its name to Hotel de l’Aqueduc! It was advertised as Hotel near Gare du Nord. 

They were expecting us however. We have a room on the first floor with a very tiny bathroom (no fan). But the shower has a good oblong space, even if it has a mind of its own! And the bed is comfortable, and on the first floor. We often use the stairs as they’re quite convenient.  There are nice wee cakes of soap. Breakfast is not paid for – it’s quite expensive, so we don’t eat there.

Although we are close to the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l’Est, and there is train noise during the daytime, it’s quiet at night, and we don’t even hear sirens like one usually does in Paris at night.

We had a rest before walking to a nearby restaurant in the nearby upmarket Hotel Bloom. I felt bad about not dressing up more, but we had such a nice waitress. We both had tournedos of veal, cooked slightly more towards medium than the chef’s preferred rare; thankfully the portions weren’t large. I had a cocktail with berries and tonic water and I’m sure something alcoholic, although I thought it was a mocktail! For dessert I had Panna Cotta with poached pear and toasted coconut; JD had something chocolate.

Then we walked back to our hotel and tried to sleep. In the morning I made a cup of tea, but the water here is even worse that in London.

We walked to a bakery nearby, Maison Bichon, for breakfast. This was very basic with limited seating, a bakery rather than a café, but the food was delicious – very nice croissants, an apricot and pistachio slice, crepes, orange juice and coffee. There was no butter or jam, but you didn’t need it – the food was delicious without fillings or toppings.  Despite the few formica-topped tables, this was a good find.

Then we went back to the hotel and JD had a shower before we tackled our next challenge – how to get to l’Ȋle de la Cité using the metro. It now seems to be known as Ȋle de France.

We walked to the Gare du Nord, to discover how to use the Metro. It’s all changed since we were last here!  We ask some folk in official uniforms, and are advised to walk some way to a ticket office and ticket machines. Sure enough, there is a queue for the Actual Person in the ticket office. An official is checking the queue to see what we need. He very helpfully tells us what metro to take to St Michel, the station we’re after, and advises JD to be very careful about storing his money. This advice is kindly received, but JD is super careful: only problem is, it’s such a mission to retrieve cash or card!

We came out of the St Michel station and gazed at Nôtre Dame Cathedral. It still needs a lot of repair, but it’s still grand, and people are looking forward to its re-opening. (Actually it will open in December this year – we just missed that). It’s still majestic.

We find our way to our alternative destination, the Chapel of Sainte-Chapelle. When we got there we had to queue for ages, and then got through to be securitized. There was an important trial going on next door. It was frustrating to queue for so long, but the weather wasn’t too bad.

When we finally got through, it wasn’t too crowded inside. There’s an initial chapel with stained glass windows, but at one end there are curving store stairs.  We climb the stairs, with some doubt on my part, ascending to another, more glorious chapel with more magnificent stained glass windows.  I am so glad we came to see this place. There is definitely an Islam influence here. It’s quite unprepossessing from the outside.

We had lunch at a nearby café where we could watch Notre Dame: I had an omelette, JD had a croque monsieur, and we shared affogato. 

After this we took a cruise on the Seine. The boat did a circuit, which took about an hour.  It stopped at all the usual landmarks, although you would have had to walk some way to reach them.  It is idyllic, calm, and quite beautiful.

We got the metro back to Gare Du Nord successfully, but then couldn’t get out of the building! Machines kept rejecting our tickets, until someone officially us through. Gare du Nord seemed like such a maze.

That night we ate at L’Etoile de Est, but sadly it was not a good choice. The man serving spoke some English, and tried to be helpful. We both ordered steak fries, a small portion, but they were huge and came with salad and a huge bowl of fries, and bread, of course. But they actually had orangina!  We shared a chocolate/coffee cheesecake for dessert. That was delicious. On previous visits we’d found it a challenge to eat well in France, which seems strange, since I love French cooking. But this meal is our only real disappointment.

The next day was a busy one. I’d pre-booked tickets for the Louvre. We got a taxi from our hotel, and as we were a bit early and hadn’t eaten we went to the nearby Cafe Ruc for le petit déjeuner – orange juice, of course, tea for JD and a double espresso for me, and pastries and heated bread with butter, honey and jam. 

Then we queued up in the queue for people with tickets set for 10:30 am. It all worked well, the guards could scan my two tickets on my phone despite my having no Wi-Fi, and before long we were securitized and in the Louvre, along with thousands of other people. It seemed almost as crazily busy as when we were last here in 2016, at the height of summer. (Note: this system later failed me when we tried to go to the Vatican Museums).

Once in, it was nice to be able to see what we wanted, although the crowds were horrendous in most places. Caravaggio’s Fortune Teller was a highlight, as were paintings by Géricault and David, and statues of captive slaves by Michelangelo.  Of course we saw the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the famous Venus de Milo; there was a huge queue to see the Mona Lisa, so we didn’t get close to that painting. But there was another painting by Leonardo da Vinci that I prefer. Most of the things I particularly wanted to see did not have huge crowds.

After this we sat and tried to figure from the printed guide how to get to a café for some lunch, when the fire alarm went, several times, and we were urged to leave. We’d actually seen most of what we wanted to see, so we endeavoured to go, although many visitors seemed unfazed by the emergency. I kept thinking of previous terrorist attacks in Paris, and what a coup it would be to pull one off here. 

As we made our way out, it seemed the emergency was over, and people were being let in again. We followed the Sortie signs, to masses of shops and cafes, including Starbucks.

We made our way back to Cafe Ruc, where a beautiful lady called Marguerite served us. We both had omelettes, and I enjoyed another Orangina. There was bread, too. I regret that French omelettes aren’t quite what they used to be! The 3 egg omelette is really too large for me. Afterwards we shared a lemon and raspberry tart with raspberry sauce served in a separate wee bowl, and double espressos.

Then we set out to walk to the Musée de L’Orangerie through the Jardins des Tuileries. We marvelled at how beautiful Paris is, and just what a lovely walk it was. The architecture is so beautiful! It was a lovely walk, and not too cold. At the museum there was a queue, of course!  We stood in line and eventually got through. The gallery features Monet’s Water Lilies in two large rooms, where you can sit and watch the enormous paintings all around you. There are some nice Picasso paintings too, and some by Matisse, although not my favourites. Before leaving we spent time in the shop, of course.  I had regretted not buying a scarf at the Durham Cathedral shop: now was my chance to get another one. And so I did, and I think it’s am even nicer one: it’s a silk mixture, not too long, and goes well with my puffer jacket and most of my clothes.

By then it was quite dark outside, and we walked to the nearest taxi stand. JD wanted to go straight to the restaurant Bloom where we’d had a lovely meal, but he couldn’t find it on his phone, and the driver had no English, so we asked him to take us to our hotel. It’s tricky finding Hotel de l’Aqueduc in Google Maps too! Poor google is getting really confused by multiple searches. So-called free Wi-Fi has many limitations, although it’s almost universal.

We do feel vulnerable relying so much on our phones. For some reason JD has Wi-Fi on his phone, but I do not, so it’s very tricky.

I realise that I need to book our future train trips in advance, since going to a ticket office (like we used to) is no longer practicable.  I’m way of doing this, but get all the way through one booking to be defied by the CAPTCHA request – I am not a robot. So my booking falls over, although the bank here has sent me a code for the credit card payment. I keep getting reminders about completing the booking.  But next day I try on JD’s phone, and that works. I forward the email to me with the tickets and required QR codes.  It’s lots of fun!!! Next time I need a phone with more storage space, and I need to book in advance. I also need to be careful about changing trains.

 Also, of JD uses lots of Wi-Fi, Spark decides he’s used his allocation and pauses it till it renews his package.

We find a cab, but the drive back to our hotel seems very circuitous.  Walking would probably have been faster! We went to the restaurant Bloom again, but it being Friday night, they were fully booked.

We walked further and found an Italian restaurant. There are lots of cafes in the Gare Du Nord area, but not so many in the area of our hotel.

The Italian restaurant, Adaggio, was very good, and rapidly filled up after we entered. JD had lasagne and salad, and I had escalope of chicken in a beautiful tomato sauce; it had spicy salami on top of the chicken which I didn’t enjoy so much.  There was a bowl of linguine too – that was delicious too. Sadly, I could not eat very much of it. I think we shared a dessert but I can’t remember what it was!

Saturday was a very interesting day. JD had had a bad night, so he needed Panadol and humouring. We went to Maison Bichon again for breakfast. Thankfully it was open! The crepes were all gone, but we had croissants and an apple cake and orange juice and coffee.

Then JD had a shower, and we set out to go to Versailles again. The guy on the desk had given us instructions the previous evening. We went to the Gare to Du Nord and queued up to buy tickets: it seemed easy, you took the Metro to St Michel – Notre Dame again, and then a regional RER train to Versailles Chateau-Rive Gauche.  Easy as. And it all worked!

This time we were wise to the guy advising people to buy tickets from the machines – they seemed very problematic, looking at the evident frustration of the people trying to use them.

On the way there we went through a modern area with buildings very different from the city centre, but not unattractive.

When we got to Versailles, we bought return tickets – there wasn’t a queue at the railway station there. Then we set out to walk to Versailles, stopping at a cafe/restaurant for lunch.

JD had quiche Lorraine and salad; I chose soufflé with smoked salmon which came with salad, but the souffle was more like a frittata. The quiche was delicious. Then we shared what I thought was a Tarte tatin, but was an apple custard tart.

Then we set out to walk to the Chateau of Versailles – a 5-10 minute walk. The cobbled stones were not so smooth to walk on. We stood in a queue for a while, but it was for people who’d pre-booked! Then we went through to the Gardens and the Trianon area. There were heaps of people here too! It’s all vast. We hired a go-fer (a golf cart) and set out to drive along the selected area.  That was fun. We went to the Grand Canal, and to the Petit and Grand Trianons. We stopped and queued up to visit the larger one, marvelling that we’d walked here during our first trip in early 1974!  It’s all vast, all wonderful. The gardens are enormous, I doubt that any one person could appreciate them. I remembered how cold it had been on our previous visit in early January 1974.  It wasn’t as cold this time.

The we queued up to use the toilets at the Chateau before returning to the railway station. The restroom was clean-ish, but there was no toilet paper, so I was glad to have brought some tissues.

Then we walked to the now very busy railway station, and got on a very busy train back to St Michel – Notre Dame.  I agonised over whether this was the right train, but sure enough, it got us to where we wanted to go. Once there, it was really hard to find the Metro for the rest of our journey, since we’d come on an RER train and needed to go to a different area of the station. After wandering around we came upon a ticket office, where they assured us that our tickets were valid for Gare du Nord, and to catch the magenta coloured Metro. So we did, and it stopped at a number more stations than we were expecting. Once at Gare du Nord, we walked right out onto the street! Confusing?

We walked back to our hotel, where the room keys didn’t work! But we went downstairs and paid the extra tax, and were given new room keys for the extra night. Thankfully our luggage was still in the room. We had almost an hour before our dinner reservation at the Bloom restaurant, so I was grateful to get changed (black trousers and jersey and my lacy black cardigan, plus my new scarf).

Well, what a treat. I had fish (black cod with miso, chicory and grapefruit), and mashed potato, which came in a separate bowl. Well, if fish were cooked like that I’d have it every time. Delicious. I’m not usually a great fan of fish.  JD had Autumn Risotto with Truffles, and it came with parmesan crisps. This was accompanied by sparkling mineral water, a glass of Bollinger, and a glass of Chablis. For dessert I had something with clementines and ice cream, JD had something with chocolate. It’s wonderful to be given portions that are filling without being far too big. Then we returned to the hotel, where although I was really tired, I had trouble sleeping, worrying about the three stage train journey we were to do to Milan the next day.

As we packed, again, we marvelled at how dirty washing takes up far more space than clean clothes!

The next morning I got very frustrated with JD, who seemed to have no sense of urgency at all! Anyway, we got to Gare de l’Est, where the train platform had not yet been announced. We had not been there before, although it was quite close to where we were staying. We had coffee and I had a croissant, he had fruit before we went to platform 30, the furthest away, of course. Anyway, no drama, we found our seats on the very full train. JD had somehow bought a bottle of Orangina, which was a lovely surprise. It’s like orange juice and soda water, not sweet and artificially coloured like Fanta.

So we’re on the train to Strasbourg. It’s very flat here, with the occasional village, where we are to change trains (first change) after a short ride. The architecture has changed completely, since we’re now in Alsace-Lorraine, but although I’ve long wanted to go to Strasbourg, I see very little of it, and certainly not the famous cathedral.

