Panda at Large

Spring is sprung, the Grass is Rizz??

2012-01-23T18:10:00.001Z

This is always a good sign, though I would have to say that the winter has not been too arduous to date!!

Christmas in the Cotswolds.

2011-12-26T09:37:00.005Z

Broken pinkie

The Boy from NYC

Dad in an apron...

Need I say more!

Happy New Year

Golf in the English Countryside.

2011-11-29T16:34:00.000Z

So we've had a few weeks to explore the local golf facilities and decided to bite the bullet and join a club. Minchinhampton is 20mins away and has an "old course" which was established in 1889, think "bump and run". In the sixties they bought some more land and established two "new courses", so for the price of one membership you get the choice of two courses and a reduction on the "old" course. Sounds like a deal to us. We now get most weekends off so hopefully it will give us the opportunity of playing in few comps and meeting some locals.

Check it out here

It is supposedly THE course in the area and has regularly hosted local qualifying for "The Open" in recent years.

When in Pheasant country....

2011-11-26T17:15:00.002Z

Nobody had to tell us it was Autumn...

Nobody had to tell us it was Pheasant season...

You just get presented with game on a regular basis...

The freezer is not full yet, but the way it's going it soon will be....

I am now a bona fide pheasant plucker...

But how do you say enough?

Lucky Dip....with a twist.

2011-11-26T09:06:00.006Z

I have never really been happy about buying my wine at a discount German supermarket, but sometimes time and circumstances prevail.

New Zealand supermarkets are improving their wine selections, and the Frankton New World wine department has to be one of the best in the country.

English supermarkets are miles better than their Irish counterparts when it comes to wine selection, and I always enjoy visiting "bona-fide" wine shops in this part of the world. Neither country is renowned for their wine production so the shelves are filled with selections from all over the world with equal status. Makes for for some interesting searching and occasional bargain.

However I have now discovered a new method of buying wine, albeit unsustainable as it only happens once a year locally!! The Auction house!

The local auction rooms has a fortnightly sale, mainly deceased estates etc, and they keep the wines for a pre-Christmas "knock down".

I ended up buying 5 lots, totalling 20 bottles for just over £300. Some bottles could be stunning, like a '98 Bordeaux and a '94 CA Cab Sav, but some bottles will be unpalatable, but we will have an adventure for a few weeks each time we get the cork screw out. The decanter will get plenty of use!

So the Lucky Dip starts tonight....and not a screw cap in sight!

Happy Birthday P

2011-11-20T15:10:00.005Z

Patrick came and had a few days in our new home last week. It was great to see him, though we had seen him last in July when we visited New York.

His birthday was in October, but instead of wasting postage, we decided to treat him to something local while he was here. We have an airfield within 5 minutes of us, one of the many WW11 airfields. They have a flight experience company offering various flying options. Patrick was treated to 30 minutes of acrobatic flying where was in control most of the time.

Do you think he looked nervous?
The grin afterwards was worth it!

Happy Birthday P.

Autumn in Ewen...

2011-11-20T13:17:00.008Z

It's been a couple of month's since my last post, but settling into life in the Cotswold's and coming to grips with my new computer has all taken it's toll. We are enjoying exploring our new surroundings and there is plenty to take in, like here at the aptly named Burton on the Water.

Being in England, the hunt is never far away, and this was the local hunt club prior to the Ewen Hunt.

We have been away from home a couple of times and enjoyed the coast of Devon and Cornwall. This is the Minack Theatre, THE most dramatic arena on the planet, I would suggest.

A full programme of theatre is provided throughout the summer.

It is not far from Land's End, at the tip of Cornwall. Land's End is privately owned and very tacky, similar to a lot of the seaside in England.

The Eden Project was a very interesting stop on our travels. The biggest Conservatory on the planet?
The autumn colours are just about all gone now, but they have been quite stunning. More so than in Ireland where the season goes from Summer straight to Winter, if your lucky!
We had a weekend in Bath before the weather got too cold but did not "take the waters". Stayed in a hotel in the Royal Crescent, a Bath landmark.
The Cotswold villages do really stand up to the accolades they receive.
We have a "local" just over the road, but don't get too involved. One day they'll get the gardeners and cleaners in and tidy the place up!! Pity, because it could be a gem.
The weather has been sensational and hopefully after the past couple of winters here we may be in for "short winter". That's tempting fate though, saying something like that!
We have even been out a few times checking out the local golf courses. This is the local course at Cirencester, but sadly did not tick all the boxes.
More about golf to follow...

Next Chapter...The Cotswolds, Gloucestershire

2011-08-24T20:22:00.001+01:00

So from New York, it was on to our next adventure in The Cotswolds.

Looking after a "listed" 1806 Manor House for a wonderful family who spend the majority of their time "off shore".

Staff accommodation is quite comfortable in this converted "Stable Cottage".

Our closest town is Cirencester, which boasts an abundance of Roman History, second only in the UK to London.

We haven't adventured far as yet (still unpacking our "stuff"), but look forward to exploring more of the UK before too long.

Who knows where the road will take us.....?

New York, New York

2011-08-10T19:06:00.012+01:00

So "up sticks" from Switzerland, we had a couple of weeks to kill prior to our commitments in the Cotswold's, so decided to annoy Patrick and have another bite of the "Big Apple" for a couple of weeks. Ooh la la...

Summer in New York can be HOT, HOT, HOT..., so riding the Staten Island ferry was one way of keeping cool. The fact that it is free and we hadn't had an income for 3 months wasn't lost on us either!

Patrick was keen to show us around his Golf Club http://www.manhattanwoodsgc.com so we couldn't disappoint. Golfing "Manhattan Woods" style is hard to beat, and I hope that it is not the last time we get the opportunity.

Two weeks in New York and you get to see a lot of "only in New York" scenarios.

A "foodie tour" of Chinatown was a great way to spend a couple of hours, and highly recommended. No better way for a foodie to enjoy what Manhattan has to offer...

In Chinatown, of course, you can buy anything, from Peking Duck...

...to dried sea cucumber...

....to Japanese abalone...

...or even Swallows nests!!

Next time we visit we will definitely take another of the tours.
http://www.foodsofny.com/

New York, New York, it takes your heart away!.

Scootland revisited....

2011-06-14T15:10:00.011+01:00

So after a fairly successful visit to London last week and with the smile still on our face we headed North to Scotland to visit our friends JP and Elaine who manage a shooting estate in the Scottish Borders, 30 mins South of Edinburgh.

The estate is 9000 acres of border country and if it had not been for the heather and the green grass it would have reminded me of the Molesworth or the Nevis. Great country!

This is the "lunch hut" in the middle of the estate where the shooters gather for their "4 course" lunch. No electricity, but very refined just the same for the middle of nowhere!

We tripped around and visited a couple of castles (as you do in Scotland).

Didn't stop for dinner, but very tempted.

This old home in Edinburgh http://www.prestonfield.com is now a hotel, restaurant and function centre. Tres smart!

And the local livestock didn't mind putting on a show for us!

Temperatures were a bit on the cool side for June, especially after Switzerland, but we managed to survive on the odd dram and tipple of vino, JP is French after all!

Spot yourself in the crowd?

2011-05-01T14:42:00.004+01:00

This picture is unbelievable!
1.15-gigapixel picture, is a composite of 189 images. The full picture measures 81,471 pixels by 14,154 pixels. The field of view covers 200 degrees.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13200114

After spotting so many cameras in the crowd, can anybody tell me how many single photographs were taken in London on Friday?

Walking to the vineyards and wineries...

2011-04-25T11:15:00.004+01:00

Wettingen is in a small river valley, and the "North facing" side of the valley is home to 15 acres of vineyards. It makes a great place for our daily walks.

The predominant red wine varieties are Pinot Noir or Blauburgunder as it is more commonly known, and Dornfelder. Because it is such a small producing region, the wines are exciting, relatively inexpensive and very much "terroir" driven.

The main white wines are Reisling, Gwertztraminer and Pinot Blanc.

Grapes are not the only thing grown on the hill-sides.........., and not to waste any opportunity there is also a local cheese made with wine.

If I was staying longer, I could easily see myself integrating into the local industry one way or t'other.

Some of the slopes are not too horizontal which must present challenges at different phases of production, especially harvest!

