What we need to know is whether you’re going to meet our African correspondent in the flesh. And if you do, will you reveal anything to help us guess how real his Chariot persona really is? Intriguing stuff, eh?
Spill the goss, Boa!
What we need to know is whether you’re going to meet our African correspondent in the flesh. And if you do, will you reveal anything to help us guess how real his Chariot persona really is? Intriguing stuff, eh?
Boadicea's Chariot 
You are a little previous, Janus. They have already been in contact and, given luck and a fair wind, they will be meeting face-to-face in the Brissie CBD sometime tomorrow.
It may be totally unrelated, but our leader spent three hours at her favourite hairdressers yesterday. 😎
The tension is mounting then! Breath is suitably bated I trust. 🙂
And in other news………the latest meeting of the Brexit minds in Europe seems to be leading to detente – but perhaps not yet cordiale.
Yesterday the ‘real’ Boadicea met the ‘real’ Sipu. A very pleasant meeting between two ‘real’ people – and not one bit like their Chariot personae. 🙂
Janus, according to a Grauniad headline, Barnier is standing firm on an Irish Sea border! Hope he gets seasick.
Boadicea, it’s good to know you and Sipu managed to meet up. As I know from having met Christopher (aus Trier) as he then was, it’s very interesting to meet the real Charioteer. Btw my offer of coffee in London still stands. I am disregarding Bearsy’s comment about the hairdresser – sour grapes, I reckon!
Boa, how disappointing!
Thanks Sheona. I was in London only a few weeks ago – next time I’m there I will definitely make arrangements to meet. I met with a couple of people from MyT – and had hoped to catch up with John Mackie one time in Edinburgh. But I didn’t get there on that trip and haven’t been to Scotland since.
My future travels are going to be very different from those in the past – the UK was always the first priority. But, with the death of my mother last year, it no longer is. I do still have relatives and friends in the UK, but there are many, many places I want to see before my hour-glass runs too low! My last trip went from Budapest to Amsterdam – and the UK is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump from there – so I tacked on a couple of weeks in the UK. Russia and India are next on my bucket list. And then some odd places in Europe… Carcassone being at the top of the list.
Oddly enough, I could have caught up with Janus had he moved to Ashdown Forest area a few years earlier. The area was always on my list of ‘places to go’, having relatives there.
Ah well Janus! You missed out!!! Sorry you are disappointed – but that’s the way I saw it.
Boa, I’m surprised. Should I infer that you yourself differ from the Chariot Boa?
Boadicea: If you go to Russia, visit the Nordics if you have the chance. Sweden, Denmark and Norway are stunning. Finland is like nothing else on earth.
But if you ‘do’ Finland, avoid the mosquito season. Helsinki is a great city, stone outcrops and imposing architecture.
Denmark? Copenhagen is a must, then Skagen at the tip of Jutland and the ferry to Oslo.
Janus – I am a somewhat more reticent on the Chariot than I am in real life!
Christopher – I’d thought about tacking a Nordic trip onto Russia. I have a yen to see the Northern Lights – but I really need to know the best times to go. Perhaps it needs to be a separate visit.
The problem, as I see it, is that far too many travel companies are more interested in getting one ‘on board’ than being honest about what one can realistically expect to see. That was certainly the case with my trip to Japan.
All advice – welcome!
I can vouch for the Northern Lights in mid-July from the latitudes between Newcastle upon Tyne and Esbjerg, Norway. I have also seen them from London-California flights over the pole – but forget the season. 😏
Boadicea: It depends on how long you wish to be on holiday. In Russia, a tourist visa is valid for only 30 days and it cannot be renewed in the country. It’s very possible, for example, to spend a few weeks in Russia and then go by train from St Petersburg to Helsinki or fly from Moscow to Norway, Sweden or Denmark. Aeroflot is an excellent airline and they have a reasonably good selection of routes from Moscow. Late March to early April is an excellent time to go. The days are getting longer, but there are often excellent light shows at night. You can also see them from Russia.