Constantinnople Calling

Aya Sofia Sr & Aya Sofia Jr

Dear Ladies & Gentlemen, and readers in General, this time I have a tale or two from the Orient!

Or at least Near-Orient, or whatever Constantinople could be called. Actually, if one is to look at the situation from the Finnish perspective, she lies due south from Helsinki, so mayhaps this chapter should be called "Adventures Meridies".

Anyway, Constantinople had been on the "to do" list of yours truly for quite some time. Frankly, as an arhitecture "buff", the city of Hagia Sofia held a special place in one's imagination. But wait, there is more:

View of the Blue Mosque from our rooftop terrace

Once I found out about affordable direct travel deals between here and there, I decided to act upon a good offer. Our dear mother, Mrs. Paddle-Worth, was also very keen to visit the city of the last Roman Empire and what-not. So I dispatched Jeeves to book a journey.

An impression of the interior of the Blue Mosque

Wensworth and Lady M also joined us this time 'round. Our hotels were in the olde centre of the city, in Sultanahmet neighborhood, right between/under the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia.

The womenfolk properly dressed for the Yeni Cami mosque

The area is very cute, small-scale, touristy, but close to the "Grand Tour" sights. Every hotel and/or restaurant appears to have a roof-top terrace for the grand views of the Golden Horn, Galata and Asia. It is rather pleasant to enjoy the breakfast on an penthouse terrace, looking out to the maritime thoroughfere and distant(ish) shores. And may I take an opportunity to "shout out" compliments to the 'Ocean Seven' hotel for their facilities, service, and price? Well worth the price, my friends.

The menfolk enjoying some apple/mint water pipe

What can I say about the City itself? My first impressions were much in the vein of Trastevere in Rome: very nice & lively, nice scale, a bit rundown, enjoyable, great but not 'super-grand'.

If you know what I mean? I have to admit I am biased towards Rome as my favourite city; Constantinople is close, but just slightly to the "other side of the river", or somewhat like Trastevere. There is some great urban/historic architecture and athmosphere, but it is not quite on par with the other side of the river.

A small mosque nestled next to the Bozdogan-Valens aqueduct;
the Galata hill seen through said aqueduct

Nevertheless, what we saw so far, was very good, and the promise/glimpse of the unseen (wait does that make sense) portions of this 12M strong megalopolis warrants another trip sometime in the future. In short, I liked what I saw, and I would like to see more some other time (Taksim/Galata, Asian side, etc). But for now, I must bid adieu!

The very impressive underground water cistern
next to the Aya Sofia. Cool and moist.

Until we meet again!
Paddlewick, Society

Pushbiking in Osthrobotnia

From Bikin' trip 2010

This summer I, together with an esteemed fellow long-distance enthusiast Mr. Ly, Esq, decided to take our bikes to the West Coast, which was relatively unknown for both of us. We also decided to skip the "boring bits", i.e. the Helsinki-Åbo part. Thus we loaded our pushies into the train one beautiful Sunday afternoon, and headed to our Åbo accommodations, graciously provided by Mr. Ly's friend Dahlstroem, right along the Aura River.

On monday we embarked on the 575 km pedalling portion of the trip, our aim, God, weather, our posteriors and pushbikes allowing, the Osthrobotnian capitol city, Wasa.

Here are some of the highlights along the way:
- Naantali olde towne, very pretty. Next to a weird and scary island full of Moomin Trolls!
- The mini Island Route west of Uusikaupunki
- Rauma olde towne, one of the Unesco World Heritage sites in Finland:

- camping in nice 3 or 4 star Camping Sites (or in the woods):

- Pori during the Pori Jazz week. Unfortunately Massive Attack, that Bristolian musical group I have admired for a while now, was scheduled to play a few days later:

- Yyteri beaches, although this must have been the only windy and cloudy day all week:

- Siipyy Open Air Museum with a Camping Site, a beautiful sunset, smoke sauna and a windmill:

- the towns of Kristinestad and Kaskinen (the smallest city in Finland!)
- the Soederfjaerden meteorite crater, "created" about 530 million years ago, these days a wide-open valley, and a haven for migratory birds
- and of course Wasa, a nice city for a visit

...being able to smell ripe wild strawberries, and being able to stop to enjoy some:

... and of course, the open and winding road:

That's it for now; still waiting for Wensworth & Co reportage from the Greek Mountains!
Keep on keeping on, as our colonial cousins would say!