When we get tired of our 5franc "supermarket" wines, we can easily walk no more than 500m to our local "wine cellar".

We are looking forward to May 1, when they open the "winery" for the first time for the year! A very old historic building. Wine has been produced in the valley since 1428, the winery looks like it has been around that long!

In God we Trust?

2011-04-22T10:39:00.008+01:00

Since coming to live in Switzerland, we have been pleasantly surprised at the level of trust which we would not normally take for granted. The Swiss are a very “trusting” lot and examples of this are everywhere.

One that stands out for us is this local flower shop/garden centre on Wettingen’s main street. These plants are on the footpath and remain there 24/7. No chains, fences, barricades, razor wire, guard dogs, security cameras!

We were bought up in New Zealand, which has the second highest “least corrupt” country status, after Denmark, but I think even there these plants would be at risk?

Having lived in Ireland for the past 8 years we were learning to understand about a corrupt (maybe a little harsh?) society even though they are at no 14 on the above rankings. In Ireland car yards cannot display their cars outside business hours, for fear of theft or vandalism. Butcher’s vans have known to be burgled in Dublin while waiting at traffic lights. (imagine an Irishman running up the road with a side beef over his shoulder!). Routine currency movements between banks are accompanied by police, army, special forces all equipped with automatic weapons.

Living in Switzerland is a breath of fresh air by comparison.

Nuclear neighbourhood....

2011-04-19T10:15:00.007+01:00

Since coming to live in Wettingen, we were a little surprised to be given Iodine tablets at the local registration office. "For a nuclear accident" we were told, and " instructions when to use will be on the radio". Very helpful when we don't even have a radio, and don't understand what they would be saying anyway.

This is the closest plant at Beznau, which is about 12kms as the crow flies. It is the oldest plant in Switzerland, commissioned in 1969 and is due for replacement. The planning process for rebuilding has been suspended due to recent events in Japan

This is the plant at Leibstadt, 20kms away, and very hard to miss because of the large cooling tower. We drove past this plant on our way to the Black Forest.

Nuclear power in Switzerland accounts for 40% of demand, and there is obviously now a big question mark over the continued use of this source of energy. Interestingly, France relies on Nuclear Energy for 75% of its demand!

Camping in Wettingen (Vettinyen)...

2011-04-15T15:00:00.004+01:00

So here we are..... "Garden city between the Limmat and Warehouses"

"Recreation right outside your frontdoor"

....as well as Gewurtztraminer, Reisling and Pinot Noir

"Trade and Commerce without borders".

After not persevering with our Zurich employers after the initial three months, we finally managed to find a temporary furnished/serviced apartment but had to travel 20 minutes (by train) out of Zurich, so we are now camping in Wettingen. Quite a nice town of 20,000, with all the services we require within walking distance, including a good Italian deli/butcher! Known locally as "the garden city", or "town in the country"!

Also within walking distance (25 mins) is the old spa resort town of Baden, which has been home to thermal baths for centuries. Not that we are into that!

We had to register our move from Zurich to Wettingen with the local authorities, and surprisingly as part of the induction process we were given "Iodine tablets". We are within a potential radius from a nuclear power plant, so surprised us a little with what is currently going on in Japan!

Baden and Wettingen are on the Limmat River which is the river that runs through Zurich.

Our apartment is what we call a "sports apartment", 60 steps up and 60 steps down. Though it is still small, it is much more liveable than the "rat hole" that we were accommodated in for 3 months on our arrival in Zurich.

Not surprisingly, it has a view. Something we haven't had for awhile!

So we have good local rail, road and air links to most places that we will be wanting to go during the next few weeks. Working on a few things....have a few agencies at our behest....and awaiting that serendipitous phonecall.

Alsace in a Day!

2011-04-13T09:08:00.003+01:00

The last weekend of March we made the most of our last few days with the Mercedes and headed North into the Alsace region in France. Just over an hour from Zurich and an easy "day trip"!

Alsace is best known for it's aromatic white wines, and there are some superb examples, but as always we were on the look out for the local pinot's, which didn't disappoint!.

The old medieval villages have stood up well to the ravages of time.

Give me some secaturs!!

The area is a breeding ground for white storks, a large migratory bird which makes it's nests in the most amazing and unlikely locations!

We had a great day, if not a short introduction to the delights of the area and headed home loaded up with French bread, foie gras, roulades and some complimentary local vins for a delicious supper!!

Zurich Spring Parade

2011-04-03T12:42:00.013+01:00

Dublin has the Paddy's Day parade, New York has Macy's 4th July parade and Zurich has it's Spring Festival. In fact it appears that most towns and villages in Switzerland have some sort of festival to welcome the Spring.

These guys took the prize for me. They were on segways and did a fantastic job.

Most of the participants were middle-aged musicians, and some of the face painting was fantastic. Not to mention very colourful costumes.

Just another excuse to dress up, look silly and have a few beers?

CONFEDERATION HELVETICA

2011-03-02T21:30:00.017Z

Bern is the capital of Switzerland, or "Confederation Helvetica" if the truth be known, hence the CH as the Swiss symbol and CHF for currency.

The old part of town which was rebuilt in stone after a fire in 1405, is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and it truly is charming.

Even if there is the occasional familiar face....

Marktgasse is the name of the main street in the old city and it is aptly adorned with statues and fountains regularly along it's 500 metre length.

And not a "High Street" name in sight which is very refreshing, just a very good assortment of local shops and boutiques.

The entrance to the Munster Cathedral is quite riveting, showing the "damned" on the right and the "saved" on the left.

"Bundeshaus", Parliament Buildings a very imposing building in the middle of the city.

On the way home we avoided the motorway system and finally managed to make our way to the Emmental valley, the home of one of Switzerland's most famous cheeses. Traditional wooden chalets are dotted all over the country-side.

At Affoltern, one the small villages in the valley, they have what they call a "show dairy", were you can see the cheese being produced in the modern method, but they still have one of the old hands making cheese everyday with traditional methods.

Back-breaking work...

...and his sausages where being smoked in the ceiling. Unfortunately we didn't get to try these!

Each wheel is 95kg and is mature after 4 months - or longer.

And a fine array of cow-bells.

Not a goat in sight!

Luzern...the most photographed city in Switzerland?

2011-03-02T21:02:00.007Z

In a bid to see as much of our adopted country as we can, we recently jumped on one of Switzerland's very efficient trains and headed to Luzern, apparently Switzerland's most photographed city.

A highlight in Luzern is a very sad piece of rock, the Dying Lion.....

....which is a memorial to 600 Louis XVI soldiers from the Swiss guard, who perished defending the Palais des Tuileries in Paris during the revolution in 1792. Those who survived the initial attack were arrested and later guillotined. Very tragic and a fitting memorial.

It was a chilly but sunny day and we enjoyed taking in the delights of the old town.

It reminded us of Geneva, with it's magnificent buildings and hotels on the waterfront.

and the trains in Switzerland make it so easy. Even if the car was in the shop for service!

Sunny Zurich

2011-02-06T16:24:00.014Z

A sunny Sunday (not quite Spring?) in Zurich, so we went for a wander....
No sign of any Kiwi flags celebrating Waitangi Day however!

Scholer, best place in town for a hot chocolate and cake!!

Is air traffic control always this busy?

It was a tough week at work, everybody had a little sore throat and felt under the weather which led to a little tension. We hope this week is better.......

Three weeks on....

2011-01-24T19:19:00.007Z

After three weeks living in our "temporary" apartment with kitchen in a cupboard, we decided we needed a change and having a couple of days off, we decided to head out of town and see what we could find. Driving north for less than an hour we stumbled across Stein am Rhein and decided to stay overnight.

It is a small village on the Rhine, but the locals call it a "city". There is one main street with many of the painted facades dating back centuries.

Quite magical really, and even though the sun was out the temperature struggled to get above freezing!

Between Zurich and Stein am Rhein we passed many vineyards so tried to immerse ourselves in the local wine culture which includes Reisling Sylvanner and surprisingly good Pinot Noir. Dinner last night was a combination of the above with copious amounts of Rosti!

This "city" also lays claim (according to mein host) to the oldest wine bar in Switzerland. How could we refuse?

PANDA in the Big, Little City.

