I forgot to mention yesterday that one day we did the steam rail trip from Aviemore to Broomhill via Boat of Garten. A very pretty rail line, the station at Broomhill is that used in the series Monarch of the Glen (which I have never seen) and the glen it goes through is Hamish McBean territory.
I adore railways and am anyone's for a steam train trip. A lot of people on the train were getting off at Broomhill and boarding coaches so it is obviously part of the itinerary on organised holidays.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Aviemore
We have just spent almost three weeks touring Scotland and for practically all the time had no internet access so I am going to try to remember the important bits to share with you.
Onslow does amateur dramatics and had a show every night (The Merry Widow) the week before we left and was very tired by the end of it. Consequently we arose early on Sunday morning and I drove the 496 miles from home to Aviemore in three stages. We stopped at Charnock Richard for fuel and then on to Westmoreland (Tebay) for brunch. I have previously always been really impressed with the food at Tebay but was quite disappointed this time. The sausages were as delicious as ever but the rest of the food was distinctly so so and on a par with all the rest of the motorway places. We stopped for a cup of tea at Perth and then got to Aviemore for around 1530 - a good run up, but Sunday on the M6 is not as bad as the rest of the week.
We had been invited by an old army friend to join him and another old friend at a time share he has at the Macdonald Dalfaber Golf and Country Club and it was absolutely superb. I love cooking and eating so I volunteered myself to do all the cooking for the week and I have to say that the kitchen was incredibly well equipped - much better than mine at home. I pottered happily all week making home style food and although Onslow is used to the standard of the food I produce the other two were very grateful. They are both divorced and tend to fend for themselves and eat alone most of the time. They both commented how lovely it was to sit around a table chatting and having another cup of coffee at breakfast and then lingering over the cheese in the evening.
The evening menus were as follows:
Sunday - a Cottage Pie brought from home with cabbage and carrots followed by raspberries and cream and a cheese board.
Monday - trout with new potatoes and a King John Salad (crispy lettuce with shards of bacon and blue cheese - eaten at the King John at Tollard Royal when we lived in Blandford Forum back in the early 80's and a real favourite ever since). Pudding was a warm apple pie with a streusel topping and vanilla ice cream and then the cheese came out again.
Tuesday I made a full roast pork dinner with crackling, apple sauce, roast parsnips and potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and green beans and cabbage. Pudding was a lemon meringue pie (a special request) with cream and ice cream and no-one had room for cheese.
Wednesday I made a meat and potato pie with pickled red cabbage and beetroot and then a big bowl of caramel oranges with Greek yoghurt. We had a bit of space for cheese that day.
Thursday brought on chicken breasts stuffed with Boursin cheese and wrapped in bacon with a mixed salad and new potatoes followed by bananas fried in butter and sugar with rum poured over and evaporated slightly served with cream and ice cream. We managed the cheese again.
Friday night we had haggis with neeps and tatties served with a whisky gravy and the bananas were demanded again.
Breakfast every day for the blokes was bacon and egg with fried up leftover potatoes and vegetables or grilled tomatoes and mushrooms and I was perfectly happy with yoghurt and fruit followed by toast.
I had baked a large fruit cake at home before we went and a slab of that or leftover pudding from the night before passed with a cup of tea for lunch.
I have to say that the Macdonald timeshare was most luxurious, Since the other two chaps were alone our friend gave Onslow and I the master suite which had a seven foot wide bed and a bathroom bigger than my sitting room. The others had a bedroom each and shared a bathroom which had a sauna on the side. We had a massive sitting dining room with a conservatory which overlooked the River Spey and also a little balcony at the side of that - both properly furnished with comfortable stuff. The kitchen cupboards had table settings for eight people with three sizes of plate, two sizes of bowl, cups and saucers as well as mugs and all the cutlery you could need including fish knives and forks.
We had access to the country club which had a nice pool and I was there at 0800 for my morning swim, the showers had dispensers for shampoo and conditioner as well as body wash and the changing room had body lotion and hairdryers, towels were picked up at reception and discarded in a large bin on the way out. There were never more than four people in the pool when I was there.
