JAMming

Futility

2012-02-14T23:08:00.006+11:00

Going to the nursing home twice a day was starting to get me down, so I decided to drive to one of my most favourite places on earth: Wooli. I'd read articles about the sand dune erosion but, until I took my customary walk along the beach, I hadn't realised how bad it had become.

The first noticeable thing was the number of dead trees on the isthmus. While the undergrowth is still green, all the tall trees were bare. Not sure if this is because of a fire or whether the salt density has changed.

There are various attempts to stop the sand dunes from eroding further but they all look pretty futile to me.

How this netting is supposed to do anything serious is beyond me.

Marrum grass has been planted in various places but this hasn't lived up to all that was originally expected of it.

Then there are the sandbags of various dimensions which are an eyesore.

If this all sounds too depressing, a walk along the beach on a warm summer's day can still get my head into a better place.

The swim afterwards was refreshing (and the waves were my height).

food in Mallorca

2011-06-27T00:48:00.008+10:00

Yesterday as I was eating a jamon (ham) and tomato bocadillo (a filled bread roll)-filling bit nothing too special, the owner brought a covered dish to the next table for the employee's lunch. It was seafood paella and the smell and look were delightful. They didn't offer to share, though:(

"Mallorcan" food was on the wish-list for today and so I ordered an antipasto of meat and cheese. This included sobrassada, which is a soft spiced sausage which can be eaten spread like a paste. Along with the local cheeses* and "rustic" bread, this was a very satisfying meal.

*Mahón-Menorca cheese has a bright orange rind and is made using cow's milk and fermented at low temperature; Mallorcan cheese is made using sheep's milk, is high in fat and has an intense taste, dark brown rind and creamy texture.

Sardines for lunch the other day at the cafe looking out over the Cala de Deia.

This was a bit of a surprise. I thought I was ordering fish and chips:

tartar de salmon

olives in Mallorca

2011-06-26T19:01:00.011+10:00

Some of the olive trees on the island of Mallorca are over 1000 years old.

Something like 40% of the world's production of olive oil is from Spain. Olive oil production used to be a major industry on the island and many farms had their own mills. Oli verge de la Serra de Tramuntana (virgin olive oil of the Sierra de Tramuntana) is still obtained from Mallorcan olives that are grown at an altitude of between 300m and 600m. According to the manager of the refugi, it is now a cottage industry as people are prepared to pay a premium for oil made in the "traditional" way.

In the refugi* where I am staying, the traditional press can still be found and there are plans to make this part of the building a museum as well as set up a new press to encourage locals to produce oil from this area.

cuixera-leg (thigh)
bassi-puddle
biga-beam
cavall-where the horse is attached
quintar-500 kg stone weight
cofto-

formal-furnace
fumeral-chimney
pica-sink
trull-mill
premsa de biga-press beam

Traditionally, the olives were ground into paste using large millstones (a horse was attahed to the machinery and walked in circles.). The olive paste generally stayed under the stones for 30 to 40 minutes. After grinding, the olive paste was spread on disks, which were stacked on top of each other in a column, then placed into the press. Pressure separated the vegetal liquid from the paste. Traditionally the oil was shed from the water by gravity but now the process has been replaced by centrifugation.

The optimum temperature for oil extraction is around 25 degrees centigrade.

Inside the cauldron (second grade oil is produced by adding hot water and then extracting the oil)

tremuja-hopper
rutlo-maybe some type of grinding stone
sumola-looks like the tray were the oil is collected
arbre-tree (?)

*These are like hostels and there area number of them on the western side of the island. They are popular bases for walkers (If you took all the tracks, the distance is around 300 kms)

The pilgrim’s trail

2011-06-22T17:24:00.005+10:00

We had good intentions of walking a very small part of the Camí dels Bons Homes (The Route of the Good Men) on the rest days but managed to do nothing more taxing that play 500 on one day, cut up some apricots (for jam) and zucchini (for a type of condiment) and walk to Brafim the next afternoon.

Gerrard doing some hand washing as the power had gone off in the house with the washing machine *

Even at 6 in the evening, the sun was still hot and the walk was uncomfortable in parts. Nevertheless, it was picturesque.

The plan had been to visit the supermarket for some supplies but the town of Brafim has no market. We did, however, manage to find a wholesale wine merchant and purchased a flavoursome bottle of local white wine for 1.80 euro!

* This also meant no internet for more than 24 hours. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I felt like I was missing an arm.

A day at the fair

2011-06-22T16:50:00.007+10:00

An early start (7.30 to load the vans) saw us heading for Torredembarra for the first Agroecologica el Sedas to be held in this town. Dreadlocks de rigueur.

After a bit of standing around and moving one table about 6 times, stands were set up for an 11.00 start.

All sorts of organic products were for sale such as chocolate, fruit, vegetables, bread and vegetarian paella cooked using solar technology (I must say I would have preferred seafood to tofu).

Other WWOOFers, Gerrard, Arias and Charlie, sampling the paella.

Street performers had the task of encouraging tourists and locals to move further than the shopping precinct to the fair.

Torredembarra had some buildings of interest and the usual winding narrow streets in the older part of the town, as well as an amusement park close to the beach.

I think this sign is talking about the effects of the plague on the town in the 1600s, but I could be completely off the mark!

We had plenty of free time during the day and evening and spent some time at the bar (of course) and walking to the beach. It was a bit cool by the time I got there and there wasn’t anyone swimming though lots of people were traversing the promenade and being accosted by the ubiquitous sellers of tat.

There were various seminars on during the day but as my Spanish/Catalan was not up to this (haha), the only session that I could understand was making jewellery out of re-cycled materials-in this case, newspaper. We were joined by a couple of WWOOFers from another farm.

With Arias, making "beads"

Mi collar (my necklace)

We picked up a surprising package at the market. There are already cats and kittens at the farm but this one is tame. Her name is Lolita and, once back at the farm, she had to be kept away from the other cats in case they attacked her.

It was a very long day, not helped by Jose having to get a puncture repaired before we could set off home. We eventually arrived back after midnight.

Finca 2-near Tarragona

2011-06-18T07:17:00.006+10:00

I’ve realized I prefer the farms where I’m not the only WWOOFer. It’s good to be able to share the jobs and change around and there’s usually someone to talk to if you want. Currently at this farm there are WWOOFers from Australia (2), USA (2) and Spain (1), staying for varying periods of time and mostly wanting to be immersed in Spanish language. I’m picking up more words but still have difficulty stringing a sentence together which is more than a series of nouns. *

Accommodation is in one of the houses which make up this group. It’s not completely renovated but spacious and comfortable. The year 1851 is above the back door but I’m not sure if this refers to the whole complex.

View from the bedroom window (The two roosters, called Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are no-where to be seen. I think they like to crow about getting up so early and they then sleep for the rest of the day.)

The courtyard

The view from the back terrace

Along the back wall showing the buttresses

Each morning we drive to the field to mostly do weeding. Today, though, we picked lettuce, cauliflower, zucchini, potatoes, and chard for sale at a market tomorrow. The vegetables are drip watered from a nearby spring (and we also get drinking water from a spring)-the picked lettuce are put in the canal until ready for loading into the car.

Jose explaining that this is the preferred size for sale.

The fields are dotted with these small buildings which are meant for storage but this farmer doesn’t use his as things get too easily stolen.

There are also lots of stone terraces, and remnants of them, as you come down the hill to the field.

As this is an organic farm, snails are picked off.

We’ve seen a few walkers on the Cistercian Monastery Route which includes El Poblet on the UNESCO World Heritage list and, closer to here, Santes Creus and Valbona de les Monges.

As we drive to the field you can see the various churches on the hillsides. There is also significant evidence of Roman occupation in this province.

*Thought I was hearing things at lunch today when I heard “marihuana” followed by “planta”-Was this one of the cash crops, I wondered, but it was part of a completely different topic.

More food

2011-06-15T06:51:00.009+10:00

I did look at something besides food today but it's hard to resist taking lots of photos in the market area. Boqueria Market is the main food market in Barcelona with an array of meats, seafood, cheese, fruit and vegetables.

I hadn't realised that tuna was so dark and it gives some idea of the size of the fish when it can be chopped into blocks this size.

This stand just had salted cod (bacalao). The purchaser handled a number of pieces before making her selection. Carlos told me that it used to be the only fish poor people could afford in the past because it did not go bad even if it took a long time to get from the coast to the inner parts of the country as the salt preserved it. Now it's a luxury item because it's delicious and there are shops which only sell "bacalao".

The per kilo price for some of this ham is staggering.

Nothing much new here in this array for dried fruits and nuts but the chequerboard of colour appealed.

All I could think of when I saw this was "This little piggy went to market..."

Two things about this display I find disturbing:

The cute picture of the rabbit on top of the dead ones
The head still being attached

This reminded me of an Italian market that I visited last year. All that offal in one place including some bits that I don't recognise.

The juxtaposition of toy and liver made me think someone had a sense of humour.

Such a lovely mix of colour and texture (might make a good painting subject).

Dinner this evening (I thought I'd ordered sardines and they would be a little bigger but I think I ended up with anchovies!). The bread is apparently something that Catelonians hanker for when they are away. It's toast rubbed with mashed tomato (and sometimes garlic) served with salt and the ever-present olive oil.

Once I'd moved out of the market area, I found myself amongst the flower stalls. In keeping with the food theme, this is kale (I think) used as flowers.

I couldn't resist this photo-buffalo tomatoes seen in a shop window-reminded me of a fantastic lunch in Italy last year-tomatoes served with fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil.

Now for "food" of another sort. The "happy pills" turned out to be jelly beans.

Demonstrations

2011-06-14T07:37:00.010+10:00

Still some signs of political unrest in Spain with encampments in the main plazas of various cities. The numbers at protest leading up to the elections were estimated as anywhere from 50000 to 20000 depending on who was telling the story but having seen the numbers still camped in Madrid, Barcelona and Sitges, it’s now only the diehards.

Madrid

Barcelona

Wondering how essential services were provided? The blokes on the bikes are powering the microphone for this speaker whose name is Carlos Samprieto (talking about tax havens). From the attention being paid him, he must have some clout but I haven't been able to find a Wikipedia entry (does he really exist?)

If had to camp somewhere, I’d choose this site at Sitges…sea views and all.

It seems that the motivating causes for the demonstrations are corruption amongst politicians and the two party system, though from what I could read of the posters, it seems that anything now is getting a guernsey. This poster was at the Sitges site.