2011-01-17T17:54:00.010Z

We have now been in Zurich nearly 3 weeks and have to say we are enjoying it more and more as every day goes by. This is a fantastic city and though we are in temporary digs in the city of only 38sq m we are enjoying being able to walk to most places in the city that we want to go. Adele being a cook is keen to cook at home but we are finding that the "close quarters" is a little limiting and she is coming around to my way of thinking that eating out occasionally is not so bad! The occassional "take-away" is also becoming popular, something we learnt from our Manhattan muse.
The staff car - R350 Mercedes is great if not a triffle thirsty and a little daunting in the "little" city, however we are making the most of it and looking forward to travelling further afield once we are settled in and found more permanent lodgings.

When we arrived on 30/12 there was still traces of the pre-Christmas snow falls but we are pleased to say that the weather since has been fantastic and we are wondering why we were so concerned about feeling the cold! The weather forcast is more snow before the end of the week, so we may have to eat our words. The snow tyres may come into their own after all!
During our first fews days of orientation we stumbled across the Dolder Hotel which is supposedly THE best hotel in Zurich, we will have to report our own judgement in due course!

Our first few days (with the family still on holiday) was an orientation of the city and popular family addresses with the family PA. Needless to say we have become quite dependant on our TomTom even though the R350 has its own satnav!
We are living downtown, quite close to the Hauptbahnhof (Main train station) and commute about 15 mins to work, which is located on the hill above the city. This was the view on our first day and being winter there is plenty of pollution around but believe me when the weather is clear the view is sensational, especially at night!

On our first weekend off, when drove around Zurichsee (Lake Zurich) to try and find our bearings. The lake shore is quite built up and the real estate "OTT".

The wealth in Zurich is evident everywhere you look, even though totally understated! I have seen more Porsche's here in the last three weeks than I have ever seen before. The boss has a Carrera 911 which I drove back from service the other day, but I don't expect to get behind the wheel that often.

We are enjoying the interaction with the young family of four, and I think they are slowly getting to know that we are "real" people. They have a very busy agenda and do not have a lot of "free-time" between school, kindergarten, music lessons, sports lessons, gym lessons, chess lessons etc,etc! Paddy obviously has quite a role to play in transportation!

We travelled to the Rhine Falls yesterday, which is quite spectacular even though a little fog detracted fom the spectacle!

I said before that the weather has been fantastic and the last two days have been unbelievable. You still need a jacket and scarf at night but yesterday I even saw a local in shorts and T-shirt!!

The language is not TOO much of a problem, but we acknowledged earlier there will be frustrations at times. 70% of the population speak English and most people are very understanding, and as long you try your best they are most helpful. Flying the Kiwi flag also makes them more receptive!

Trying to assimulate into local cultures is proving easier than expected, especially when food is involved! It appears that Swiss bakers have a different bread they bake for every "event", holiday or festival. The bread pictured was to celebrate the arrival of the 3 kings into Bethlehem!

Our first week at work (with the family) was a little daunting (as expected) to start with, but by the end of the week we think we may have gained their confidence. Time will tell and we are looking forward to cementing our place in this fantastic city. We are in no way ready to accept visitors, and the next few weeks will see us feverously searching for a suitable apartment which hopefully will give us enough space to have a spare bed.........? Watch this space, we will eventually be looking for as many visitors as we can get, to show the delights of Zurich!

Far from a White Christmas in Europe!

2011-01-06T20:44:00.017Z

We departed Ireland on 24th Nov and it was a little sad after 8 years. We had been well treated at Inistioge, Dublin and Mountshannon and made many friends. It is not TOO far from Zurich however and I am sure we will be drawn back before too long. We were very fortunate to miss the weather "bomb" which subsequently struck Western Europe, and headed to LA to spend a few days with Sheila and Mike.

We arrived in Christchurch (the shakey city) and after a few days headed down South to spend time with Adele's sister in Winton.

A highlight of our trip was a return to Stewart Island with our mates from Loch Linhe station, Murray and Karen.

They have a lovely little cottage overlooking Halfmoon Bay and we subsequently overdosed on the harvest of the Southern Ocean: Crayfish, Blue Cod, Mussels and Oysters. "Heaven on a plate!"

Then after a quick trip up through Queenstown, Haast, Greymouth and Hanmer Springs we made it back to Christchurch before heading to the opposite end of the country to meet up with Patrick and take on one the country's most talked about golf courses, Kauri Cliffs.

We stayed at Kerikeri and driving to the course through mist and sea fog we were unsure if would be able to play. Arriving onsite however the weather improved and we took to the links, not thinking of the ozone layer and subsequently got a little sun, however that was better than the alternative in Ireland at that stage!!

The course is certainly a fantastic lay out with much "real estate" and most holes being totally isolated from others (similar probably to Jack's Point -though I have never played it!).Patrick had booked a couple of caddies and I would have to admit it was a great way to play such a great course. With the wind at my back I proceeded to shoot a very admirable 40 for the front nine off the white tees and was two up at the turn. The run didn't last sadly and I was pegged back on the17th and lost 2/1. The highlight of Patrick's round was an eagle at the signature par 5, 470m 15th. Drive, 9 iron, "gimme" putt. Much to the awe of the caddies and assembled gallery! I would have to say that it was a great day out if not a "trifle" expensive at around $1200 but the economist with us thought it was relative value for money, so who am I to argue?

From Kerikeri we progressed to Matarangi on the Coromandel Peninsula for the "main event", Christmas with the Ryan's and others.

Paula and Rob have a couple of "bach's" there and made sure that evryone was accommodated and comfortable.

Due to the adverse weather conditions in Europe, unfortunately sister Sheila could not make landfall in NZ. Because of delayed and cancelled flights from Heathrow she could not leave her post in LA and let her staff cover a difficult situation on their own. We were pleased that we at least had spent a few days with her enroute, but we all felt for her. Well done Sheila, your time will come!

In the meantime, the rest of us had a ball, and even Nellie could keep up with most of what was going on!

Christmas will never be the same

And even Santa had a ball!

We left Coromandel on Dec 28th and stopped at Singapore enroute to Zurich. Time enough for a Singapore Sling in "the Long Bar" at Raffles.

Another Christmas for the archives......

fecking edgits......

Roll on 1/1/11.............

Only in Ireland...

2010-11-10T07:18:00.011Z

As we are preparing to depart these Emerald shores, I thought it appropriate to compile a little montage of the things we will miss, and the things we won't miss.

Bordeaux

2010-10-04T10:53:00.007+01:00

We finally made it to Bordeaux late September to meet up with Murray and Karen Scott from Loch Linnhe station, who had just had a week's cycling with Dave and Heather Lyon from Wangarei. The harvest had just started that week.

We headed out to the coast for a night at Cape Ferrat, which enabled us to take in lunch at La Corniche hotel...

...and visit the oyster shacks. The oyster season was in full swing.

We then headed inland to St Emillion and spent two nights at Logis de la Cadene in the "centre ville".

Of course, vino was never far from the menu....

The Chateau's are fantastic and we spent one day touring the Medoc.

Chateau Pichon Longueville....

Chateau Cos D'Estournal...

note the boxes of grapes being elevated into the winery.

Picking is surprisingly fast. These pickers were keeping three large tractors and trailers busy.

Chateau Petrus, arguably the best Bordeaux wine, has a very understated headquarters.

I don't know what it is, but I get a real sense of place and belonging when I am amongst the vines. Maybe it's my agrarian background, or could it be a more sinister dependence?

Our first Irish wedding....

2010-09-05T11:27:00.008+01:00

We were privileged last weekend to be invited to our first Irish wedding. Fantastic!

Graeme is the son of very good friends. His mother sadly succumbed to cancer earlier this year. She would have been proud.

The wedding was held at Wineport Lodge on Loch Rea. Reminded us of Braemar Lodge.

Four music gigs over the weekend were outstanding starting with this jazz duo.

Graeme is a roadie for Snow patrol. An even though they did not play they got into the action on the dance floor. As Graeme later emailed: "Who's that dancing with the superstar. Oh yeah, it's Gary Lightbody!"

The rejuvenated dancing feet got a good workout on the night and at the after match BBQ the next day!

We stayed nearby at the Glasson Hotel and Golf Resort and managed to squeeze in a round of golf between festivities.

Slainte lads

Zurich - the best small city in the world!