We had a couple of really nice days out from Aviemore. The first was to Cairngorm, we went up to the restaurant on the funicular railway and although it was possible to walk up the last bit it was quite misty so we elected not to bother since there was no view and went for a hot chocolate in the restaurant instead. And what a hot chocolate, thick and creamy with a handful of tiny marshmallows topped with whipped cream. I have no idea of the cost because one of the chaps insisted on paying for it but it was absolutely delicious. The other long day out was at the Scottish Folk Museum at Newtonmore which was absolutely fabulous. A nice sunny day and lots of wandering around outside seeing how people lived through the ages. We were very lucky because the day we were there was the last day of a visiting chap who goes up there for two weeks every year. He is a cordwainer by hobby and absolutely barking - a real enthusiast and dressed completely in fifteenth century clothing, all the leather stuff made by himself. We had a snack in the cafe there and I had some delicious chicken noodle soup - no-one makes soups as good as the Scots.
I think that is enough for now but I will regale you with the rest of the holiday over the next day day or two.
Onslow does amateur dramatics and had a show every night (The Merry Widow) the week before we left and was very tired by the end of it. Consequently we arose early on Sunday morning and I drove the 496 miles from home to Aviemore in three stages. We stopped at Charnock Richard for fuel and then on to Westmoreland (Tebay) for brunch. I have previously always been really impressed with the food at Tebay but was quite disappointed this time. The sausages were as delicious as ever but the rest of the food was distinctly so so and on a par with all the rest of the motorway places. We stopped for a cup of tea at Perth and then got to Aviemore for around 1530 - a good run up, but Sunday on the M6 is not as bad as the rest of the week.
We had been invited by an old army friend to join him and another old friend at a time share he has at the Macdonald Dalfaber Golf and Country Club and it was absolutely superb. I love cooking and eating so I volunteered myself to do all the cooking for the week and I have to say that the kitchen was incredibly well equipped - much better than mine at home. I pottered happily all week making home style food and although Onslow is used to the standard of the food I produce the other two were very grateful. They are both divorced and tend to fend for themselves and eat alone most of the time. They both commented how lovely it was to sit around a table chatting and having another cup of coffee at breakfast and then lingering over the cheese in the evening.
The evening menus were as follows:
Sunday - a Cottage Pie brought from home with cabbage and carrots followed by raspberries and cream and a cheese board.
Monday - trout with new potatoes and a King John Salad (crispy lettuce with shards of bacon and blue cheese - eaten at the King John at Tollard Royal when we lived in Blandford Forum back in the early 80's and a real favourite ever since). Pudding was a warm apple pie with a streusel topping and vanilla ice cream and then the cheese came out again.
Tuesday I made a full roast pork dinner with crackling, apple sauce, roast parsnips and potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and green beans and cabbage. Pudding was a lemon meringue pie (a special request) with cream and ice cream and no-one had room for cheese.
Wednesday I made a meat and potato pie with pickled red cabbage and beetroot and then a big bowl of caramel oranges with Greek yoghurt. We had a bit of space for cheese that day.
Thursday brought on chicken breasts stuffed with Boursin cheese and wrapped in bacon with a mixed salad and new potatoes followed by bananas fried in butter and sugar with rum poured over and evaporated slightly served with cream and ice cream. We managed the cheese again.
Friday night we had haggis with neeps and tatties served with a whisky gravy and the bananas were demanded again.
Breakfast every day for the blokes was bacon and egg with fried up leftover potatoes and vegetables or grilled tomatoes and mushrooms and I was perfectly happy with yoghurt and fruit followed by toast.
I had baked a large fruit cake at home before we went and a slab of that or leftover pudding from the night before passed with a cup of tea for lunch.
I have to say that the Macdonald timeshare was most luxurious, Since the other two chaps were alone our friend gave Onslow and I the master suite which had a seven foot wide bed and a bathroom bigger than my sitting room. The others had a bedroom each and shared a bathroom which had a sauna on the side. We had a massive sitting dining room with a conservatory which overlooked the River Spey and also a little balcony at the side of that - both properly furnished with comfortable stuff. The kitchen cupboards had table settings for eight people with three sizes of plate, two sizes of bowl, cups and saucers as well as mugs and all the cutlery you could need including fish knives and forks.
We had access to the country club which had a nice pool and I was there at 0800 for my morning swim, the showers had dispensers for shampoo and conditioner as well as body wash and the changing room had body lotion and hairdryers, towels were picked up at reception and discarded in a large bin on the way out. There were never more than four people in the pool when I was there.