The train for our next short hop to Basel is on the next platform, so there’s no drama with boarding it.

Au revoir, Paris!  Slava Ukraini. Ngā mihi nui.

Durham Cathedral

We caught the train here from Kings Cross station on Saturday morning, arriving Saturday afternoon. The journey takes about 3 ½ hours, passing through Peterborough and York on its way to Edinburgh. Because we were travelling first class, we were served lunch on the way: a bread (brioche) roll, a small tub of yoghurt-like dessert, drinks, and bananas.

 We got a taxi from Durham railway station to our 4* hotel, the Radisson Blu. Now we’re really in corporate territory, I fear. What an experience! The bedroom was on the first floor and was quite large, with nice bathroom with bath. There was no fridge, biscuits or microwave. There was an armchair, so JD asked for an extra duvet.  We did not have a particularly nice view: you could pay extra for that, but there was a large window.

We went for a walk, but were flummoxed by the local area – crossing the river Wear by pedestrian bridge we climbed through modern hospitality area and Millennium Square to get to Market Square and part of the old area. This was a modern area, built to cater for students, with many bars and new-ish restaurants. JD wanted to buy headphones, and although I was very tired we made our way uphill on a mainly pedestrian area to reach the older part of the town and Durham Cathedral on a high plateau. It almost towers over the city, impregnable and solid, for the ages. 

A choir was rehearsing Faure’s Requiem, for Evensong later that day. It was so beautiful and seemed appropriate, as we sat and listened for a while. You aren’t allowed to take photographs in the Cathedral. The pillars are immense! It’s quite different from Canterbury Cathedral. The pillars have a Byzantine influence, something that was later conveyed to us by a guide. This cathedral is quite different from Canterbury Cathedral, although neither of them is particularly ornate.

Then we walked back to our hotel where we had an evening meal: vegetable soup for each of us, followed by a very nice cheeseboard that we shared. A feature of this included a very nice butter, wrapped in foil like a wee cheese, and Wookey Hole cheese – a rinded cheese that was quite mild, but delicious.  We had wine and prosecco as well.

The next morning I wanted to go to the 10 am morning service at the Cathedral. The problem was, where to have breakfast? The hotel offered Full English Breakfast for £25.99. Ridiculous! We could have it on the way, but most coffee shops didn’t open till 9:30 am. There was supposed to be a 24 hour restaurant called Collage at the hotel, but we couldn’t find it, and we’re later told that it was now Josef’s, with limited hours and very high prices.

In the event we ate at Vennel’s Cafe, a rather rustic student hang out where I was rather put off by seeing a fly crawl over their scones. Still the woman serving us was very eager to please. We had their special, a brioche bun with sausage and a fried egg, two oat milk lattes, and two orange juices.  By the time they came it was a rush to eat and drink before rushing up to the Cathedral by 10 am, but somehow  we did that, taking our uneaten food with us.

We got to the Cathedral as the clergy were processing in, and then were allowed to sit down. It was quite wonderful again. A second sung Eucharist, but we could join in singing the hymns. It’s wonderful to sing in a Cathedral, as it was in Canterbury. 

A highlight was singing Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.  Afterwards we couldn’t look at the cathedral till after 12; they had a Morning Prayer service to do yet.

So we walked to the UNESCO visitor centre where we saw the Archaeological museum and also saw Bishop John Cosin’s library. All these old books! One wonders just how many he read. Apparently he owned a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio. The library had all the books in closed bookshelves and was temperature controlled. I really wanted to buy a picture of the large Rose Window in the cathedral, but was told they have their own shop. 

So we went back to the cathedral and explored some, finding the Shrine of St Cuthbert and sitting for a time there. It’s a lovely restful spot. There are signs around asking you to be respectful and prayerful. Then we went down to visit the shop, where there were many wonderful things, all very expensive. I wanted, but did not buy a beautiful blue scarf. But we did buy a book about the cathedral, and a rose window design to stick onto a window at home.  (I later bought a beautiful scarf from the Orangerie in Paris, so I didn’t miss out completely).

Then it was seriously time to have lunch, and we went to a rather upmarket restaurant in one of the streets nearby. If I had known, we were really near the Elvet bridge!  I had Sea Bass with potatoes Dauphinoise, and broccoli; JD had a chicken burger. He also ordered an iced -tea based cocktail which tasted very nice but I fear was a cocktail rather than a mocktail.

After this we wandered back to our hotel where there was no evidence of housekeeping having been! Did they even do daily housekeeping, I wondered? There were several housekeeping trolleys in the corridor. Eventually some one came and I asked for clean towels. The woman was very perfunctory, but we got clean towels and facecloths; no bath mat.

We had a long rest after that, and later went down to the bar for something to eat and drink.  They gave JD his whiskey and ginger ale, and me my appletiser. They also brought two servings of Sticky Toffee Pudding which we enjoyed

Monday was a free day but there were problems with several things being closed: the Oriental museum, and the Auckland project, an interesting venue about 20 minutes drive away.  The Durham museum was permanently close.  However we planned to do lots of walking, and go to Evensong at the cathedral at 5:30 pm. There were two bridges and some galleries I wanted to check out. I had though there were some Turner paintings here, but this was not the case, although he visited and painted the cathedral.

We had breakfast at the hotel, asking at the bar for coffee, orange juice, and two croissants, so as to avoid the exorbitant costs at the restaurant for the breakfast buffet.  That took a while: I think one of the lasses had to go out to buy fresh croissants, but when they eventually came, they were wonderful! Two warmed croissants each, and a pain au chocolat, with beautiful butter and jam.

JD wanted to do some washing, so we set out to walk to the nearest laundry, which turned out to be near the railway viaduct. When we got there, the laundry wasn’t self-service, and the washing had to be picked up the next day! That was no good for us.  The hotel did not have a guest laundry, like most New Zealand motels do! Our fancy hotel would do laundry starting at £3 for one pair of socks! Ridiculous. We then set out to walk to the Elvet Bridge, which turned out to be very near where we’d been the day before. There were boat services too, including one cruise at 12:30 pm.

So we went to a cafe close by to have a quick lunch before sailing. Of course, nothing happens quickly! I ordered a tuna and mayo sandwich, which was enormous; JD ordered more widely- a ham and cheese toastie. Again, we ended up taking our uneaten food with us. We should have shared!

We found our way back down to the River where you paid £10 each on board for senior citizens. It was very cold on the boat, but there was a nice man sitting in front of us who was very informative. He had travelled in Europe and had actually taken the train trip I had booked from Paris to Milan! I was comforted by that, as it had been hard work to book, with two changes. More about that later.

The tour took about 45 minutes, and was good value. We saw Prebends bridge, and had many more wonderful views of the Cathedral and the castle. There was great scepticism about Londoners; Durham reminded me of Glasgow far more than the south of England.

Then we went back to our hotel for a rest before going to Evensong. Again, housekeeping had not been to our room! I made the bed, and asked for clean towels and more teabags. Then someone else knocked on the door to ask whether we’d like our room serviced.

It was dark when we went to Evensong, but we climbed up the hill again and got there a few minutes early. We were guided to sit in a section of the choir stalls. This was an Evensong/Evening Prayer service, with the choir of St Hild and St Bede. It was well attended. Strangely, the person officiating did not pray in relation to the American Election, which, of course, was on everyone’s minds.

After that we headed back to our hotel, hoping to find somewhere to eat on the way.

We stopped at the Market Inn, but they didn’t seem that interested in serving us. then we walked though the Odeon Centre. There were many Italian restaurants, and many strange newer ones, but we went back to our hotel where I had a delicious starter – a kind of ham terrine, with “pease pudding” which turned out to be stewed split peas and tasted rather like hummus, with a slice of toast and pickled vegetables.

Afterwards I had lemon posset with berries and shortbread biscuits, and JD had a Chocolate Pie with “drunk” berries, which was also delicious.

This morning we breakfasted at a local coffee bar, in Millennium Square. I had a bacon sandwich and black filtered coffee, while JD had fresh fruit and a sultana scone with butter and jam. That worked well for me! We walked up to a a Gregg’s store to buy food to take on the train back to London. Then we checked out of the hotel and caught a taxi to Durham station.

Then we caught the train back to London (second class this time), to Kings Cross Station.

Back in busy old London, we walk to Gower Street where the Regency House Hotel is located. It is fine and warm, although confusing, of course, to get there. This is a more salubrious area of London.

The B&B Hotel, recommended to me by a friend, is in an old house with lots of stairs. As luck would have it we’re placed in a family room on the ground floor, with plenty of space. There’s also a fridge and a microwave oven, and a tiny bathroom with heated flooring.

We went out to find a laundrette, not too far away; then we had dinner at a Greek/Turkish little restaurant in the Russell Square area.  We went to sleep, but sadly I woke before midnight to learn that the US Presidential Election was well under way, and Trump was winning!  After that I didn’t want to listen any more.

In the morning we dressed and went down to the breakfast room, where, as my friend had told me, the breakfast was excellent. There was juice, a small pot of brewed coffee, plenty of toast, and whatever you wanted of the Full English Breakfast. You could also have an omelette. We sat at individual tables, which was nice.

Then we left our bags at Reception, and set out for the British Museum.

While we waited for it to open at 10 am, we went to a café in the park nearby.

The museum was busy, and confusing, but we saw lots of classical statues, the Parthenon Friezes (formerly known as the Elgin Marbles), and the Rosetta Stone.

Then we set out to walk back to Regency House, pick up our luggage, and head off to St Pancras Station for our Eurostar journey to Paris.

It was quite a long way, and we were relieved to get a taxi just as we were getting back to our hotel. But it was very slow indeed getting to St Pancras – it probably would have been faster to walk. I was worried that we hadn’t allowed enough time to check in.

In the event I need not have worried. It was crammed, everywhere, and we were unsure where to go. There seemed to be an insane number of checks. Silly me, although I’d printed our tickets, I’d printed them double-sided, which is not good for the QR-code reading machines with gates to let you through. JD had to get an old-fashioned boarding pass.

Then we went through to a packed lounge. The Train before ours, going to Brussels, was delayed, so all those folk were there too. There was nowhere to sit: I ended up sitting on the suitcase, till I had to move for a rubbish collector. Then a young man gave up his seat, for which I was very thankful.

Soon our platform was announced, and we went up an escalator to find the correct train and the correct carriage and seats within it.

Again, we were on a full train. Again, we were served lunch – a chicken salad, I think. The route to Paris is grey and not very interesting.

Slava Ukraini! Nga mihi nui.

A view of Canterbury Cathedral, which is nestled in and dominates the town

Our son was to meet us at our hotel in London the next morning, and he was there at 9 am. We had packed up, so we went in search of breakfast, and had something to eat at Granger’s, an Australian chain. I had scrambled eggs on what they called a “knuckle” of ciabatta with butter: in actuality it was very thick toasted bread and the eggs were more like an omelette. JD had corn fritters and we both had oat milk lattes. The kind waiter allowed us to stow our baggage under a counter near our table. 

Afterwards we went to catch a train to Canterbury. Just as well our son was with us, as it went from St Pancras station, not the Kings Cross station where the trains to Durham went from. The scenery is pretty uninspiring! When we got to Canterbury he drove us to his new house. There we met our daughter-in-law and our new granddaughter and gave out the gifts we’d brought.  The new baby is just lovely, and so alert! They all look so well and healthy. She is bigger than I had expected.

After a while we drove to a nearby village (Fordwich) to have lunch at a pub there.  Pub food is generally very good, with comprehensive menus, and the staff are very welcoming. There are generally several different rooms, rather than the “booze barns” that used to be frequent in New Zealand.

 It’s all quite beautiful – old architecture and very pretty. The pub was lovely – I had appletiser to drink and a cheese and pickle sandwich (beautiful fresh brown bread) with crisps and a salad. The baby was a bit unsettled but really good. They have a lovely small pram which folds up.

Then our son took us to our hotel, the Hampton by Hilton, very near the cathedral.  It’s a 3 star, but seems to be very high quality. Our room is a good size, with a couch as requested, and plenty of towels. There is plenty of room to in the bathroom to put things. What a joy!

