Fantastic production of the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime at the Apollo in Shaftesbury Avenue.
More clouds inside Saint Pancras than outside.
Paul Day’s perspective on life in the underground.
Delicious potted supper in LMNT with Camilla & Mario.
We had a delicious Ottolenghi picnic in Kensington Gardens today. Gerhild says he is famous. Well, it was famously expensive, but it was worth it.
A virtual jacuzzi to cool you down on hot days like today.
A free beer for anyone who knows where this is. I like the helmet the woman cyclist bottom right is wearing, the one holding the saxophone. I guess that just one week in Portland might be a bit short for anything similar.
Super cool Gerhild with a background provided by Manchester School of Art.
Kim looking for inspiration for his sculpture course next week.
Delicious decisions or yummy yoghurt.
On the way to the Tabernacle to listen to Alela Diane.
Er, can you put me through to …
Portobello fashion is going to the dogs!
Here is one who doesn’t need to go to Dalston to climb up the facade.
This estate agent is really showing which way house prices are going.
Well who’d be a bishop with a pink gatehouse?
Are you looking for me?
So deuce means they love it?
Wayhay Andy Murray wins £1 600 000.
Queen Victoria practising for Hogwarts.
Pimms next to the Thames!
This one?
Or that one?
Big beast on the way to Brick Lane.
As a practised horsewoman, Christiane was not too impressed with this guy’s style on top of the Whitechapel gallery. I wonder what he was reading…
(Google Rodney Graham’s “Erasmus Weathervane”)
Christiane & Thomas arrived safely.
So we set off for The Tower!
There was plenty of wiredlife around.
And a little wildlife.
A fine day.
At least there was no Kew at the entrance here and we could go straight in.
Arbus Mettalicus – for boys who climb trees who no longer have the knees. There was quite a bit of knee trembling to be seen up there, wandering through the foliage. Link
You’ve never seen water lillies like this. They would take the frog and a princess!
We had an athletic start to the day today.
Gerhild had a swinging time!
But she forgot to bring her skateboard…
Kim got a bit ratty later on. (by DALeast – they are tigers actually…)
Arrived safely so it’s time for a nice cup of tea on the balcony.
our anniversary, unbelievable 32 years…..
Der Gärtner und sein Garten.
Im wunderschönen Odenwald mit Richard, Carmen & kids…..
Hofgut Rodenstein
Schön, aber kalt. Fevian beachtet mich kaum. Wonderbra!
K. stellt Navy ein anstatt Co-Pilotin zu fragen! Boys!
On Saturday we went on a shoe hunt from one end of the island to the other, pursued by a Samba drumming group which was helping each village to celebrate the day of the book (we think – not that we illiterates in Spanish could read a word). As the sun set, we strolled to Meson Rias Baixas for pimientos del patron, some red wine and songs sung by a pretty Spanish girl.
The end.
Delectable 3 o’clock dinner at the S’amarador restaurant at the end of the harbour in Ciutadella, preceded by a windy walk through a beautiful nature reserve on the northern coast between Algaiarens and Ajub de Corniola.
The lesser striped tree hopper Gerhildicus Rosamaridium.
We were careful not to wake this one.
Gerhild spotted this extremely rare giant Menorcan hedgehog!
We couldn’t identify this one, but it was quite harmless.
Well we didn’t go straight to the restaurant, first we went to Santo Tomás and walked next to the beach for a few km.
The view away from the sea was fantastic too.
We saw some girls dancing nude on the beach, but Gerhild was in a more reflective frame of mind
although she did take her shoes off on the way back.
We arrived at the restaurant at quarter past three, which is apparently OK.
We decided to walk around a bit after our splendid little meal, until my navigation system returned to normal. Ciutadella is a nice old town, but you do need to know where you are going.
Something to relieve the pain of a haircut. If only they’d had one of these in Birmingham.
A reminder to be good – would we be anything else?
It seems unkind when you see this splendid fellow, but that was our absolutely delicious lunch today at Can Bernat Des Grau, barracuda for two €18,50 with Menorcan potatoes. Mmmmm. A great recommendation from Stephanie, our hostess.
We went to the north coast today, starting at Binimel-là.
Gerhild had a paddle,
but she didn’t see any barracuda.
Yesterday we walked to the sound of crashing waves, today to birdsong in the woods behind the coast.
Spot Gerhild in this panorama of Cala Mitjana. A beautiful cove still untouched by the developers..
Shady paths today, which is good for my glowing ears.
Gerhild giving her feet a rest and her brain some exercise
We walked here from cala’n bosch, ate our picnic and walked back.
Mellow me on Menorca with Mallorca making the background.
Apart from a few cormorants we didn’t see anyone swimming today. Gerhild thinks the water is too cold.
Wildlife in Ciutadella.
It’s Monday morning & the church next door is quietly chiming 8 o’clock (6 minutes late), the sky is blue and we have spent our first night in Hotel Ses Sucreres.
The view from the roof terrace before breakfast.
Breakfast in the garden.
The plan for our sculpture course on portland. Tout Quarry in Wikipedia.
Tout Quarry
Tout Quarry is an old, abandoned stone quarry at the top of the island close to the Heights Hotel. It was worked for the famous Portland stone from 1780 through to 1982 giving important buildings in London and around the world its great look, from St Pauls and Buckingham Palace to the United Nations Building in New York. It is now a sculpture park full of varied stone carvings both free standing as well as worked into the rock faces left over from the days of quarrying allowing sculpture to meet the environment, its geology, ecology and working histories.
The sculpture park first came about in 1983 but the very earliest of pieces have not survived through to today sadly. However the quarry does now have over 70 sculptures dotted around the gullies make a walk around the quarry not only an adventure but a with real surprises around many corners. With the backdrop of the 18 miles of Chesil Beach stretching into the distance and with views right across Lyme Bay on a clear day, Tout Quarry makes a most interesting and picturesque walk.
The Portland Sculpture Quarry Trust (PSQT) also works out of Tout Quarry allowing the layman to get a taste and more of working the stone. They run workshops from May to September each year for beginners and all levels of skill. There is level access with a screed floor and light tarpaulin for weather cover. Tuition is given by experienced carvers and sculptors in direct carving, architectural detail and letter cutting. At the start of the course there is a selection of freshly quarried Portland stone, the finest of carving stones, soft enough to carve, yet extremely durable. Courses are run for the general public over the summer and schools, colleges and university groups during term time.
PSQT is also leading a project during the Cultural Olympiad 2009-2012 to build a unique stone lithophone for percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie to play in a performance to celebrate the opening of the Olympic sailing events in 2012. The stone Lithophone, built on site from stones that ring, explored the distinctive range of tones, harmonics and sustained reverberation found in the geological structures of the different quarries on Portland.
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