We had a couple of really nice days out from Aviemore. The first was to Cairngorm, we went up to the restaurant on the funicular railway and although it was possible to walk up the last bit it was quite misty so we elected not to bother since there was no view and went for a hot chocolate in the restaurant instead. And what a hot chocolate, thick and creamy with a handful of tiny marshmallows topped with whipped cream. I have no idea of the cost because one of the chaps insisted on paying for it but it was absolutely delicious. The other long day out was at the Scottish Folk Museum at Newtonmore which was absolutely fabulous. A nice sunny day and lots of wandering around outside seeing how people lived through the ages. We were very lucky because the day we were there was the last day of a visiting chap who goes up there for two weeks every year. He is a cordwainer by hobby and absolutely barking - a real enthusiast and dressed completely in fifteenth century clothing, all the leather stuff made by himself. We had a snack in the cafe there and I had some delicious chicken noodle soup - no-one makes soups as good as the Scots.
I think that is enough for now but I will regale you with the rest of the holiday over the next day day or two.
Friday, 8 April 2011
A Day in Town
I am a big fan of Victorian art and when I read about a new exhibition at the V&A felt that it warranted a trip to London to see if it was as good as reviewed. Accordingly Onslow and I rose early yesterday and caught the 0744 to Paddington with the intention of doing a few things including the exhibition. The train fares at that time cost only £27.20 each, if we caught the earlier train it is more than double. Getting in around tennish is fine for us, I generally make some bacon sandwiches and pack chilled juice and then we buy a coffee on the train so that is breakfast sorted. The train going down was delayed by someone driving into a bridge support near Taplow so we were about half an hour late but no matter, still plenty of time for our planned jollies.
Since qualifying for the free bus pass last November I have not been to London, previously I had an Oyster card and used the tube, so I did a bit of research beforehand on the internet and was reasonably well prepared for our first journey. Outside Paddington we caught the Number 7 red bus which took us to Tottenham Court Road station and then we went for a bit of a mooch there in the camera shops. Onslow is after a telescopic lens for his Sony Nex-5 SLR and they are proving very elusive to buy. At the Sony Centre we found out why, the Japanese tsunami has wrecked the factories which produce the lenses and there is an international waiting list. The TCR Centre has a waiting list of seven people who want one, so if you add up all the shops worldwide there is probably quite a queue. It is not urgent so we will keep an eye on the Sony website and get one in due course.
Having sorted that we went to our favourite dim sum restaurant in Chinatown for lunch. It is called Gerrards Corner and on the corner of Wardour Street and Gerrard Street and opens for lunch just before twelve. We had eight different steamers of mainly seafood dim sum and two pots of jasmine tea and it was all absolutely delicious. As always. We had crab, prawns, king prawns and scallops plus a couple of char sui pork dishes and Onslow had his favourite spiced whelks on the side. The total cost for two of us was £27 and we were out for one o clock because the service is brilliant. Very highly recommended for anyone in town who likes dim sum - it is served right through until 5pm and always freshly cooked for you. We order four dishes between the two of us and then another four dishes about fifteen minutes later which ensures that everything is always piping hot.
I was not too sure about the next bus so we decided to splurge on a cab (I think it is the solemn duty of anyone who can afford it to use at least one London cab when on a visit to Town) to take us to the V&A and was not disappointed. The cabbie kept up a monologue about the sins of Boris because the roads in the West End are all building sites. It was horrendous, Oxford Street, Pall Mall, Haymarket and St James's were all gridlocked with half the roads dug up. Apparently they are going to become two way traffic again which necessitates a lot of building works. I would have thought changing the signs round would have done the job but apparently not.
The exhibition "The Cult of Beauty" was wonderful and brought together threads on the edge of my knowledge to a very satisfactory whole. I have seen a lot of the pictures in the exhibition at other galleries but when they are broought together like this there is a very pleasing pattern emerging of how and where particular ideas in the art world crystallised and became part of our heritage. It is very well curated and highly recommended. I liked it so much that I will be going back for at least one more visit, I am a Friend of the V&A so can go as many times as I like without having to pay. There is a photographic exhibition opening next week so next time I could do both. There is a Dale Chihuli glass sculpture in the entrance at the V&A which I am always happy to see, but I think it grows more tentacles every time I visit.