I think it means:

10 strategies of media manipulation

1. Distraction
2. Create problems and then offer solutions
3. Gradual change (small steps so that no-body notices?)
4. A different strategy (ignoring what’s proposed and putting up something different?)
5. Address the public like they are children
6. Use the emotional rather than the rational
7. Keep the public ignorant and mediocre
8. Encourage the public to be complacent with mediocrity
9. Reinforce self blame
10. Individuals know better than they themselves know (disregarding collective wisdom?)

Can't work out this one in Barcelona, other than that it's about police and thieves and sculptors.

Social media (Facebook and Twitter mainly) have been blamed for the involvement of young people, though the unemployment rate for this group is so high in Spain (43.5% )that you’d think there is a reason for collective action. The 17 year old daughter of the farmers I stayed with was organizing at the Madrid camp * and my Couchsurfing host in Madrid went to a protest meeting one night**.

So things appear to have quietened down. At least there seems to have been some sanity in the way that police and militia have dealt with protestors in that no-one has died.

* She came home for a night while I was there to sleep in a dry bed which sounds suitably pragmatic to me.
** When I asked what was going to happen as a result of the meeting, she shook her head and said “lots of talking”.

Eating out/in

2011-06-13T06:59:00.010+10:00

The highlight of the food in London was a goat’s cheese burger with Viki. Managed to avoid the Spanish restaurants and wait for the real thing.

There are, of course, good and bad tapas bars and it doesn’t take long to realise that if there is a picture, it’s probably pre-prepared/frozen. I can now recognise the croquettes with ham and know to avoid them-the potato has the consistency of paste (for those who remember Perkins). You also have to look pretty hard for anything resembling a vegetable.

I was so desperate for something green that I was prepared to pay 12 euro for asparagus but Carlos stopped me! We were in a covered market in Madrid, Mercado de San Miguel-near the palace- which used to be a traditional market but has now been gentrified (so much so that when British royalty visited recently, they were taken to this market to sample the “traditional” food).

The food on the small skewers is called banderillas, which is also the word for the coloured sticks stabbed into the bull at the bull fighting.

There was also an array of seafood *

We found a bar close by where they, even though it was the wrong time of day for coffee, indulged the vistor and served up vegetables to order as well as samplings of some very nice freshly cut ham (jamon).

Then to the first farm near Villa del Prado.

Apart from breakfast, oil features in just about every dish. How Carla can be so skinny is beyond me! Yummy fennel cake and flan (lots of eggs as there are chickens-free range, of course) which I think was a version of crème caramel.

Day-to-day food often consisted of a type of stew with vegetables (mostly potato) and either legumes or meat and, of course, bread.

After a disappointing start the first night for dinner in Barcelona (tinned asparagus spears and tinned corn kernels in the “garden salad”), the next day could not have been more different.

Off the beaten track of Las Ramblas (I only had to turn the corner), there was a crepe and gelati bar with tasty lunch offerings: crusty olive bread with chicken and cheese-yum.

Tapas for dinner was superb:

Flanieres de thon sale et sech eave des amandes frites
Cured tuna fish with fried almonds

Sardines frites
Fried sardines

Legumes a la plaqoe avec sauce “romanesco”
Roasted vegetables with “Roman” sauce

Trios textures de choclat avec huile d’olive vierge et sel Maldon
Three textures of chocolate with virgin olive oil and Maldon salt

* After the bull fighting, we went looking for something to eat. One bar had lots of seafood and was very popular. We couldn’t fit in, though we tried. After some patatas brava at another place, we headed back past this bar. Most of the clientele had left as the seafood was finished…what they did leave, though, was the prawn shells which were scattered all over the floor!

Is this art/literature?

2011-06-12T06:50:00.006+10:00

I was vaguely familiar with some of the work of Joan Miró so headed for the exhibition at the Tate Modern. As it turns out, there are various monuments and collections of his work in Barcelona and Madrid so I could have waited till arriving in Spain.

He was certainly prolific.

This is one of his painting-poems from 1938:

The Tate Modern notes the relationship between the poem and painting:

This work was built around the first line of an erotic poem, balancing words and signs. The two touching triangles represent a woman in Miró’s language of signs, and the bulbous outline with hairs relates to his usual sign for the female sex. The star appears only as a word, although the ladder alludes to the desire to reach for the stars. This exemplifies Miró’s ability to combine simple imagery with ancient symbolism and make contact with deeply held instincts.

The poem in question translates:

A star caresses the breast of a negress a snail licks a thousand tits gushing the pope-king's blue piss so be it (not sure if there are any line breaks and, even if there were, whether that would aid the meaning)

Was he on something?

Farm menagerie

2011-06-12T06:02:00.010+10:00

The dogs are the size of small ponies (and they were frequently inside the house)

the cats take a walk like a dog

one of the goats thinks it’s a baby

and the turtle only makes itself known by its droppings.

The dogs at this farm near Villa del Prado are so big I had to learn to love the cats, though nature has ensured that babies are usually cute and cuddly so it wasn’t that much of a stretch. *

It took me some time to work out that there were 3 lactating cats and eight kittens. The second day I was there I thought one of the kittens was lost and spent some time looking for it and worrying about where it might be. Turned out that one of the mothers had poached a few of the kittens and taken them up on top of a cupboard. The kittens didn’t seem to care which cat they fed from so, as soon as one of them stood still for any length of time, any kittens close by attached.

The main field being worked is a little way from the house. When we set off, at least one of the cats came for a walk. If it’s the sooky one, it also liked to sit on the most amenable lap and purr as you tried to do the weeding.

One of the others liked to drape herself around your neck which was a bit of a surprise the first time she jumped on my back and clawed her way up!

Other “wild” life** included the free-range chickens which results in lots of free-range poo and a small lizard which I think I heard at night under the fridge.

PS When I left this morning the goat which gave birth yesterday seemed to be OK and eating well. I wonder does she wonder what happened to the kid?

* I say “usually” as I’ve seen some ugly human babies (Reminds me of the time that Aunty Madge referred to one of my relations as "being behind the door when looks were being handed out").

** I saw a "bull crossing" sign by the road the other day. Now I know why tourists in Australia take signs of "kangarooos about".

A morning in Madrid

2011-06-04T05:22:00.006+10:00

What’s remarkable about this sculpture of Philip IV is that the entire weight of the sculpture balances on the two rear legs—and, discreetly, its tail—a feat that had never been attempted in a figure on a heroic scale before. The sculptor was Pietro Tacca and the figure was installed in 1640 in the plaza in front of the royal palace.

Carlos and I visited the palace early this morning before the crowds lined up to see Leonardo de Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine”

This was the main feature of a display of precious items from Poland-the painting hasn’t been seen in public for the last 25 years!

We then strolled through palace rooms of amazing variety and over-the-top decoration, as well as the Royal Pharmacy, (the royal family ordered the supply of medicines), and the Royal Armoury, with pieces for horses, dogs, men and children from as early as the 15th century. You can understand how terrifying the knights would have been in battle.

From the opulence of the palace (where the royal family doesn’t live any more: the story goes that it is because the kitchens are so far away from the dining areas that the food got cold) to the makeshift camp in the main square of la Puerta del Sol where pro-democracy protests are being held.

The main building on the square used to be the post office and it’s from here that all distances are measured in Spain.

Not too far away from this action, a bored Spiderman can be found. I’m not too sure that he would be leaping between any buildings!

Portobello Road

2011-06-04T02:20:00.006+10:00

Lovely to spend time with Viki wandering along Portobello Road with its quirky shops and antique wares for sale.

“Industrial” is definitely the theme for this shop (Allsaints Spitalfields) which uses old Singer machines for window displays and other machinery parts for display of goods.

You could have your head read, buy a pair of impossibly high heels (how do you walk in these?), think of a use for some tanned crocodile skin, or just keep those damn hippies away.

You could look for a piece of history or deck yourself out in a very heavy skirt.

Remembering the dead

2011-06-04T01:35:00.004+10:00

Queen Victoria’s memorial to Prince Alfred in Hyde Park.

Mohammed al Fayed's memorial to Princess Di and his son, Dodi Al Fayed in Harrods-tastefully placed within the Egyptian stairwell.

Bullfighting in Madrid

2011-06-04T00:45:00.015+10:00

As it happens, I was in Madrid during the San Isidro Festival of bullfighting and my guide, Carlos, was keen to take me to one of the evening sessions. My first choice had been the soccer but this finished just before I arrived (Barcelona ending up winning both the European Champions and the League) so I reluctantly made my way to Ventas, the Moorish-inspired bull fighting ring.

We had ring-side seats so there was no escaping a good sight line of the proceedings. A minimum of six bulls “fight” over the evening and three teams fight twice. If the bull (toro) is lucky enough (in my opinion but not that of the rest of the 25,000 people) to be considered not brave enough eg it goes down on its knees or gets its horns stuck in the sand too often, it can get a reprieve and the white and red spotted cattle (cabestros) come out to collect it and save it from death in the ring. This happened twice.

This was the last bull which was very reluctant to come into the arena (maybe it had a premonition?). It went in and out of the gate three times before finally going right into the ring. All the preceding bulls were black so it was possible to see the powerful muscles move on this one as it ran around the ring.

First off, the statistics of the bull are shown, including its weight, name and farm of origin.

The heaviest on this night was 650 kgs. When the bull is let into the arena, it is enticed to show its mettle by chasing the men (la cuadrilla) with the pink capes (capote). They seemed to spend a fair bit of time running backwards to the shielded parts of the fence (burladero) and taunting the bull from the safety of the fence.

Their costumes are very intricate and tight-fitting. For some reason, they have a false pony tail as well.

After a designated period of time, the picadors arrive on their horses and the men in the first part of the action try to encourage the bull to one side of the ring so that it can be pierced twice with the pica. One of the most distressing sights was to see the horse go down, though Carlos assured me it wasn’t being hurt as the bull kept thrusting its horns upwards into the horse. Apparently, they have metal shields under the padding (as does the picador all along his legs).

As the action takes place, suitable enthusiastic music can be heard (pasodoble) from a couple of places around the arena.

Depending on the agreement/excitement of the crowd, there might also be clapping/groaning or fluttering of green (displeasure) or white (excitement) hand-held flags. We only saw the green flags and this was just before one of the bulls was considered too tame and taken away.

The judge was sitting in the royal box. On this evening, Princess Elena was in the box as well and, at one stage, one of the matadors (torero) dedicated his fight to her.

After the initial piercing, the banderillero have the job of sticking 6 coloured wands (banderilla) into the shoulders. I’m assuming they are considered to be “brave” as they don’t have a cape to try to deflect the bull’s attention. As you can imagine by this stage there is usually a bit of blood pouring down the bull’s sides.