Paddlewick, Esq / Society Pushbike Expedition Organizer / Pannier packer extraordinnaire

BCN010

Nouvel on the left, Gaudi in the middle, SOM the right. Gehry not quite visible.

This summer I decided to visit a friend in Barcelona. He moved over there some year and a half ago, and an invitation to visit was open. Now was as good a time to visit as ever, and it had already been more than a dozen years since my last visit; it would be interesting to observe if and how the City might have changed in the meanwhile!

My friends recided in the neighborhood of Poble Sec, which my Guide Book, borrowed from a colleague and admittedly quite old, i.e. from last Millenium, described as "somewhat unpleasant". Fortunately things had moved on since the book rolled off the presses, and I found the neighborhood to be quite nice and lively. That said, of course there are even nicer neighborhoods, such as L'Eixample and Gracia, with leafy streets, Gaudi's buildings and parks, and so on.

One is able to whisk about very handily with the free-ish bicycles. I was very happy with this service, and was able to see parts of the City left unseen last time.

Some sites I did visit again; naturally I had to see how they were getting ahead with Gaudi's Sagrada Famiglia. Well, I can report that it is still unfinished, but they are working on it. The nave is now covered. The spiral staircases in the towers are still one of my favourite spatial experiences ever, but these days you must pay an elevator fee to get up to the towers... Overall, still a very worthwhile visit, despite nearly 2 hrs spent in queues.

Also Mies' little pavilion was still quite the crisp and clean masterpiece it was before!

But as nice as Barcelona is, I also wanted to visit other near-by towns. For one thing, I wanted a "country point" from Andorra. For another, as I had played the game Carcassonne and realised it was an actual, historical town, I had to visit it! So I arranged for a hired carriage, and off I went. Along the way, I stopped in Girona and Mirepoix, both very beautiful olde towns in their own rights!


Carcassonne is really nice for history buffs. It is a closed citadel, fairly compact in size. I stayed right in the middle of it all in a Hostel. The citadel is naturally very touristy, has almost no vehicular traffic, and has good views over the surrounding landscape and modern quarters. It is similar to the top of San Marino, which I visited last year!

Carcassonne from the new town

One of the main gates into the citadel

A nice small plaza

The actual castle within the citadel

Andorra was a good surprise; I had heard mostly dismissing reports of it's value as a stopping point: a tax-free strip mall for the French and Spaniards. However, the ride up the Pyrenees, from the French side, was quite an experience. Great views, hairpin turns on serpentine roads... Then, after the pass, a long descent through cute little villages and hamlets into the capital. Well, the capital was a little too modern, and indeed a brashly commercial affair. Nevertheless, one point added to the List!

That is it for this report. Once again, hearty thank-yous to the hosts! Stay "tuned" for Wensworth's reportage from the Greek mountainside, etc!

Ta ta & tally-ho!
Paddlewick, Esq

It pleases your correspondent to report that the Ports of Douro continue to fare quite well, and to provide the most pleasant evenings musing on the Origins of Nearly Anything.

The Antipodean chapter, having abandoned the old A and looking to settle for a change in the more cosmopolitan atmosphere and offerings of the Old World, found it convenient to take a leisurely ride along the Douro River to sample said atmosphere and offerings, as exemplified by the fabled quintas of old. The mysterious Lady M, with her keen eye for the travelogical details, delivers once again, and off we flit, lightly packed trunks and crates accompanying us on a merest hop from the land of neutral gnomes to the riverside.

Picturesque port region village

A view off the balcony, Casa Canilhas

Castelo de Guimaraes

Pay no heed to the various Travelogues and Promotioneers: they may be quite correct in that the Valley is best enjoyed from the private carriage on the riverside train, but this leaves one with the problem of access to the more remote Quintas once the rail journey is done. Hiking from quinta to quinta is undoubtedly picturesque and rewarding, but one tends to accumulate the occasional bottle of vintage or late-bottled faster than the Jeeveses follow to pick them up. No, a horseless carriage of your own is the ideal solution; just make sure to hire a chauffeur with nerves of steel, reactions of quicksilver, and the directional sense of a messenger pigeon, and nothing can hinder the joy of discovery. As an added delight, descending the frequent serpentine way under heavy load has any old circus ride quivering in shame.

