Cyprus 3

Family Holiday Diary 2016

Wednesday

Nice breakfast, huge choice (The Colony hotel in Kyrenia, northern Cyprus.) Waiter was from Ukraine, had rings on his thumbs. Learnt ‘thank you’ in Ukrainian – ‘jack-queer’ (not unlike the Polish, ‘chink-queer’. Spelling my own, in case you were wondering.)

Family swam/sunbathed. H swam TWO lengths underwater. I wandered around the lanes of Kyrenia. Pretty town. Saw tiny shops, an abandoned church, a mosque, and lots of cats and dogs who wandered freely and seemed content.

Pizza lunch on hotel roof. Then most of us drove south, to Salamis (this was M’s choice, strangely. Either due to latent historic interest or because it features in certain computer games. I expect it was for intellectual reasons.) Salamis is old Roman/Hellenic city. Lots of random walls and pillars left. Very relaxed rules, we could walk where we liked (later read sister’s blog, which warns of snakes, but we didn’t see any.) Toilet incredibly clean (in case you ever visit.) Apparently Barnabus (New Testament character) lived there (in Salamis, not the toilet.)

Drove to Famagusta. Eventually found the part that has been fenced off (after lots of stress free U-turns by good natured husband.) It is weird. The deserted area runs right to the seafront, with fences and warnings going into the sea. What a waste. We could see houses, boutique hotels, shops, all left to crumble into ruin. Lots of barbed wire and notices warning people to keep out, that photos were prohibited, soldiers with guns – right next to kiosks selling cold beer, ice-cream and flipflops. I cannot believe it has been like this since 1974 and nothing has changed. No wonder people are angry. What a waste.

Didn’t get shot/arrested. Drove back to hotel. Buffet dinner in hotel. Not especially nice.

Thursday

The males have been clearly impressed/perturbed by H swimming so far underwater. This morning J nearly died, but also managed two lengths underwater. H then swam THREE lengths. Am worried J might die attempting this, have forbidden D from trying to keep up.

12:00 Checked out of hotel. Well, D checked out, it takes a long time for seven people to all arrive in the same place at the same time. About an hour.

Drove for a few hours, doing a slight detour to Mount Olympus. Grandpa was stationed here in the 1950’s, as part of his National Service. We weren’t sure what exactly he did, nor where exactly he was, but it was somewhere in the area and something to do with signals. Personally, I think that if Husband inherited his DIY skills, I might have found the aerial he put up….

Journey enhanced no end by D taking photographs of everyone for a very long time in the very hot sun.

Eventually arrived at Annabel Hotel, Paphos. J did a better job of map reading than yesterday (when we were suddenly aware he had fallen asleep….) Hotel seemed very nice, though crowded with English people. It has beautiful pool area with plants and lazy rivers and pillars and rows of sun beds. There’s even a pool bar, where you can sit on stools in the water. A few steps lead to the beach and a promenade you can walk along for miles, towards touristy shops or other hotels. Seems lovely.

Tomorrow I will tell you about Paphos (sometimes spelt Pafos.)

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Thank you for reading.

anneethompson.com

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Cyprus

Posted by anneethompson

Family Holiday Diary 2016

Saturday

Met R and S at Gatwick. Ate big brunch in Lebanese restaurant. Males drank beers. At 11am.

I took my book to WHSmith to try and persuade the manager he might like to stock it (not easy to meet an ‘airside’ manager unless flying somewhere and it’s easier to persuade in person than by email.) He was surprised, said no one had ever asked him before, but promised to look into it (he was unsure if being at an airport meant he had less choice than a High Street branch – where the store manager has discretion over what he stocks.) Asked if he could have a copy of book for his staff to read. Left one (though losing a book had not been part of my plan!) I will email him when I’m home, in a couple of weeks, and let you know if he agrees to stock them.

Flight uneventful. 4hours.

Paphos airport efficient (empty, wondered why.) I used toilet. You can sometimes tell a lot about a country from the toilets. These were clean but I was slightly perturbed by the signs…

Bought water, collected hire car (which, for 7 people, is more of a van.)

Drive to hotel long. J map read, relatively little abuse from family. Hotel (Hilton, Nicosia) nice. Dinner by pool. Hotel has a glass elevator. Rooms nice. Learnt Greek for ‘thank you’ – ‘ef-harry-stom’.

Sunday

Late breakfast. Males very late. Nice range of food. I ate too much (meant to be losing weight.) Males didn’t drink beer.