2010-08-26T22:58:00.005+01:00

One of the things I enjoy about living in Europe is that so often when you visit a city, you go home wanting to throw away half your wardrobe. This is a combination of having a fresh outlook, seeing fantastically dressed Europeans "happy in their skin", and the clothes that are on offer!

Cities that come to mind are Munich, Paris, Bologna and recently Zurich.

Tschüss

The cost of Kiwi lamb in the Med....

2010-08-22T13:35:00.002+01:00

Just back from 10 days working in Mallorca - someone's gotta do it!

I was sent to the local butcher one day for 4 lamb racks...voila, frozen NZ lamb racks @32.95euro/kg. Circa NZ$60/kg. I explained to the owner that I used to be in the business back in NZ, she rightly pointed out that maybe I should still be in the buiness and supplying her direct!

The South of France

2010-07-26T16:38:00.010+01:00

Summer in Provence... where else would you rather be! We made a flying visit to the Cote d'Azur and Provence last week at the kind invitation of our friends David and Ginette, and JP and Elaine.

First stop was Valbonne which is where David and Ginette have just moved to after 12 years in Monaco.

Pretty as a picture...

or two...

David and Ginette are great hosts, keen to show us the best of the area.

Their new villa was very easy to get comfortable in. Very tranquil compared to the hustle of Monaco.

Some villages were more "hilltop" than others!!

Then we drove across to Menerbes in Provence and chose to stay at a lovely comfortable B&B. Jp and Elaine's new bolt-hole is a "petite cottage" - space is of the essence!

We did enjoy a lovely "kiwi" BBQ however, with Elaine's brother and sister-in-law...

And as always, our hosts' hospitality was fantastique!

Merci beaucoup JP and Elaine. See you again soon - we hope!

Lizzie Ryan's Wedding

2010-06-30T17:34:00.006+01:00

Just had a great weekend in Derbyshire, UK at the kind invitation of Liz Ryan, to attend her wedding to Adam Devey-Smith.

Also a chance to catch up with Tina and Grant after their few weeks in France.

The setting could not have been better and the weather was unseasonably warm for the Midlands.

Gave us a chance to see some of the English countryside. This was Chatsworth House, one of Englands grand country homes.

Sunday was VERY relaxed, and England losing their soccer match did not change that!

Dellie, Vicky and Tina looking like they are enjoying themselves?

Sipping and Nibbling our way around the "Heel of Italy".

2010-05-07T17:10:00.032+01:00

Spring has been late arriving in Europe, and with the ash cloud cleared over Ireland we headed off to the South of Italy at the end of April.

First stop for two nights was Lecce, renowned more for it's Baroque architecture than it's pianist's I think...

....and a couple of ancient Roman amphitheatres in the middle of the city which were only discovered in the early 20th century.

The architecture is stunning, and there are over 100 churches in a city of 90,000 people!

Santa Croce being the most famous.

After a couple of nights in Lecce it was time to hit the road, and although we normally rent the smallest automatic we can find, this time we were upgraded to a 3.0 Audi A6 SW. After questioning whether we could possibly get a smaller version (hilltop villages in mind), we opted for the luxury of the A6 when the only other option was a Smart car!!

The Adriatic Coast is a mixture of rocky outcrops and some sandy beaches.

This region in Italy grows something like 70% of the nation's Olive Oil, and the ancient Olive trees grow as far as the eye can see.

Being at the very tip of Southern Italy was well worth the effort, and much history to take in.

Next stop was Taviano and a great little Locanda Casa tu Martinu, recommended by the Lonely Planet. Southern Italy is quite poor in relation to their Northern counterparts and the regional food depicts this with what is described as "peasant food", but the way they do it can you live like kings "on the smell of an oily rag", and the vino is just as economical!!

Of course with a table of grappa to aid the digestion, Paddy was like a "pig in shit"!

One of the regional culinary traditions is to offer fantastic antipasta dishes. Almost like tappas. 8 or 10 dishes of fantastic seafood offerings before the primi patti and secondi patti. Dolci was always a struggle!

The beach owners were out in force making preparations for the first sunny holiday weekend of the year, and the weather didn't disappoint.

In Gallipoli (not Turkey) these fisherman had a very big job baiting "hundreds" of tiny hooks on "hundreds" of metres of line.

And in the same city there is obviously quite a bit of competition for the Sunday collection.

Then it was time to go in search of some fresh Sea Urchins. Fresh they were at 9.30 in the morning.....

.....and delicious!

We found Martina Franca was one of the most clean and beautiful towns in the area.

But Alberobello (the home 0f the trulli) had it's own charm.

A couple of days later we made it to "le Strada dell'Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva", where we had booked into Il Frantoio for three nights.

And it was great, an upmarket take on an agriturismo which has a very good kitchen. Eight course dinners are a regular occurance and we didn't say no. A long Sunday lunch while in Italy is something you just have to do!

The vino wasn't bad either.

The organic "farm" is on 150 acres with hundreds of "ancient" 500yo olive trees, as well as their 1200 "new" 20yo trees. The olive oil is superb.

The farm also has "ancient" carob trees, supposedly the secret ingredient of some the region's better Gelato.

Anywhere around the Med, you are never very far away from a market, and this Tomato vendor stopped us in our tracks!

And the cheesemonger was quite a "character".

Close to the Adriatic coast between Bari and Brindisi is an ancient ruin which is all that remains of Egnazia, one of the oldest settlements in Europe dating back to the 17th century BC, yes 17th! It flourished mainly between the 5th century BC and the end of the Roman era. The ruin below is part of the Appian way which stretched from Rome to Brindisi.

The ruts below are part of one of the roads around the site, worn down by chariots and carts. Similar to the roads at Pompeii.

Ostuni is called the "Cite Bianco", because of the amount of white-washed buildings. It's not a bad place for the "passeggiata" either.

Last stop was Polignano a Mare (or so we thought) where we found a tiny B&B in the ancient centre and gave us a nice bolt-hole for a couple of nights.

Very civilised!

Ryanair then cancelled the Pisa/Dublin sector of our return jouney due to ash so we were stranded in Pisa for a couple of nights before we could get another flight home. More pasta and vino at this stage was just what we needed! We took the train to Lucca for the day and made the most of our extended stay.

Ash or Splash?

2010-04-17T13:27:00.000+01:00

With Europe in the grip of a "no-fly" policy due to the Volcanic ash from Iceland, it is ironic that the current weather is so unusual. We have a large stationary anti-cyclone off the west of Ireland which has been giving us a protracted spell of absolutely marvellous weather for the past 10 days, and bringing the winds down from the north west over UK and Europe. There is no certainty when this weather pattern may change. If the regular pattern of "April showers" was occuring, the volcanic ash may not even be anywhere near us, or even "washed" out of the atmosphere!

So I guess we just enjoy the balmy weather until our next air ticket is valid and hope that the ash has dissipated by then. We are due to fly to Puglia in the heel of Italy on 26/04 so keeping our fingers crossed.

Not interested in automobiles?....do not enter!

2010-03-23T08:11:00.000Z

We went to Munich last week to celebrate Paddy's Day and also for Adele to visit her dentist. Paddy spent some of the time drinking beer and eating sausages, and although he doesn't religiously watch "Top Gear", he also immersed himself in the local auto industry visting BMW, Audi and the local Munich Transport museum.

The beginnings of public transport - the hobby horse...

This was the first petrol driven vehicle patented to Carl Benz in 1886. Really just a glorified tricycle!

Not all transport was motorised as shown by these early roller skates!

BMW marques...

James is never very far away from a good motor...

"And the unattainable is invariably attractive!"

Concept cars are never far away

but the oldies have a special glamour...

Audi has an enviable record at Le Mans.

I also toured the Audi factory at Ingolstadt, but of course no photography so couldn't record the lines of robots. Quite amazing. It was an interesting day, punctuated by the hordes of clients who arrange to pick-up their new cars from the factory, approx 200 every day! Quite a procession. Something I aspire to, if ever I collect my R8!

FOR SALE....Kelvin Heights Building Site

2010-02-18T17:21:00.012Z

Kelvin Heights Peninsula, Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand.

