My third and final musing over Milan. Whilst walking outside the Milan Convention Centre where an ADHD congress was taking place, a group of maybe 200 protestors aged from 5-60 years. Placards, balloons and a huge inflatable buffalo. The signs do not make sense to me but generally seemed to be protesting against ADHD. No idea why. A lively group but not really threatening at all.
An unusual finding while walking around a swimming pool in Southern Spain. At first I thought it was leaves and twigs in an odd pattern but then when I picked it up realised that it was a fossilised dead bird, totally preserved and totally dried out. I have a number of photos and will post a few more later this week but one to keep you going.
Fossilised Dead Bird
View from Bedroom window. Sheets or large underwear?
This post I have to admit is a little unfair as being there for 2 days spent most of it underground in a conference room, cut off from the world seemingly. Awful telephone reception and little better wifi connection ( which at least was free). And then when one factors in a 12 hour sleep, to recover from missing a night, you can agree that my views of Milan are not exactly complete.
On balance I was not enthused about the city. The trip from Linate airport to the hotel did not inspire me and neither did the driving ability of the taxi driver, who gave a decent rendition of having ADHD. Those who are not familiar with ADHD just need to understand that the key symptoms of impulsive behaviours and/or inattention are not ideal qualities in a taxi driver in a busy city centre. The first learning was that pedestrians who step onto a crossing should consider a few things. Making a will would be obligatory and consideration to not crossing would also be a good judgement to make.
The streets were not full of colourful fashionistas nor shops and the restaurants did not make me want to jump out of the taxi. The same process was repeated on the return journey. The positives? Well certainly not the costs. Lets talk cocktails, not that I was offered any. In Spain where I was sunday night, a Pina Colada would cost 3.50 euros, and in the hotel here 11.50. The fact that they were advertising their drinks and prices in the elevator suggests they considered these prices reasonable.
On a positive note the food was good. A large lunch buffet and a meal of Salmon in breadcrumbs with aubergine that got me thinking it might make a good dinner party dish.
Rooms are always small in Italian hotels but this one really was. The view from the bedroom window was not exotic but did make my mind question whether what was hanging out was sheets or rather large underwear.
So I make my biased and unfair decision that Milan is off my holiday destination list. But lets give it a second chance as I am returning on friday and hopefully may see a little more. I may even take my camera.
A pleasure to travel on this aircraft today from London City Airport to Glasgow. What actually struck me was that the legroom if you sat in seats 2 C and D was phenomenal. They literally were missing a row of seats. This had another benefit, that the trolley that normally wrecked havoc as it went up the aisle with passengers coming down the aisle, could be parked in there, allowing folks to skip happily into the toilet. The two rules of flying that cannot be broken are that firstly one should carry every item from the household onto the plane and secondly that all passengers must visit the toilet at least once.
What however I did not know was that the aircraft series has been in production since 2002, and 908 have been delivered. They seat between 94 and 114 . My one today seated 98 according to British Airways.
There is however a little safety information to digest according to Wikipaedia.
Seats 2 CD in Embraer 190
The behaviour of the Portsmouth fans was not impressive today. They arrived at the game knowing that the Supporters trust would most likely be able to buy the club and essentially they could consider themselves as shareholders. They were in good voice but then their chanting became foul mouthed and abusive for no good reason. At the end of the game they invaded the pitch and some then went on to start fighting. Just to put this simply, they are the worst set of fans that I have personally seen in League 1 for many years and no doubt will continue to grace League 2 next season. The sympathies I held for them have vanished totally.
Winkworth Arboretum is a National trust property about 5 miles from Guildford in a quaint town called Godalming. The most striking thing about Godalming is that the houses are massive and the Waitrose in the centre of town even larger. The impression given is that a huge crater was created into which Waitrose slotted to fill the hole, and the road then re-built to bypass said Waitrose. But I digress. The Arboretum is a decent place to walk but sadly the extensed winter meant that few plants were visible today other than the occasional daffodil or snowdrop. No evidence of the Magnolias coming to life.