We then went and caught the Number 14 bus back to the West End and walked to the British Museum, we wanted a quick look at the Congreve Clock which never fails to delight, and had an hour to spare before train times. The British Museum was absolutely crowded - I have never seen it so busy before, even on a Saturday. There were what seemed like millions of teenagers, mostly foreign, crowding the forecourt and it was difficult to press through them to the entrance. Obviously the school coach trip season is upon us, Easter being so late this year I had not given it a thought and usually avoid the school holidays. We still managed a peek at the clock though - it is mesmerizing watching that ball go up and down the plate and tilt from side to side.
We then picked up the Number 7 at Russell Square which took us all the way back to Paddington. We had about twenty minutes to spare so I nipped to Sainsbury's Local for victuals for the journey to find it is closed for refurbishment until 11th April. No matter, Marks and Spencer was open and a couple of chilled cans of G&T and some hand made crisps made very satisfactory fodder for the two hour rail trip. Our train got in at 1925 so a very nice and well filled leisurely day in Town was completed. I thought it was leisurely but it must have been more tiring than I thought because I crashed out at half nine and slept right through until a cat demanded food with menaces at seven this morning.
Since qualifying for the free bus pass last November I have not been to London, previously I had an Oyster card and used the tube, so I did a bit of research beforehand on the internet and was reasonably well prepared for our first journey. Outside Paddington we caught the Number 7 red bus which took us to Tottenham Court Road station and then we went for a bit of a mooch there in the camera shops. Onslow is after a telescopic lens for his Sony Nex-5 SLR and they are proving very elusive to buy. At the Sony Centre we found out why, the Japanese tsunami has wrecked the factories which produce the lenses and there is an international waiting list. The TCR Centre has a waiting list of seven people who want one, so if you add up all the shops worldwide there is probably quite a queue. It is not urgent so we will keep an eye on the Sony website and get one in due course.
Having sorted that we went to our favourite dim sum restaurant in Chinatown for lunch. It is called Gerrards Corner and on the corner of Wardour Street and Gerrard Street and opens for lunch just before twelve. We had eight different steamers of mainly seafood dim sum and two pots of jasmine tea and it was all absolutely delicious. As always. We had crab, prawns, king prawns and scallops plus a couple of char sui pork dishes and Onslow had his favourite spiced whelks on the side. The total cost for two of us was £27 and we were out for one o clock because the service is brilliant. Very highly recommended for anyone in town who likes dim sum - it is served right through until 5pm and always freshly cooked for you. We order four dishes between the two of us and then another four dishes about fifteen minutes later which ensures that everything is always piping hot.
I was not too sure about the next bus so we decided to splurge on a cab (I think it is the solemn duty of anyone who can afford it to use at least one London cab when on a visit to Town) to take us to the V&A and was not disappointed. The cabbie kept up a monologue about the sins of Boris because the roads in the West End are all building sites. It was horrendous, Oxford Street, Pall Mall, Haymarket and St James's were all gridlocked with half the roads dug up. Apparently they are going to become two way traffic again which necessitates a lot of building works. I would have thought changing the signs round would have done the job but apparently not.
The exhibition "The Cult of Beauty" was wonderful and brought together threads on the edge of my knowledge to a very satisfactory whole. I have seen a lot of the pictures in the exhibition at other galleries but when they are broought together like this there is a very pleasing pattern emerging of how and where particular ideas in the art world crystallised and became part of our heritage. It is very well curated and highly recommended. I liked it so much that I will be going back for at least one more visit, I am a Friend of the V&A so can go as many times as I like without having to pay. There is a photographic exhibition opening next week so next time I could do both. There is a Dale Chihuli glass sculpture in the entrance at the V&A which I am always happy to see, but I think it grows more tentacles every time I visit.
We then went and caught the Number 14 bus back to the West End and walked to the British Museum, we wanted a quick look at the Congreve Clock which never fails to delight, and had an hour to spare before train times. The British Museum was absolutely crowded - I have never seen it so busy before, even on a Saturday. There were what seemed like millions of teenagers, mostly foreign, crowding the forecourt and it was difficult to press through them to the entrance. Obviously the school coach trip season is upon us, Easter being so late this year I had not given it a thought and usually avoid the school holidays. We still managed a peek at the clock though - it is mesmerizing watching that ball go up and down the plate and tilt from side to side.