Swam/read. Weather very hot (might be why airport was empty. Last year, in Malta, it rained one day. Hence D now booked us in near Sahara resort. Hoping it doesn’t rain this holiday…)

Drove to Nicosia Old Town. Van very wide for narrow streets. Parked (stressful) and walked around. R didn’t buy flipflops. Wandered, by chance, to border with Turkish controlled northern section. Saw sandbags and barbed wire and a young soldier who picked up his rifle as we approached. Decided not to try and chat (wasn’t sure my eight words of Turkish would make much of a conversation. Plus thought he might shoot me.)

The whole divided Cyprus thing seems strange to me. I missed it at the time, so will explain briefly: After the Brits left in about 1960 (Grandpa did his National Service here) the Cypriots were a mix of Greeks and Turks, who lived peacefully alongside each other. In 1974, according to the Turkish Cypriots, a few Greek Cypriots were pressing for the island to be joined to Greece. They staged a coup, backed by Greece, trying to overthrow the government by force. In order to protect the Turkish Cypriots, Turkey sent in their army, who marched down from the north. This history is told rather differently in the south, where they claim the Turkish army invaded Cyprus, unhindered by the UN, and have since refused to leave. They now state the north of their country is under Turkish occupation.

I can offer no insights as to which is the true opinion. Probably there is some truth on both sides and ordinary people, who just wanted to get on with their lives, were hurt on both sides. I can tell you that the border is odd. It looks temporary, like something students have erected as a dare overnight. But with armed guards (who also look like students.) The country is now divided, north and south, with what is called ‘the green line’ running through the middle. This is patrolled and fenced, with passport border controls and military and signs telling you not to take photographs or enter certain zones. It is odd. However, for a marriage, I can see that a green line has certain benefits. Tried to instigate a green line in hotel room (when in Cyprus…etc) It didn’t work. I clearly also need Turkish soldiers.

The old town in south Nicosia seemed a bit run down. Not sure if this is because we were seeing it mid summer (when sensible people are elsewhere.) There was a strange mix of very expensive shops right next to very cheap shops. We wandered round for a while, then ate dinner in a boiling hot kebab place (which said it had air conditioning, but if it did, they hadn’t turned it on!) D worried about the drink/driving laws half way through a Keo, which boys kindly finished for him. We were given tiny pots of bitter yogurt for dessert. Most of us passed them straight to S.

Went back to hotel and chatted in lobby. J played the grand piano (proud mummy moment.) D made up a quiz (which got a bit long to be honest.)

Tomorrow we plan to walk through border into Turkish controlled section. Why not sign up to follow my blog so you don’t miss it?

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Warsaw, Poland – A Holiday Diary

Posted by anneethompson

We checked in to hotel (Hotel Bristol), then walked up the ‘Royal Route’ towards the old town. Got something to eat at a Costa, which felt very foreign. It was also very cheap and surprisingly empty for an inner city Costa.

Warsaw has different sections. We walked through the Old Town, which is…. old. Then walked through the old city gate (the Barbican) into the New Town – which is….. old! However, actually, when you read the guidebook, you discover that ALL of Warsaw was heavily bombed during the war, so 85% has been rebuilt. But it looks old. We saw an old photo, which I hope is clear enough for you to see, (I put a copy at the end) showing how every building in the centre of the old town was a ruin with no roof. After the war they worked very hard to rebuild everything in the same style as before. They succeeded, though I am guessing that due to speed/cost, they were not perhaps built to be as durable as before (a few of the ‘marble’ columns were made of brick and plastered over.) It looks good though, a very pretty city.

It’s actually very nice. Like Krakow, it reminded me of Bruges, with cobbled streets, attractive buildings, street cafes and music – wherever you walked there were musicians busking, from opera singers to cellists. It was lovely. There were also lots of fresh flowers. Every street cafe was decorated with arrangements of flowers and we saw people on bikes, carrying flowers they had bought, in their baskets. I am guessing that Polish homes must use lots of flowers.

We ate dinner in Dolce Vita, a cafe opposite the royal palace. The food was nice, and when I went inside, it was all scrupulously clean.

The next day there were lots of Chinese people outside the president’s house, waving banners and flags. I used my Mandarin to ask a man why they were there. Had quite a long conversation. Do not have a clue what he said! Husband then asked one of the many security men what was happening and we learnt that the Chinese president was visiting. Spent the rest of the day dodging excited Chinese tourists and people filming news reports and security men who had closed off streets.