I did not get a lot of sleep, but I was delighted to have a long shower early in the morning and wash my hair. The breakfast was pretty good: nice fruit, apple and orange juice, and toast with butter, Vegemite, marmalade, honey and strawberry jam. The cooked food was the usual: bacon, sausages (quite delicious), tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns and scrambled eggs. They don’t seem to do creamy scrambled eggs in England! And there was coffee too. I did not see any porridge. The fruit consisted of rock melon and peaches.  There were two waffle machines, too; I really dislike the smell of the waffle makers, as I dislike the smell of popcorn. But breakfast was delicious and everything seemed clean.

After breakfast we walked to the cathedral. It is majestic, magnificent, truly amazing. There was only a handful of people there, which was nice. We bought some things from the shop on the cathedral. You can buy season tickets which are valid for a year. I think.

Then it was time for coffee. JD chose Stag, an unfortunate name for a place, evidently American, with a strong smell of frying fat. We had oat milk lattes, which were far too big, and we shared a slice which wasn’t very nice. Bad choice!

After this we returned to the hotel to wait for our son. We would do some washing this afternoon, and then go to Evensong at the cathedral at 5:30 pm, and have dinner afterwards

In the event we went shopping with him at the local M&S, buying bread, cheese, salad, ham, avocadoes and sun-dried tomatoes to eat for lunch at his house.  I had a rest there after lunch, but we did not go to Evensong at the cathedral as planned. We were going to eat at a very old pub locally, but they did not serve food on Tuesday, so we ended up having pizzas delivered to the house for tea. JD and I got a taxi back to our hotel afterwards. It cost £15, not the £9 Alfred had quoted to us!

I think I slept a little better last night, but I woke at 1:30 am and had great trouble getting back to sleep. And the headphones wore out! That was so frustrating. If I held on tightly to the end forcing it into the phone, it worked sometimes.

Again we went down to breakfast soon after 6 am.  Then after 9 am I went off to buy more headphones. I found a shop that sold them, but it didn’t open till 9:30 am on a Wednesday! So I had a look at clothes shops, specifically the H&M store. It had lovely clothes. I wasn’t going to buy anything, but after leaving I thought I was stupid not to, so I went back after all. It took me ages to find the jersey I’d so admired. I did eventually, and tried it on and bought it, taking the cardigan I’d brought out of its plastic bag to hold the beautiful new cream jersey I’d bought. Then I bought new headphones, and what a mission that was! The shop had one set, but it looked right. I wanted to pay cash, though, and that was even more complicated!

Then I went back to the hotel. JD had not made progress with his showering, so I left him again and walked to the Cathedral.  There were far more many people there this morning. I followed the tourist route (!), and went down to the Crypt. It was surrounded by several small chapels. JD later explained that each priest had to say Mass daily, so many chapels were needed. There was a weekly service in French, and a Huguenot chapel. The cathedral was a place of refuge, for those fleeing persecution.

We both returned to the Crypt, and then went to have coffee at the Cathedral Lodge, which was actually a hotel . They were happy to make us oat milk lattes, and we shared a slice of Victoria sponge.  I could even log into the hotel’s internet connection. In fact most establishments have “free” Wi-Fi available, although usually you have to give them your email address and allow cookies.

Afterwards we went to the other “official” shop where I bought a beautiful book about the cathedral for £12.  Then we made our way to the Roman museum. This involved going downstairs where there were remains of a Roman settlement that was there back in the day when the Romans were interested in conquering Britain. Actually I did not find it all that interesting.

We had heard from our son that he was tied up with the  budget announcement and budget reaction until about 3:30 pm, so we set about having lunch.

I wanted to avoid anywhere that had a smell of cooking oil, and wanted to go to a Canterbury Bakery that we’d passed and was near our hotel. It was quite roomy, and looked like being somewhere that I’d like to go. So fighting his scepticism, I found it, and it worked well – for me, anyway!  I had a baguette filled with ham and cheese (and generously buttered). (I also had a very tiny, very strong espresso coffee. JD had English Breakfast tea, and bruschetta, which was two slices of bread covered with leaves and avocado. It looked great, but my baguette was delicious, although I could only eat half of it. We also bought a bottle of sparkling water to drink some and take it back to the hotel. The butter in England is really delicious. It tastes good.

We returned, but housekeeping had not been to our bedroom yet, so we repaired  to the downstairs lounge to sit quietly and wait for our son.

That night we had inner at the Yew Tree pub. It was a very old pub, very Falstaffian! Like other good pubs, it had an extensive menu. Down a narrow lane!  The waitress was very helpful. We had pậté to start with, followed by salmon with new potatoes, broccoli and peas, and JD and I shared a creme brulée with autumn compote.

On Thursday I went for a walk after breakfast, and bought a fluffy cream jacket for £9. It seemed a sin not to buy it at that price, although I had already bought a jersey. The cheerful lass serving me even put it in a paper bag with handles which was free!  Then I went to the Cathedral again, and to St Thomas Becket’s shrine.

That day we went to a restaurant called Pedaler outside of Canterbury. This was like a warehouse that had been refurbished, and unlike other venues, was quite cold! Nevertheless, the food was good. Then we went to Margate, where J M W Turner visited often, and other famous people came there too. It has a certain charm, although I was reminded of Butlins’ holiday camps. There is a museum complex there, and a shop, of course, where we bought a book about Turner’s painting style.  I was so glad to have been there.

The next day was our last in Canterbury, for now. The next morning we went punting on the river Stour. That was quite an experience! We were the only passengers, and Emil was most informative. We had to duck our heads several times to get under the low bridges. Everything is so very old here!  The village centre of Canterbury is quite charming, and not how I’d remembered it.

We went to Evensong in the Cathedral that evening (they don’t have a public service on Thursday). It was already dark, and I worried that we would be late. You had to go in using a different entrance, and they were quite formal about the seating. It was All Saints’ Day, and so they had a sung Eucharist.

The service was well attended, and I found it very pleasant to sing in the Cathedral.  But the service was very formal, with lots of incense, and a large procession of clergy – maybe twelve?  Canon Emma took the service, and spoke about the saints having all kept the faith, as we can do, even when things seem to be floundering around us. We are all saints now, she said.  Just days later news broke of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby’s resignation, so in retrospect that seemed very poignant.  I had not kept up with the history of abuse by John Smyth, who was apparently a friend of Welby’s. It is another very sad story.

Then we went to have dinner at Côte, where they welcomed us warmly. You could get two courses for £17.99, and we shared an entrée, ordered two mains, and shared a dessert. What a treat, it was all delicious food, well cooked and prepared.

The next morning our son met us to catch the train back to London; that was a drama, being a very full train with lots of passengers. We had to sit separately! It was bedlam at Kings Cross Station, and I had to queue to use the rest room (of course!), but there was plenty of time between that and then a train to Durham, for our next adventure. As we weren’t returning to Canterbury for the next few weeks, we condensed our baggage into two backpacks and a small suitcase. That would have to do! Although these seemed arduous, we were to feel extremely virtuous as we saw many people lugging far more baggage than us around.

Slava Ukraini! Nga mihi nui.

The Fighting Temeraire, J M W Turner

The next morning we went down to breakfast soon after it opened at 6 am, and paid for a Full English Breakfast. JD had an omelette made; I had a fried egg with bacon and tomato. For the toast they had containers of butter and margarine, but not of jam! They had two waffle makers where you could make your own waffles with some pre-made mixture. You could have “proper” coffee there too.

After breakfast we went back to our room and re-packed and rested until Charlie was due to come and pick us up.

Charlie took us back to his house in Windmill Road, next to the park, as when we’d visited 8 years earlier. He introduced us to his mother in law. After having a cup of coffee, we walked to the local pub, the Plough, where we were to have lunch with Charlie’s two daughters and his mother Liz who lives in a nearby rest home. The pub was in a centre of small shops and was quite “rustic”. There was a Kiwi serving there – no surprise, really. 

I drank sparkling water. The menu was quite comprehensive, but I just had a starter of smoked mackerel pate and toast. I was surprised to find some fish bones in the pậté! JD and Liz had fish (haddock) and chips, and the servings were huge. I was glad not to have eaten too much, because eventually we had pudding – a sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream for me. It was delicious.

Afterwards we went back to Charlie’s house where we had tea or coffee and scones with jam and cream made by Ella.

Eventually Charlie summoned an Uber to take us to our next hotel near Kings Cross station. He said the journey would take 1 1/4 hours, but there were road closures and the traffic was gridlocked for much of the time. It took closer to 2 1/2 hours, and I did not feel very well. I had remained animated and talkative but was now fading fast.

Our Travelodge Hotel did not have a luggage trolley, but we had the fastest and easiest check-in – no passports or signatures required. Three-star hotels I have known!  I think that this hotel serves a different demographic.

It really is a very basic hotel, despite having “Royal Scot” (with one “t”) in its title. There is no housekeeping (clean towels and tea bags delivered daily on request, however), a bath, and breakfast is included. There is no fridge, and hopefully no bedbugs! It did seem very noisy, until JD closed the window. At least there is a window!

There is only free wi-fi for 10 minutes each day!

We went downstairs to the bar/restaurant where JD had a whisky and I more sparkling water to take back to our room.

Breakfast starts at 7 am on weekdays but not until 8 am on weekends, so we had a long night ahead.

There is an Italian restaurant nearby and a coffee bar with good reviews, although I think that doesn’t open until Monday morning. I have not been sleeping at all well. On the Friday night I got very little sleep.

But Saturday was a new day.  I ran a bath, but had to ask JD to cool it down after I let it become far too hot. But actually it’s a very good bath, nice and long and I could get out of it by myself. I also made a cup of tea.

We went down to our already paid for breakfast soon after 8 , and it was already very busy, so perhaps it had started at 7 am.

There was a bar of cooked food, including scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, tomato halves, mushrooms and hash browns. JD got me some cut fruit – melon, apple and grapes, but it had not been carefully prepared the way I’d do it. JD made toast and brought containers of jam and some kind of margarine, but everything had a strange aftertaste – perhaps it came from the margarine? The orange juice was strong and unpleasant, and the coffee not much better, although it was “proper” coffee.

Afterwards we went off to make our way to Kings Cross Station, a few minutes’ walk away.  It’s next to the lovely brick St Pancras station where the Eurostar trains go from.

It’s all a huge and busy complex. We went into Kings Cross Railway station to try and figure out how things worked, and saw the huge overhead showing different national trains and their destinations and stopping points.

Then we went to the Underground, which is another huge complex. We worked out that we should catch the Piccadilly line train to Piccadilly circus to get to the National Gallery.

JD bought 2 return day trip tickets for us, and we headed off for the Piccadilly Line – dark blue, in between the light blue of the Victoria Line and the really dark blue of the by Northern Line. Everything was well sign posted, with some stairs but mainly escalators. I remember all this now.

The platforms are quite narrow, without the barriers to avoid someone being pushed or falling onto the tracks like they have in Taipei.  The trains are very fast. It was very busy getting on the train; you have to push your way on, avoiding people getting off with the pushchairs or luggage. There seems to be no keeping to either right or left here, and precious few good manners. In NZ we wait until the bus or train has stopped before getting up to leave. And there was no central pole to hang onto while getting on and off!

We went several stops and eventually I was able to sit down. The train was very noisy, reminding me of Glasgow when we were there 8 years ago. There was no voiceover or signage to say which station was next, although later on, our return train had both of these.

We got off some distance from the National Gallery, but I thought we were in the right area. I saw a statue which I thought was Nelson’s Column, but it was not.  Eventually I persuaded JD to use Google Maps with directions for walking, partly to show him how it was not that straightforward to use it, although he often asks me to do so!

Eventually we got near the National Gallery. Of course there was a queue to get in, but having got this close I wasn’t going to miss out. We could see part of Trafalgar Square, but it was blocked by several erections and did not look like the photographs.

Finally we got into the National Gallery where I had to open my handbag and my tote bag for examination – they had had trouble with Just Stop Oil protesters defacing the paintings. But that was all. You’d have far greater security at most American museums.

The paintings, of course, are just wonderful. And entry is free. We wanted to buy tickets for the van Gogh exhibition they’re holding, but they were already sold out, alas. There was an exhibition of works by Constable, including his famous Hay Wain, but to my astonishment there was no protection or barrier to stop you getting too close.

One thing I found incredibly frustrating was the notices beside each painting saying who was the artist, when it was painted, and a brief note on the subject matter, were incredibly hard to read. I had to get really close although you can’t really look at the paintings right up close to them. There were lots of people there, including children, and it was hard to photograph the pictures. One rarely heard English spoken!