The walk is also not an easy one, many steps and slopes means that the walk might not be suitable for all. Can it be recommended? Maybe. One needs to return when spring has made an appearance to be decisive but I suspect it will become a nice place to walk. The Boathouse, is what it sounds, an old hut by the lake, but with chairs and old books in it gives the impression of a real old room. A sign on the door mentions that the NT have applied for permission essentially to have music and alcohol in here. Sounds good.
To come across this bird twice in a month is quite co-incidental .The first time was when the 12-year old conned me into buying a game called ” bird bingo”. This as it suggests is bingo but instead of numbers one pulls types of birds out a bag. Needless to say I never win just as with normal bingo. There were many exotic and odd birds in this game and in fact only a very few that I vaguely recognised. The Hoopoe bird caught my eye with an interesting name and exotic looks.
the second visitation of this bird was in Dubai. Peering over my hotel balcony I heard some rustling noises and caught a shadow under a tree. On closer inspection it was a Hoopoe bird. The third visitation was when walking around the grounds of the hotel, I saw one maybe 10 yards away, too far to get a photo on a Blackberry, so these photos are not mine but do demonstrate exactly how this wonderful bird looks. When it flies it has a low trajectory but takes off rather fast. I have chosen a few photos that demonstrate well what the bird really does look like.
They eat mainly insects and live in usually warm climates, but did 30 years ago appear in Southern England. Wikipaedia is enlightening as always. These are a few facts that caught my eye.
In the Bible, Leviticus 11:13–19, hoopoes were listed among the animals that are detestable and should not be eaten. They are also listed in Deuteronomy (14:18) as not kosher. The Hoopoe was chosen as the national bird of Israel in May 2008 in conjunction with the country’s 60th anniversary, following a national survey of 155,000 citizens, outpolling the White-spectacled Bulbul. It is also the state-bird of Punjab province of India. The Hoopoe appears on the Logo of the University of Johannesburg, and is the official mascot of the University’s sports. The municipality of Armstedt, Germany has a hoopoe in its coat of arms.
Today an 80 metre cargo ship called MV Danio, Norwegian registered, has run aground on rocks known as ” Blue Caps” near Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands. The boat was carrying timber and there are no reported fuel nor cargo spillages. The crew of six are reported unharmed. The lifeboat was called out at 04.50 am and made un unsuccessful attempt to refloat the vessel due to the tide going out. A second attempt to refloat will be made tonight.
The Farne Islands are a group of small islands unihabited off the Northumberland coast near Bamburgh and Seahouses. They are home from April to July to thousands of Puffins,Arctic terns and other seabirds, and are a great place to visit by boat from Seahouses. The Longstone Lighthouse is famous for the rescue of a grounded boat in 1843 by Grace Darling.
I visit there each summer to photograph puffins and seals. Photo credit to RNLI for the MV Danio below, and credit to myself for the other photos, which are not of the Farne Islands but taken a few miles north at Holy Island.
MV Danio
Holy Island. Good access to graveyards
Today was the first day that really felt like spring might be coming, a little sunshine, no rain and a crisp cold day, so the first good opportunity to visit and photograph the Deer. As a photographer I am not sure what it is but animals do not find me threatening and thus i can often get closer than some to photograph these beautiful creatures. Here are a few images from today.
Sometimes places have atmospheres. Lindisfarne or Holy Island has always been a holy place since St Aidan arrived here in something like 700AD to try and preach christianity to the heathen masses at that time. That holy atmosphere prevails. The castle can be seen in the distance with gravestones in the foreground. In the church the ghosts seem to be carrying actively the coffin out. Many of the gravestones in the graveyard have almost disappeared back into the earth and recount the lives of many who have died over the last 300 years. A holy atmosphere prevails still on a lovely island
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 