A few weeks ago I told you that I was starting reading the news for my beloved Spalding Guardian - and here it is. The delivery isn't bad and we're getting better at putting the vids on. Enjoying it.
Thought you might enjoy the photo from Waikiki as well - through the magic of Photoshop I've combined two photos of one of the main roads, one of which was underexposed, the other over exposed. Photoshop is not easy to use initially, but I'm getting there.
Talking of Photoshop I'll be using it agin next week. Off to Poland on Tuesday with the lady. It will be the 8th different Eastern European country I've been to, alongside Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary.
All the obvious jokes have come out when I tell people I'm going to Poland - "Why didn't you go to Peterborough?/Is there going to be anyone left over there?" etc etc.
But Eastern Europe has some spectacular jewels. Tallinn, for example, is an unbelieveable blend of medieval churches and bijou bars. Cheap beer in fantastic surroundings - and a bar themed entirely on 80s band Depeche Mode. Ultra-weird.
Split, in Croatia, is another. Seafood restaurants on the Adriatic coast (only a few miles from Yugoslavia) literally surrounded by ruins from the time when the Roman empire spread its claws across Europe. Fabulous nightlife (although be careful - the most expensive birthday present I ever gave myself was in a stripclub in Split with no prices on the wall...) and good activities - try the white water rafting in the nearby rivers.
There are others - Bled, Veliko Tornovo, Sighisoara (Dracula country) in Romania and Prague were memorable. I've also been to some shockers. Bucharest was particularly horrendous, although we did play an England - Romania grudge match with some youngsters yards from a busy roundabout in the city centre at midnight (3-3 and I bagged a brace, including a beauty of a right footed strike from a tight angle, not that I'm sad enough to remember it!).
I expect it to look like Prague, with an old town square, restaurants that serve acquired tastes such as pike, a Museum for the destruction of Communism and enlightenment of the Proletariat, old Citroens and Ladas being driven by bald guys with beards and grudges, and drunk men lying on park benches. Will put photos on next week!
1 comment:
Johnboy
I believe I have the honour of taking your blog-commentee virginity! I'm not sure if that's a proper expression but you can probably get what I mean. I just read the post about our trip to Eastern Europe and it takes me right back... I think you pretty much picked out the important points. I'd forgotten about the football match though, certainly couldn't remember the score. Probably because, as usual, I didn't. Fair point about the birthday 'treat'. Who'd have thought 'Piccolo' was so expensive.
Some other random memories of that trip:
Inexplicably failing to get tickets for the Slovenia-France qualifier, later explained by the fact that the Slovenian National Stadium has only 12 seats, in order to leave plenty of room for the cabbage patch.
Having tremendous difficulty working out how to catch the train out of Sighisoara. Why does the rude train woman keep pointing angrily at the clock? Eventually we sussed that Romania is actually an hour ahead of the rest of Eastern Europe. Only took us two days to figure that out.
The delicious grilled pork which John bought in Sighisoara. They forgot to grill it.
'Vizum!' 'Stampli!' (Do you remember him? It was at about 2am no the train from Bulgaria to Turkey I think.)
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