When we got to the Turner paintings, one of my main objectives, there were lots of people including a group of children copying the paintings! I felt rude for stepping around them, but I’d come from NZ and one of my specific objectives was to see these paintings in particular.

The paintings of course are extraordinary. There was a lovely one of a train. They’re very impressionistic.

London seemed shabby and down at heel, and reminded us of when we first visited in the early 1970’s – the time of the first oil crisis, the three-day week, the IRA threats in England, and dreadful terrorism in Europe.  It was doing better when we visited in 2010 and 2016, before the implications of Brexit were felt.  It strikes me that if it weren’t for the immigrants, the Brits rather like it this way. “Mustn’t grumble!”

There are pictures of Madonna and child, and in one of them Mary looked very realistic, as did her son. But mostly the little boys had really chubby legs and tiny penises. One got the feeling the painters enjoyed painting them this way.

There’s a Caravaggio paying of the Supper at Emmaus, with a strangely young, innocent feminine Jesus; it also had what seemed to be a roast duckling, and a bowl of not great fruit that he would later use to great effect in a still life of a bowl of fruit with a worm having eaten through the apple. Australian writer Peter Robb used this to great effect on the cover of his Midnight in Sicily book, which centres around the trial of Andreotti, a former prime minister, on trial for his links to the Mafia. I have seen that painting.

The Supper at Emmaus painting was said to be a representation of The Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples, but this looked like a regular meal with the bread and wine not prominent. There was another Caravaggio painting of a child sting by a wasp, the child looking very like his famous painting of the Medusa. Shades of El Greco here.

This reminds me that there were paintings by Titian Veronese, Delacroix, Michelangelo and even one by Leonardo da Vinci.

We saw The Ambassadors, and of course I had to see the Arnolfini portrait again.

I was very tired, and we stopped to have lunch in one of the cafes. It was really busy. JD chose two cakes (not what I would have chosen!) and then I chose Quiche Lorraine with salad. This hot food was served by a woman attendant, who also piled salad on our plates and asked which of two dressings we would like. I went to get another tray, leaving JD to pay and order oat milk lattes if possible. The trays were clean but unpleasantly sticky!  There were no tables free, but we sat at a longer table with stools which was really quite comfortable. The stools had backing, so it was like sitting on a chair. The coffees were simply delicious! The quiche was good, too, although made with a very sharp cheese.

We then tried to buy tickets for the Van Gogh exhibition the next day. They were releasing some at 4 pm, but we were very tired and could not wait around until then.

When we decided to go, I queued up to use the bathroom, realizing it might be a while before the opportunity arose again.

I almost gave up, but thankfully did not, since the queue was far longer when I came out! The toilets were new and quite clean, but pretty whiffy. There didn’t seem to be any deodorant. In Taiwan, both of our visits, I never used a smelly toilet.

When we came out, there were barricades up so we couldn’t see Trafalgar Square at all, but we could hear plenty of sirens and there was a helicopter overhead. Evidently there’d been a protest occasioned by Tommy Robinson (currently in prison) and for Palestine. I think it was Robinson’s supporters who were protesting. There were apparently several arrests.

We walked to the Leicester Square underground station, and caught a tube train back to Kings Cross. This time there was a voiceover and an electronic notice for each station, but again I found it hard to get on and off the train with no central pole to hold on to.

We made our way back to our hotel, where I had a sleep!  Very rewarding, I felt much better after that.  Then we went and had dinner at a local Italian restaurant – Mediterraneo.  There were good reviews about this, except for one woman who complained that the Tesco’s tomato sauce that she cooked with was superior!

We ate very well there: JD had some kind of baked penne, and I had spaghetti con polpette. It was cooked “al dente”, as it should be, and was delicious. Thankfully the helpings were not too large. JD wanted to have dessert but I’d had an aperol spritz, and didn’t want to have any more to eat.

So we returned to our hotel. We went to bed, and again I went to sleep, not waking up till about 3 am.

I was convinced I was on a plane, flying to Rome, in business class.   I figured, after a while, that I was not, I was in my hotel in London, after wondering just where I was to stay in Rome.

On Sunday morning I ran another bath. When I got in, I realized how the taps work: the left one gives you water; the one on the right hand side regulates the temperature. It’s easy when you know (or remember!) how it works!

The UK changed from Daylight savings time overnight, so my watch was wrong again and I had to put it back an hour.

Breakfast was better this morning, although extremely busy. We had the same table for two that we had yesterday.  The fruit was much nicer, and I had apple juice to drink rather than orange juice. I used butter on my toast and it was much nicer than the weird margarine. This morning I stuck to fruit and toast rather than hot food.

Today is a beautiful fine day! The sun is shining, it’s not raining, and it’s quite warm and beautiful outside.

After breakfast we walked to the Old Church at St Pancras.  This was about a 30 minute walk, behind St Pancras station in a park. It is Anglo-Catholic, and they were having a short mass this morning because there was to be a celebratory mass in the afternoon to welcome a new parish priest.

The church is a beautiful old stone building, which has somehow survived Oliver Cromwell and other strifes.  The service was more catholic than other Roman Catholic services I’ve been to, with “smells and bells” and a great deal of ceremony. Because the service was shortened, we did not have the organ or any hymns, and only a short homily (but lovely though).  There was an especially beautiful golden triptych altarpiece, which may have been buried at one time to protect it.  The priest prayed for Pope Francis and the Royal Family.  There were about 20 people there, including a couple with a very young baby. The space inside had a nice feeling of intimacy.  I was so pleased that we went there.

Afterwards we walked back to Kings Cross station, to catch the Tube to the Victoria and Albert museum.  It was hard to find a schematic of the Underground again, but we worked out that the best place to get off was the South Kensington station.

From there we found an underground tunnel that took us directly to the V& A Museum.

This was well worth a visit, although we avoided the Buddhist section. The first one we saw revolved around French and English design at the times of the French revolution and Napoleon’s rise to power – very intricate and beautiful, if slightly impractical!

This museum was busy but thankfully not nearly as busy as the National Gallery had been yesterday.

We decided to have some lunch, but that was quite a performance. There were queues at 3 counters: cooked food and salads, sandwiches and cakes, and drinks, with a separate counter for payment, where you collected cutlery and paper napkins. Once again JD was magnificent. We got a tray with fish pie (prawns, haddock and smoked sea trout, which looked like salmon), and a beetroot salad and “leaves” – it looked like lettuce to me! You added your own olive oil and vinegar rather than a prepared dressing.

So I took the fish pie and salads while JD went to get cake and drinks. The fish pie was delicious, and there were no fish bones. Having found a table, I ate half of it, while fighting off the midge-like creatures who would share. Eventually JD returned with a beautiful blueberry cake, an oat-milk latte for me in a cardboard container, and a glass of white wine for him. Perfect! What a good idea to share the fish pie and the cake.

Then we went in search of more treasures, including and especially some more paintings by JMW Turner, including one of Venice. There were more Constables too.

We made our way out, after an obligatory restroom stop (you need to queue here for anything worthwhile!), and back to South Kensington subway stop. It was incredibly busy – we had to push our way on to an already crowded train. When we were almost back we were both able to sit down, thankfully. In all the crush I did not see one person wearing a mask. It was very hot on the train. We were glad to get back. We dined at Mediterraneo again, and afterwards they gave us wee glasses of chilled limoncello.

We flew to Auckland without incident. After we arrived, we retrieved our luggage (wondering why we had brought so much), loaded it on a trolley and set out to walk to the international terminal and the Novotel hotel. Of course, everything has changed!  The transport hub has moved, and access to the hotel is now better. We were able to check into our room, which is larger than our previous stays, and has a couch (and a view of a carpark).

The flight had left Wellington at 12:15 pm, so we were quite hungry, and had lunch at the Novotel’s restaurant. It took ages to get served, but we ordered wisely: two small plates (mine being smoked salmon, JD’s fried chicken), and a cheeseboard to share with brie and Gouda cheeses, along with crackers, fruit chutney, grapes and dried fruit. We followed that with long black coffees. JD had had a glass of Neudorf chardonnay; me, some mineral water.

It was too late to go to the Art gallery. We had a further snack at a cafe in the international terminal: we shared yoghurt with granola and fruit (very tart yoghurt), a pain au chocolat, and JD had a blueberry muffin. We used wooden cutlery, truly awful! JD wanted to buy NZ souvenirs to give people where we were to stay, but I managed to persuade him not to buy this tat. How mean of me! This is 2024; chances are we will be served by Kiwis! This is not the 1970’s.

The next morning we checked out at 9 am to roll across to the international terminal and get boarding passes printed and drop some bags for our flight to Singapore.

We made our way to Premium check in, where, to our surprise there is another line of kiosks, but there were several Air NZ staff members on hand to assist.

Then we made our way to the Air NZ lounge. It was pretty full, but JD got me some toast with butter, peanut butter and strawberry jam, and a black coffee, just what I needed. There was orange juice too. 

Shortly afterwards we made our way to Gate 5, a five minute walk, feeling sorry for those flying to Narita airport in Japan, who had a sixteen minute walk to their departure gate!  I pick they use faraway gates for the Boeing 797’s, because when we flew to Taipei we had to walk a long way. I was later to discover that this is nothing: in Singapore it was almost a half-hour walk to our departure gate, and then you had to go through security.

And then we were boarding our Boeing 777 to Singapore. How come there are so many Business Premier customers?

It’s nice when the staff know your name. The configuration is like the Boeing 797, and there is a welcome humpty to put your feet on, although there weren’t the lovely scuffs.

The woman next to me was flying to Amsterdam via Singapore, but I picked she hadn’t flown business class with Air NZ before. Having done this previously myself, I knew the drill, getting my Kindle and magazines out of my red bag before JD loaded it in the locker, and stowing my bag under the humpty.

Soon someone came to take my lunch order, before I’d barely had time to read the menu. I ordered crayfish bisque for a starter, followed by spicy pork belly with rice, and a delicious salad. There was a small dish of salted nuts to start, and I had a bread roll with the soup. It’s amazing how you’re almost always hungry when travelling, and you work up an appetite no matter what. There was delicious ice cream for dessert too.

Then almost everyone slept or rested. The staff turned our seats into beds, complete with mattress, blanket and two pillows! I’m reminded again that lying flat is one of the privileges that one has paid richly for.

At first I enjoy lying flat, playing hymns and classical music in my head, and then I find my Kindle in the bottom of the seat pocket, and I reread the first 100 pages of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. I also listen to some Schubert piano music, but the headphones are rather uncomfortable.

Eventually dinner was served, although the Air NZ staff seemed a trifle disorganized.  My order was taken for a kahawai rillette starter, followed by salmon and a salad, but in the event I was given the salmon with beans, and no starter and no salad. The salmon was delicious and came with noodles which proved rather hard to eat. No matter, I was very well fed anyway, having had some garlic bread first. There was an amuse-bouche in a dainty wee dish with a small fork, but this proved impossible to cut with the fork, and I popped it whole into my mouth hoping that no one saw me. I had a rhubarb and frangipane tart for dessert, which was probably the most disappointing thing I ate all day.

The woman next to me complimented the staff effusively; I didn’t think they were that wonderful!

I often looked at the flight map during our flight. I found that if I expanded it, I could see Taiwan and even the lovely Da’an district where we had stayed twice while in Taipei. One of the hostesses had stayed there too!

Landing at Changi airport in Singapore had its own challenges too. I didn’t feel very well, but there was no wheelchair. We went through to a raft of electronic entry machines, but the staff were very helpful. You scanned your passport, and then your photo was taken and the right thumb print. The gate did not open for me, but a guard opened it. But for JD the system would not take his photo, and it had to be taken manually. So he went off back the way we’d come, and I was not allowed to join him. There was nowhere to sit down, either. Several minutes later he appeared, and we walked a long way to the luggage carousel, where I tried to grab a suitcase, with difficulty, off the fast-moving carousel. Fortunately it was the first, and the other suitcases followed soon after.

Then we tried to find our way to where the free shuttle for our hotel would pick us up.  It was quite a long way away, and we had to wait about half an hour. It didn’t look right, and it was very hot outside; I found a place to sit down but was joined by a coughing, hoicking Singaporean, so I kept my mask on and kept my distance.

Eventually the shuttle arrived, marked “Village”, and we clambered on board, with our luggage.  The hotel was actually about 25-30 minutes’ drive away.

When we got there, the check-in took rather a while, but Aladdin was friendly and helpful. He too us to a room on the seventh floor, which actually smelt of cigarette smoke, although there was no smoking allowed.