The last part of the action concerns the matador who does various intricate manoeuvres (the subtleties of which escaped me for most of the time) and struts around the arena if the crowd sounds like they think he’s done something special. His job, ultimately, is to kill the bull by stabbing it once cleanly through the heart (with the espada) but he dances around first showing off his skill in teasing the bull and making it stop when he wants it to. He uses a smaller red cape called a muleta.

If the bull is lucky (?), it dies quickly and then the mules come out to take it away. A couple of times the crowd thought the bull had been very brave and they gave it a standing ovation (not sure of the point of this as by this stage the bull is dead and being dragged away through the Peurta di Arrastre).

The dead bulls are taken to the slaughter house (desolladero-archaic word) and cut up. Apparently, the steak can then be served to some lucky patrons after the fighting is over for the night.

So, was it a cultural experience? 25000 people thought it was but I’m not convinced.

Cycle of life

2011-01-14T23:12:00.008+11:00

New Zealand Christmas bush (Metrosideros excelsus)

The New Zealand Christmas bush or pohutukawa grows into a tree around 12m (40') tall. It has dark green leaves with grey felty undersides, and masses of pin-cushion flowers with scarlet stamens in summer. A variegated variety (‘Variegata’) is also commonly seen.

yummy strawberries

2010-12-11T21:46:00.004+11:00

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Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

Lots of rain this spring and early summer has meant a bumper strawberry crop.

But the sweeter ones are alpine strawberries.

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Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

I first ate these strawberries in the wild while sitting on the banks of a lake in Bergen, Norway. They are only about the size of a fingernail and the flavour is intense as it bursts on your tongue. Imagine my delight on finding a plant at the nursery when I returned to Armidale!

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Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

It's only two hours away

2010-10-24T21:54:00.005+11:00

Triple whammy....and all I had to do was drive to the coast, through the mountains and then stop off at a waterfall on the way home to get my fill of happy ions. Apparently there is some science to suggest that negative ions in the air can have an effect on your sense of well-being.

First start at North Beach-walking on the beach, reading the SMH, bird watching

Then meet up with some new CouchSurfing buddies-full moon and warmer weather= a good excuse to have a BBQ.

The view from Coffs Harbour Jetty looking towards where most of the boats are moored

A bucolic interlude-diary farm on what was part of the old Pacific Highway near Raleigh.

I don't know what it is about Moreton Bay figs but every time I see one, I think of the "Riddle of the Trumpalar".

After so much rain, it was worth a stop off at Ebor Falls on the way home.

More bird watching-the mapgpies and currawongs are really enjoying the damp ground as it makes it so much easier to find something to eat.

Lovely weekend!

This has gone on too long

2010-10-17T17:47:00.005+11:00

At last-a sunny day and little else to do but some gardening. It's been weeks-what with rain and cold and winds and graduation and meetings and reunions, there hasn't been much opportunity or inclination. I've been told the bunnies, though, were happy with lush clover as their present from the country.

Mel has been a little lost and not happy about having to run through the wet grass to wee.

There is something very satisfying about mowing the lawn-you go round and round in circles* but can see where you have been. I'm very disappointed though-the grass didn't turn into lawn; it's more lots of short green bits that give the illusion.

* the lawn area is not really a circle but you get what I mean

A day in the country

2010-10-12T23:01:00.003+11:00

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Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

Apart from being so cold in the shearing shed that I needed a granny blanket, a day in the country was very nice-lush and green from the recent rain and so quiet.

The dogs made themselves at home.

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You can get away with anything if you are cute.

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Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

Photos of the shearing shed

shoes and things

2010-06-10T06:41:00.005+10:00

These are the shoes I didn't buy today. I've seen tourists walking in shoes like this-must know something I don't about the comfort of such high heels.

Like any major city I've ever been, there is an area in Rome where all the high-end brand name shops are clustered eg Cartier, Fendi, Bulgari etc. Window displays can really get you thinking-whether they entice you to buy in another thing.

If I had to park in Rome, I'd probably consider a bike, though there are not many Vespas to be seen.

around Bibbona

2010-06-09T18:54:00.007+10:00

At the farm

View from the kitchen

Bibbona is in Tuscany, close to the coast. The surrounding area is a mixture of farm land, industrial sites, pretty, and not-so-pretty, towns and cities.

The purple is, I think, Paterson's Curse! The yellow, a type of daisy.

Sunset

One afternoon, Rita drove me to Marina de Bibbona and I tried really hard to note the surroundings and follow where we were on the map (in my defence, it was a not-too- detailed one printed from Google Maps which didn't show all the back roads) so that I could walk back. Of course, I got lost and had to ring to get picked up (as it turned out, I was on the right road and very close to home when they arrived). The sea was very flat and the sand brown and rocky in parts, but it was a very popular place to be.

Nature

Did the pilot know the way?

Wildlife! This gecko (pronounced with a "j" in Italian), was on the ceiling in a pizzeria but there was also one in the kitchen that we could hear at night.

Work on the farm

2010-06-09T18:12:00.008+10:00

At the thrid farm I worked on, the main product is growing chillies. These are then dried or used for products varying from pate to flavoured oils to dried chili powder (from 1-12 in strength) to marmalades.
Rita started out in 2001 planting 600 plants and this year the number has grown (ahem) to 15,000. Apart from the farm, factory and shop on site, there are also another 3 shops and an internet site, a restaurant , and plans to sell products at a market. She is going overseas this month to speak at a “fancy food” exhibition where she will also have samples of the various products. What’s most important is they are certified organic and biodynamic.

On the one hand it’s a business that growing, but on the other it’s still got some elements of cottage industry about it. I think I got RSI from sticking labels on jars-reminds me of a job I had at one of the Cottees factories in Sydney when I was a student. At least on this farm I could change jobs and not get frowned at by the supervisor. My years of teacher training and experience stood me in good stead so I was in charge of the guillotine, cutting up the labels.

Poor Pisa

2010-06-01T06:29:00.007+10:00

After the delights of Siena, Pisa seems tired and run down. There is graffiti everywhere and it’s not till you get to the Piazza dei Miracoli that you get any sense of beauty (partly because the hawkers and traders selling versions of the same souvenirs, T shirts and postcards are kept out of the main piazza area). The grass is brilliant green and the tower is really on a lean. It’s surprisingly difficult to get a photo with the tower at the correct angle and to dodge those trying to get a shot “holding up” the building.

There is obviously some sense of the need for reclamation of historic buildings (“recupero urbano”) and an attempt to beautify the surroundings while restoration is carried out.

When you come upon something beautiful in the midst of the ordinary, it really stands out. This mosaic is at the entrance of a church
and the façade of the 14th century Palazzo Agostini is out of the ordinary. It houses the Caffe del Ussero founded in 1775 which has some interesting portraits of academics associated with the university…the coffee is very ordinary, though.
In a population of around 100,000, 60,000 are students! Now that’s a “university town”!

Sights of Siena

2010-06-01T03:31:00.008+10:00

I nearly missed going to Siena but was convinced that it was worth a visit-so true. The old part of town is visible as you come in on the bus from Volterra* and I walked around trying to find the vantage spot for a photo.

Clothing shops range from name brands like Beneton to one-off design boutiques to cheap trendy casual wear shops, with the shop facades seemingly unchanged for hundreds of years.
This shop stocks what every baby girl needs, the shorts a mere 85 euro (about $120 Australian dollars).

Of course, in Siena you find Siena cake. Having only ever made the Women’s Weekly Italian cooking book recipe, it was a delight to find there are other tasty versions of this torte. I’m not sure if I could bring myself to use much of this balsamic vinegar at 88 euros for 400 mls though I had a sample of some 15 year old Modena today and was assured that even a drop in marinades and cooking will lift the taste.

Just in case it sounds like everywhere was scenic, this was the view from my hotel window.

*Another amazing place-this is the view from the bus station. The town has some Etruscan parts and buildings from various periods of time. There seems to be no problem with adding the necessities of 21st century life like TV antennas and satellite dishes.

Festa in Siena

2010-06-01T03:02:00.005+10:00

On Saturday, I heard drums and soon saw men in costume with flags followed by a crowd of people mostly wearing the same type of scarf. After asking a few people, I pieced together that it was a festa, which meant they were all going to a party. Sounded like fun.

The next day, I heard lots more drums, firstly at one of the churches where the men in costume and various groups of drummers came down the steps, paused (for photos?) and then went off down one of the main via. Later I heard a marching band and found them out the front of one of the other churches.
This turned out to be a recital of what sounded like beginner to more advanced woodwind and brass players. Some of them were excruciatingly bad, especially the duets when the instruments weren't in tune, but the audience must have been made up of parents as everyone was enthusiastically clapped. Lively tunes from the marching band, which had lots of toes tapping, were interspersed with the recitals-just as well.

The marching band turned up again later in the day, as did more drummers, flag twirlers and party goers-when you are wandering around in the old part of town, you don't think that many people live here.
Turns out the festa was because this contrada, Drago*, had been picked as one of the 10 starters in the famous horse race, Il Palio, to be held in July and August. There are 17 contradas in Siena, sort of like districts, and they have their own flag as well as symbol and song. The restaurant where I had lunch was obviously aligned with the Istrice as there were examples of the porcupine all over the walls. I assume this iron decoration was also in the Istrice district
and this plaque of the Chiocciola (Snail)was near the main piazza.

There seemed to be some strict protocol in the parade with only men drumming and twirling and in age groups from younger to older.
In the biggest parade, these were followed by rows of babies being pushed in prams with the scarf draped somewhere on them or on the pram. Next came other young children with parents, then groups of girls, then the older men singing to the tune the marching band were playing. They all looked to be having a good time.

This is apparently going to happen for the next few Sundays as the different contradas are selected for the horse race-it's a lottery.

*Drago (Dragon), located northwest of Piazza del Campo, was famous for its bankers. Drago's symbol is a flying golden dragon carrying a banner with the letter "u". Its colours are red and green, trimmed with yellow. It includes a street called Palla a Corda with a dead end. During the Palio this street is turned into a shopping mall.

Extracting essential oils

2010-05-25T06:51:00.010+10:00

On this farm in Tuscany, extracting essential oils is a labour-intensive task. The flower currently being processed is Salvia Officinalis L, a type of sage. You can appreciate the cost of esential oils when you see the amount of plant matter needed for a small bottle of oil. Over centuries, it has been used to treat laryngitis, nausea, night sweat, pharyngeal irritation, cough, dysmenorrhea, dyspepsia, esophageal irritation, fever, cancer (mouth), common cold, intestinal inflamation, poison oak, quinsy, respiratory ailments, and sore throat.*

Both leaves and flowers are used.