Must refrain from breaking

Must refrain from stealing all

Quality control

One must comment that New World profiteers have, during the years, shamelessly and baselessly driven the value of decent Vintage port into the aetheric layers. They have, however, made an oversight - by so concentrating on Vintage, the perfectly good LBV has been left in piece, to be picked up by the sharp (and budget conscious) tacks.

Too much monotony is always unhealthy, and accordingly we punctuated the quinta spree with suitable sojourns to nearby castles, ruins, and other notable locales. We observed with appreciation the nation's continuing interest in wind power, and remain satisfied with the reasonable fees of accommodation. The daily fare is hale and hearty; one might pine for variety after a while, but staying healthy and on budget is simple enough with assorted deep sea monster bits and part.

Pleasant interlude at Father Geronimo's balcony

Tentacles

Trunks, "portway" indeed

On return, the trunks, heavy as they are, remain woefully inadequate in their supply.

Cabin Fever

This past Weekend was a long Holiday Weekend here in the Northern parts. As the Summer Solstice draws near, the locals start to dream of bucolic get-aways, grilled meat and civilized drinking! As did yours truly, and fortunately a friend had indeed reserved a true Log-Cabin a mere 45 km from the Hustle & Bustle of the City, yet deep in a National Park, on a small lake, and with it's own Sauna! Gung-ho, then, I had Jeeves pack the equipment and secure them to my new/old trusty Velocipede "Nopsajalka" (Quickfoot), seen here:

The last 10+ km on gravel roads
in rain, with practically no
brakes, were a trifle difficult,
I must say!

The Cabin has no Electricity; the only fairly modern contraption was a small gas stove. Other than that, it was all about Wood-Logs and Lamp-Oil:


There were some nice Man-made and Natural details of Architecture:

Breakfast is served!

Fishing in the lake gave no result, but at
least some pretty Lilly-pads were found.

Of course there was nawt else
to do but bask in the Sun all day...

Contrary to popular belief,
the Sun does not shine 24
hours a day even in these
parts; rather this
is the Mid-night Full Moon!

The trip was a success, especially after the Rain petered out after the first day. Thank Yous for all, and especially the organizer, Monsieur Ly, Esq, are in order!

Happy Summer Holidays for all!

Paddlewick, Society Cabin Inspector

A tournament of Flying Discs

This past weekend Yours Truly ventured up North-West to the quaint seas-side resort of Yyteri, famous for its sandy dunes and sunshine. The latter was, alas, in very short supply this time. I did manage to "get rid of my Winter Fur", as they say in these parts, on the first day; come the second day, a steady and chilling wind pushed in from the sea, making the idea of a dip into the drink even less appealing.

The first day our team "Monttu Auki", i.e. "Slack Jaw", played 5 games, losing only one. That placed us in the Top Four (out of 24 teams) and in the Semi-Finals! The rest of the evening was reserved for some well-earned R&R, naturally...

Our first semi-final match was quite a disaster, but the fact is that we lost for a (much) better team, so the losing was not totally our fault. After some practice and resting, we went into the Bronze Fight well prepared to work for that Medal the best we could. And it was a good fight; they gave us a good run for our money, but in the end we exited the Pit as winners, scoring 10 to 8. Thus we earned our first ever Bronze for our Polli team. And by Bronze Medal I mean a cheap red children's sand shovel...

Our various line-ups in various states of preparedness

Just like in Golf, a proper follow-through is important
for a good drive...

Trying to look somewhat competent with the Disc.


One of theirs desperately truing to score...


And then some more silly games were played:




Meanwhile elsewhere, the Ministry of Silly Sunglasses
convened to ponder next season's Silly Sunglasses.


Also present was the omni-present Ministry of Silly Faces
and Stoopid Gang Signs:

That concludes this Reportage from the Western Shore. Bronze was a good and well-earned achievement, but did leave something more to desire for next year...

Your Truly &c,
Paddlewick, Esq, Society Flying Disc Coordinator, Bronze Medalist