We have "for sale" THE last remaining building site (673 sq/m) adjacent to, and overlooking the Kelvin Heights Golf Course. One of the most picturesque Golf Courses on the planet. We welcome all expressions of interest.... irishpanda@eircom.net

All day sun....and all day Golf @ http://www.queenstowngolf.co.nz/

Westport for R & R

2010-01-30T22:31:00.006Z

Mrs Ryan had a birthday in January, so we took up an offer at Knockranny House www.khh.ie for three nights and treated to great food, vino and spa treatments. Why not to brighten up the winter.

Westport is close Croagh Patrick where St Patrick spent 40 days and nights expelling the snakes from Ireland.

I didn't manage a plenary indulgence, but had a good workout anyway.

I didn't manage it to the top because of low cloud but got high enough to get some good pics of Clew Bay. The track is very rough, loose stones and rocks and quite steep, and the hardy ones do it in bare feet!

Brrrr....!

2010-01-30T22:22:00.006Z

After our white Christmas in America we came home to relative mild though where told that we had missed a week of cold, ice, frosts and freezing fog. The boss's mother who was staying over Christmas and New Year told us she had not been out of the house for three days because of the ice. Lucky us!
But a week later the snow arrived and because the ground was so cold it stayed around.

Quite nice when the sun finally shone...

Not sure that the horses enjoyed it too much....

The fountain turned out to be our daily "weather vane"!

The swans and ducks had a struggle keeping their swimming hole!

A White Christmas...

2010-01-29T13:35:00.008Z

Christmas 2009 saw us flying into New York to enjoy the festive season in the Big Apple.

And of course Mother wanted to see Numero uno!!

We were treated to the Rockettes Christmas Show at Radio City Music hall...

and dinner at Per Se. http://perseny.com/

A nine course extravaganza. The pork belly was sensational...

and the foie gras was even better. A great night and certainly one to remember.

Then we headed north to Milwaukee on Christmas eve for more "white stuff"....

to have Christmas with baby sister Maria and husband Robbie. We managed most of the wine.

There was even a hint of Irishness involved.

All hands to the pumps for Christmas dinner.

and Robbie was in full control of the obligatory deep fried turkey.

Keeping the Champagne chilled was not a problem!

Flying back to New York on Stephen's Day in the snow was incident free. The airport at Milwaukee has DOZENS of snow ploughs just driving up and down the runways and taxi-ways. No flight delays - no problem.

Certainly a Christmas to remember. Thanks Maria and Robbie.

Munchen

2009-12-16T19:28:00.006Z

Paddy had a whistle stop visit to Munich yesterday for hopefully his last visit to his German dentist! All the mercury fillings he had forced upon him by the lovely dental nurses at the Hornby Dental Clinic are now gone and he is the picture of health!!

December in Munich of course can be quite cold but that is why they invented Gluhwein! It was -10º, but dry and crisp and a good rehearsal for Milwaukee in a weeks time!!

I was intrigued by this stall at the Christmas markets offering Hot Honey wine laced with "Tullamore Dew" and I was not disappointed, though the service could have been a tad more enthusiastic!!

and this stall was offering genuine smoked salmon.

The Germans do Christmas well and even these displays in the airport were capturing the spirit.

I made a stop at the Mercedes Benz shop in Munich for the boss's Xmas present and was captivated by this car on display...

An Mercedes SLR "Stirling Moss". Unbelieveable! Only 75 manufactured and all pre-sold @ over £800,000 each!!

Specs:

Engine: 5439cc, supercharged V8Power: 650bhp @ 6500rpm

Torque: 605 lb ft @ 4000rpm

Transmission: Five-speed automatic

Acceleration: 0-62mph: less than 3.5sec

Top speed: 217mph

Price: £815,000

Verdict: The maddest Merc you’ll ever see

Island in the sun

2009-11-02T20:28:00.003Z

On our latest visit to Mallorca, we couldn't decide whether these sheep were sunburnt or just had a bad case of the trots!!

And we had never seen the sea running so high on the Med!

Venice revisited...

2009-11-02T20:09:00.004Z

Venice is a special place. It can be over-crowded and smelly and we delayed our visit until October, but it was still over-crowded and smelly!

The weather was still pretty good though so we made the most of it and tried to avoid the "masses".

There is a constant sense of dis-organised mayhem on the Grand Canal but I guess it just gives the visitors something to talk about.

A trip out to Burano and Murano gave us a sense of tranquility one day.

And we thought the 24 hour clock was something special.

The Venetian food is something special, and we enjoyed a couple of favourites plus a couple of new "finds".

You wouldn't think she was AQUARIUS, would you?

A lifestyle block to die for............

2009-10-06T11:33:00.002+01:00

Now is the time to secure your future.
http://www.realestate.co.nz/1163819

Il viaggio di strada bello Italiano

2009-09-27T07:15:00.020+01:00

There is something about the Italian Lakes, but when we decided to include a detour into the Alps, it really did make for a special few days.

First stop Veranno, on Lake Como

Which gave us the opportunity to take a ferry to Bellagio for the passeggiata...

and we had a nice lake view to wake up to

From there we headed north towards Bormio and up the Stelvio Pass

A great drive, with dozens of motorcyclists and pushbikers

then down the other side

"The Stelvio Pass is one of the highest Alpine Passes of Europe with its 2758 m. The original road was built in 1820-1825 by the Austrian Empire to connect the former Austrian province of Lombardia with the rest of Austria, covering a climb of 1871 m. Since then, the route has changed very little. The 60 hairpin bends, 48 of them on the northern side numbered with stones, are a challenge to motorists."

From there we drove through miles and miles of apple orchards (just at the start of harvest) and couldn't believe Italy could produce so many apples in one spot. We stayed at a little Gasthof in Terlan, this area was once Austrian and a lot of the locals still think that it should still be Austrian! Next day we detoured into the Dolomites and stopped at Lago Carezza...

before heading south to Lake Garda, stopping the night at Sirmione on the southern shore

A late flight on our final day gave us enough time for whistle stop tours of Mantua, Brescia and Bergamo before flying home.

Fino al prossimo tempo...

A HOT night in Milan!

2009-07-09T20:53:00.012+01:00

We hadn't been to Milan prior to this week (except to use the airport a couple of years ago) so off we trotted.....

to visit the world's first shopping mall...

but note the lack of shopping bags. And trust me don't ask for a beer here, it was the most expensive beer I have ever had!

We even had time to visit the Ferrari store (what else would you do in Milan?)....

before a long lunch at http://www.acena.it/bagutta/....

And then the main event....

San Siro stadium to see Snow Patrol and U2 live on the revolutionary 360º stage...

The stage was fantastic, a cross between a space station and a cactus flower!

Snow Patrol got the crowd warmed up before the Dublin lads arrived....

Nothing prepares you for the noise at a rock concert. I don't think I have ever been physically moved by sound before, truly unbelieveable.

Enjoy...

Sailing Croatia

2009-06-29T07:34:00.017+01:00

Just back from a great week in Croatia where we joined some kiwi friends for a weeks sailing...

Departed from Split and visited several islands...

Look who got the "primo" spot...

Evidence still exists of submarine bunkers used by the allies in the second world war.

and also evidence of later conflicts as depicted in the church doors.

Of course, in the Adriatic or Mediteranean you are never too far away from culinary delights...

On one of the islands we stumbled across a vineyard restaurant which slow cooks dishes "under the Bell" in a wood fired oven. A real treat...

The local vino was excellent quality and exceptional value...

We had a bit of competition for berths in one or two places. Bill Gates was in the area at the time and we were not sure if this was his yacht of not tied up in Hvar.

Unfortunately the weather was a little unsettled one or two days, but at least it gave us some good sailing as well!

Korcula was special...

as was Hvar...

and Skraden...

and Primosten...

and Vela Luka...
and Trogir....

and if I returned I would probably head straight to Vis.

Now of course, we are thinking of when we can do some more!!

Danny Schuster

2009-06-18T22:42:00.005+01:00

If you don't already know my good friend Danny Schuster, you will want to after watching this interview....

http://http//tv.winelibrary.com/2009/05/28/talking-new-zealand-wine-and-more-with-daniel-schuster-part-1-episode-684/

and he really hits his straps in the second part....

http://tv.winelibrary.com/2009/05/29/talking-new-zealand-wine-and-more-with-daniel-schuster-part-2-episode-685/

The West Coast

2009-06-18T22:04:00.004+01:00

Believe it or not, but we have been avoiding airports lately and when Adele's sister Joy and friend Barbara visited in May it was a good excuse to head west and reacquaint ourselves with some of our favourite places.