I walked to the Palace of Culture and Science in the city centre. All the roads are big, with crossing lights that everyone obeys and no cobbled streets. The buildings were more like I had expected to see in Poland – rather foreboding flat roofed concrete blocks with big blank windows that watched you.

However, they were still interspersed with pretty historical ones with sculptures and decorations. It is a relatively low rise city, so the Palace of Culture and Science looms above everything. It looks like something from a Ghost Busters set. There is something sinister about it, though I couldn’t quite work out why.

I also couldn’t quite work out what it was used for. I went inside and there were cafes and toilets and ticket kiosks. You could buy tickets to the viewing platform ( this would only appeal if you were male I feel) and to see several reconstructed rooms. I picked up a leaflet and it looked like it was something to do with the previous communist rule. But what exactly was rather vague. My guidebook was also unhelpful – it told me useful facts like that it had been made from 40 million bricks (like, when you see a building, your first thought is always, “Gosh, I wonder how many bricks they used to build that,”) and it was a gift in 1952 from the USSR. And that Polish people would now like to demolish it.

Google told me it was an exhibition centre and cinema, and apparently the Rolling Stones played there in the sixties. I think not knowing and making up my own ideas was more interesting.

Palace of Science and Culture

Walked to the Chopin Museum. On the way I passed a bench, opposite the house where his sister used to live. The bench played music, which I thought was rather cool! The museum was a pretty building, previously a palace, built above the road. There was a park, with the institute of music next door, so people were walking their dogs to the sound of piano playing. The museum was shut. I was quite pleased actually, as generally museums are boring, but I sort of feel obligated to go sometimes.
Walked back to hotel. Went into the Church of St Joseph. It was dark, with oil paintings, candles and icons. There were people praying, so I thought I had better not take photos. Though it was tempting as apparently the organ was previously played by Chopin each Sunday.

Chopin Museum

Food in Poland seems to be okay – a bit like in Germany (sausages and cabbage) but with more taste. Lots of places sell pierogi (sort of like Chinese dumplings, stuffed with sauerkraut, meat or potatoes or with fruit or cheese.) Tall ice cream cones also seem popular, and breads and pretzels and pastries. And of course vodka (spelt ‘wodka’!) We also saw lots of people buying glasses of beer, with a red drink in a wine glass which they poured into the beer. I assumed they were adding shots, but apparently it was just fruit juice. (I was told this by a waiter, not one of my sons, so it is probably true.) They also eat pickled herring. The signs for the lifts are: WINDY/ELEVATOR – I am hoping the ‘windy’ bit is a translation and not an adjective.

In the afternoon it rained. Grey and damp, like English rain, but still warm, too hot for a coat. I walked through a big park, Ogrod Saski. I walked past a giant cross and the tomb to an unknown soldier, which had a fire pit burning, flowers and two soldiers on guard. The park was nice, with statues and a fountain and paths through flower beds. However, the paths did not lead to where I wanted to go, it was like being in Ikea, walking miles when you know that where you want to be is just in front of you. Part of the problem was the tram line, which ran down the side of the park, so you couldn’t leave in the corner you wanted to. Walked a long detour, made it out eventually.

Walked up to Plac Bankowy (Bank Square). Previously, this had a statue of the founder of the Soviet security service and the square was named after him. When Poland left the Soviet Union, they got rid of the statue and returned the square to its original name.

I feel this sums up Poland. They have had their identity snatched from them so many times – when heavily bombed during WW2, when the Jews were killed, when it was joined to the Soviet Union. Each time, afterwards, they have rebuilt the things that were important to them, held on to their history. I think that to start again so completely means they are probably a very strong nation, one to admire.

In the evening, we ate again in the square opposite the royal palace. There was lots of excitement as the Chinese president was arriving. The square was full of Chinese dancers, people waving flags and security men.

The security men were easy to spot as they wore black suits with white shirts and sunglasses (even though it was evening.) Like the cast from Men in Black.

Some Chinese girls were also eating in the restaurant, so I chatted to them. They said that coming to wave flags was compulsory – they had been told they had to. It was interesting to watch how the crowd was managed. Some protestors arrived and they weren’t removed, but their banners were quickly hidden by people with giant Chinese flags who stood in front. When Xi arrived, his car came in a cavalcade of security vehicles and whisked quickly into the palace. The people who had stood for hours didn’t even see him.

Poland has been fun to visit and is very different to how I had expected it to be. It is clean, attractive and has good summer weather. Definitely a good destination for a weekend away – and much cheaper than Paris!