They are placed into the vat in batches and packed down and compressed to fit the maximum in.

Using a process of heating water and passing this through the plants, both water and oil are extracted. The water has a less concentrated aroma (think rose water) than the oil.

From this vat, only a small amount of oil is extracted.

Once the plant matter is exhausted and has cooled down, it can be taken out and added to the compost.
* This is not the plant salvia divinorium, where it's recommended you need a "sitter" to be with you when you inhale or ingest.

## Note that Daphne McC has never visited this farm.

David doubles

2010-05-25T02:09:00.005+10:00

Is it worth paying an arm and a leg to see the real David when there are copies all over town??

The guidebook strongly advised buying a ticket to the Galleria dell' Academia before turning up as there are two queues. If you fancy waiting for up to 2 hours in the “without a ticket” line in the height of the tourist season, don’t bother to book. After procrastinating till the night before, I tried to book online for the princely sum of 16,50 euros. Lest this seem like a reasonable price, remember this is for a 15 minute viewing slot (either gaze adoringly at David or race around the other bits of the museum-lots of very big allegorical paintings, a room full of mostly plaster copies of statues and busts, and a collection of musical instruments). I didn’t read the fine print and booking online doesn’t guarantee a time slot but they do promise to get back to you within 3 days to confirm. As it happens, I needed to see a doctor more than I needed to see David, so I thought I’d mucked up the whole booking thing.

After seeing the doctor and downing some antibiotics, I ventured along some of the tourist trail and more by good luck than any map reading skill, finished up at the Academia. Queues in both lines were reasonable and there was a very tiny note above the entrance to say that tickets were available from the San Marco Museum (about a 2 minute walk away). With a 10,50 euro ticket in hand, I waited patiently for 15 minutes and then was in…..

Yes, it is pretty damn impressive. No photos allowed so I browsed the souvenir shop for a post card but the most enticing memento was the magnets.

The other fun thing to do is see how many David copies are around the city. This one is in the amazing Palazzo Vecchio amongst a lot of other statues so it doesn’t really have the same impact as in the gallery.

This one is in the Piazzale Michelangelo, where the statue is surrounded by tourist coaches and market stalls, but the view is magnificent.

And of course if you want to take one home, there are lots of plastic ones to choose from, or the image on an apron, or part of the torso on boxer shorts-very grubby indeed.

Food in Florence

2010-05-24T06:46:00.010+10:00

Saturday I trekked to what is billed as the best gelati shop in Florence (according to an online article I read). Maybe my taste buds are a bit out of sorts but I’m having trouble tasting the nuances of good/mediocre flavour and texture. It all tastes good to me. Just in case you can’t work out what the flavours are, the fruit/nut etc is part of the display. Gelati seem to be a bit of an obsession (with the tourists at least) and I must say I’m sorry to be missing the gelati festival next week.

I also wandered around one of the food markets where it seems, firstly, that all bits of animals are for sale and, secondly, it’s good to know just what animal the body belongs to by keeping the head attached.
I’m not much of a fan of offal (apart from pate and steak and kidney pie) and seeing the tripe flung out like a blanket before a piece was cut off for weighing didn’t enthuse me about trying it. The butcher assured me that cow nose was very tasty boiled with onion and tomato but, once again, I think I’d have to not see the nostrils for this to be enticing. Also available was lard by the kilo with the tiniest strip of meat, sort of like bacon in reverse. Not sure what it’s used for-maybe flavouring.
Speaking of bacon, there were also lots of varieties of cured meat in huge hind quarters: prosciutto, ham, pancetta

Bread was available by weight-just indicate how much you want and it was cut off the loaf.

One of my guidebooks says that coffee is an obsession with Italians who claim to have the best coffee in the world. It wasn’t until yesterday that I finally had a cup of caldo (hot) strong cappuccino, complete with showmanship from the barista. He made a macchiato with chocolate for another patron and this was a showy affair: expresso sprinkled with chocolate, topped with hot milk, sprinkled with chocolate and “mountains” of froth dotted on top and then sprinkled with chocolate again. All in a tiny glass. By contrast, this cup would fit much more and I’m not sure it isn’t a vase. My second good coffee came the next day but was much more expensive (2,50 euro) as I needed to sit down after a hard few hours pounding the pavements sightseeing. The table menu for drinks was in a notebook, and hand written-including crossing out-a casualness not borne out in the prices.
It seems that only the tourists want to sit and are prepared to pay what locals would see as ridiculous prices-the locals stand at the counter and down a coffee and brioche (depending on the time of day). I’ve made a couple of faux pas with, firstly, getting the coffee ready before we had finished lunch at the farm in Alessandria (you drink it after you have eaten, except in the morning when you can drink it first up-great heart starter) and asking for a latte at the station in Padova and getting a glass of hot milk. I should have listened carefully when she questioned if I wanted “bianco”. All fixed with a shot of expresso (at double the price). The price BTW is usually incredibly cheap compared to Australia-anywhere from .85 to 2,50 euro.
Recipes for pigs' ears

Versimilitude in Verona

2010-05-21T00:40:00.010+10:00

I suppose it's only sensible to latch onto the "romance" of Verona and to maximise the marketing opportunities of Romeo and Juliet. There are shops, cafes, a balcony and even a house designated as Juliet's house.

Notes to Juliet-some anguished; some soppy; some banal- in so many languages, flap in the breeze.

I couldn't think of a reason for these locks but one of the other CSers in the house I'm staying in, in Padova (Padua), also visited Verona today and suggested this was another romantic symbol as in here's the lock and who has the key?* Hmmmm

The city is marketed as the "city of love"

and this wedding party had all the trappings as well as the backdrop of the arena (third biggest extant Roman amphitheatre). They rushed about for every photo op as the bride dragged her increasingly- greying train through the cobbled street, and then disappeared in the stretch limo-the size of about 5 Italian cars!

There didn't appear to be much of the original arena left, with the stone seats mostly replaced by flip up seating and huge spotlights mounted on the top of the walls. Being right at the top was a bit like being in the high seats at the Olympic Stadium at Homebush. It looked like a show was being set up (maybe something to do with Egypt as there were huge mummy sculptures in a park nearby and a pyramid-shaped structure was moved by crane onto the main stage), and the "stone" was ready to be taken inside the stadium.

Marzipan dogs and sea creatures-what more can I say?

In the walled city, there are obviously too many old buildings not being used. This church is now being used as a pizzeria.

Maybe spring has been a long time coming. All the plants on this balcony, except for the ivy, are plastic. At least they're colourful, I suppose.

Is this a sculpture made from "found" objects? If you look closely, you can see it's made from flattened soccer balls.

There were many tour groups especially around the arena and most of the students had that slightly bored look which most teachers will know. Even the photo op presented by the "gladiators" was not enough to enthuse them.

One last photo-nothing to do with truth or otherwise. The cute Fiat has a sticker which says that it is registered with the Historical Car Club. It's a 1967 model!

*Same deal on one of the bridges in Venice. This poster explains it...help with translation required.

The house of the rising sun

2010-05-18T06:32:00.006+10:00

What started out as a rest day finished up as a totally unexpected experience. Wanessa was doing some marketing of the farm at a village not too far away. We arrived, patted the donkeys in the children’s petting enclosure, tasted some samples of organic produce from the region (goat’s cheese, anchovies, honey-in this season mostly from the acacia trees..pronounced akarcha…, wine, relish, foccacia) and had some lunch.

It seemed to be the day for markets as there were other stands in another part of the village (though not organic produce). The cheese still tasted pretty good though.

We then visited the carpenter who is building the windows for the small dining room and wandered around the garden, which included a pond, an animal enclosure for the sheep, goats, chickens and ducks and some beautiful old-fashioned roses with a heady perfume.

Our next stop was at the “House of the Rising Sun”, home to one of Italy’s most well known porn stars, Eva Orlowsky, and her guitar-playing husband, Titti.

Along with a restaurant serving “eating love” food (think soft cheese, hazelnuts and honey), the walls of which are covered with posters, news articles and photos of Eva’s oeuvre, there are a bewildering array and number of animals: dogs, donkeys, goats, horses etc.

The afternoon passed in a haze of sweet-smelling *smoke and wine, including a white wine with spritz complete with one of Eva’s studio photos.

We drove out the gate-wild man Titti was riding one of the horses, hair steaming behind as he cantered down the road.

* passive

Straw bale room

2010-05-18T05:43:00.004+10:00

On a cold and damp day, the work on stage 2 of the straw bale room had to go on.

Wes (from USA) and Wanessa tackling the front wall.

There are a number of building projects in train on the farm (restaurant, commercial kitchen, second bathroom) and this one is closing in the small dining room with straw bales. It’s still pretty cold in this room as the windows are fitted on one side but not on the other.

After the bales are trimmed a little, a mixture of clay (from the farm) and straw is rubbed in to the bales. The second coat will have some lime in it to give a slightly different finish.

Lisa emptying the mixer

Other materials have been used for different projects: the barn is a mixture of local stone and repairs done with bricks; the additions to the main house are being done with light weight blocks which can be easily lifted and carved. The rendering on the older part of the house is being removed to reveal the stone work (a feature of many buildings and fences in this area) and the plan is to eventually cover the blocks with stone so the additions look a more natural part of the house.

Snails

2010-05-15T03:47:00.005+10:00

There is a wicker basket in the garden and the instruction is to put any snail we find in there. Last night coming back from il bar where we had cafe macchiato, we had to stop to pick up some on the road (a whole new type of spotlighting).

When there are enough collected, they are put in water to clean them. They are put on to slowly cook with some herbs (whatever's available eg marjoram, rosemary) and the scum is taken off (a bit like what you do with soup that has bones in it). After they are cooled down in cold water, they need to be taken out of the shells and the intestines pulled off*. After washing again, they can be used for whatever recipe takes your fancy.

* I think I would need to be blindfolded and have a mask over my nose to eat snails after this experience. It's the slimy bit that got me.

Poppies

2010-05-15T03:39:00.004+10:00

It's the season for poppies and Wanessa will make poppy jam when they are plentiful. This will add to the store of pickles, conserves, wine and preserves fruit and vegetables in the cool room under the house.

A day on the farm

2010-05-12T06:21:00.005+10:00

Il Cuore verde
Morsasco Alessandria

Wanessa, Alessandro and Ian live on the farm and are growing organic food. In the last 18 months, WWOOFERS have been visiting for varying periods of time, helping change the farm from monoculture to permaculture.
Lisa (from Sweden) is feeding the cat who's a little the worse for wear as it's mating season and he's been in a fight.