West Clare has some dramatic coast-line, none moreso that the Cliffs of Moher

The beach at Doolin puts on a good show when the sea is running, and it's always a good bet for a music session in any of the 3 pubs

A bit further north and we stopped a night in Westport (Ireland's "Tidiest Town") and enjoyed a delightful meal at the Quay Cottage.

Irish Riviera

2009-06-18T21:50:00.005+01:00

A couple of weeks ago we ventured South West to the "Irish Riviera" and visited Mizen Head.

It is the most Southern point of Ireland - next stop New York!

The Fastnet Rock is clearly visible from here, even in this image if you study it hard enough!

The scenery is stunning and we have discovered another gem!

We spent a night at Crookhaven...

...and a night at Baltimore.

Even discovered an artisan French Chocolatier - tres bon!!

And of course, you are never very far from another stone circle. What were they on?

Es Verger montain restaurant

2009-04-24T20:39:00.008+01:00

In Mallorca just prior to Easter, we were fortunate to have an unusual "day off" and decided to go in search of a mountain restaurant which Rick Stein had mentioned on one of his Mediterranean programes. It turned out be more of an adventure than a search!

...and it didn't take long to discover what was on the menu....

slow cooked lamb and suckling pig, all cooked in an open wood-fired oven.

Simple but fantastic cuisine. No Michelin stars, no invasive service, no mortgage required.

The digestion helped with the local hooch "cremadillo". But why would they burn off all the alcohol?

Surely that was required to traverse the road home!!

Simply the best!

2009-04-24T19:56:00.002+01:00

Tina Turner in Dublin, I'll let the pictures tell the story........

FANTASTIC

NZ revisited

2009-04-24T08:14:00.007+01:00

It seems like a long time ago now but we visited New Zealand for 3 weeks in March and helped Nellie celebrate her 90th birthday.

with the help of a few cousins.....

It was great opportunity to visit some favourite places....

...some new places....

...and catch up with old friends.

Paddy's day was celebrated while we were in Christchurch and look who had the silliest hat!

Tantris (47)

2009-02-17T14:35:00.004Z

We had a trip to our dentist in Munich during February, and even though we love Bratwurst and Weisbier, we thought it was time to "upscale". We had talked about visiting Tantris on several previous visits, and a "long late lunch" while waiting for our early evening return flight seemed a great way to kill a few hours (especially as the afternoon weather deteriorated into snow showers!).
Tantris is in the "Top 50" global eateries and quite close to our accommodation in Schwabing.

The decor is very 70's, and appears to be in a time warp. Bright orange colours which creep into the carpet, and covers the walls in places!!

The food was exquisite and the service unquestionable (even though there were only 17 customers). Paddy ordered from the "a la carte" menu and enjoyed Lobster bisque as a starter, followed by Beef cheeks with a leek mash. Adele decided to go for the three course "table d'hote" lunch menu which included wine. She enjoyed dover sole for starters, a prime rib beef dish with mushrooms, and nougat infused fresh curd dumplings. All very nice and we considered the price tag of €136 quite reasonable for a 2 star Michelin restaurant.

A lunch to remember, though we may have to revert to sausages and a beer on our next trip!!

Sauze d'Oulx skiing

2009-02-01T07:42:00.008Z

As always at the end of January, we headed to Italy for our ski week, and were in for quite a surprise. We had heard that the snow was good but had not quite appreciated "how good" until we arrived. They had 2m of snow outside our hotel just prior to Christmas and another 60cm a few days before we arrived.

The next day was spectacular, as was the rest of the week and the skiing was unbelievable.

They had made a great job of digging the lifts out!

And Adele was in her element...........

One day we took the gondala across to Sestriere and skiied the mens Olympic downhill slope, this is the view from about 2/3 the way down

And of course, we had Roger to keep an eye on us!

Which was often needed at apres ski! This is how they introduce the next round of Grappa shots!

We headed to Turin to stay on Friday night before our early flight home on Saturday. Just in time to stumble across the start of the "historique" Monte Carlo Rally. Hundreds of classic rally cars with aged crews out for a good time!

And then we finished off the week with dinner at Tre Galline, a Turin landmark.

So now it's home to detox......

Wet, Wet, Wet! (3)

2008-12-31T07:49:00.003Z

I don't think anybody needed to tell us it has been a wet year, but I guess these people had to justify their salaries!
http://www.met.ie/climate/monthlyBulletins/Summer2008rainfall.pdf
Will it be enough to drive us away??

Munster v All Blacks 18/11/08

2008-12-21T14:57:00.004Z

I've just been sent this article to read by a mate back in New Zealand.

http://www.thecupiscominghome.com/document.php?c_id=5&doc_id=14244

Paddy's Well

2008-12-21T13:43:00.002Z

This country is fascinating, every now and then when traversing the highways and byways (and slip roads) you stumble across the most unusual and unexpected sights. This morning was no exception....

Paddy's Well.

I didn't know what to do!

Should I bless myself with it?

Should I go down on bended knee?

Should I take my clothes off and go bathing?

Should I "take the waters"?

Should I anoint myself?

Should I add it to my "Bushmills"?

Any suggestions?

In Bruges...

2008-12-12T12:58:00.003Z

Ryanair was offering €1 fares (incl taxes) recently so we decided it was cheaper to fly to Belgium for a couple of days, than to stay at home! We arrived in time for the Christmas market so gluhwein was required to keep the chill at bay!

Colin Farrell describes Bruges as "a shithole" in the movie, but others describe it as "the Venice of the North". Whatever description you you agree with, it is a very nice place to visit for a few days.

it is famous for it's chocolate (as is all of Belgium) and there are MANY artesan chocolate shops to visit...

...and we finally discovered how they get their fillings inside their chocolates.

The other compulsory tasting was beer, of course, and in this bar they have over 400 beers on offer. Needless to say we ran out of time to try them all!

Bruges is also well-known for it's annual ice sculpture display prior to Christmas and unfortunately an image is hard to capture, but be reassured that they were quite special. It is housed in a temporary marquee about 30m x 50m and kept at -5C. Gluhwein was needed again!

It does get cold in the South of France!

2008-11-28T18:39:00.009Z

We knew it was late November, but we didn't want to go to Carcassonne with the hourdes of tourists during the summer. What we hadn't anticipated was the snow on the surrounding hills that fell the day before we arrived, which made the weather very chilly for a couple of days!

But we managed to keep warm with plenty of Cassoulet, Foie gras and vin rouge. It was nice to be there though and it certainly is a very medieval city...

...but the drawer bridge was not designed for concrete lorries. There were many hands to make sure that none of this part of the Heritage site was touched!!

We hired a car and visited several of the villages in the Langedoc/Rousillon area...

...and got lost amongst the vineyards. Some areas look neglected and obviously struggle to perform, while other areas are really steeping up to the mark and their wines are fabulous.

We also discovered that hilltop villages are not necessarily modern conceptions. Some of these old chateaus are truly impregnable, even by today's standards!!

The sun did manage to come out eventually and we visited Sete, whose claim to fame is France's largest fishing village/port on the Meditteraean. Of course, we had to have a delightful lunch of Oysters and Bouillabaisse.

AB's in the land of the little people!

2008-11-16T19:54:00.002Z

After much hype about a close match and a possible Ireland win, we watched a pretty uninspiring game of rugby last night.

The All Black's were pretty lack lustre, the Irish didn't turn up, and the ref had a shocker. Just as well the black stuff was up to standard - as always!!

Smell the...........?

2008-10-27T13:50:00.003Z

There is an old golfing cliche that says in order to get the best out of your game you should take time to "smell the grass"!

Our good friend Roger Goodfellow has recently accepted a position of teaching professional at the Vigne del Barolo Golf Course in Northern Italy, which he starts March next year. He sent us this image recently of the newly opened front nine.

I don't know about smelling the grass, but I can almost smell the Nebbiolo and truffles just looking at the picture. We hope it is not too long before we have the opportunity of a tee time. What do you think wee P?

Wee P is 30!!.....

2008-10-10T19:46:00.008+01:00

and his mother wanted to be in New York to help celebrate!