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Excited Chinese people

Fountain in the rain

Old photos showing the level of destruction in the war.

A crucifix, which is partly the old one,

then a modern repair post war.

Marie Curie lived in Warsaw

before moving to France.

(Clever lady.)

The city gate.

There were lots of these ice cream cones.

I was dying to try one,

but wasn’t sure if they would be made with local water.

Local beer. Very nice.

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Krakow, Poland – A Holiday Diary

Posted by anneethompson

Poland was unexpected. Why has no one ever told me what it is like? Husband had a work trip in Warsaw, so we decided to come to Krakow the weekend before, have a romantic weekend. Before I came, I had this image of post Soviet Union countries all being very similar – lots of flat roofed concrete buildings, all very ugly and sinister. I came to Poland for the experience, to see with my own eyes what I had imagined. It turns out I had imagined wrong!

First we flew to Kraków. We flew with easyJet, which I quite like actually. Check-in was quick (you did it yourself but there were people to help if you got stuck) and you didn’t pay for anything you wouldn’t use. I paid £6 on board for a cheese roll and a drink. It was a nice cheese roll.

We arrived in Kraków and got a taxi to the hotel. I was interested to watch the city through the taxi window – was more Bruges than Tower Hamlets. There was a river with floating restaurants, a castle, cobbled streets, lots of cyclists.

The following day we walked around the city. I wanted to go to see where Schindler’s factory was (as in Oskar Schindler, who saved so many Jews in the war.) We walked through the Jewish Quarter- saw lots of old buildings, houses with window boxes of flowers, synagogues, Torah schools. Before the war, a quarter of Poland’s population was Jewish.

You could then walk across the bridge, over the river – the same route that the Jews would have had to walk when they were told to leave the Jewish area, their homes, and go to live in the ghetto.

There were about 20,000 Jews squashed into a few streets. Obviously the fences had gone, but many of the streets were still named Getta and you could see the old chemist shop, which is now a museum. The square, where people were sorted – allocated into houses or trains to the camps – now has statues of giant metal chairs. Empty chairs to show the lives that were stolen. Some of the chairs were normal sized and near the tram stop. Husband sat on one. I worried this was disrespectful, but apparently the sculptures were planned like that, to show that anyone could have been taken.

Schindler’s factory, a few minutes walk away, was just a factory. Here there were lots of concrete buildings. There were photos in the factory windows of the Jews who had worked there and the inside is now a museum and an art gallery, which I didn’t fancy looking at (not very keen on museums.) I picked up a leaflet about a tour to Oswiecim (which is better known by its German name of Auschwitz.) Decided visit would be traumatic, not really the right thing for romantic weekend away with husband, better to go as a separate trip in the future.

Went to old part of Kraków. This is beautiful. Cobbled streets (glad I wasn’t wearing heels), horse and carriages, ornate churches, weddings (with the bride and groom wearing very synthetic clothes which looked almost like costumes), Prussian architecture, trams, sunshine. There were little markets full of breads and pickles and crafts. Really, it was SO like going to Bruges at Christmas time, but with sunshine!

The churches were dark, full of candles and gilt and oil paintings. I’m not sure what they were used for during the communist reign, when religion was outlawed.

There were street entertainers, ice creams, people with designer dogs. And always, just under the surface, in the back of your mind, the city’s troubled history. So much suffering. I don’t know how long it takes to forget things like that.

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You could go on a ‘Communist Tour’!

This dog waited a year for his owner (who had died.)

People-watching in one of the squares.

Wonderful markets

Cloth hall – which didn’t sell cushion covers….

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Elephants at last….

Posted by anneethompson

“Move out the way!” shouted the man as the elephants approached the river.

I thought this was bit of an over reaction, there was plenty of room for him to pass, but I did move slightly more to the side.

Then I realised more elephants were coming behind him. And more….

Great lumbering beasts, so big, so intent on getting to the river. A bit like a crowd of nine year old boys rushing to play, very likely to knock someone with their shoulder by mistake. But these shoulders were huge, I would be toppled and crushed within seconds. I moved further back, up some steps leading to a cafe. The elephants lumbered by.