The buildings are gradually being repaired and some others added. Here Wanessa and Aless are waterproofing the roof so they can plant a "green" roof.

Today's work consisted of adding better soil to some garden beds which are going to be used for vegetables.

The surrounding countryside is mostly farmland, with some of the farms also being organic.

Mare e monti

2010-05-12T05:54:00.010+10:00

Linguine with anchovy and tomato sauce

First wash the salt from the anchovies*
Strip the meat from the bones
and add to tomato sauce.

The fish will soften into the sauce. Add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

Cook the spaghetti** and add the sauce.

• Anchovies from Genova are plentiful and cheap (usually when the fish are in season in July/August and a good size) so these are purchased. The fish are gutted and lightly salted overnight. The liquid is poured off and then the same sized fish are layered in the same direction, and covered with coarse salt. This is repeated until all the fish are used and finished with a layer of salt.

** wholemeal organic spaghetti. Even the packaging can be recycled.

Cleo the cat

2010-05-12T02:47:00.005+10:00

Cleo the cat is mischievous.

This type of lock is usually reserved for keeping children out but this one is for the cat.

She liked to open the fridge door to signal she was hungry.

A bit like Newtown really except for the monuments

2010-05-10T04:26:00.008+10:00

The part of Milan I’m staying in is vibrant, quirky and very interesting: lots of eateries from café to trattoria, antique shops, galleries, book shops and specialist clothing shops. It’s also close to the city and the major tourist attractions so you can either take the metro or walk from one amazing building to another.

An interesting thing about the restoration is that you can see what bits were found and how the restorers think these fit into the whole.
Some information about the castle restoration

Walking has its own challenges as pedestrian crossings don’t seem to signal much except for being convenient places to cross. Cars are parked anywhere there is a space including on the footpaths and bikes are a common sight.

The apartment blocks are right on the footpaths but when you go through the entrance, you often find them opening on to a small garden (or large and opulent depending on the part of town).

Today there were artists from one end of the canal area to the other. The art was such a mixture: different media from oils to watercolour to etchings; some commonality of subjects (lots of nudes, quaint cats and still life-sometimes in the one composition); and a range of talent!

Contrasts

2010-05-10T03:22:00.014+10:00

* It’s hard to believe in a city of skyscrapers and building of even more skyscrapers and roads everywhere that there are places of natural beauty as well.

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Sunset over the Arabian Sea

* When the heat gets too much, you can escape to the snowfields, complete with chair lift, in one of the shopping malls.

Or you could just go to the beach

* How the other half lives. Boats in the old part of town near the gold souk. This is where you can also catch the Abra across the creek for 1 dirham (the equivalent of around 30 cents). The creek was the main reason for commerce centering in this area and divides the city into two: Bur Deira ad Bur Dubai.

The Dubai Marina is a relatively new area about half an hour from the old part of the city where you can see sea transport of a different kind. It’s possible to imagine where the owners live as their apartments surround this area. Not so possible to imagine where the workers live as their labour camps are outside the city area and out of sight.

* Food of all sorts is available from the Indian street cafe to the burger restaurant complete with hubbly bubbly.

With a bit of wind and being seated outside, you can do some second-hand smoking while waiting for your order. Hubbly bubbly

* Many buildings have wind tunnels to cool them naturally. They were originally on houses of two floors where they take the wind from any direction and funnel it through the house. Depending on the tower’s depth and height, the wind accelerates up to five times.

Mimicking Bedouin tents in the desert, some parking areas have covers for the cars. This one is in Internet city for Microsoft employees.

* The Gold Souk has more than 300 retailers that deal mostly in jewellery. Trade grew up in this area in the 1940s due to Dubai’s free trade policies, when many traders from Iran and India set up shop. Some estimate that on any given day there are more than 25 tons of gold in the souk.

I doubt that the weight of these necklaces would be comfortable doing the house work.

Displays of wealth are evident in the cars: lots of 4 wheel drives, Beemers, Mercedes etc. Saturday night entertainment-laps of the main in the Dubai Marina area!

Rain is unexpected in this area, so much so that this Triumph was left open to the elements. It was hard to resist writing ‘Wash me’ in the dust.

This is as close as I expect to get to a 7 star hotel (the white, sail-like structure on the background)

And it’s probably the same for the people who live here.
Souk area

* A contrast all of its own. I first saw this in SE Asia where chemist shops have rows of products designed to lighten/whiten your skin. These were all aimed at women and it’s a bit of a laugh really to think about the beach culture obsession of tanning your skin: both as bad as each other. Here’s a product, though, for men who are assured of being fair AND handsome with this formula for tough male skin.

Riding the Metro

2010-05-07T00:20:00.005+10:00

#1 First encounter with the Metro at the airport. "Is there a timetable?" I asked. Well, yes, but only in Arabic.

#2 There used to be a rule that you could not take luggage on the train, even though one of the stations is at the airport. Now, it's one piece which probably rules out quite a few travellers.

#3 The Metro is an easy way to get around...if you can find the stations. Seeing that map reading is not one of my strengths, I'm happy to ask for directions. Problem is that even though the Metro has been operating for a while, most of the people I talked to seemed a bit hazy about the station locations. "Go down that way for a while and then turn right" was a common instruction-I think I went in a very big circle before finally finding the station last night.

#4 Design is everything.

#5 As the train is an add-on to transport options in Dubai, some of the tracks sit high above the traffic. The importance of shopping* is reinforced by some of the stations being at shopping malls eg the Mall of the Emirates.

#6 Courtesy is alive and well with young and older men giving up their seats for females.

* There is even a shopping festival, just in case you need reminding.

2 days in Dubai

2010-05-06T22:27:00.003+10:00

Taboos

Firstly, I was going to upload my photos to Flickr to make it easier to add them to my blog but Flickr is not accessible in the UEA! This is apparently because there is R-rated content. You can, however, access Facebook. Hmmmmm.

Ex-pats (once again, apparently) crave alcohol here so access to it is controlled as well. My host had to apply for a liquor licence and have her employer's permission to do so. Ex-pat's wives* with no job are expected to get up to no good in the afternoons so they have to have their husband's permission to apply for a card. You can only go through the red door if you have this licence.

Restaurants have to have a special licence to serve bacon. For those hankering for the taste, there is a substitute-turkey bacon. It's a bit like "meat" patties that are available for vegetarians. What's the point, really?

There are dress codes for shopping malls (but no mention of ugg boots). Who are the enforcers, you might wonder? This could either be one of the guards or another shopper suggesting you "cover up, sister".

* These could be the ones described in a Dubai tourist brochure "This pink and mauve Jumeirah Jane-zone (gals with bobbed blonde hair and too much time on their hands) is infested with children. If you're dragging sproggs, launch them at the climbing-frame thingy and then hotfoot it to the back of the mall and ram-raid the gorgeous Le Stocke."

preconcetto

2010-02-18T22:52:00.005+11:00

This year I'll be travelling in Italy. Preparing for the trip got me thinking about what pre-conceptions I have about this country...

1. There will be young chic women riding vespas.

2. I'll fall in love with a run down house in Tuscany and fantasise about buying and renovating it.

3. The gelati will be hard to resist.

4. The men will all be sexy and have names like Eros.

5. It just might be possible to eat pasta at every meal.

6. There will be a lot of buildings in a state of disrepair.

And the reality?

This is called rainbow sushi

2010-01-31T23:05:00.001+11:00

for an obvious reason

Oishii!

Love that macro

2010-01-07T17:16:00.005+11:00

I love the macro feature on my camera, and now with a new bendy pink and black tripod, more of the photos will be in focus.

Detail of the icing flowers on Toby and Irene's wedding cake

Flower on a variety of ginger plant, Parap Markets, Darwin

Stunning colour of fungus NE National Park

There's a theme developing: fungus in the rainforest near North Beach

Very small, delicate fungus appearing in the bark mulch, North Beach Park

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Over Christmas, it's apparently been very wet in Armidale. This mushroom has come up in the garden

Something grows in this pod but I'm not sure what

Bees in one of the grevillias

This daisy is rampant in the garden. Hard to tell from this picture but the flower diameter is around 2 cms

New Year's Eve 2009

2010-01-01T22:18:00.008+11:00

An unexpected invitation meant I was able to see in this new year on an island in Sydney Harbour with a small select group of around 100 others. Spectacle Island is a repository for everything imaginable-and some unimaginable-to do with the Australian Navy.

The collection is valued at over 220 million dollars and is a vast collection of the mundane (a sample of every button ever used on an Australian navy uniform)and the spectacular (ships' bells of varying sizes and value-from $5000-$30000).

The collection also has some artifacts not specifically to do with the Navy eg the last document signed by Nelson before he was killed at Trafalgar (battle orders) and one of the sleds used by Mawson.

The island was first visited by Europeans in 1788 and has had a number of uses. It now has around 47 buildings which house the collections and various areas for conservation and cataloging work. Apart from significant historical buildings, there is quite a bit of significant concrete, made by convicts using the sand from parts of the island. In this picture you can see the shells!

After grazing for what seemed like (and was) hours, we had a fantastic view of the fireworks over Garden island and the Harbour Bridge.

More photos

experimental drawing

2009-01-04T17:58:00.002+11:00

leaf with drips
Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

Learning a new technique is always fun.

This is an oil crayon and ink drawing. We started with looking at pot plants and deciding which part to crop for the composition.I chose three of the leaves (and then found out later that odd numbers make a pleasing composition!) We also looked for a pattern which could be used later in the drawing. I chose the veins in the leaves.

The first stage of the drawing was to outline the leaves using crayons and put in some of the light and dark with a limited palette of colours (in this case: dark green, lime green, white and black).

Then the exciting part: wash the drawing with ink (in this case, sepia). The oil crayon lines resist the ink so some delightful patterns emerge.

After the ink dries, you can go back over the drawing and bring out some of the detail again with the crayons.

Then the background pattern can be added-I used the two greens and white crayon and then washed some of the drawing with blue ink.

At this stage, some of the initial leaf detail is lost, so it was time to draw back over where the detail was required. I also used some brown and black crayon to add to the depth of the shadows behind the leaves and give a little bit of contrast in the background pattern.

To finish off, I used a little touch of yellow crayon for some highlights on the leaves.

Another great lesson from Dominique.

Cardamom (kär'də-məm) or cardamon (-mən)

2008-12-30T12:47:00.010+11:00

I promised I was going to post my photos from India, and, even though this is months after the event, here are some relating to my visit to a cardamom and pepper plantation.