Aunty Maria from Milwaukee was the "mystery guest" for the weekend.

We had plenty of time to hunt for mushrooms on the Sheep Meadow in Central Park.

And a free "session" is never far away, - reminded us of "Home"!

Then it was off to the Met to see Don Giovani

before a family get together "over the tea cups"! Anyone who has been to the Lower East side Toy Co (P's closest nightclub - 5m from his door) will understand!

There are some "morning after" images, but the birthday boy insisted that they are "not allowed" to be published.

Downside up?

2008-10-07T13:23:00.002+01:00

Even with a drop in personal finances, you've still gotta love the nightlife.....

and everything else "New York"!

Upside down.

2008-09-28T08:16:00.002+01:00

We are off to New York for the weekend on Thursday. When we were there in June, these banners were all over the place.....

I wonder what they will be saying now....?

Watch this space........

Tuscany revisited.

2008-09-24T20:23:00.013+01:00

We never need much of an excuse to visit Italy, and an invitation to join some Kiwi friends in Tuscany for a week was another good opportunity.

Lunching and dining were high on the agenda

Adventure tourism as far as the eye could see....!

and a mobile Fish and Chip shop to beat them all!

After a few days in Lucca with the troops, we returned to our "bolt hole", Colle di Val d'Elsa....

...and didn't know there was a "crystal" festival on. The town is famous for it's glass-blowers.

The next morning we were wondering what all the noise was about until we opened the shutters

and the party lasted all day, including a procession of the Madonna at 6:00pm

Then on to one of my favourite roads - the road to Bolgheri. Home to many super-Tuscan wines including, Ornellaia, Sassacaia, Tignanello, Masseto

and another lunch under the Tuscan sun.

Then stumbled on to a local fair, which inluded Italian "cowboys" and a local "bush" band which seemed to play better on the run!

Thanks for inviting us guys, until next time.........?

Munich before the madness...

2008-09-05T14:17:00.004+01:00

A few days in Munich is always a good excuse to try the local brew and you are never far away from an opportunity. The beerfest starts on 20/09 so we missed the rush!As always it never takes Adele long to find a another soul-mate. Chrys is an ex-pat from Ch Ch living in Munich, and we spent a lovely evening with her.
Very colourful!
A day out of town was spent on Lake Starnberg nearby. Obviously a playground for the locals.The weather was "out of the box"!

Tour de Irlande

2008-08-27T18:19:00.005+01:00

It doesn't have the "razzamatazz" of the Tour de France, but the Tour de Ireland passed through Inistioge this afternoon....

and this climb is one of the toughest around.

Tipperary gets gold

2008-08-27T18:17:00.002+01:00

Well it wasn't rocket science....!

Rose of Tralee

2008-08-25T10:24:00.002+01:00

It's that time of the year again, when Tralee goes potty over it's Roses.....

http://roseoftralee.ie/catalog/

My money's on Tipperary,

but New Zealand at 12-1 could be a good bet.

Wet, Wet, Wet. (2)!

2008-08-18T10:01:00.002+01:00

And of course, Golf has been out of the question!

Wet, Wet, Wet!

2008-08-17T19:06:00.007+01:00

I made a comment a couple of weeks ago that I had never seen so much rain fall in one place.....well, it is Ireland, it is August, and "shit happens"!

Normally very sedate like this....

Inistioge got a bit of a battering.....

And there will be no hurling for a few days....

To make it worse, we only returned home from Mallorca on Friday night, where the weather was more like summer. Sunny and 32C.

They say that global warming will mean more rainfall in the regions that now enjoy good rainfall figures! I don't think it's possible. We got 76mm in 24 hrs, supposedly a 1 in 150 yr occurance, and Dublin got that last weekend.....? They say it is the wettest August on record, but maybe only until next year? Will we survive?

It didn't seem to deter some folks though....!

Need a break?

2008-07-25T19:47:00.002+01:00

This is what "wee P" has been up to this week....
http://business.smh.com.au/business/nab-slumps-on-debt-shock-20080725-3l0f.html

and he's just taken off to a wedding in the Bahamas for the weekend. Why not!

Bargain hunting?

2008-07-14T09:54:00.002+01:00

Looking for holiday bargain this summer? This is a good place to start....http://www.luxurylink.com/travel-offers/listing.php?style=0&offerAuc=1&WT.ac=NDDTA

Foodie heaven

2008-07-06T21:27:00.000+01:00

There is something about shopping at a Mediterranean market that defies explanation, and the Mercado Olivar in Palma , Mallorca is no exception...

Jamon Iberico, reputedly the best cured pork in the world, comes from the Spanish black pig, the only breed of pig that naturally seeks and eats mainly acorns. The hams are cured for up to 36 months and are one the delicacies of the region, with a price to match!
And of course, Mediterranean seafood speaks for itself. These lovely fresh prawns @ €60/kg regularly end up on the BBQ.Fresh sardines or anchovies anyone?
Are you hungry yet?

Parking at the private jet terminal in Palma was at a premium early July, and they have over 50 parks!

Braemar Lodge

2008-07-04T21:18:00.002+01:00

Braemar Lodge is due to re-open this month and it looks like this.....

it really is history, isn't it?

Farnborough

2008-07-04T21:07:00.003+01:00

Corporate preparations are well under way for the Farnborough airshow next week...

Local hootenanny.

2008-06-27T09:02:00.005+01:00

It seems we are to have a Music Festival in our neck of the woods this summer. Not quite within walking distance (thank heavens) but close enough to give consideration. Maybe the boss will buy us a couple of VIP tickets?

Trivia with a topical twist?

2008-06-22T07:39:00.003+01:00

The Next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be....

Here are some facts about the 1500s:
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it-hence the saying,? "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs - thick straw - piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof -hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway - hence, a "thresh hold."

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up - hence the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone house" and reuse the grave. When re-opening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer".

And that's the truth...?? (and whoever said that History was boring?!)

New York is HOT!!

2008-06-14T09:55:00.007+01:00

New York, New York. Always a treat to visit but 96F was abit trying. Thankfully the humidity wasn't too bad!!Home for the week was in P's apartment, 6th floor of the "Blue Condo" building on the Lower East side.

The Time-Warner building was almost in disguise on a hot day...
And 5th Ave was HOT

Keeping up the fluids was critical - Guss's pickles weren't bad either!

The food was sensational, including Kobe Beef burgers at a local tapas bar called Stanton Social.

And "steak for three" at Peter Luger's steakhouse in Brooklyn

nothing was wasted...

We escaped the city for the weekend and had Lobster at Newport

The Newport mansions are "something else"!

Terminal 5 Magic

2008-06-13T07:55:00.001+01:00

We have just been in New York to see number 1 son, and the cheapest route (1/2 price) was via Heathrow. It was the first day that BA had routed it's LHR/JFK flights through Terminal 5, so we were in some trepidation at the thought after all the recent bad publicity.

We shouldn't have worried however, and to be quite frank, it was extremely refreshing after our previous "episode" in Rome. No anxiety, no persperation, no running, no jostling, no feeling like idiots.

We even had time to enjoy Gordon Ramsay's "Plane Food". Delicious.

.....and our bags turned up "on time" at JFK. Maybe Terminal 5 really will bring the romance back to flying.

Pantelleria Dreaming.

2008-06-02T12:15:00.000+01:00

We finally made it to Pantelleria and ironically enough were still in time for breakfast, so immediately felt right at home!! We had booked at http://www.pantelleriadreamhotel.com/ and we were not disappointed on arrival.

Pantelleria is a volcanic island some 85kms from North Africa, so the climate is largely influenced from that direction. The wind is fairly constant, but without it the temperatures would be unbearable. During our visit mid-May we had four seasons in one day but generally the weather was pleasant enough. Apparently during July and August it is like living in the wake of a hairdryer. The local houses are very site-specific and called Dammusi.

Giorgio Armani has a home here....

We even visited the "Elephant Rock".......

The local olive and grape plantings are trained in very "site-specific" ways which minimise the wind influence.

Choice of rental car is either Panda, Panda or Panda, and you don't even get to choose the colour!

Our friends from Milan (who had "adopted" us enroute) visit Pantelleria regularly so we were very fortunate when they suggested we have dinner with them.

A little restaurant by the sea in Scauri, called La Vela offering a choice of very fresh fish was an absolute treat.