I cannot explain how exciting it was. The thrill of a brass band that vibrates deep inside your being, the thrall of something wonderful and scary all at the same time. Best sight ever. They trooped down to the river and then behaved a lot like my family would. One stood away from the others and just enjoyed being in the river. One submerged completely and just lifted a foot from time to time. One squirted himself and anyone near. One was very task focussed and had a good wash. One tried to organise all the others. I won’t name them…

We saw them at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage. I was slightly worried about how ethical it was – there were some chains and men with sharp sticks and quite a lot of shouting. But bull elephants are randy in the spring and need to be controlled, and I don’t know anything about rearing elephants (clipping a duck’s wings probably looks cruel to someone who doesn’t understand) so I will reserve judgement. Certainly they looked happy as they went to the river. And there were lots of warning signs – they hadn’t been tamed, they were still wild animals (which I like.)

We saw babies being bottle fed and adults stripping leaves from trees. But nothing compared to the bath in the river.

We hired a car and driver from the hotel. The whole day was good – a chance to see more of Sri Lanka. We saw birds as vibrant blue as a slush puppy, paddy fields being planted with rice, pineapples growing on a bush, a woman leading three porcupines on a lead and stood in rain drops that felt like whole cups of warm water being thrown at us. But really, I just wanted to tell you about the elephants.

I like Sri Lanka. It has an unspoiltness about it. It is the only place I have been that doesn’t have a MacDonald’s and Costa Coffee as every second shop – perhaps because it’s only a few years since the civil war ended, so tourism is just beginning to develop here. If you are planning to visit, come soon, before it changes.

Take care,
Love, Anne

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More days in Sri Lanka

Posted by anneethompson

Thursday and Friday

Husband went into office, I worked in hotel room, putting through the changes my editor had suggested for my book, Hidden Faces. When I needed a break, I stood on the balcony and absorbed the sea and palm trees. Not bad at all.

Went for a fast walk along sea front. Lots of families, groups of boys in white tunics walking home from their Madras, street vendors, stray dogs sleeping in the sunshine. There’s a big Buddhist festival over the next three days and they’re decorating the streets with giant lotus flowers and lights and flags.

The weather goes from bright sunshine to complete deluge in a flash, you can watch the storms coming in across the sea. There are signs up warning people not to swim because of dangerous currents and poisonous fish. Booked trip to see elephants tomorrow.

Saturday

We were both ill. Food poisoning. Ghastly. Cancelled trip to see elephants. But at least we both had it at the same time, so only lost one day of holiday. Annoying because I have been very careful, drinking only bottled water and eating only hot cooked foods. Makes you thankful for toilets.

Sunday

Walked past the green and the harbour to fort region. Area more official, lots of armed gates, groups of military. Saw the old customs house, onion shaped roofs, faded Victorian mansions. It is similar to Mumbai, but less intense – fewer smells and colour, less noise, less people.

If we stood still, even for a second, a man would emerge from nowhere, always wearing an open necked shirt, and asked where we were from and would we like a tuktuk, a tour or a cup of tea.

We passed several booths decorated with lanterns and sculptures – I think for the festival, it looked like it might be a competition. Saw a tiny old lady sweeping. Husband raised his thumb at her, told her the booth was “very good.” She smiled at him, no teeth, scant hair, ragged clothes, but a beautiful smile. Her whole face lit up. Precious moment.

Looked round the old Dutch hospital – now a complex of gift shops and cafes. The shops were closed for the festival, so I couldn’t buy a cushion cover. And I could see them through the door. So close…..

Got a tuktuk back to the hotel. Agreed price beforehand (very important) but when we arrived, he said he had no change and gleefully showed us his empty wallet. Husband said it wasn’t a problem and he could wait while husband went into the hotel and got some change.

Had a drink in the bar, under ceiling fans. Watched crows stealing food from the buffet. Listened to them screech while the sea bashed against the beach and the wind stirred the palm trees. Worth coming.

Got a tuktuk to Pettah region. Here they have a station and streets of market stalls. A rabbit warren. It was one of those experiences that feels scary but actually, as long as you kept your wits about you, it was just interesting. The people wanted to sell us stuff (at inflated prices) not murder us.

Hunted for a cushion cover. Not easy with no local language. Tried miming and got shown lots of bedding and pyjamas. In the end I bought some fabric, very ethnic, will make cushion cover when I get home. Then we went to a leather goods stall – lots of shoes and bags and poofs. Husband rather keen on a poof made from buffalo skin with elephant design. Assured me it would make a good (if rather large) cushion. He bargained with the seller and bought it. Lots of smiles all round.

Seller than offered to sell husband “a better tee-shirt”, which I thought was hilarious but husband found less amusing. Walked back to hotel along sea front. Loads of people again, all very happy. We are the only white people. I like it here.

Tomorrow we hope to go and see elephants…..