The room was fine, although there was no mini-bar, but there was a tooth brush kit with toothbrush and a wee tube of toothpaste, and a notice saying the tap water was safe to drink. The air conditioning fan was very noisy, but it didn’t come off and on, so that was something to be thankful for. The room looked on to a courtyard which was unattractive and featured some mould and greenery.

I logged into the hotel wifi, and logged in my Kindle so I could buy another book to read on our next flight. But JD wanted to celebrate our arrival by having a drink.

 It was only about 7 pm Singapore time! We went to the Tiffin Bar downstairs, which was quite empty; however someone on reception took us up to the Atelier on level 8, which had a sea view.  It reminded me of Taiwan, with the atmosphere not being clear, but rather hazy, and very hot.

We retreated inside to the rather fierce air-conditioning, and ordered drinks and a dessert to share. JD had whisky and I had a peach fizz, both delicious and served in beautiful crystal glasses. We shared a delicious cheesecake. 

We woke up very early indeed. I had a bath, which was lovely, and long, but very hard to get out of, despite the helpful hand holds and non-slip mat. We decided to get the 8 am shuttle back to the airport, since the next one was at 9:15 am, and cutting things a bit fine for our check in. I could not check in online this time, since our flight is operated by Singapore Airlines.

We had breakfast at the hotel before we left, mainly because I was really hungry and already nervous about how long it might be before we got to the lounge at Changi airport. So we had a delicious breakfast, with toast and jam and peanut butter and scrambled eggs, and coffee and juice. This was rather rushed, since you don’t do anything quickly here! Anyway, I was relieved to have something to eat.

There were lots of us waiting for the shuttle, and it was a bit like a Japanese train: you had to force your way on! I was more forceful than JD, but I did save him a seat. Our bags were loaded on, and we drove to the airport.

When we got to the airport (Terminal 3, not 2), we checked in with Singapore Airlines right away and then tried to find the correct lounge. There was little signage, and we hadn’t been given a gate number; eventually we asked for help, and finally got to the right place. There were two lounges, one for first class and another, further away, for business class.  It was three hours until we were to board our flight!

Meanwhile we got comfortable, I had more coffee, and then I explored the roomy, busy lounge.  There were all kinds of food on offer there. We found that we could charge our phones, and log into the internet there, so we were very comfortable.

I was worried that we hadn’t been through airline security before entering the lounge. I was assured by a staff member that security would be at the boarding gate, and it would be quick.

And that proved to be the case.  Again, I got through security with no problems, JD had some delay. There were heaps of staff there.

We boarded our flight: this Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 is configured very differently from the Air NZ one, with different sections for First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy.  Our Business Class here is very similar to the Emirates one, and feels more like what Premium Economy used to be like.

Still, it’s wonderful to be able to lie flat; there are no babies or infants, and the toilets are clean.

The food sounds good, but doesn’t taste so great. It’s quite adventurous, with seared tuna, a quail’s egg, spicy chicken with noodles, a prawn salad, and braised veal. It all sounds great but is very chilled and doesn’t quite work. Never mind, the desserts are delicious – creme brulee, and a yummy fruit and nut cake.  Still, it’s a very long flight: 13 hours and 45 minutes our pilot Abdul informs us: 1345.  I am so glad I got another Ann Cleeves novel on my Kindle to read.  I also get down to the instructions I’ve printed for getting to our hotel at Heathrow when we get there; it sounds to be within walking distance. I hope that’s not too much of a challenge!

So we eventually arrived at Heathrow airport. It was early evening, and was quite dark. I was very grateful to use a wheelchair, having requested this earlier. I was not feeling very well for the last few hours of the trip. They served dinner on the plane, but there were still at least 3 hours of the journey to go.

We went partway in the wheel chair, and then switched to a buggy. There was a delay while the “driver” picked up other passengers. Someone who hadn’t booked tried to take JD’s seat. Then he gathered all our passports to go through Border Control. Eventually we retrieved our checked luggage, and then we were on our own.

Nevermind, there were easy followed directions to our Hilton Garden Inn Hotel through the carpark. I had got out a printed copy of our booking, and the hotel had even sent a message on my phone.

So we made our way, with luggage, to our hotel and turned up in the hotel lobby, eager to settle down for the night. But they did not have a registration for me. It turns out there are two Hilton Garden Inn hotels: this one, HGI T2 and T3, and HGI Heathrow airport. It turned out that I had booked at the latter. It was about 7 minutes away by taxi; we could not walk there. The kind lady on the desk called a cab for us, but it seemed to take ages to arrive.  When it did come, the driver came to meet us, but it was a complicated journey to his car. Once there, it seemed to take well over 7 minutes to get to the right Hilton Garden Inn hotel.

Then it took ages to get checked in. But eventually we did, to a room on the first floor with a wet shower and an armchair with footrest.  We went down to the bar where JD had a whisky and I had a mocktail. The next morning I confirmed that we were booked into the other Hilton Garden Inn for our last night in the United Kingdom!

We slept fitfully, but the internet connection was good and the room was very quiet and comfortable, despite planes flying overhead. London was grey, as expected. Already this is our third night away, and we are looking forward to being more settled for a few days.

Canterbury Cathedral: “Than longen folk to go on Pilgrimage...”

Today is Tuesday 6 August, 2024. Kia ora!

We have a new granddaughter, in England, and after much discussion we have paid to take a trip to the UK later this year.  There’s been much discussion over this; now I need to plan the rest of the trip, i.e. what happens between landing at Heathrow Airport and leaving (the dreaded) Heathrow to return to New Zealand..  Sadly, I doubt that we’ll be able to go to Scotland this time, but perhaps in future?  During the Covid years, when the NZ borders were closed, it was very frustrating not to be able to leave the country, beautiful as it is.  Last year we went to Australia and to Taiwan; this year we went to beautiful Taiwan again, and I always hoped that we would go to England and Europe too. At least we are going to England. So that is very exciting, as is having a new granddaughter.

Meanwhile, back here I’ve been gradually getting back into the rhythm of things.  The weather’s been weird:  it was warmer for a while, and wet, but the last few days have been fine with very cold mornings and evenings.

The weekend before last we were invited to an exhibition opening at the Artspace Gallery on the Petone Foreshore.  There were lots of people there, and we bought a painting, not an exhibition painting but a lovely painting that was in stock. It’s another painting of roses: we can’t get enough of them!  It’s quite beautiful, and in theory it celebrates a wedding anniversary coming up shortly.  We had the delicious puzzle of wondering where to hang it.  Having hung it, it looks just right, and as though it’s always been just right for that spot.  No buyer’s remorse here!

The next Saturday we went to a concert celebrating Brahms’s German Requiem, held in St Mary’s Cathedral in Boulcott Street. We went early and found a carpark some way away; fortunately we’d worn warm clothes although it was a fine day.  We carefully stepped over a major leak in Boulcott St, before heading into the church. There wasn’t allocated seating; it was a tad cold and uncomfortable there, and the church seemed not nearly as large as we’d remembered it.  The Bach choir was conducted by Dr Peter Walls, who had been at St Patrick’s College in Silverstream while JD was there.  The choir sang in the upstairs gallery, and they sang in German. There were very good programmes with English and German.

The singing was beautiful, of a beautiful work: Brahms was Lutheran, and Brahms’s requiem is a happier work than the Mozart Requiem, for example, which is a very serious work.  I think it is the most beautiful music that Brahms wrote.  I think the choir could have been slightly more disciplined, but I realise I shouldn’t let that mar my enjoyment of the work.

Afterwards we didn’t want to go straight home, but it was too early for dinner, so we had coffee and cake at Kaffee Eis.  We had walked past Ziggurat and admired an emerald green velvet top, but alas it sported a very expensive designer price tag. Afterwards we went shopping at New World in Thorndon.

Since then I have been to Tai Chi on Mondays; I do find it a bit annoying that some are so focused on “getting it right”, whereas there’s no rush; somedays are better that others; and one “practices” Tai chi, as one does yoga.

There’s a dearth of movies at present. The French Film Festival movies are trickling back, slowly; meanwhile there’ve been an annual checkup at the dentist and a hair treatment. Both cost far more than they did previously.

It’s now Sunday 11 August.

I have been trying to plan our upcoming trip, and to work out what to wear and what to pack.  It’s all becoming clearer now, although googling to get times and prices is very frustrating, especially for British places and timetables!  Still, I’m getting very excited.  We spoke to our son in the UK last night and I realise it makes sense to stay at airport hotels near Heathrow, for the nights before our departure and on our arrival: they’re much cheaper than Auckland’s Novotel or Pullman hotels. 

It’s now Sunday 25 August.

It’s been an exciting time. Last week the Democratic National Convention The DNC) was held in Chicago (again!  After the tumultuous convention of 1968).  This time it was exciting, if a little too maudlin and sentimental for me.  There were wonderful speeches, and the highlights for me were Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, Tim Walz, and Kamala Harris.  Republicans Geoff Duncan and Adam Kinzinger spoke very well, too, and were well received. Those at The Bulwark (former Republicans) were amazed that the Dems could organize their convention so well. So that was eventful and exciting.  The Post reported that former Prime Minister Ardern was going to speak, but sadly we haven’t been able to find a recording of her speech. That is a real honour, though.

Before that, Trump held a presser to outline his economic policy, I think!  This was to be an intellectual presentation, he claimed to his faithful followers.  He had one or two grocery items, including a pack of Tic Tacs, which I doubt that anyone would regard as an essential grocery item. No one besides me has made the connection with his Access Hollywood tape, where he sucked on the lollies before kissing beautiful women. “And if you’re a star, they let you do it”, he claimed. He also managed to denigrate war veterans, again, which shocked many.  The comedians continue to have fun with this gift that keeps on giving:  Stephen Colbert interviewed a pretend Melania Trump, where she asked about the “girth certificate”.  Tim Walz, football coach, spoke about “locker room talk”.  And another comedian said how to address Trump – as a Mafia “Don”, followed by Old. Bill Clinton, frail as he is, spoke at the DNC convention, but he is younger than Donald Trump, having just turned 78 himself.

Last week one of our sons turned 40. He had a lovely party on Saturday afternoon, and then another party in the evening, at his house. We were to take a bowl of fruit salad:  we ended up shopping on Saturday morning, and the supermarket was very busy. But we got what we needed, and it all worked out well.  Yesterday was our eldest grandson’s 12^th birthday, and we enjoyed seeing the local families again for that, and having a meal with them too. On our anniversary JD and I had lunch at Olive in Cuba Street. It was a bit more rustic than I remembered, but the food was good. We did not go out to Day’s Bay or Eastbourne since a water pipe had burst out that way.

There were several events at my church in Khandallah yesterday, including a quiz night, but I did not go to any of them, since it was our grandson’s birthday. They were well attended, however.

This morning I read the gospel text from John chapter 6, verses 56 to 69, the last verses of the chapter.

It’s now Monday 9 September.

I’ve been wrestling with various websites in the UK and Europe, and I think I am almost finished with booking arrangements for our upcoming trip.  It’s very exciting to be going away again, and very daunting. In Taiwan there’s no petty crime; sadly, that’s not the case where we’re going. I’ve not been sleeping much at night: I hope I can relax soon and read about Ravenna and look forward to seeing our new granddaughter and other sites I have in mind to see.

Meanwhile, things have been boxing along. I go to Tai Chi on Mondays – I’m beginning to enjoy that (ha!)  I’ve been going to singing on Thursday mornings, but our leader now has shingles, so I expect she’ll be off for a while. I’ve been to hymn singing, Te Reo classes, and to church. I’d love to go to town, but so many shops have closed that it’s a rather sad place, and I really don’t need to buy anything.

Our tiles at the front door have finally been laid!  The ones we’d picked out were still available, and now they’re laid. Of course, they’re not the same as the old ones were, which I rather liked; there’s a new drain now, do the tiles are now actually level with the driveway, rather than being raised.. Still, it’s good to get this job done.

I recently met an old school friend, who had photos of us at Wadestown Primary School, and at Wellington Girls’ College!  A trip down memory lane from what is now the “olden days”, although it seemed very real at the time. The primary school children all look well clothed and well nourished, although I do remember the school teacher rapping me over the knuckles with a ruler!

There haven’t been good movies on lately, or if I have, I’ve missed them. But the days are much longer now, and it is warmer – quite warm when it’s fine and sunny, although it’s cold in the mornings and nights, and at bus stops, of course.  One still needs a jacket, and probably a cardigan too.