I intended to catch a bus to the hill station, Munnar, but my Fort Cochin host kindly organised a lift for me (As it happened with the president of his alumni association!). This turned into an unexpected and interesting trip to a cardamom plantation where I was able to see some of the stages of growing and production.

Elettaria (commonly called cardamom, green cardamom, or true cardamom) is distributed from India to Malaysia and is one of the two main genera of the ginger family. A variety of cardamom is Malabar (Nadan/Native) which is the native variety of Kerala. These plants have pannicles which grow horizontally along the ground. There is a small light green seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds.

The most popular high yielding variety is Njallani, also known as "rup-ree-t" which is a unique high-yielding cardamom variety developed by an Indian farmer Sebastian Joseph at Kattappana in the South Indian state of Kerala. Sebastian Joseph and his son Regimon let bees cross-pollinate the cardamom plants and came up with a new high-yielding variety that he named Njallani, after his ancestral home. This variety yields 1500 kg/hectare as compared to the conventional 200 kg/ha. The increased yield revolutionised cardamom cultivation in the state of Kerala.

Cardamom is used both in cooking and for medicinal purposes. In cooking, it is used for both sweet and savoury purposes eg in bread in Scandinavian countries (see Ellie's blog for her attempts at baking), in beverages and food in the Middle East and India. (Info from Wikipedia)

After travelling steadily higher towards the mountains from Cochin in air-conditioned comfort, we stopped to change cars. This should have been a clue.

These shots give an indication of the scope of the mountain ranges in this area.

Evidence of previous occupation.

The road up till then had been sealed but the "road" to the plantation was a different story. We changed to a four wheel drive and bumped along the dirt track to our destination.

Picking the pods is very labour-intensive and hard on the back as the seed pods are close to the ground, at the base of the plant.

The plantation owner, Michael, told me that his workforce is a unionised one, which means that wages cost has gone up and hours are pretty strictly regulated. Like in Australia in fruit picking areas, it's sometimes difficult to attract workers because of the nature of the work. (In Kerala, members of the Communist Party were elected to the current government and in 2008 were the ruling party!)

The mature plants are about 2 metres tall and form a canopy so there is some relief from the sun while the picking takes place.

From what I could see, the women do the fine work of picking the seeds and the men supervise!

Water is held in storage ponds and keeping the moisture in the soil is problematic. To assist with this, leaf matter is spread around the plants.

It was a day of travel and new experiences, not the least being the local bus trip from the plantation to Munnar.

Japanese garden

2008-12-07T11:55:00.001+11:00

Japanese garden
Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

I listened with some scepticism when Mike said that there was a Japanese garden on Mt Doris....and there it was.

the wilds of Tasmania

2008-12-07T11:52:00.003+11:00

1070 mts
Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

Ellie and I have just returned from a 6 day hike on the Overland Track in Tasmania, billed as one of the 1000 things you must see or do before you die. The scenery, when we saw it, was spectacular as we trudged through water, mud, rain, snow, sleet, hail and occasional sunshine. There were times when I had trouble putting one foot in front of the other, but there was no choice but to keep going, some times by sitting down and sliding down the wet rocks. The sense of achievement as you sit on the ferry on the last day in wet, cold boots and with 6 layers of clothing on, is indescribable.

Booking a trip with guides was the way to do it. Hot showers, drying room, laughing about the day's falls, mattress, dressing up, playing Scrabble and cards, trying to read in the not-too-bright solar powered lights, and three course meals, with wine at the end of the day (not necessarily in that order), made for a memorable trip.

recycling in Fort Kochi

2008-03-11T01:54:00.000+11:00

It was a toss up-this photo or the goats in the kids' park, eating the vegetation

the power of words

2008-03-10T02:24:00.000+11:00

Cochin, Kerala, India

sights of Sydney

2008-03-10T01:51:00.001+11:00

Seen in a shop window at The Spot, Randwick: for the person who has everything (and is no longer of this world), a decorated coffin with your favourite team colours, or something more nationalistic.

Is this the size of cane toads migrating to NT? A mosaic at Sydney's Mascot Airport

Christmas Day 2007

2007-12-26T00:03:00.000+11:00

As expected, most of the day was taken up with eating and drinking and talking with friends. Lunch was a casual affair with Jen's mother and step father, and the dog was very happy to be eating the scraps. Baked dinner suited the weather-a comfortable 20 degrees and little humidity. Jen and Michael gave ethical presents-mine a soccer ball symbolising AIDS education programs being tied to sporting events in places like South Africa.

Some of Kiyo's new work

2007-12-25T23:59:00.000+11:00

Kiyo and Kumi Hashimoto have been very busy of late-making sushi as well as pottery and running a shop for the few weeks before Christmas. This is a sample of Kiyo's new work-some of his other pottery may be viewed at: http://www.tenkoo.blogspot.com/

not exactly in the old gum tree

2007-12-25T23:55:00.000+11:00

I noticed this kookaburra in the back yard at my parents' place in Grafton. It was eating the red flowers from the tree at the back of the house.

Then it flew off to the house next door and perched from some time on the clothes line.

frogs for sale.JPG

2007-11-20T20:34:00.001+11:00

frogs for sale.JPG
Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

I'm told on good authority from a Hong Kong resident that frogs are delicious. I remember trying frogs' legs while living in Narrandera but can't recall the taste. These look more like cane toads than frogs.

trussed turtle.JPG

2007-11-20T20:32:00.001+11:00

trussed turtle.JPG
Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

Bit hard to work out what this is but there were a number of small turtles tied up in netting ready for sale. This one had its head out of the netting but that was the only part that could move.

pig snouts.JPG

2007-11-20T20:29:00.001+11:00

IMGP0619.JPG
Originally uploaded by photosbyjam

In the fresh food markets near Sham Shui Po station, there are a number of shops selling pork-including parts of a pig I've never eaten.

Making friends in Hong Kong

2007-11-18T22:08:00.001+11:00

Couchsurfing provided some wonderful experiences in Hong Kong-firstly, dim sum with Mushroom at a tea house in Hong Kong Park. The tea house was furnished with Ming Dynasty tables and chairs and was nothing like the hectic, noisy experiences we have had of yum cha in Chinatown in Sydney. Since it was a tea house, there were a number of speciality teas to try. There were also cakes of different types of tea, of different years like wine. Mushroom explained that people buy these as investments like others have a wine collection.

No egg tarts for dessert but on instructions from Mushroom, I found these at Mong Kok-delicious.

Later that evening, a few CSers and friends met for Indian food and conversation. 10 people in a small apartment so lots of noise and laughter especially at the Frenchman's accent. The idea that a native speaker of French was employed by a company in China to teach the managers English had a certain charm.

Sathi and baby Anjalika (hosts for dinner), Imran (Hong Kong CS city ambassador) and Mushroom (lunch host)

smells and sights of Hong Kong

2007-11-16T12:16:00.000+11:00

As soon as I got out of the taxi on Wednesday evening, I remembered the smell of Hong Kong. It's a particular spicy smell that seems to be stronger the more humid it is, though, I must say, the temperature and humidity here at the moment are very comfortable.

I arrived late at my accommodation and wondered if I should have stayed more centrally. When I walked to the station yesterday, however, through the street stalls selling everything from mangoes, pomegranates, root vegetables, batteries, fishing rods, bits of scrap metal etc, I knew this was a more interesting place to be than in a sterile hotel near the water (though a hairdryer in the room would have been good).

Some sights

Flattened ducks (not chicken as I thought), which are really Preserve-salted duck (臘鴨, Lap ahp), in a shop selling many varieties of dried meat, what looked like orange roe sacks and other parts of some sort of poultry. These are foods traditionally available in autumn.

Lunch time menu in a sushi restaurant-makes you really feel like ordering these!

Bit hard to work out if these green things (green tea with red bean pontikege) were supposed to be cake or bread. The texture was smooth but it also felt wet and stretchy-sort of what I imagine eating a washing up sponge would be!

Designer dummies for the baby with everything

This is some sort of mussel-the animal extended out of the shell for about 15 cms and waved around in the water. Looks delicious.

expanded concept of "land"scape

2007-11-16T11:58:00.000+11:00

Having a window seat in the plane can be both worrisome (thinking about all those episodes of "Aircrash Investigation") and breathtaking (watching the sun set over the clouds with a new perspective on horizon).

Here's some sunset photos taken as we flew over the top of Australia and Indonesia.

presents

2007-11-03T10:27:00.000+11:00

It's so exciting to receive a parcel in the post, especially when it contains such beautiful things.

Ellie and I discovered this brooch in a second hand shop in Oslo amidst a lot of dross. The price suggested was a bit over the top so I asked if Robert could go back and see if he could get a non-tourist price. I don't know how successful he was but he bought it for me. Such a lovely design (like a betle shape and size) and the blue enamel is very striking.

And then, this leaf from Ellie's trip to America. It's a real leaf that has been covered in iridescent copper (realleaves@stilllifegifts.com). I'll have to change the decoration colours for the Christmas tree!

Graduation

2007-10-23T12:31:00.000+10:00

Graduation is such a fun day to work-everyone is so happy to have finally finished. Here are two new doctors.

My pottery mate, Dr Chandra Jha.

With Dr Robyn Muldoon (Fredericks) and Linley Cornish (met Duval College 1971). As Robyn said on the day, "I started my tertiary education on 1971 and now I'm definitely finished in 2007."

Who would have thought to write a book on this?

2007-09-17T19:43:00.000+10:00

Baby-Gami - Baby wrapping for beginners

Bundle up your little bundle of joy. With step-by-step directions for over 20 swaddles and wraps, Baby-gami makes it a cinch to fold your baby into cozy comfort.

The joys of the web

2007-09-12T22:56:00.000+10:00

I investigated The Red Hat Society today after seeing it mentioned in a CSing post. When you go out with a group of like minded individuals, if you are over 50, you have to wear a red hat and purple clothes. Now that's a great combination! There is no chapter in sight and I fancy myself as the queen, even if it's just to have the rhinestone tiara.

I don't know if this is a "spiritual" insight, but my tarot card reading for today suggests this might be something to look forward to:

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.Doesn't this all fit together?

student exchange

2007-08-12T16:59:00.000+10:00

We didn't know in 1987 that a chance conversation about student exchange and AFS was going to enrich our lives in ways that we could not have imagined. With a naive idea of the scope of the commitment, we agreed to host a student for 12 months in 1988...and so we met Kaori from Japan. What a great introduction to learning about other cultures (and our own) this was!