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There might be elephants tomorrow……

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Sri Lanka – Letter to a Sister

Posted by anneethompson

I met Husband at the airport (he took back all the Sri Lankan money he had given me!) Flight and everything was fine, though much too long – 10 hours. Whenever I use a washroom on a plane, I always remember my first flight, aged eight, when you told me that if I didn’t lower the lid before flushing, I would be sucked out of the aeroplane.

As we flew into Sri Lanka, we could see the extent of the recent floods. In some places they have had nearly 35cm of rain in a day. We saw destroyed roads, flooded houses, rivers that had burst their banks. Several people have been killed.

Immigration was efficient, then we collected our luggage and walked out through the Duty Free shop. In England (and every other country I have visited) this shop is full of chocolate and alcohol and cigarettes. In Sri Lanka, it’s full of washing machines. And fridges. Obviously holidays abroad stimulate the local population into a frenzy of kitchen appliances desire.

As we drove to the hotel, we saw streets of shops selling spare parts for tuk tuks, cars with whole shrines on their dashboards, lots of flooding. We passed Hindu temples, golden Buddhas on roundabouts, giant statues of Mary. There were people hanging clothes to dry on wire fences, trees, anywhere they could really. Many of the houses were very simple, made of corrugated iron and bits of wood. Some had cows in their tiny garden area.

Hotel is lovely. Galle Face Hotel, Colombo. It’s an old colonial building, full of dark wood, carved elephants and ceiling fans. Our room has a balcony, right next to the Indian Ocean (you would love it.) I feel a little like I have walked into a film set. At 5pm every day they play the bagpipes and lower the flag (a tradition from the 1800s when the British were ruling here.)

This evening we walked along the sea front – a bombardment of the senses. Crashing waves and a babble of languages mingle with fried seafood and spun sugar. Children playing, kites flying, an ancient snake charmer, joined by his friend with a monkey, as the sun dipped behind the brick built pier, silhouetting groups of men and families.

I’ve never seen a snake charmer before. He took the lid off his basket and played his pipe and a snake – think it was a cobra – rose up. Then the snake got bored and started to slide towards us, so we left – he was bit of a naughty snake!

We ate dinner in the hotel buffet. Very nice, though the Sri Lankan idea of ‘very mild’ for a curry is somewhat different to mine! We watched a man frying hoppers – they’re bowl shaped pancakes, made with flour, egg, coconut milk and yeast. Delicious. You fill them with something savoury and roll them up to eat with your right hand (using your left hand – the toilet hand – is a bad mistake to make.)

While we are here, I really want to see some elephants. There is an elephant orphanage, which is where the government care for elephants that have been abandoned. It’s more of a reservation than a park/zoo I think, so am hoping it’s well run (and has happy elephants.) I’ll let you know if I do.

Take care,
Love, Anne x

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Planning a Trip

Posted by anneethompson

Thanks for your letter. I smiled when you mentioned your dentist’s age. I’m always a bit shocked by how young the rest of the world is becoming. When I was in hospital I had lots of children looking after me – I kept wanting to ask if their mothers knew where they were. Mostly they were doctors.

I’m slightly stressed this week. Tomorrow we go to Sri Lanka. As you know, I am not a relaxed traveller. I also prefer to cope with things as they arise, I find that thinking about problems ahead of time adds to the stress. Husband is the opposite. He likes to think through every eventuality and plan accordingly (ex Boy Scout and all that.) So, yesterday we went for a nice relaxing walk and he started to discuss the trip.

It’s a work trip, Husband will be in the office and I will be trying to rewrite the changes to my book that the editor has suggested. Seeing the country will be an extra treat if it fits around his work schedule, with a couple of days holiday at the end. This means his company is paying for his flights and hotels. Which means, if something urgent happens in London, they might decide he has to postpone. My flights and expenses are paid for by us. If something urgent comes up at home, I will ignore it. Or lose my flight.

So, yesterday, on our relaxing walk, Husband tells me that tomorrow he will be working in London during the day, so I will have to meet him at Heathrow. That’s okay. He doesn’t want to take his luggage into the office, so I will transport that for him. Also okay. If he is delayed, I will need to check in before he arrives. Less okay. If he is very delayed, he will catch a later flight but I cannot change mine, so I will need to fly out on my own. Even less okay, but I will cope. If something urgent arises, he might join me in a day or too. Not what I was hoping. The hotel is booked, but Sri Lanka is currently having a cyclone, so if the hotel is flooded, it might be shut and I will need to book another one when I arrive. This is not something I want to think about. It probably won’t happen, if it does, I will think about it when I am in Sri Lanka. Am feeling even less relaxed about the trip now.