We then picked up the Number 7 at Russell Square which took us all the way back to Paddington. We had about twenty minutes to spare so I nipped to Sainsbury's Local for victuals for the journey to find it is closed for refurbishment until 11th April. No matter, Marks and Spencer was open and a couple of chilled cans of G&T and some hand made crisps made very satisfactory fodder for the two hour rail trip. Our train got in at 1925 so a very nice and well filled leisurely day in Town was completed. I thought it was leisurely but it must have been more tiring than I thought because I crashed out at half nine and slept right through until a cat demanded food with menaces at seven this morning.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Out to Play
We are members of the University of the Third Age (U3A) and both go to the Medieval Church group. It is led by another member who is a great expert on medieval churches, he was a headmaster before retirement, and very good at sharing his knowledge. We meet once a month and David sets out to take us round three different churches in fairly close proximity and then we go off for a pub lunch.
Today we went into a part of the Cotswolds I did not even know existed. We started at Winstone and the church there is effectively in the middle of a farm with a no through road leading to it. We all go in our own cars and meet up for coffee or hot chocolate. David's wife, Judy, brings vacuum flasks of hot water and milk, jars of coffee and drinking chocolate, a crate of mugs and a big Tupperware box of chocolate hob nobs. As everyone arrives in dribs and drabs (there were seventeen of us today) Judy makes the drinks and passes round the menu for the chosen pub so that everyone has time to think about what they would like to eat.
David then led us around the outside of the church pounting out things of architectural interest, showing why certain bits could be classed as Saxon and others Norman and generally being very informative about the architecture. We then went inside and had a lot of the imagery explained to us. We then drove off to Edgeworth in convoy, frightening the life out of a postman who normally sees three cars a day instead of eight all together. Edgeworth was really interesting, there was a wonderful medieval stained glass window in which the colours had faded to leave a silvery sheen over everything. Our final church was at Miserden which was full of riches - the most amazing altar, some fabulous memorials carved from Derbyshire alabaster and a splendid rood screen. I would never have gone off to these places on my own initiative and am really grateful to the U3A for giving me the opportunity to learn so much about the things which interest me.
We then trooped off to The Carpenters' Arms at Miserden for lunch which was excellent. The people we shared a table with all had different things, no-one was disappointed. Onslow had liver and bacon with chips, I had faggots with mustard mash and onion gravy and the chap who had a ham baguette with chips declared it to be the best ham he had eaten for ages. I had a half of a Westons cloudy cider on draught and it was fantastic and worked really well with the faggots. An excellent accompaniment.
We have had a really lovely day out with a lot of people we have never met before. We had met David and Judy and about three other people at the last trip we went on but all the rest were new to us. We have missed four meetings because of being away at various places, but it does not matter because with this sort of thing you can just drop in and out as you wish.
Today we went into a part of the Cotswolds I did not even know existed. We started at Winstone and the church there is effectively in the middle of a farm with a no through road leading to it. We all go in our own cars and meet up for coffee or hot chocolate. David's wife, Judy, brings vacuum flasks of hot water and milk, jars of coffee and drinking chocolate, a crate of mugs and a big Tupperware box of chocolate hob nobs. As everyone arrives in dribs and drabs (there were seventeen of us today) Judy makes the drinks and passes round the menu for the chosen pub so that everyone has time to think about what they would like to eat.
David then led us around the outside of the church pounting out things of architectural interest, showing why certain bits could be classed as Saxon and others Norman and generally being very informative about the architecture. We then went inside and had a lot of the imagery explained to us. We then drove off to Edgeworth in convoy, frightening the life out of a postman who normally sees three cars a day instead of eight all together. Edgeworth was really interesting, there was a wonderful medieval stained glass window in which the colours had faded to leave a silvery sheen over everything. Our final church was at Miserden which was full of riches - the most amazing altar, some fabulous memorials carved from Derbyshire alabaster and a splendid rood screen. I would never have gone off to these places on my own initiative and am really grateful to the U3A for giving me the opportunity to learn so much about the things which interest me.
