Wadi Rum (blame that film by David Lean)

Lets off road!

Time for tea

 

All peaceful now...

(from the movie)

(and today)

Desert camping 2010 style - if I had known I would have asked for "rough" camping with the Bedu

Petra - by night

I guess that there is a "all lit up" night visit to Petra on some company's itinerary - I did not mean to visit after dark - just that it took a very long time to walk back from the view point... (there are many competing "views" - each with increasingly desperate signs and accompanying little shop - click on the picture)

To the side the view was pretty good - but over the Jordan Valley - nope...

The very long walk back (no donkeys after twilight) did mean I had the whole place pretty much to myself - except for the Treasury Tea Shop Man and a nervous lady tourist who was waiting for someone with a flashlight to lead the way out  (me!).  During the day it gets very busy indeed

(Above, 3 seconds at F4!)

That is the moon over the "Treasury"

 The next morning

Bakdash - Damascus - Best Ice Cream in the World?

.

125 years old - and always full to bursting

It is famous for its pistachio-covered Booza, a pounded ice cream with an elastic texture made of mastic and sahlab. It is famous around the Arab World and has become a popular touristic attraction.

You can see them making the ice cream right in front of you - a bunch of burly men pounding away with big pestles - from the rate of sale I reckon the average Booza life is about 15 minutes from making to consumption.

The shop - and there is only one - is a good place to relocate when you get lost in old Damascus.  If you are lucky you might meet visiting presidents, kings and UN cultural ambassadors...

That is Brad and Angelina staying at my hotel (October 2009)

The owner was interviewed on BBC world - no plans to expand - no wish to lose direct control over a business and product formula that has lasted 125 years, including the fall of the Ottoman Empire, WW1, The French protectorate and any number of tricky situations following.

Ummayad Mosque with Mr Nassr (and a cast of 1000 school children)

The Ummayad Mosque

It might be one of the holiest sites in Islam - but it does not stop school kids having fun!

 

..

... and very keen to practise their English with the strange tourist who was happy to stop and talk... "can you count?", "of course we can!" - and the whole class shouting "one, two, three, four..." at the top of their voices

Another 11 days in Wroclaw

Chris and Adrian - "This is one of our 5-a-day" .  So nice they had another couple just be extra healthy.



I decided on a fruit alternative



This is the view from the nice factory office (windows have slats - like the blast shields at Cape Canaveral launch control - to do with reducing solar gain in this case).



This is the view from my office - no windows - but we do have three holes which appeared one morning.  Sadly now used to attach hygenically various pipes to the partition.

New car is christened...

They needed a volunteer to take the start kit to the start. 

 

  

  

 Dymock Wood - very muddy, very, very, muddy - excellent!

Where is Brian Cant when you need him?

This is my new work uniform - just until the factory is finished and then I guess we go into hygienic whites.

All the fitters and sparks are kitted out the same
I understand this is the norm here in Poland - but I don't feel comfortable dressed like an escapee presenter from "Play School". 

Sushi in Wroclaw - Not Many Blue-Fin in the Baltic I suppose

There are at least 4 Sushi bars in Wroclaw - and none of them cheap - a cup of tea, soup and tempura averages £15 - so much for "low cost economy"  - you will note that I have not actually had any Sushi - Wroclaw is 400km from the sea - and there aren't many blue-fin tuna in the Baltic.

On my first trip to Poland (1993) it was very different - the best restaurant in the town (according to Lonely Planet) specialised in "Flounder".  Well it turns out all they had was one fish - that they said could be split three ways between us - and being still a government run establishment they were not that keen on doing even that and would much prefer if we would stop bothering them and go and eat somewhere else - we persevered - it was quite a nice bit of fish.


Reports and personal experience suggest that Sakana is the best (and most expensive) place to eat sushi in Wroclaw

I got the veteran stick - at last!

Being presented with the Veteran Men Trophy by the World M60 orienteering champion (Andy Hemsted)



There are some illustrious names on the plate - TJ and Colin Spears. I remember Colin being presented with the "stick" - 24 years ago now - then we only had "open" and "veteran" - as the sport has aged new categories Super Vet and Master have been added.

The other trophy is the Summer Evening Event "Galloppen" - previously in my possession in 1996 and 2005

Ow!

I came home to run the "Northen Champs" - not a very navigationally challenging area - but certainly physical - with moss covered boulderfields and tussock grass moorland - and I survived it all until 1000m from the finish...

 

So that is a month without orienteering and then six months of taping and strapping

11 Days in Wroclaw

Above - Carp in Lutheran Sauce (for more on the Lutheran approach to cuisine listen to Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" )

Below - Zurek - yummy!



Even more "English" Goulash



Below: Your guess is as good as mine - even my bi-lingual colleage struggled

Racławice Panorama - what a surprise - Avatar for the 1890's

I went to see the Racławice Panorama - it is in a big circular building opposite the Radisson Hotel in Wroclaw - really very well worth seeing.

If you are going to visit - don't follow the link (above) until you have made your visit - and don't look at the shop on your left as you enter the ticket hall.

Totally not what I was expecting...

Which was either a) some form of "Socialist Realism Soviet Style" propaganda, all sweating workers and earnest daughters of the motherland with 6 children and a job making tractors or b) a long long strip of earnest but dull medieval tapestry

So I don't spoil the surprise the picture above is an artists impression (artists are 8 years old) - the actual panorama has fewer happy black and white cows and absolutely no blonde ponies.

A Chilly Weekend in Wrocław

This is the Art Hotel - very swish - Engineers only please!




Rynek - the cultural and literal centre of the city



Normally I go running along the towpath - but at -16C not a good idea



River is nearly frozen

My first visit to Poland in 2010 - They took my company final salary pension away
My second visit to Poland in 2010 - They took my company away*
My third visit to Poland in 2010 - Not looking forward to this one at all!

*Thank you to everyone who has expressed support and offered sympathy but it was not necessary as I now understand that Kraft buying Cadbury was the best thing that could happen to us,  Kraft directorate will effectively leverage their skillbase through the synergistic integration of the partner entities and I am convinced that the combined company will be successful in striving for enhanced profitability going forward.

Seriously - perhaps the Cadbry Culture can really make a good change to Kraft - cross fingers and hope!

I went to Avatar (again) today

Avatar at the Birmingham IMAX - second time around it was even better - because the Pocahontas-remixed storyline was a known - and I could concentrate on the lovely lovely fantastic images - and it all happened in a computer - stunning.

As I walked out someone said "Well, I won't be waiting for the DVD"... and yes there would, frankly, be no point.

If you don't see it in 3D on the biggest screen you can get to - then you will really really really kick yourself when you realise what you missed.

I met a man who owns a Vulcan

While dining in Wroclaw (Art Hotel) I met some folks from Stratford...

This is the owner/manager of Wellsbourne Airfield - there is a Vulcan parked there (XM655) - when the previous owner could not pay to make it flightworthy it was bought for £1 in lieu of 'parking fees'. When the weather gets better - I will be taking a trip down to Stratford for a personal tour



That is XH558 in the background