Category: Transport

The first idea is sometimes the best.

Returning from our boat trip in late last Summer, I only half seriously suggested we should take the boat to the Bahamas for the winter.
Well one thing led to another and the idea was shelved for 2013.  The winter here has been brutal, record cold and record snow, another 8 inches overnight.
To this worker in the wilderness that trip does not seem quite so crazy today.

Snow 2s

Memories of Greece 1963, pt. 4

By now we were old salts, so we could handle the long voyage from Rhodes to Iraklion in northern Crete with aplomb, almost able to ignore the loukoumia problem; but we were glad to disembark to the frantic accompaniment typical of every busy port we visited.

Our focus was to see the work of a famous alumnus of our college, Sir Arthur Evans, the pionering archaeologist who, from the start of the  20th C. first gave meaning to the ruins of the ‘Minoan’ civilisation; he named it after the mythical King Minos of ‘Minotaur’ fame. The fabled bull was a common feature of the frescoes he excavated and controversially restored in the reconstructed ‘palaces’ – probably a misnoma for rooms and streets occupied by more than just royalty.

Continue reading “Memories of Greece 1963, pt. 4”

Memories of Greece 1963, pt. 3

Rhodes was, and still is, a very pretty island, with wooded hills in the ‘interior’ and well-preserved old towns within ancient fortifications – including of course the two arms of Rhodos harbour where Colossus once bestrode the entrance. The three of us found a quiet corner on top of the city wall to make camp, conveniently situated for a water tap and even public toilets, a rarity in 1963; while below us the narrow streets were teeming with stall-holders and buyers of everything from local produce to car tyres, with fresh fish aplenty. Although it was of little use to us, with no means of cooking it!

A highlight of our visit was a bus-ride across the island which dropped us off at a valley called ‘Petaloudes’. Continue reading “Memories of Greece 1963, pt. 3”

Memories of Greece 1963, pt 2

The thing is, I was totally immersed in Ancient Greek language, literature and history at that time, having done my ‘public exam’ in Classics only a few months before. So to find myself setting foot in old Piræus was like coming home. It was a hot, bright, bustling harbour; vendors and hustlers meeting the ferry, children offering to dive for coins from the dock-side, delapidated vehicles of every kind, even some with engines. And livestock being herded all around, presumably to or from the markets. No exaggeration to say almost nothing had changed in 2,500 years.

The local youth hostel was by no means primitive though. In fact we made reservations for a month later, the night before the ferry left for Brindisi – but for accommodation on the roof this time; no sissy matresses for these lads! Because we already knew from the student grape-vine that spending good money on rooms was out of the question. It was going to be ships’ decks, roof-tops and beaches from now on, with our sleeping bags, no tents. Remember: it was July and August when the nights were warm and rarely wet. And nobody had even heard of a ban on sleeping rough in those days; it was just what less-affluent visitors did and we were made welcome wherever we laid our heads.

And we soon ‘did’ mainland Greece. Continue reading “Memories of Greece 1963, pt 2”

Memories of Greece 1963, pt 1

Is it 50 years ago? Can’t be. Yes, it is.

Steam Train the Flying Scotsman Leaving a Station, January 1963 Photographic Print

Two mates and I won college travel bursaries after our ‘first public exams’ – which in those days counted as ordinary degrees taken after 5 terms. Value: £36 each. So we planned a month away in the summer vacation – destination Greece via everywhere in between. It wasn’t called back-packing in those days; we were just travelling students, advised to sew Union Jacks on our rucksacks so that Johnny Foreigner wouldn’t mistake us for undesirables (!). Such innocent times! Continue reading “Memories of Greece 1963, pt 1”

Many miles

I haven’t added them up, but I have covered a fair few miles in the pursuit of a suitable University for 2nd son. Durham, York and this weekend Glasgow. Applications for University for the coming academic year have to be in as soon as possible: I know some have already submitted and had offers. Not my boy.

This latest weekend trip has required a pricey fuel top up twice – and I’m only up and about now because my back has seized up from all the driving.

??????????

Continue reading “Many miles”

Noddy goes to Westminster

The idea came to me when I saw that some Android software promoted by Google is to carry the name of that scion of York, KitKat. A bit like the Barclays Premier League, I s’pose. And I thought: what’s going to happen when the Heir Apparent, by now older and greyer in fact as well as ideas, eventually gets to wear the crown? What he needs is branding. (OK, I do mean with something hot but only metaphorically. Honest.)

So it will be the Enid Blyton Coronation, themed to the eyeballs with super-sized Noddy cars, smiling bobbies, Toytown buildings and naturally Big Ears starring as the new Mayor or whatever PC title he chooses to adopt.

Regrettably I don’t recall any female participants in the daily life of our two heroes – or even any horses – so the Duchess may have to take a back seat (but not literally, ‘cos there ain’t one) but what jolly fun it will be for the whole family, pretending they are cherished by so many people and living happily ever after.