In the Wellington CBD, there are many closed shops, Three Pandoro cafés closed recently!  I had been to all of them; the one on the corner of Wakefield Street was my favourite, although a Pandoro café would have been my second choice of café. But we were at North City Shopping Centre recently, and those places are truly ghastly, I think.

In the Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have taken Kursk and invaded parts of Russia; meanwhile Russian forces are pursuing parts of Eastern Ukraine. So the seeming stalemate continues. In Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu seems determined not to have a ceasefire with Hamas. Brutality continues.

In the US, the presidential election is either on a knife-edge, or the Democrats are sure to win, depending on which voices you listen to.  It’s a joy to hear Vice President Kamal Harris and Governor Tim Walz speak; meanwhile Trump is lazy and incoherent, and one wonders how he has any support at all. Even Dick Cheney (also a threat to democracy!) has indicated via his daughter Liz Cheney, that he will vote for Harris!  

That’s it for now.  Slava Ukraini! Nga mihi nui.

Picture of a Prie Dieu (prayer chair)

It’s now Thursday July 18, 2024. Kia ora!

I have not been writing regularly like I used to. It’s now school holidays, and some of my usual activities are taking a break.

But Tai Chi is not, so I’ve been to Tai Chi for Beginners (ha!) in Khandallah each Monday. Afterwards we have coffee together at Parsons’ Café, which is usually crowded since it’s the only café open in Khandallah on a Monday (duh?)

I tried to organize appointments to go to the dentist and get my hair cut, but of course the people doing this are having a few days off as well, so I have to wait until the first week of term 3.  Last Tuesday I met a dear friend for morning tea – what a treat. She happens to be a Tai Chi tutor, whom I got to know at my former Tai Chi class.

On Wednesday mornings we’ve had hymn singing, always a treat. We sang “Glorious things of thee are spoken…” to the beautiful tune Austria, by Haydn. I rescued the Prie Dieu that resided in the master bedroom with the old television set on it (which I never watch, by the way), and asked my friend who are in a craft group if she knows anyone who may be able to fix it. It is really rather beautiful, and the woodwork seems fine, but it’s a bit “rickety”, and the tapestry seat is sadly in need of repair.  I would love to have it repaired; in the meantime, it has been moved to our mezzanine are and the seat covered with a rug and a cushion.

Last Thursday I met a cousin for lunch at Legato Café; I had a Greek salad with lamb and tzatziki, but I had forgotten that it can be quite hard to eat salad! Getting to the rest room was challenging too! But it was lovely to see her.

The next day was really cold, but another cousin of mine visited whom I haven’t seen for ages, so it was lovely to see her again and catch up on our families.

On Saturday we went shopping. Even though there are few “treats”, it seems to cost more than I expect, although we bought light bulbs which are really expensive.

The weather in Wellington has changed: it’s not as cold as it was, but is mostly overcast and raining – off and on. On Tuesday we had nothing on so we went to Day’s Bay for lunch at Sea Salt Café.  It was lovely, as always, and although it was raining in Wellington, it was not quite raining at Day’s Bay.  It’s a treat to watch the water, and the changing patterns of the clouds.

On Wednesday I visited another dear friend, whom I had not seen for several weeks; today we took a couple out to visit Hohepa Otaihanga.    I had not been there for some time, so it was good to see the progress they’ve made.  After our visit we found our way to Harrison’s garden world just north of Waikanae, where we had lunch before returning to Wellington. It was quite a bit warmer north of Wellington, and it had stopped raining.

It’s now Monday 22 July.

This morning I expect to go to Tai Chi, and then the dentist this afternoon, hopefully just for a check up. 

Well, lots of things have been happening.  In the UK, the Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer has won the General Election with resounding success. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss even lost her seat (and was not gracious about it), Jacob Rees-Mogg also lost his seat; and Nigel Farage was elected to a seat in Clacton. So that is quite refreshing.

Last week the RNC held its convention in Milwaukee, just days after an assassination attempt on Trump (which grazed his ear). He was taken off a stage in Pennsylvania, but not before raising a clenched fist and shouting “Fight fight fight!” Fight against whom, I wonder?  There are all kinds of questions about how the 20 year old shooter was able to climb on a roof and shoot some people (one dead, and two critically injured), but no Republicans are calling for more gun control. The weapon of choice was an AR15, of course. It belonged to the shooter’s father, but he was able to buy ammunition.   Trump claimed subsequently that God was on his side – not giving thanks to God for sparing his life, or saying that God had saved him. And what about the firefighter who did die in the shooting, while sheltering his wife and daughters?

The RNC Convention was seriously weird.  J.D. Vance was chosen as Trump’s Vice President pick, apparently in a nod to Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump junior. J.D. has been senator for Ohio for a few months, and that is the only experience he’s had in government.  So that’s a very odd pick indeed, and critics are quick to remember that he was against Trump some time back, and even called him America’s Hitler.  Even Vance’s highly credited memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, is now being criticized.  Apparently after his grandmother died, nineteen loaded handguns were found at her property, so J.D. concluded that she was taking good care to protect herself. Against whom, one wonders? And what about the commandment that “Thou shalt not kill”. As Sarah Longwell of The Bulwark noted, Americans are into Self Harm. I don’t always agree with Sarah, but I do on this point.

And then there is the really scary thought that if anything happens to Trump (after all, he is 78 years old), Vance will be president, if Trump were to be elected.  I doubt if many people can stomach that outcome.

Then there was the Crowdstrike outage (providing security software for Microsoft, and causing many computer systems to fail, in airports, banks, supermarkets and other organisations.  Thankfully we weren’t affected personally, or not obviously, anyway; we went to see the French film Divertimento on Saturday and the computer systems at the Lighthouse cinema were fine; I logged into my online banking and it seemed unaffected too.  Yesterday was a beautiful fine day after a frosty misty start, and we had lunch at Floriditas:  I had a fish pie, with salad, which was delicious, and a Bellini; JD had Brioche French Toast and a glass of chardonnay. Afterwards we went grocery shopping, and thankfully spent much less than last week. The Brits joked that Liz Truss’s first week at Microsoft wasn’t going well!  Oh, the dry British sense of humour!

This morning I woke to the news that President Biden is no longer standing for President; he has endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for President; Jim Clyburn has also endorsed her. So there is great hope, now: for weeks I have listened to competing views on whether Biden should stand down; I have great respect for him, but it has been increasingly painful to listen to him fumble and mix up names.  So now the announcement has been made, and it’s hoped that the Democratic Party can get its act together and win the coming election.  What a choice! That the world has come to this.

In Russia, a nuclear power plant has had a reactor shut down, A nearby city has been evacuated, So that too is very scary news, given what we know about it, which is very little.

It’s now Friday 26 July.

Well, what a lot has happened in the last week. Last Sunday (in the US, Monday here) I was informed that President Biden had decided to step down from the race to the Presidential Election to be held in November. I heard this news from the New York Times and the Washington Post, so it must be correct. He then endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to be the Democratic nominee instead of him.  Yesterday he made a very gracious speech confirming this fact. Well, what a spring this has put in every Never-Trump voter and commentator and political pundit! Some think he didn’t step down soon enough, but to me the timing was superb, coming after the very scary RNC convention and Trump’s nomination of J.D. Vance as his running mate.  What a turn around! Last week most of the pundits were saying that this election was “in the bag” for the Republicans, especially after Trump’s supposed assassination attempt (I say supposed because Chris Wray, FBI director, has said he may have been hit by shrapnel rather than by a bullet directly).

And the Americans, and most of the world, were really fortunate to have Joe Biden as President for the last few years. He has been quite wonderful, and its sad to see his obvious decline. It was an act of supreme unselfishness to step down from the Presidential race. Ove certainly can’t imagine Trump doing this, or any members of the Republican party encouraging him to do so. It seems we owe a lot to Nancy Pelosi in this regard.

VP Harris is doing really well. She’s speaking well, and has certainly raised enthusiasm, amongst younger and all voters, and raised a heap of money. The headlines write themselves: prosecutor vs. felon; she’s young and energetic and not unpleasant to look at; he’s turned 78 and is overweight and lazy, as well as being totally obnoxious to many of us.  The vitriol from the Right is coming, of course! it is what would you expect, but Harris has real, momentum behind her. It seems that Trump is quite disconcerted at this young, energetic opponent, rather than the elderly Biden, and now regrets appointing the very extreme and non-charismatic J.D. Vance as his running mate.

Vance made an unfortunate remark about the Democratic Party being run by child-less cat women; but apart from this being such an odious phrase, surely someone like Kimberley Guilfoyle is also childless, and she is really scary and very loud – she reminded me of Cruella de Vil when she appeared at the RNC convention. There are hazards ahead for Harris, to be sure, but she appears to have a much better chance of beating Trump in the coming election.

I have to say that I wavered over Joe Biden’s decision whether he should stay in the race; he’s been such an amazing president, that I don’t think Americans appreciate quite how wonderful he’s been, and how he’s finessed so many “deals” that he’s made. I don’t think the age matters, but sadly Biden has gone downhill in recent months, and his deterioration has become evident. Of course, there have been very few comments about Trump’s apparent deterioration, which was obvious at the end of his presidency, and is staringly obvious now: his obsession with looking back, with the “late, great Hannibal Lecter” (Sir Anthony Hopkins can only wonder in frustration), and with electricity and sharks, to mention a few.

Thar’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Nga mihi nui.

It’s now 28 June 2024. Mānawatia a Matariki!

It’s been a while since I wrote.  Things have been pretty topsy-turvy since we got back from Taiwan, with trips to Hawkes Bay and to Nelson and trying not to get Covid 19 again.  There’ve been three deaths – of people that I knew, although distantly.

I have managed to see several French Film Festival movies – always a treat, although I have enjoyed some far more than others. So far highlights for me have been Divertimento, The Taste of Things starring the wonderful Juliette Binoche, and Abbé Pierre. Most of the films are about women endeavouring to be taken seriously. Most films are screened at the Penthouse or one of the Lighthouse Cinemas, which are convenient to get to. However most of the afternoon ones start around 1 pm of 3 pm:  so I have to use my snapper card to get home, since it’s after 3 pm; but the 3 pm or later ones finish after 5 pm, by which time it’s dark. Also, although JD drops me off while it is fine and not-so-cold, it tends to be very cold and sometimes wet when the movie is finished!

Although I’ve been trying to avoid catching covid, I feel it’s safer to be in a sometimes almost empty theatre than meeting in small rooms with my older friends.

It’s been wonderful to have the French Film Festival booklet, advertising times and places for the different screenings. I can also see which ones have been booked out. I hope that the better films will be screened on general release now that the Festival is finished.

So far I’ve seen The President’s Wife, Abbé Pierre, Bonnard Pierre et Marthe, The Sitting Duck (uncomfortable!), Divertimento (wonderful, I’d love to see it again), Sidonie in Japan, Marguerite’s Theorem, and The Taste of Things. Of these, Divertimento was wonderful, featuring Ravel’s Bolero and Dvorak’s New World Symphony and the great Celibidache.  We had watched a recording of this symphony with our eldest son in Taipei, and had also watched it back here at home. I did not manage to see two films in any one day.

I have been to some activities: Tai Chi, hymn singing, other singing, but I have not been to church. I’ve tried zooming in to the Sunday services, but sometimes there’s no sound.

Wellington CBD is a pretty sad place at present. Many shops are closed; I went to one of my favourite cafés at 1:30 pm the other day, and the kitchen was closed!  A lot of public servants have lost their jobs, and the CBD reflects this, with closures and some despair.  There seem to be few shops worth visiting nowadays, and it really frustrates me that some have quite intense heating (I’m talking about you, Farmers!)  One gets togged up with a warm coat, hat, scarf and gloves, only to enter a shop where one wants to remove these layers, even one’s cardigan. But it’s really cold outside, and especially at bus stops. This does not make sense. It’s good to have some heating, but not too much!

Last Wednesday morning our Te Reo group had a beautiful morning tea at the Khandallah Town Hall.  What a treat it was! We also went over the meaning of Matariki, and reinforced our learning from last year. We sang, too!  Most felt that this celebration of the Māori New Year is a really special feature of what it means to be a New Zealander.

It’s now Saturday, July 6.