If I ever arrive in Sri Lanka and find a hotel, I will tell you how I get on. If you never hear from me again, I am somewhere in the world with two large suitcases and a long list of instructions. Please look after Mum.

Love, Anne x

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You can read my sister’s letter at:

http://ruthdalyauthor.blogspot.ca/2016/05/spring-and-spring-cleaning-letters-to.html

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Why not buy a copy today? I think it will make you laugh.

The US link is here:

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Last Day continued…..

Posted by anneethompson

So, after visiting the little town, we drove out to La Pampa – the grassy plains, and to a ranch. The road to the ranch was a dirt track, but still really wide (four lanes wide!) ALL the roads in Argentina seem to be very wide.

The ranch we visited was called Portenia Estancia, and was used for a film with Antonio Banderos and Emma Thompson. It was also the home of an author, Ricardo Guiraldas (who wrote a very famous book about gauchos, but when I tried to buy it on Amazon, I either have to pay about £700 for an English copy or learn fluent Spanish or Italian. Will wait for a Kindle version.)

We were shown around the house and gardens, and given snacks and lunch. Again, it felt more like we were guests than tourists, people were very friendly and hospitable.

A gaucho, Fredisco Pereyra, took us riding. We were given polite, slow horses as neither of us can ride. One of the horses walked through bushes to cut corners, was incredibly slow and walked along chewing lumps of tree (accountants aren’t necessarily great with animals.) We saw lots of cattle, pigs, horses, dogs. Mostly we saw grass – as far as you could see, stretching across the great flat plains. There were lots of clumps of pampas grass, which I assume is where it got its name ( It’s huge, you could fit several of England into the space.)

Lunch was at a long table in a room with a fire at one end. There were flowers on the table and we were served meats and salads, then pancakes with dolce latte and bananas. Along the table were people with other tour guides, so we listened to a range of languages and chatted with different people. After lunch, the gauchos played the guitar and sang some folk songs (which actually, was very tuneful, so was nice rather than embarrassing) and we were shown some traditional dances.

There were lots of animals : dogs and puppies, pigs and piglets, horses and cattle. They all roamed free. It was how I felt animals should live. I have no problem with eating meat, but I do think animals should be free and happy while they are alive, not pumped full of hormones and kept in cages. I don’t think you could get much more ‘free range’ than the animals we saw.

The national bird of Argentina is rufous hornero, we saw lots of the nests. They look a bit like House Martin nests in England and have a little hole which always faces north (because here, north is warm. I never got used to that, in my mind, north is cold!) The gauchos use the bird nests for orienteering, even if there is no sun, they can see which way is north.

Came back tired but happy. I have found a mosquito bite on my forehead, which is very annoying as I smothered myself in repellent. They have dengue fever in Argentina, so I am hoping this was a healthy mosquito.

The film (which shows the estancia we visited), ‘Imagining Argentina’ is a bit odd. I think the people at the estancia were slightly embarrassed by it, and I wonder if they had realised before it was released what it was about, as it didn’t show Argentina in a very good light. It’s not at all the sort of film I would usually watch, as it was horribly violent and a bit weird, but it was interesting to see places that we visited. It shows the story of Argentina during the late 1970’s, when the regime refused to allow any opposition. It was a time when lots of people went missing, they became known as ‘The Disappeared’. I had no idea, before we visited Buenos Aires, of any of the history. In my guide book, it said that every Thursday there is a procession of women outside Casa Rosada, protesting about the Disappeared. They are still waiting for information about their sons, husbands, sisters. I didn’t go to look, so I don’t know if the women are there are not. But that so many people disappeared – estimates of 30,000 people went missing between mid 1970s and 1982, when the regime collapsed following the war over the Falkland Islands – is terrible. It reminded me of stories about the old Soviet Union. As I said, I had never heard, I had no idea what was happening. It is very easy to ignore the circumstances in countries that don’t affect us. But the world is small, these places are accessible, the people are the same as us.

Argentina still has political problems, especially with their economy. But it has excellent natural resources and an intelligent, educated population. Buenos Aires is like a faded Paris. With the right governance, it could be a very different place in the near future. We won’t sell our left over pesos, they would be worth very little with the exchange rate now anyway. In a couple of years, I think they will be worth significantly more. If I had money to invest, I think I would invest in Argentina. The new government seems a sensible one.