We travelled from Dubbo to Wooli to Brisbane and Melbourne via Ballarat (finding gold at Sovereign Hill!) in an effort to show some of Australia to our student. Amongst other things, we spent the winter term in Wooli putting in the footings for our beach house, while Kaori attended the high school in South Grafton where I had gone to school and Michael joined one of the two classes at Wooli Public School for part of his kindergarten year.

As a major part of Australia's Bicentenary celebrations, Expo was held in Brisbane in 1988 and here we are outside the exhibition centre.

Keeping in contact over the years has been one of our ongoing pleasures. This is a portrait taken on Kaori's 20th birthday, a birthday which has the significance in Japan of the 21st in Australia ie a "coming-of-age" birthday.

Kaori again visited Australia, not long after we had moved to our new house in Armidale. We visited grandparents and friends in Sydney, hats being the giveaway that this was a Christmas time.

At Gow Avenue after a swim in the pool

With Julia, Clare (standing right), Tim and Mary with a broken arm.

1995 saw us visiting Japan where, amongst other things, we spent a few exciting days with Kaori and her parents.

Fast forward to 2007.....

And now there is a new family to visit: Kaori, Tetsuya and Kisei born in June. The characters of his name mean "big tree lives", a reference to the gum trees of Australia. Aren't babies cute when they are asleep?

Ellie's present for the baby was a bonnet with a traditional Norwegian design, advertised as fitting up to a six month old. After a few tries to get that elusive photo, we had to give up. Unfortunately, the pattern meant that there wasn't too much stretch and so it had to be given to the bear!

Couldn't resist the toothbrush as well, though it may be a while before it's useful.

Proud dad

My first "grandchild"

public sculpture

2007-08-04T16:23:00.000+10:00

One of the very noticeable things during my travels was the amount of public sculpture, ranging from beautiful figures on grave stones to a park full of one man's life work.

This lovely art deco style female figure was on a grave stone in Helsinki.

and these birds in another part of the cemetery.

In a pedestrian way in the centre of Helsinki, this display called "Las Meninas" had been installed for the summer. These are the work of a contemporary Spanish artist Manolo Valdés (b 1942) whose works include reference to the Old Masters. Las Meninas alludes to a work of the same name painted in 1656 by Diego Velázquez , Baroque master at the Spanish court.

This is the original painting and you can clearly see the reference in the sculptures to the central figure and the ladies-in-waiting.

In this same pedestrian area, water features commonly included a sculpture, in this case a mermaid and boy. Mermaids seem to be a recurring feature of many Scandinavian seaports, eg the Little Mermaid sculpture in Copenhagen relating to the famous Hans Christian Anderson tale.

But the most spectacular of all was Vigeland Park in Oslo. Nearly 200 life-sized and larger than life-sized bronze statues line the path which leads to another series of granite sculptures including a monolith of writhing bodies, which is purported to be the world's largest granite sculpture.

Detail from the monolith

Humans are shown at all ages and displaying various emotions. It is hard to believe the power, depth of expression and movement in some of the figures.

As an aside, Ellie thought that this crying boy sculpture in the main park in Bergen (Norway) reminded her of the Vigeland statue of the same subject.

Back to Vigeland and the emotion and connection of some of the multiple figures.

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Even the gates are a work of art.

And the level of detail on this door just outside the park was amazing.

wildlife in the suburbs

2007-08-02T23:03:00.000+10:00

With all the leaves off the deciduous trees and the grass brown and dry from the frost, the brightness of these king parrots really stood out. Rex (neighbour) managed to capture a few shots before they flew away. They were pretty docile and Rex reckons they were probably getting ready to mate!

Skippy

2007-07-29T23:40:00.000+10:00

I think I'm a bit fixated on kangaroos after my driving experience last week. I found a copy of this print when I was doing some research for my oil painting class (supposed to be looking for examples of urban art eg Jeffrey Smart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Smart but I got sidetracked looking at Reg Mombassa stuff:http://www.regmombassa.com). Can't remember how to put in the links and will figure this out later.

\\

Fluffy the slighly pink Kangaroo 2007 limited edition (100) digital print 29 x 57.5cm $ 350 unframed

Trains and boats and planes

2007-07-26T22:17:00.000+10:00

I know this is corny but I had to take a picture of the plane that I left Australia on, especially as it was covered in Aboriginal designs.

This started a feast of public transport over the next month which I am still recovering from:

* car to Sydney to leave it in the hands of M and J for a month so J could do some driving practice
* plane to Heathrow (England) London via Singapore
* tube, above ground train and bus in London
* plane from Heathrow to Arlanda (Sweden)
* bus to Uppsala
* bike riding in Uppsala (not really public transport like in some countries where you can pick up a bike from special points throughout the city and return it when you are finished)
* overnight cruise ferry to Helsinki where we caught trams to our accommodation

* plane to Bergen with a long boring stop over in the Oslo airport-there's only so much time you can spend walking up and down the terminal
* LH drive car in Bergen (because they drive on the wrong side of the road), bus, train and boat through the Hardangerfjord

view from the bus window as we went down the hill at an interesting angle

view from the boat as we travelled up the fjord

* train from Bergen to Oslo-the guide book was right about this being such a scenic route with metre high snow close to the tracks even in summer

* bus (including the special IKEA bus) and ferry ride in Oslo
* overnight cruise ferry from Oslo to Frederikshavn (had to try the Prince of Norway cocktail!) and then train to Copenhagen-so many wind turbines dotting the landscape
* train, bus and canal boat ride in Copenhagen when I took some fantastic photos like this one-my excuse is the boat kept moving

The spire of Vor Frelsers Kirke, a 17th century church which has 160 steps on the outside so you can climb to the top of the tower.

* train from Copenhagen to Gothenburg including a trip across Oresund Bridge and tunnel link (16 kms) which includes Europe's longest bridge (7.8 kms) and takes you from Denmark to Sweden
* trams in Gothenberg
* train to Stockholm and bus back to Uppsala
* taxi to the airport since I couldn't face having to get up early enough to catch the bus
* plane Arlanda to Narita (Japan)
* "limousine"-which turned out to be a bus-from the airport
* lots of hopping on an off subway trains in Tokyo with Izumi
* Shinkansen from Tokyo to Karuizawa and then courtesy bus to the resort
* golf buggy up and down the hill at the resort with Taka and I sitting on the back seat reading fearfully about the risk of death if we fell out
* taxi to find Japanese paper since we had to make a number of stops till we found what I was seeking
* shinkansen back to Omiya and car to Kaori's place
* underground train to Narita where we stood in a precise place on the platform to get into the right carriage
* plane from Japan back to Sydney
* car from Sydney to Armidale with a stop on the way after hitting a kangaroo and killing it about 20 kms from Walcha

I would be happy not to have to drive anywhere for a while but have to get in a car once again to drive to Brisbane tomorrow as there are no direct flights from Armidale to Brisbane.

Couchsurfing

2007-07-16T06:57:00.000+10:00

During a pottery class last year, one of my classmates, Sue, talked about an organisation called Couchsurfing and how she had made contacts before and during her travels. I joined up and organised accommodation for some of my travels. It has been a great experience and gives you a wonderful opportunity to meet people in the countries you visit.

My first short stay was in London with Janine in an area called Chingford Hatch, near Epping Forest. Apart from the length of time it took to get anywhere, this area was good to relax in-very quiet and green. Spent the afternoon in the local pub with my host and sampled some English fare-steak and ale pie with chips and peas and gravy. Very healthy! Pity that I just missed the change over to smoke-free venues as this happened the weekend after I left.

In Bergen, Ellie and I stayed in Per's apartment which was a good base from which to explore. We found our first wild strawberries and didn't have to walk too far from his home to find lakes. He was such an enthusiastic ambassador for Couchsurfing-picked us up at the airport and delivered us to his apartment and also gave us a worldwind tour of Bergen one afternoon. He had collected a folder of information about sights and bus time tables etc which were very helpful in deciding on a day's activities. His knowledge of Norwegian history and personality made dinner entertaining, even though he was suffering from a cold. When he flagged, Elisabeth got a word in! His favourite word joke: He opened the window and influenza.

Our hosts in Copenhageh, Natashja and Aricia, were travelling themselves when we arrived so we were met by Natashja's father, Stephen. He showed us the basic things to do with public transport and took us to a lovely apartment close to the city. We could easily navigate around and managed to find our way on foot to one of the campuses of Copenhagen University, as well as into the city area.

Many houses have plants in the windows and this apartment was no exception with lovely white orchids coming into flower.

And the best was last! Staying for a very brief time in Gothenberg with Adriana and Johan, we managed to fit in a number of fika opportunities as well as walk around some of the town areas. Dinner in a Greek restaurant and sharing breakfast were highlights providing a great opportunity to talk and experience the feel of the city and a couple of its inhabitants.

food glorious food

2007-07-16T06:15:00.000+10:00

In some tourist information, I came across this list of "fantastic Swedish food" so we tried to sample most of them. I've also added some other Scandinavian "delicacies".

1. Sill which is marinated herring. The promotional material suggests that once you have tried it you are "hooked" (ahem!). I think it is definitely an acquired taste-the marinade which is sweet and sour "cooks" the fillet of fish and you can buy it with the liquid and some of the vegetables in the marinade. I think the word for this is "sockersaltad" which means "sugar salting".

2. Gravlax literally means "buried salmon". Mark Kurlansky in "Salt: a World History" gives this description of the traditional product:

"The longer it [the salmon or herring] is buried, the longer it will keep. But, paradoxically, the longer it is buried, the more it resembles in smell and texture something rotten." There is also Greenland version of buried shark called "hakarl". They all sound delicious! Gravlax is now commonly salmon cured with salt and sugar.

3. Hjortronsylt (cloudberry jam) Though we haven't been able to find this variety, there are many berry jams and lingon berry is served with another delicacy-kjöttboller (meat balls). We sampled this at IKEA, along with potatoes and brown sauce.

Can you believe that you can buy jam in a roll like processed meat?

4. Västerbotten cheese-reputed to have a strong aromatic flavour and be one of the best hard cheeses in the world. We didn't try this particular cheese and had difficulty finding any cheese which we would call "hard" like cheddar. They were mostly soft like Jarlsberg though we did try a tasty goat's cheese for breakfast with Adriana and Johan in Gothenberg.

5. Souvas (smoked reindeer meat) I'm sure this has been said before, but I couldn't bring myself to eat Ruldolf or one of his relatives.

6. Knäckebröd (crispbread) was once baked twice a year to make life easier for farmer families. One variety is round and is baked on a pole to give it this shape.
7. Pepparkakor (ginger biscuits) are traditionally eaten around 13 December to celebrate St Lucia and the feast of light.