What a maelstrom it has been. The Biden-Trump so-called debate took place, where President Biden performed poorly, contrary to expectations, causing extensive further panic amongst Democrats, anchors, and those who pontificate.  Everywhere one goes (or went) there were emergency podcasts about “that debate”, and even British commentators are joining in condemning Joe Biden. But although many of them noticed Trump’s lies, few if any have observed that he failed to answer the questions put to him! He couldn’t look forwards, only backwards, in his grievance-laden replies. For some reason the two CNN anchors, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, were unable or unwilling to challenge Trump on any of this. Some are pro-Biden – I am divided, I must admit: surely he’s been a great president, but can he beat Donald Trump in the election? And, if he were to stand down, who would replace him?  Vice President Kamala Harris has certainly stepped up her game, but is she presidential material?

Then, the US Supreme Court gave its verdict, that the US President has immunity for all so-called official acts; that definition was conveniently passed down to a lower court.  So all the pundits are saying that Trump is now King, and after all they left England so as not to have the king of England rule over them.  But the king of England, who is probably the best known king who “reigns” over the most people, really has very little power, and is subject to the British Parliament, even having to read sometimes dreadful speeches from the current Prime Minister, with whom he may not agree. So this comparison seems irrelevant.  Honestly, the Americans are just so annoying sometimes!

Anyway, however you discuss it, the President has just about complete immunity, and it will be extremely difficult, expensive and time-consuming to hold him legally accountable – for anything! We are in a New World where if you thought things couldn’t get worse, they just did.

On the brighter side, in the UK election the Labour Party has just won a definitive victory, and full credit to Sir Keir Starmer for turning  the Labour Party around and leading it to victory after some stunning defeats. A number of well-known conservatives lost their seats, including the odious and entitled Jacob Rees-Mogg, and former Prime Minister Liz Truss! Woo-hoo!  An election that it was actually fun to watch.  Starmer, on his way to Buckingham Palace, quipped that he has a plan (when asked what his first priority would be), and an umbrella!

Rishi Sunak, I have to say, was gracious in defeat, and spoke rather well after the Tory loss.  He’ll be more effective in opposition, perhaps. He did retain his seat, as did Jeremy Corbyn, and the odious Nigel Farage won the seat he stood for. One commentator quipped that his electorate “surgeries” in future could be interesting.

It is rather cold and miserable in Wellington at present. Even 7-8 C feels really cold! There are occasional fine days, but of course the hours of sunshine are really limited and the days are short and the mornings and evenings very cold.

On Monday I went to a funeral at Old Saint Paul’s Cathedral, a beautiful old wooden building, although I had forgotten how uncomfortable the seats are and how cold it can be there. I didn’t know the elderly gentleman well, and he’d just turned 88, and hadn’t been frail, so it wasn’t a tragic death.  One of the groups that I sing with was supposed to sing at the function afterwards, but there had been no notice about that, since our choir leader had covid.

There was a big turnout at the funeral; the gentleman had been involved in many things, including many charities; but we only sang one hymn (“Be still my soul”), and there were no readings: the “service” was mostly tributes with a couple of musical offerings. A tribute from his brother was read out (said brother was stranded at Nelson Airport, since the weather was so awful), and this mentioned the Lord Jesus and the person’s Christian upbringing. There were many church connections – he’d met his wife at a church event, but there was no mention of Heaven, that Death is not the end, or of the Creator who’d given life and a giving and generous heart.  So I found that quite sad.

Afterwards, the weather was even worse, with rain, sever wind and cold. I remembered the day of the Wahine disaster in 1968, and my time at Wellington Girls’ College, and what a cold, windy suburb Thorndon can be.

There were to be refreshments at the Loaves and Fishes Hall next to St Paul’s Cathedral after the funeral, but I wondered how many made that 10 minute walk, negotiating busy road crossings along the way.  I found a café nearby that was open, and had coffee with two of my singing friends. One of them brought me home afterwards. It wasn’t a very nice café, but it had spare seating, and it was good to catch up.

On Wednesday I went to my Te Reo class, and afterwards I went to see a film, The Road to Patagonia.  This documentary-tyle film had been well reviewed, and I really wanted to see it, but I found it rather frustrating, especially the naivety of the leading male character.  Although it was mainly about surfing, and a desire to “get back to nature”, I remained thankful for medical interventions that had kept me alive (when I had my eldest son and when I had my SAH), and for modern plumbing!  Our hero did not stop in Oregon – which I had fond memories of; although not of great surf beaches; and I reminded myself that a film crew was filming all this, camping, the heat, the cold, and so on. Our hero and his girlfriend did not get sick. Towards the end I am sure I saw them eating hamburgers (twice), although the wrappers were kept out of sight.

On Thursday I went to my last singing session for the term, and on Friday we had some friends to visit, and the lady from Access. 

That’s it for now. Sometime, the fighting in Ukraine, and the fighting in Gaza, will cease. Remember the wars in the Balkan countries in the 1980’s, which seemed never-ending? One hopes and prays for an honourable peace, in both cases. Slava Ukraini!  Ngā mihi nui.

Tahunanui Beach in Nelson

It’s now Monday June 3, 2024. King’s Birthday! Kia ora!

Ww have been back from Taiwan for a few days now, and it has been very hard to adjust – to the cold, the different air, and the Chinese threats to Taiwan which have intensified lately.  There have been a number of other adjustments too – another wave of covid, both in Wellington and in Hawkes Bay.

It’s now Monday June 10.

Last week I went to the movie The Way, My Way, about an older Australian man who walks the Camino in Spain.  Although I have some issues with the documentary, it is glorious to see the Spanish countryside, and it’s well worth a look, if a tad soppy at the end.

The next day I saw Freud’s Last Session, a film about an encounter between Freud in London and an Oxford don, presumed to be C. S. Lewis, presumed to be based on a “true” encounter between the two at the very beginning of World War II. I think it was based on a play, and Antony Hopkins is (almost) always worth watching, however it was like Hollywood in the UK, and I found it pretty frustrating, especially as Hopkins was in great discomfort.  It had dramatic and scary displays of trench warfare in the First World War, but Lewis did not fight in that war. 

On Wednesday we drove to Hawkes Bay, having lunch at Woodville. I had looked up Waka Kotahi, the NZTA site, but there were several delays on SH2 between Dannevirke and Waipukerau, which had not been notified!

Although we knew that our daughter had been diagnosed with covid, she was displaying no symptoms, and we visited her new house twice on the Thursday, sitting outside and wearing masks, of course. We also gave her gifts we’d brought from Taiwan. We met her new House Manager and two other staff members. So, touch wood, we don’t get covid! It’s a relief that she has no symptoms; it’s the fourth time she’s been diagnosed with covid! JD has had a cold, but thought he was better for this trip, which we really wanted to make, seeing we hadn’t seen our daughter since the end of February and hadn’t met her new house manager.

The weather in Hawkes Bay was glorious – cold in the mornings, but with fine, warm and sunny days. On our last night we found Alessandro’s in Havelock North – a little hard to find, as so many places are, and it was off one of the main roads. I had thought from the website it was a rather casual place, but it was quite upmarket, and very busy. We had to sit at the bar at first – there was a 30 minute delay on being served. So we settled in to enjoy our drinks – prosecco for him, and a beautiful peach flavoured mocktail for me.  In many places here drinks are served in crystal glasses.

After a few minutes we were shown to a small table, and then we were served pizza to share.  It was so nice that we had affogato to finish – with Kahlua. There was chocolate sauce on the ice cream.  People on either side of us were served pasta meals, and they looked large and delicious, too.

The previous night we had dined at an old faithful – the Thirsty Whale, where we had whitebait fritters as an entrée, and finished with affogato – which they do beautifully.  It’s different everywhere!

During our stay we had coffee at the Albion: “hokey pokey lattés”. We had these with oat milk, and they were topped with hokey pokey. This was to remind us of Taiwan, but they were really sweet, although quite nice.

Home again to Wellington, and it is much colder, and rainy.  I turned on the heat pump before we got to Shannon, but again, alas, it was not early enough.

Today I went to see my first French Film Festival film, The President’s Wife, starring Catherine Deneuve. She is wonderful, of course, but she really just has to be herself. 

On a completely different note, I mourn the loss of the adverb. We are exhorted to “Run safe”, “Drive safe”, and so on. While I acknowledge that apostrophes can be tricky – surely an “-ly” on the end of a word isn’t difficult?

It’s now Sunday 16 June.

I have had some adventures: we flew to Nelson for a couple of days for my brother in law’s 70^th birthday.  It was a strange time, let me tell you.

We flew there at midday on Thursday, and had a smooth flight although it was quite cold there. JD’s brother met us at Nelson Airport, and we checked in at our motel before going up to his house in Orakei Street. His house has a beautiful view, but access is challenging, to say the least!  There’s a steep drive, and steps, which he hadn’t quite finished, on account of his being unwell. There’s no handrail.  When you get up the outside steps, then there’s a staircase inside the house, with a had rail partway up. 

So I got up and we stayed there for the next few hours, as others of his children and their families arrived.  We had ham sandwiches for lunch, and fish and chips for tea.  Then we went back to the motel.

Oh dear; I was very frustrated that we had not spent more money for a roomier motel with a quiet heat pump and a restaurant!  This unit had a Skope wall heater, which turned itself off and on and was so noisy that I turned it off after a while. This was an “accessible unit”, with a wet shower, but absolutely nowhere to put anything!  There was a clothes hanging unit with four hangers, and a low shelf to put one’s suitcase, with no luggage rack: if one needs an accessible shower, how can one bend down to reach into the suitcase?

In the bathroom there were no tissues, no hooks, and literally no space for anything: there was a basin, with minimal space around it. Where to put one’s sponge bag, then? Obviously I couldn’t leave it in the bathroom. I didn’t dare to put things on the bed since it was covered with a spotless white duvet cover (as is the style these days).

On the Friday it rained steadily, and I got up, showered, and walked about 10 minutes to a café where I had scrambled eggs and an oat latté (this time in a glass, not a really thick cup). I could only get a newspaper at the petrol station across the road from the motel – and this was a copy of the Press.

Then JD and I got a taxi to the Suter Gallery (always a treat), and walked to Trafalgar Street. We had lunch at a restaurant near the cathedral (salmon paté and spiced celery and a rather strange brioche) followed by a long black coffee. Then we went to the Provincial Museum. There was no exhibition upstairs, but the one downstairs was interesting, as always.

Then we got a taxi back to the motel where I had a rest before the birthday party which was due to start at 5 pm.

It actually became much warmer throughout the day, and I wore my red pleated Annah Stretton dress and a black lacy cardigan over it. It looked much better with the cardigan.  As it was raining more heavily, we got a taxi to the Styx, the party venue. But it was quite warm there, and I got very tired, so much so that we left quite early, after all that effort to get there. There was grazing platters, but when I checked there wasn’t much food, although when we left there seemed to be lots.  JD managed to spill his glass of prosecco over me and my handbag.  There was no birthday cake, and apart from the birthday boy, so speeches. But he did have all of his five children there, including his eldest son and his two daughters from Australia, and his second son and his wife and three lovely children from Auckland.  His eldest daughter and her son came from Paekākāriki, and his youngest daughter and son were there too. Nobody was dressed up much – I felt overdressed, whereas whenever I go to Australia to one of his sisters’ parties, I tend to feel underdressed. Anyway, it was very hot there, although we talked to one of our nephews about his grandfather’s part in the Second World War, and which beach he might have landed at on D-Day.  We picked Sword, although we don’t really know. Anyway, to my surprise and pleasure my nephew and I had listened to the same podcast about D-Day! 

It seemed a shame to leave early, but we did. The taxi managed to go the wrong way – what is it with these taxis?  I had given the address.  As it was so much warmer, we did not leave the heater on, and I slept more that night. JD’s brother was to pick us up the next morning, and take us to the famous Nelson Market with his youngest daughter – JD had promised to buy her something. Actually he had wanted to buy her something from the Suter Gallery gift shop, but it was very expensive, and I picked he could get something much cheaper  from the market. As I had quite a large outstanding credit card bill, I wanted him to be careful about his spending. I don’t wish to be mean!

The market was interesting. We met our nephew and his wife and two sons there. The sun strike made it really difficult to see – by the way, it was a gorgeous sunny day in Nelson, although still wet underfoot.  We had stopped in Trafalgar Street, where there were long queues outside the ATMs, although most stalls had Eftpos terminals.  There were two protests in Trafalgar Street – an Anti-Vax protest, and a Palestinian protest.