Tomorrow we go home. It has been a lovely trip, though I’m quite looking forward to being home again. I wonder how much the ducklings will have grown and if the eggs by the pond have hatched yet.

If ever you come here, the two things you MUST do are eat alfajores with your coffee and visit a parrilla (the Argentinian version of a grilled meat restaurant. They cook roughly a whole cow at a time.)

I would also recommend that you try to avoid coming with someone who only knows some of the words to, “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina”, but who sings it every time you pass a monument to Evita. There are lots of these monuments in Argentina, trust me.

Bye for now,
Anne x

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A Day in Uruguay – A Letter to my Sister

Posted by anneethompson

Hi, how are you today? Yesterday we went to Uruguay for the day (as you do…)

We bought the boat tickets online, which was a bit confusing as we knew there were two boats – one which takes an hour and one which takes three hours – but the timetable and prices didn’t seem to correspond. Our Spanish was only almost good enough. Managed it eventually. We paid the equivalent of £75 each for day return tickets.

Walked to the boat terminal through a freezing cold city. I wish I’d packed my big coat. We went through passport control and immigration, then sat in a large waiting room for an hour. I now have extra stamps in my passport. At one window the Argentinian official gave the exit stamp, then you shuffle along to the next window, where an Uruguayan official gives you an entry stamp. Kinda cool.

The ferry was clean and comfortable. I needed to use the loo on board and was expecting the usual stinky boat toilet, but it was spotless, very clean. The gang plank in Uruguay was a bit of a challenge for some of the elderly passengers, so Husband did his gentleman bit and helped a few old ladies (while I stood ready with my camera in case they fell in the water. No, not really!)

We walked straight out the ferry terminal, turned right at the first cross roads, walked about ten minutes and arrived in the old town. Very easy, despite Husband telling me that none of the road names matched his map. (There were signs showing the way, we didn’t need a map.)

The old town was brilliant, it felt like being in the Caribbean (but a lot colder. May is Winter.) There was water lapping on the shore, lots of greenery, cobbled streets, old buildings. Perfect.

We sat in a street cafe in Colonia and drank cappuccinos sprinkled with cinnamon. Music from the shop next door, dappled sunlight through the trees, vintage cars driving past. Double perfect.

There were also lots of stray dogs. Not so perfect. But they seemed mostly well fed and healthy, so we avoided them in case they were rabid, but they weren’t threatening.

The vintage cars seem to mainly advertise the buildings they are parked outside. There were lots of them. Colonia is a world heritage site, so I’m not sure what was ‘real’ and what was for tourists. It was nice though, and very peaceful.

There was an old church, with white-washed stone walls, icons and echoes. Outside was a square with ruins, noisy birds in the palm trees, sunshine and the ever constant sound of waves lapping. Everywhere smells of wood charcoal.

We ate lunch in a little Bistro facing the water. There were signs up saying you should book ahead, I think it gets very busy here at weekends and in the summer. It was very clean and the food was nice:

Charco, Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. (info@charcohotel.com)

The prices here are all in Uruguayan Pesos, Argentinian Pesos and US dollars. Or you can pay with credit cards. I wasn’t sure if the language was Spanish or Portuguese (it’s Spanish) but as both sound exactly the same when I speak them, it didn’t make too much difference. Most people spoke at least a little English, some were fluent.

The girl who served us in the cafe was completely fluent in English, she could calculate prices in three different currencies, she was well presented and clearly intelligent. Plus, the cleanliness of the country is much better than England. It was the same when we went to Brazil; I expected small rural cafes and public toilets to have slightly dodgy hygiene, but they were always scrupulously clean. Public toilets in England are usually disgusting. I think travel is good for me, it challenges my preconceived ideas. The world is smaller than I think, lots of countries do things better than we do.

We strolled some more. I loved being near the coast. Lots of green plant and seed pods had washed ashore, so we argued for a while as to if it was sea weed or not. Never found out. (If you know, tell me!)

Looked in a couple of gift shops and I bought a cushion cover for my collection. It’s made of cow hide, which seemed very appropriate as they raise a lot of cows in Uruguay, on the plains that join Argentina.

Got the ferry back to Argentina. A really lovely day, one of the nicest trips we’ve had. If ever you come here, you should definitely plan to go to Uruguay. You would love it, it’s so pretty, sort of lost in time. Tomorrow we might visit La Pampas, which is the grass plains in Argentina, where the cowboys are. I’ll let you know.

Hope your week is going well.
Take care,
Love, Anne x

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