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

Divers in underland

It pleases the Outer Limits section of the Society to present a glimpse of the exotique. Without further words, let the visual - and aural - delights exclaim for themselves: Such peace! Such pace! Such majesty! Such curious wiggly things! Indeed, the very essence of exploration and enlightenment!

Summer in the City

Or, cities, to be more precise. This Summer's push-bike touring took me through several very pleasant Finnish "summer cities", here in a handy Video-graphy for your viewing pleasure (now with sound!!)

Ta ta!
P-wick

It is B52 time!!

Me and me whiskers in San Marino's "1st tower"

For over a decade now, Wensworth and I have had a traditional sundowner when aboard: the B52. Especially when we visit a country or capital therebefore unknown to us, we shall try to order a B52. So as I was stomping up the hills and alleys of San Marino, I thought to myself, "Whut-ho, this is exactly the kind of spot to enjoy one of our traditional Foreign Capital B52s!"

So I went to a nice bar on one of the alleys, and asked for the drink. Unfortunately the bar-tender knew not of what I was on about. So I explained the ingredients, and he happily set about to mix me the concoction.
Again, unfortunately, I failed to tell him the method of mixology, so he proceeded to pour the ingredients over ice, and shake vigorously. Here, then, is my first ever shaken, not stirred, B52 with bits of ice! A nice enough drink, as it happens, but not a proper B52. Oh well, what we must suffer for science and exploration!

Shaken, not stirred!

So later I found meself in Monaco, or Monte Carlo as the italiand call it (Monaco, apparently, could mean München, which was not where I wanted to go...). After making a killing at the Casino, it was once again time for a sundowner.

By this time me moustache was desperately trying to make an escape...
(perhaps it wanted back to the Casino, in the background?)

Unfortunately the first couple of bars had trouble understanding such magickal mystical ingredients as "Kahlua", but the third time was the charm. Curiously the fellow "built" the famously layered drink into a rather narrow whisky sniffer. Also, he acted hastily, causing the Baileys and Cointreau to mix, which caused a somewhat unappetizing chemical reaction:

Monte Carlo style!

When back in Rome, it was time to do as the Romans do. Actually our little tradition dates back to a certain bar in Rome, back in the previous decade/century/millenium, so as a curious lark I decided to see if the good olde watering hole was still in business. Alas, it is! The Big Hilda bar/cafe still operates in Trastevere! They had done away with the fat Hippopotamus in their logo, but otherwise it is much the same bar. They even have the B52 right on their drink list. As I chatted with the barmaid about (lack of) hippos and what-not, she expertly built the drink into a cocktail glass and lit the Cointreau on fire! Ah, brings back memories of ye goode old tymes!

This is how it is done, with a straw and Cointreaou on fire!

A big Thank You to the Big Hilda for a good drink!
That is all for now. Until next time, drink responsibly!

Ta ta
Paddlewick

Tour de Naesijaervi

Last weekend 'twas time again for the annual Tour de Naesijarvi out there in and around the "Manchester of Finland". Our team, known originally two years ago as "Team HOT BAT" due to the initials of the participants, had this time around diminished into the rather less impressive "Team BH", as Messiers Squirrels, Hopewell, Mynxter et al had caught the flu, important business matters, or laziness.

My morning got to a less than stellar start, as I managed to over-sleep, and found myself with a quite paltry 20 minutes to get to the train. I did make it with minutes to spare (!), but had to skip the morning tea in progress. And as you all know, breakfast is an important part of a day like this!

Nevertheless, Hopewell's cousin Mr. Hulqoe and I arrived in "Manchester" with ample time for our final preparations, and off we went! 134 km of road ahead of us, sunny weather, yet the temperature was slightly below 10C, forcing us to wear long shirts or jackets, and gloves - this in the middle of June, for heaven's sake! I expected more from the organizers!

Below are some pictures from along the route:

The starting grid around 9:42 AM

I swear the Photography Apparatus has a mind of its
own: this here is its impression of the Tower of the Naesi-Needle


Past the half-way mark, the Locks of Murolee. This is just
after a long and fun downhill and before some hard climbs,
so everybody just shoots by. This time I wanted to stop and
smell the proverbial roses.

Liquid balance is most important in outings like this

Mr. Hulqoe somewhere out there

Typical bucolic landscape of the Manchester region

Let's hope the whole Team Hot Bat will be able to ride next year! Meanwhile, keep on pedalling!

Paddlewick, esq.