The market was not as good as I had remembered. There were vegetable stalls (small avocadoes at $2.50), herbals, French bakery stalls, lovely tote bags, a nice one selling beautiful felt bunny rabbits – I nearly bought one for my granddaughter to be but, although quite beautiful, they had whiskers!  Quite inappropriate.  I did get a nice glass hanging ornament; JD, of course, wanted to get another one for a granddaughter.  There were earrings, but there seemed to be no paua jewellery as there had the last time we had been here. There were lots of herbals; honey; cheeses; and a jewellery stall where JD bought our niece a locket (not a Paua one, but she did get to choose it).

After that effort, which included finding JD, I suggested we three have morning tea. Rather than sitting in the sitting area in the market, and buying a nice Danish pastry, JD wanted to go to one of the dingy cafés around the market. I compromised by stating that at least we would sit outside. We had oat milk lattes in large thick cups (ugh!) and large cheese scones.  This was probably just as well, since we were not to get lunch.

After wandering through the market some more, we walked to Trafalgar Street to the Paper Plus store, where I was able to buy a copy of The (formerly Dominion) Post. Then we went to the taxi stand in Hardy Street, where there were no taxis. After a while, I rang the taxi company, again wrestling with the (now dreaded) Automated Booking System.  So what part of Taxi Stand, Hardy St, near the cathedral, don’t you understand?  It was a battle, as always, but I discovered they do honour the Green (Mobility) Card in Nelson. I wished I had known earlier, as JD had left me to pay for each taxi from my carefully hoarded cash real money – needed for some of my cash-only activities.

We went back up to JD’s brother’s house, where we sat in the sun and admired his fiancé’s new granddaughter and waited till it was time to go to the Airport at about 3:45 pm. This seemed to be a general drop-in time with various people coming and going during the day.  I spoke to the fiancé’s daughter about the classics – we both shared a love of the Classics, so that was nice. We even shared the moving scene in Homer’s Iliad where Achilles is mourning the death of Patroclus, and he joins in grief with Priam mourning the death of his son Hector.

We had a short but rather bumpy flight back to Wellington, with a particularly bumpy landing. I hoped and prayed that the pilot would be able to land, and would not have to pull out and land somewhere else. The taxi driver that had brought us to the airport was there to meet us, and so we came home. Unfortunately I had forgotten to turn on the heat pump, which I did in the taxi.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

The skyline of Taipei, with the tower Taipei 101 prominent

Last days in Taipei

It remained very hot. On our return from the tour to Yilan there was a peaceful protest in Taipei, and several streets were blocked off. Our guide should have known about this; it was frustrating to be stuck in traffic, knowing that we would have to catch a taxi back to our hotel afterwards. At one point I googled our current situation, and we were still 9 minutes away from the Taipei Main Station! Eventually we were dropped off, but not at the main station. There were few taxis there, but after a few minutes we got one. The driver spoke English, too!  I didn’t see any banners, but JD saw some. There were a lot of people around, especially near to our hotel, but they were very peaceful.  I tried to find out why they were protesting, and it seemed they were protesting “reforms” that would give another branch of government more power, that were proposed by the right-wing executive branch of the government. This week the new leader had taken over from the woman president who had served two terms.  People kept saying to me that the world is a dangerous place, and they weren’t talking about Ukraine or Israel.

That evening back at the hotel we ate the beautiful things we’d bought from the bread shop –  a long roll with blueberry jam, and a chocolate covered croissant. The blueberry one had some kind of custard filling.  I was very relieved to get back and wash my hands properly! JD went out to get some fruit and came back with pineapple.   

The next day was Wednesday, the eve of our departure. That day my granddaughter had a half-day off from school, so she had lunch with us too. We went to a vegan restaurant that we had been to with her last year.  I had Korean spicy chicken, except it wasn’t real chicken!  It came with a mixture of rice, sprouted beans, salad, and other things. It was pretty nice!  I had a sparking vinegar drink. We shared vegan cheesecake afterwards – matcha flavoured, and chocolate. There’s a lot of matcha-flavour, presumably what we would know as matcha tea.

Afterwards we went to watch our grandchildren doing Taekwondo. They are quite advanced from last year. Then we went back to their apartment.  We had some of the whisky we had bought from the Kavalan distillery for our son – it’s 50% alcohol, and JD and I found it very strong. Some friends of theirs had again given us beautiful cakes. We walked back to our hotel and had some of the cakes for our tea.

That was our last night at the hotel. We were to check out by 11 am the next day.  I had left packing until now – I could not find a dark green cardigan that I had brought with me. No matter; I’ve worn it lots, and although I’m disappointed, I’ll buy another, because it was very useful.

We were due to meet our son at 11 am, but we had finished packing soon after 9 am, so we went walking. We had coffee at The Dancing Goat café (brown sugar lattés, one hot one cold). My one had caramelised brown sugar on top – that is next level, and really something!  There were two delicious wee biscuits served with them.

Then we walked back to the Grand Courtyard. This was now open, but you had to pay to see the exhibition, so we did not go in. Then we met our son (we were able to leave our bags at the hotel), and went to another exhibition, and a series of pop-up arty shops. That was great fun!

Then we had lunch at another vegan restaurant quite near our hotel – we should go there if we visit Taipei again. I had a sparkling drink of peach-flavoured tea, and a salad with beetroot, prunes, nuts and quinoa, on lettuce and tomato. JD had some amazing pumpkin soup and quiche and salad.

Then we walked back to our hotel, collected our baggage, and got a taxi to the airport.

Unlike last year, it was very busy at the airport. It took us some time to find the Air NZ counter.  You realise, again, that NZ is a very tiny country in the scheme of things. Eventually we were checked in, and went through security.  Then we found our way to the EVA Lounge. It was very busy everywhere.

I had more coffee, and a carton of apple juice, and I was able to charge my phone. I only had my phone and my kindle for reading matter, and I almost wished I had brought a physical book to read. We both put on our pressure socks – with some difficulty, as far as I was concerned.

In the EVA Lounge there are no boarding announcements, so we duly went to the restrooms and made our way to our gate.  The lounge looked empty, but someone checked our passports and boarding passes, and we went downstairs – to another lounge where there were lots of people. There was nowhere much to sit, but then we were invited to board our plane. How nice to be priority customers!

We boarded the business class cabin, and found our seats. Knowing better what to expect than previously, I put on the scuffs Air NZ had thoughtfully provided, and stowed my trainers in the overhead locker. I stowed my handbag under the humpty.  Someone brought me a glass of orange juice; then a hot flannel.  There were many empty seats in business class.  Then we took off, and eventually were served dinner.  For some reason, this seemed to take ages, even though there were many empty seats. Still, it was quite good: an amuse bouche with duck, and some lovely nuts; then an entrée with smoked salmon and salad; then the bakery, with the lovely garlic bread and olive oil; and then my spicy pork with rice and greens. Dessert was a chocolate lava cake with dried raspberry garnish. This was delicious: the other choice was caramel ice cream. I ate this with some mineral water. It was so nice to have one’s own little table surface, with table cloth, large linen napkin with buttonhole, and proper cutlery. It was worth waiting for.

Then I went to the tiny toilet while someone made up my bed. This is a disadvantage of business class: you’re either sitting up, or lying flat, with different seat belt arrangements!  It’s lovely to lie flat, although it’s a little tricky to manage the rug, the seat belt (which must be kept visible), and the two pillows. Actually it’s much more comfortable with one pillow! 

I lay down, thinking this is rather wonderful, and then I got cramp.  I retrieved my magnesium cream from my carry-bag in the overhead locker, and applied it to my leg, although it is quite odorous.  Sadly, the cramp continued. I took off my pressure socks with difficulty – they were really uncomfortable.  The cramp continued, off and on, and although it was nice to lie flay, I did not really sleep, I think. Still, it was better to be lying flat and more comfortable.

At some incredibly early hour (3:15 am Taiwan time) they started serving breakfast! Someone brought me some orange juice; then there was a fruit bowl (melon, cantaloupe, pineapple, custard apple and watermelon), and then hot bakery items. I asked for a croissant and strawberry jam. Unfortunately I spilled the jam while opening the sachet, and it was quite liquid and went everywhere, making a real mess of my serviette and table cloth. The croissant was quite small, and very crumbly, which added to the mess! Then I chose the spinach and cheddar cheese omelette, which came with hollandaise sauce, streaky bacon, tomato and hash browns.  The omelette sounded good, but tasted a bit strange; it’s odd to have this sauce with an omelette. The hash browns were quite nice, but the potato in them was a little undercooked.

After that, I watched part of a movie, Alleluya. The entertainment system had far more options than in Premium Economy, and was far more accessible. I had seen the trailer of this movie. But I hadn’t actually seen it. It starred Jennifer Saunders, Derek Jacobi. Judi Dench, Russell Tovey and other luminaries, and had a rather good script. It’s about very elderly people in care, with their varying degrees of dementia and other ailments, but somehow it was not depressing.

Then we landed very smoothly at Auckland Airport, and it was time to retrieve my trainers and put them on.  We alighted to a very different atmosphere – much cooler, and the air is so different.  It was a fine day in Auckland, and not too cold, so we walked to the domestic terminal. We had been invited to leave our luggage in International, I think, but I did not trust Air NZ to get it to Wellington! We checked in at the Premium counter, and handed over our luggage. The boarding passes that had been printed in Taipei were not reprinted, although we found later that the specified gate had been changed.

We made our way through security, and to the Air NZ Lounge.  This was pretty full, but not as full as last year. We made our way to the coffee counter, sat down, and JD ordered coffee – a long black and a latté. He got some cakes and a tiramisu to eat – not savoury stuff, which I would have preferred. Then he disappeared for quite a while, leaving me with his heavy backpack. A large couple sat very close to me, and she used foul language!  There was someone on my other side, and after the graciousness of Taiwan I found it all too much and I was really uncomfortable. Also I couldn’t charge my phone.

Eventually JD turned up, and we went to shower. Showers were available, but towels were again in short supply. There seemed to be no one to ask for a clean towel. I got a towel which seemed clean but slightly damp, then went to have a shower. This worked pretty well, although the water kept ranging between hot and cold. This time I had taken clean clothes to put on in my carry-bag, dispensing with my usual paraphernalia. I found deodorant, and a disposable toothbrush and small tooth paste tube to use, and reappeared feeling refreshed. No JD, but I got a comfortable seat and an electric point to recharge my phone. I messaged JD, and then he eventually turned up. I got some tuna sandwiches from the buffet, since it was now lunch time.

Then we went to our gate, but it had changed to the next one. There were lots of people, and boarding was later than advised. Eventually we boarded our full flight, and made our way to Wellington. We retrieved our luggage, and caught a taxi home – where it was very cold! I had turned on our heat pump while still in Auckland, but that wasn’t soon enough, and we were both really cold. I didn’t really “thaw out” till during Friday night. Up to then, no amount of heating from the heater and the electric blanket or extra warm clothes or extra cup of coffee really warmed me up.

And the rest is: unpacking; washing; shopping; and adjusting to a very different environment. And finding baby photos of Number Four son to send to England for his and his wife’s baby shower.

Impressions of Taiwan:

Saturday was the second day of Chinese military surrounding the island of Taiwan to teach the new leader a lesson. “Independence and peace are like fire and water”, or some such, said President Xi of China.  While we were in Taiwan, several people said “the world is a dangerous place”, and they weren’t talking about Ukraine or Israel.

I noticed a new edginess, that wasn’t there last year; more overweight people, and more English; more American-isms; everyone was still nicely dressed and well-covered, although I saw two women in our hotel wearing short shorts, as New Zealand women do. I saw no tattoos, or beards, although there was some (a little) tagging! There was a nod to the West in a number of cafés offering waffles, scrambled eggs, and quiche, instead of expected Taiwanese food. But almost everyone is gracious and kind, bowing or acknowledging when you say hello. There’s a lot of “bye bye”. Everyone is kind and respectful.

In other news, the Trump “hush money” trial, which has been quite absorbing, is almost over; in the UK, Sunak has called an election for 4 July, to everyone’s surprise: he is displaying “don’t succeed” behaviour, right from his announcement outside D(r)owning St in the pouring rain; In Ukraine and Israel dreadful warlike things continue to happen.

The British media are having a “Brexit” moment – how on earth did this just happen?

And back in New Zealand, the Coalition government continues to do ghastly things, like scrapping first home grants and funding more charter schools, and cutting more government jobs: the “poor” rich must have their promised tax cuts. Luxon also made a speech calling Labour “arsonists” or some such. Really and truly!

That’s it for now, Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.