We then trooped off to The Carpenters' Arms at Miserden for lunch which was excellent. The people we shared a table with all had different things, no-one was disappointed. Onslow had liver and bacon with chips, I had faggots with mustard mash and onion gravy and the chap who had a ham baguette with chips declared it to be the best ham he had eaten for ages. I had a half of a Westons cloudy cider on draught and it was fantastic and worked really well with the faggots. An excellent accompaniment.
We have had a really lovely day out with a lot of people we have never met before. We had met David and Judy and about three other people at the last trip we went on but all the rest were new to us. We have missed four meetings because of being away at various places, but it does not matter because with this sort of thing you can just drop in and out as you wish.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Home Sweet Home
Well, we had an uneventful journey home on Monday and I have nearly caught up with all the laundry. I am going to make occasional postings here when not wandering though so that the blog remains active.
We came home to a new bathroom which had been fitted in our absence and it is absolutely fabulous. Strictly speaking it is a shower room now, we have one of those walk in showers with a seat which can be lowered on one side to sit down whilst showering and grab rails to get in and out. We don't actually need it yet but we think it is well to prepare now for a hopefully long time away when we do. Neither of us has laid in a bath for years, we much prefer showers, so it has been done with only us in mind. I have a copy of The Wilton Diptych in the bathroom and that has decided the colour scheme. All the fittings are white (new modern lavatory and basin) and most of the tiles are too, there are a dozen or so tiles with a pattern of a three shades of blue in squares. The floor is blue with golden speckles and whilst in Malta I bought a large Maltese Cross at Mdina Glass which is the same blue as the floor and has bits of gold in it.
I feel like a top class interior designer!
However, the kitchen now looks shabby so I have surrounded myself with brochurs and graph paper!
We came home to a new bathroom which had been fitted in our absence and it is absolutely fabulous. Strictly speaking it is a shower room now, we have one of those walk in showers with a seat which can be lowered on one side to sit down whilst showering and grab rails to get in and out. We don't actually need it yet but we think it is well to prepare now for a hopefully long time away when we do. Neither of us has laid in a bath for years, we much prefer showers, so it has been done with only us in mind. I have a copy of The Wilton Diptych in the bathroom and that has decided the colour scheme. All the fittings are white (new modern lavatory and basin) and most of the tiles are too, there are a dozen or so tiles with a pattern of a three shades of blue in squares. The floor is blue with golden speckles and whilst in Malta I bought a large Maltese Cross at Mdina Glass which is the same blue as the floor and has bits of gold in it.
I feel like a top class interior designer!
However, the kitchen now looks shabby so I have surrounded myself with brochurs and graph paper!
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Photographs
I would like to say thank you to those of you who have posted comments - I feel very privileged to have shared this wonderful holiday. It has been an amazing journey and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. For anyone who is interested in art and history it is an incredible place, and the food and drink are quite interesting too.
We brought my laptop which only has Windows2000 but Onslows Big Stuff at home has Windows 7 so that may enable some of his fabulous photographs to be posted.
We brought my laptop which only has Windows2000 but Onslows Big Stuff at home has Windows 7 so that may enable some of his fabulous photographs to be posted.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Armaments and Art
Yesterday we got up early, had a light breakfast and set off for Fort Rinella. This journey entails a change of bus at Valletta and we are back in at the bus station. Apparently the temporary bus station was only because of Carnival, but the road up from Floriana is a building site. It is awful, but at least one knows where to find the bus again. We caught the number 4 which goes out through Marsa and Paola, skirts the Three Cities and ends up out at the wilds of Fort Rinella. A chap got on carrying a bird cage with a tiny little singing bird inside, he got off outside the women's prison at Paola - I wonder if he was taking the bird visiting?
At Fort Rinella a guided tour had just begun so we tagged on along at the back of it. The tour guide was dressed as a Victorian soldier and extremely easy on the eye. Probably in his mid twenties, he was extremely knowledgeable about the subject and had an enchanting accent and smile. I may be a grandmother but always had a penchant for men in uniform - after all, I did marry one. There is not an awful lot to see at the fort, a massive Armstrong gun held Onslow's attention for a while, and we wandered around the museum area where there was a very good exhibition of Victorian military paraphenalia. The officer's bunk had a gruesome stuffed cat on the bed and the common soldier's barracked bed brought back memories of my own Army service.