The picture below also includes salted liquorice and lingonsylt (lingon berry jam)-see previous comment about the accompaniments to meat balls.

Can you believe this variety of liquorice at a stall in one of the streets of Oslo? This is "salt lakrits", salted liquorice. In "Salt: a World History", Kurlansky says it also comes in the shape of herring...or in a gumdrop shape, called a salt bomber, with salt sprinkled on top. A salt lakrits-coated vanilla ice cream, sold on a stick, is a "lakrits puck"-I don't recall seeing any of these. Apparently it is a taste that Swedes miss when they travel outside Scandinavia.

8. Kalles kaviar which is salty, smoked cod roe and mashed potato spread often bought in a tube. It also contains "sockersaltad". I've got some samples of this which I haven't tried yet. We did have red and black caviar when we were treated to smörbröd (open sandwiches) on a visit to Copenhagen University. Such an array of food on the plate and a number of different breads as well, along with the great company of Michael! Roe is obviously popular as we noticed the frozen king prawns today in the supermarket, complete with roe sac.

9. Ellie has written elsewhere about the delights of making and eating kanelbulle and we also tried a variety of Danish pastries (avoid the ones at the train station at all cost! I should have known this from Australian train station food.)

This photo doesn't really show the colour of the marzipan on each of these cakes: one blue and the other green-both "princess" cakes

10. Macdonalds-the same everwhere

Magician's school

2007-07-13T06:25:00.000+10:00

Not far from Natashja's apartment in Copenhagen is a magician's school-have these children been reading too much of Harry Potter?

The magician stands at the gate

and the dinosaur seat is at another corner of the playground. What fun!

What do others think of Australians?

2007-07-13T05:21:00.000+10:00

We stumbled across this sign in the main part of Helsinki and wondered if this was the lasting impression that others have of Australia since European settlement.

We are obviously a land of not only human drinkers-our national icon is at it as well in Copenhagen.

The joys of shopping

2007-07-13T04:45:00.000+10:00

The height of classic Finnish design-Marimeko. I remember Mum making me two wrap around skirts in the seventies from Marimeko rip-off fabric. Imagine still being able to buy fabrics with the early designs.

Even the hoardings are a work of art.

Another "must do" in Scandinavia-a trip to Ikea. This time to buy something for Robert's birthday.

Yesterday, we spent some time in what is, reputedly, the longest shopping street in the world: strøget, meaning The Streak", is full of fashion and shoe shops, amber jewellery shops and some extraordinary examples of Danish design. Waiting for Ellie in one of the shops, I chose to sit in what I later found was a chair designed by Poul M Volther-the Corona- which had a sale price of 23545 DKK (about AUD4700). I was just getting comfortable when the sales assistant came up to find out if I was a serious buyer. Maybe in my next life.

Today we gasped at the range of utensils designed by Georg Jensen and others for the rich of the past century: specialist knives and spoons for every conceivable type of fruit, a large silver crumb remover, a baby's bib holder! Their more modern designs include a left handed breakfast spoon!

On the way home, this caught my eye in a corner shop-Chinese green tea which is also advertised as "special gunpowder". I wonder what happens when you drink it?

2007-07-09T01:42:00.000+10:00

Our first real rainy day. We had intended to walk to the sculpture park in Oslo but the dampness forced us inside, firstly to the Art Museum and now to blogging.

Blogging is proving so frustrating. Trying to work out how to upload photos when the instructions are in Norwegian is interesting.

So, these photos are a bit hit and miss in terms of chronology and interest!

We lined up for dinner on the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. Someone before us had obviously been bored waiting.

Some scenery as we crossed the Baltic Sea. Standing on the sun deck was anything but warm so we didn't spend too much time up there. There were many summer houses right on the shore line of the coast and the islands. Apparently, these cottages are fairly primitive in comparison to the houses people inhabit most of the year. The point is to spend time relaxing without other cares. Sounds good to me and reminds me why I miss the house at Wooli so much.

We stayed in university accommodation in Helsinki, in a room advertised as having a kitchenette. Our assumption was that we would be able to prepare basic meals but with only 2 glasses and one plate, no pots, utensils or jug, this proved to be a little difficult.

To carry on with our interest in all things dead, we ventured into another cemetery- this one close to the main beach in Helsinki, and managed to find some wildlife very definitely not dead. The squirrel was obviously used to humans and followed us for a little while, scampering up and down the steps and posing for a photo.

The public transport instructions to our accommodation had included changing at Stockman, which we soon learnt was a department store like David Jones. Apart from a likeness in stock, the window displays were also of the DJ standard.

I had read in some of the tourist information that Helsinki has a more Russian feel and, as far as I can tell from watching movies, this is the case. The main boulevard is very wide but the older buildings are not as pretty or ornate as those in the older part of Uppsala and Stockholm.

out and about in Uppsala

2007-06-30T06:36:00.000+10:00

Today we decided to take advantage of the summer weather in Uppsala and bike around to a couple of places. The expected temperature high of 20 degrees probabably occurred around 8 pm and for a very, very short time.

In preparation for our couple of weeks away from Uppsala, we went shopping at a big department store not far from the students' residential accommodation. The shop was like K Mart and Coles combined and if you were in a hurry, you could take a scanner with you as you shopped, scan items as you went and then just pay the total at the checkout.

We saw lots of versions of this type of suit with reflective strips which is worn by children in the winter so they can be seen in the snow. En masse, they apparently look like minature roadside crews.

We also made a short trip to the part of the campus where Ellie spends most of her time. Amidst all the class rooms, we came across one called the andrum which is for "Ett rum for stillet och eftertanke" (not religious observance) which means a room for quiet activities. We are not sure what the purpose of the club and stone is unless it is for anger management!

One wall of the room has a tranquil forest scene, so maybe after hitting the rock you can sit and contemplate.

On the way back from IKEA (how can you visit Sweden and miss this cultural experience?), we rode through the park alongside the river. Family groups were out enjoying the late afternoon/evening and life on one of these houseboats looked idyllic.

walking around Uppsala

2007-06-29T18:05:00.000+10:00

Uppsala is a university town where the oldest university in Scandinavia was establish in 1477. Many of the buildings in the "old" part of town are associated with the University and the difference in the architecture in the "old" and "new" is noticeable.

Some of the streets are cobbled and bike riding is popular as the landscape is so flat.

The main university administration building is spectacular, with a reception room the size of Lazenby Hall. This picture shows some of the domes in the ceiling.Off this room is the aula, the biggest hall within any of the university buildings.

There are plaques around the outside of the building celebrating various famous scientists and academics associated with the university such as Celsius (temperature scale) and Nobel Prize laureates such as the novelist and playwright Pär Lagerkvist (1891-1974.

All students at university must belong to a nation and this tradition is so strong that some people choose to be buried in a nation plot at the cemetery. This is an example of one of them in the old cemetery. The lion is the emblem of this nation and holds the nation shield.

More photos at Flickr

London

2007-06-28T19:15:00.000+10:00

Walked around looking in amazement at such things as Westminster Abbey and the incredible details on many of the buildings such as this weather vane.

The best part of the London experience was seeing the musical"Billy Elliot". The choreography and sets were stunning and the younger members of the cast (ballet class and Billy and his friend, Michael) were very funny. The encore was the longest one I've ever seen-a noisy, energetic tap dancing number including the whole cast.

Sophie, me, Val and Kathryn before the show

The train/tube system took a while to master even though I vaguely remembered the tube map from a teaching resource we had at Dubbo HS. My worst mistake was missing the change at Baker Street on the way to Heathrow. I saw parts of London that I hadn't planned on, including Wembley Stadium. There were some benefits to it being peak hour as it didn't take that long to get back to Baker Street and on to the queues at the airport. Security measures meant taking off coats and shoes to go through the first checkpoint and trying to work out how to stuff my snuggle pillow and back pack into a "Gucci" bag (the attendant's description) so that I only had one piece of carry-on luggage.

away from home

2007-06-28T19:03:00.000+10:00

See my Flickr site for some photos of the Coogee to Bondi walk that Michael, Jen, Viki and I did on the Sunday I was leaving Oz. Air temperature was wonderful for walking and the sea was still a little rough after the storms of the last couple of weeks.

symbols in art

2007-06-19T18:39:00.000+10:00

Last week, I listened to an interesting presentation on the School of Fontainebleau and how various symbols could be interpreted in paintings. The presentation came about in response to a print displayed in the Booloominbah Collection. When the re-development was done in Booloominbah a few years ago, the brasserie area was decorated with many prints. This one is displayed on one of the pillars near where you order. I always thought it was an erotic painting-turns out the two women in the bath are sisters!

This as an example of a painting of the Fontainbleau School entitled Gabrielle d'Estrees and one of her sisters in the bath (Gabrielle d’Estrées et sa soeur au bain), c. 1595, oil on wood, 96 x 125 cm-the original is in the Louvre. Gabrielle d'Estrees was the mistress of (French) Henry IV. In her hand she holds a ring given to her by the king as a sign of their bond, and her sister is pinching her nipple indicating she is pregnant with the king's child. In the background a lady is sewing baby clothes. Some of the other symbols which re-occur in other paintings of the time include the red opening curtains, maybe symbolising the story as in theatre and passion in the use of this colour, and the pearl earrrings both women are wearing, symbolising their perfect countenances and beauty and mirroring the colour of their beautiful skin.

More information on the School of Fontainebleau http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_Fontainebleau

2007-06-16T18:30:00.000+10:00

Today I bought a new digital camera so, of course, I have to try it out. This is one of the pages in a book of illustrated poetry that I have bought as a gift for Kaori's baby. I am waiting to hear from her that the baby is born-it was due last week.

The picture reminds me of any dog we have ever owned-they all hated the bath, including Mel (below). Even though she could do with a wash, it is too cold now to contemplate it.

2007-06-14T23:21:00.000+10:00

Such a great photo-My father and younger brother (best man) waiting for the bride (my older brother's wedding) to turn up

purple

2007-06-13T20:05:00.000+10:00

Some random thoughts on the colour purple...

I've read that most women over 50 have purple items of clothing in their wardrobe-I'm not sure why this is a problem. I'm with Jenny Joseph when she says: “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me, And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves, And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter” After all, in the UK over a century ago, green, white and purple were the colours of the Women's Social and Political Union, led by suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.

Oscar Wilde, however, warns "Never trust a woman who wears mauve, whatever her age may be, or a woman who is fond of pink ribbons. It always means that they have a history."

Perhaps his reading of the Bible had unearthed this:

“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: / And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”