The really interesting things - to me anyway - were the demonstations. My young soldier, now known as Manoel and my new best friend, firstly showed how information was communicated via mirrors, lamps and semaphore. There was a tiny Asian gentleman who really had a problem understanding the mirrors and Morse - this chap could only have been about four feet high and he was weighed down with cameras, two of which had telephoto lenses which must been over a foot long. If you had put them all together I am pretty sure they would have been taller than he was. Manoel explained that the signallers were very highly skilled and protected from the worst of battle, the infantry and cavalry were much more expendable. Since my army service had me trained and attached to the Royal Signals I decided that I was obviously the Creme de la Creme and Onslow might stop calling me Monica (my obsessive list making as per Monica in Friends) and start calling me Miss Brodie any minute now. The second demonstration was of rifles, Manoel showed how they developed from flintlock all the way to breech loading over about four hundred years. He fired a few and big bangs reverberated in the fort, I could imagine that defence of a fortification like that would be extremely noisy.
We did not stay for the drill demonstations and instead headed back to Valletta to go to the Museum of Archeology to see the famous Sleeping Lady since our Heritage pass covered us for this. The chap on the desk gave us a couple of leaflets and told us to start at the top floor so we caught the lift up and there before us was the most enormous treat - an Art Nouveau exhibition featuring the work of Alphonse Mucha. I was not familiar with the name but recognised some of the work, the famous "Seasons" series of beautiful women lounging around in their nighties with symbols of the different seasons was one section. Some of the graphics from poster designs were also familiar, the Ruinart champagne advertisement in particular. There were also all the posters advertising Sarah Bernhardt's theatrical triumphs - I had never seen the "Hamlet" before. It was truly a magnificent exhibition and I could easily have missed it.
And then we went for an ice cream and caught our final ferry from Valletta back to Sliema. Today, our last day, we have nothing planned but the weather looks a bit wild and windy so I don't think we will get up to much.
At Fort Rinella a guided tour had just begun so we tagged on along at the back of it. The tour guide was dressed as a Victorian soldier and extremely easy on the eye. Probably in his mid twenties, he was extremely knowledgeable about the subject and had an enchanting accent and smile. I may be a grandmother but always had a penchant for men in uniform - after all, I did marry one. There is not an awful lot to see at the fort, a massive Armstrong gun held Onslow's attention for a while, and we wandered around the museum area where there was a very good exhibition of Victorian military paraphenalia. The officer's bunk had a gruesome stuffed cat on the bed and the common soldier's barracked bed brought back memories of my own Army service.
The really interesting things - to me anyway - were the demonstations. My young soldier, now known as Manoel and my new best friend, firstly showed how information was communicated via mirrors, lamps and semaphore. There was a tiny Asian gentleman who really had a problem understanding the mirrors and Morse - this chap could only have been about four feet high and he was weighed down with cameras, two of which had telephoto lenses which must been over a foot long. If you had put them all together I am pretty sure they would have been taller than he was. Manoel explained that the signallers were very highly skilled and protected from the worst of battle, the infantry and cavalry were much more expendable. Since my army service had me trained and attached to the Royal Signals I decided that I was obviously the Creme de la Creme and Onslow might stop calling me Monica (my obsessive list making as per Monica in Friends) and start calling me Miss Brodie any minute now. The second demonstration was of rifles, Manoel showed how they developed from flintlock all the way to breech loading over about four hundred years. He fired a few and big bangs reverberated in the fort, I could imagine that defence of a fortification like that would be extremely noisy.
We did not stay for the drill demonstations and instead headed back to Valletta to go to the Museum of Archeology to see the famous Sleeping Lady since our Heritage pass covered us for this. The chap on the desk gave us a couple of leaflets and told us to start at the top floor so we caught the lift up and there before us was the most enormous treat - an Art Nouveau exhibition featuring the work of Alphonse Mucha. I was not familiar with the name but recognised some of the work, the famous "Seasons" series of beautiful women lounging around in their nighties with symbols of the different seasons was one section. Some of the graphics from poster designs were also familiar, the Ruinart champagne advertisement in particular. There were also all the posters advertising Sarah Bernhardt's theatrical triumphs - I had never seen the "Hamlet" before. It was truly a magnificent exhibition and I could easily have missed it.
And then we went for an ice cream and caught our final ferry from Valletta back to Sliema. Today, our last day, we have nothing planned but the weather looks a bit wild and windy so I don't think we will get up to much.
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