Island delicacies include: capers, olives, zabbibo white wine and a muscato wine called passito - squisito!

Our dinner conversation was a constant translation exercise between Italian/English/Italian, but a lot of fun.

Flight of the "Headless Pandas".

2008-06-01T19:04:00.000+01:00

We wanted to do something a little different for our 30th wedding anniversary and when we visited Sicily in 2006, we had heard many favourable comments about Pantelleria, an island between Sicily and North Africa. So why not, we thought, any excuse to be in Italy, right?

From the day we booked the flights I had reservations about the timing. Of course, connections are rarely straight forward, especially from Dublin, but we eventually established that we could fly Aer Lingus to Rome and get an Air One flight Rome to Pantelleria (only on a Sat or Sun), and had 1hr and 40mins between flights, plenty of time to collect our bags and change terminals. Especially when Aer Lingus subsequently changed its schedule and gave us a further ten minutes grace! We had even phoned the Air One office in Rome to check the transfer time was adequate.

The day arrived, and as we do for many of our trips, we were up early (02:30ish) to get to Dublin for a 07:00 departure. Great, the boarding was routine and on time, but the doors didn’t close immediately……. First announcement for the day, “we are waiting for some USA bags to be transferred to our flight”. That’s OK and settled in to peruse the latest in-flight magazine. 10 mins later the doors closed and we backed away from the terminal, but because of the delay we had lost our slot and Dublin airport at that time of the morning is absolute pandemonium, so we sat in a queue of planes for about 20 mins before the “off”. Shortly after take-off our delightful female pilot apologized for our delayed departure, and assured us that we could make up the lost time en-route. No problem, standard procedure.

So we arrived into Rome airspace and landed only 10 minutes late, so still had 1hr and 40 to change plans. No problem, but why the delay in getting to our gate? We finally pulled alongside an air-bridge, and thought, great, straight into the terminal and we would be amongst the first off. But the air-bridge only connected to a flight of stairs that led to an awaiting coach, so we were first on the coach! Oh well, it could be worse, it could be raining! But it wasn’t, it was a balmy 26°C, no aircon, and the our temps rising every second as we waited and watched as a plane-load of Irish geriatrics made there way gingerly to the coach. Even a blessing from the bloody Pope wouldn’t have made them hurry! One “old dear” even stopped to have a fag between the plane and the coach. “Come on, for f***’s sake!!”.

Immigration was a breeze, an Irish (EU) passport is a blessing in many ways, and we hurriedly made our way to the luggage carousel. No 9, that’s away down the other end, no problem, the bags should already be there? Saturday morning…, Rome airport…, I should have spotted the clue. Luggage from 4 flights was being dumped on the one carousel!! So we waited, and waited…and waited. Shit, how can it take so long? Aren’t the Italians supposed to be “onto it”! OK, don’t panic, the other terminal is only a 3 min walk. No problem, we still have an hour, and Air One doesn’t close the check-in until 30 mins prior to departure. So we waited, and waited…and waited. 20 minutes passed, no luggage, shit!, what do we do now. OK, time to split up? Or is that a bit drastic? In a big airport, where we don’t actually know where to go? Still no luggage. Right, let’s do it, Dellie, you go on to the check-in desk and tell them we are in the airport and still awaiting bags, and I will meet you there, hopefully. So off she trots with adrenalin charging about her persona, and makes it to the counter with exactly 30 mins to take-off, and pours out her dramatic tale. “You have ten minutes to get your husband and luggage here”, ….”Come on Paddy, hurry up”!

Meanwhile, still no luggage and as the 30 min barrier ticks over, Paddy is resigned to an overnighter in Rome and hopefully the only other weekly flight to Pantelleria tomorrow is not full!!

Wait…., there’s a bag with a Dublin sticker, and another, and another. About bloody time, bloody slack Italians!! Exactly 1hr and 5 mins after landing our bags arrived at my feet, and only 25 mins before our next take-off. Now I have often seen people running to planes at airports and thought “you silly buggars, why didn’t you get up earlier” but I had got up at 2:45 and still nowhere near my destination, so I picked up two bags and started running. Along the arrivals hall, running through gaps in the crowd which seemed to close as I made to go through them, past the customs officers who glanced incredulously at me, and out into the Roman morning. I had established that Terminal 1 was along to the left on exiting Terminal 3, and as I set off up the foot-path thought, “Shit, I can’t do this! I’m going to have a heart attack!” Finally made it to Terminal 1 and stopped at the lift to the 1st floor departure level for a breather. “Shit, why aren’t the lifts working?” Right, follow the locals to an escalator and I ran up them with two suitcases past several disapproving Italians, only to trip about three steps from the top, but managed to somehow regain my step and not having to suffer the indignity of picking myself up of the floor!

OK, here we are, departure level, but there are an awful lot of check-in desks. The lovely Hertz rep directed me to the other end of the hall where Dellie was now waving frantically, and she immediately confirmed that we were “still good to go” and received our boarding passes from the check-in desk, but no time to check our bags. Right let’s go! Security! Thankfully the queues were not great, and on seeing the obvious panic on our faces the queues seemed to disappear and we went straight to the conveyor belt. But hang on, what about our cosmetics, and sharp objects in our now “carry-on” luggage? Stuff it, just fire the bags onto the conveyor and see what happens. Paddy’s bag sailed through with bottles and cosmetics undetected, but Dellie’s was apprehended and asked to be opened. They had spotted a pocket knife! At this juncture, Dellie was beside herself with panic and almost got arrested by the security on the spot for trying to bypass the well-trodden system! After much fiddling with the padlock, the bag finally opened and a pair of scissors was offered to the security officer, who said: “No they are OK, we want the pocket knife!” and handed back the scissors and seemed oblivious to her numerous cosmetic bottles! “That’s fine, you’re free to go”. So here we were, potential terrorists with liquids and sharp objects in our “carry-on”, and told to proceed. Thank God for slack Italians!! Right, which way to the gate A13, and only 12 minutes before departure. Down the escalator, still running and carrying two suitcases, with Dellie in hot pursuit. Thank God she was wearing flats and not the normal heels!! Into pier A and struggling to find directions to A13, but surely if we follow the progressive numbers we will eventually come to 13? It was at this stage that I became aware of my peripheral vision and also that people had started to notice us. It was the first (and hopefully only time) that I genuinely felt like a “headless chicken”!

Running to the end of pier A we passed 10, 11, 12 on the other side, but hang-on we are at the end of the pier!! Oh shit, where’s 13? Somehow Dellie had managed to keep close behind me during my frantic dash, and I abruptly interrupted a security officer who was conversion with a waiting passenger. “Where’s A13?” in a Kiwi/Irish dialect that wasn’t even close to resembling Italian. “Boarding pass please sir”. Shit, we haven’t got time to rummage in my shoulder bag for our boarding passes, but OK, here they are. “A13 is on the lower level sir”. Gracie!! Lower level! Shit, how did we miss that? Right, back halfway along the pier to a lift downstairs. A breather, 30 seconds in the lift! Why is my shirt all wet and a river of sweat running down my face? Here we are, right beside the lift is A13, that wasn’t hard was it?

5 mins to take-off, but why are all these people standing here, maybe they are on the next plane, so Dellie charged up to the hostess at the gate and is reassured that the flight hasn’t even started boarding yet! Well thanks for that, why the girls at check-in couldn’t have taken our age into consideration and informed us to hurry, but there was no need to run!!

So here we were, standing at the back of a line of about 40 very cool Italians, in a state of absolute shock and exhaustion. Perspiration exploding out of every pore and our heart rates at levels even Lewis Hamilton could relate to!! 15 minutes passed and finally we boarded our flight to Pantelleria. It was such a relief to finally sit down in the plane, and have the aircon on our faces, and allow the tightness in our chests to subside! Neither of us actually believed that we had managed to catch the plane, and avoid a lay-over in Rome. It would be Champagne tonight!

So we took off from Rome and headed towards Sicily and onto Pantelleria, but alas it was time for Murphy’s Law and an hour into the flight our captain informs us that due to high winds we cannot land in Pantelleria and we are diverting to Trapani (Sicily). Great, what else is going to happen to us today? So we land in Trapani and are offered a return flight to Rome and Pantelleria tomorrow or a bus trip to Palermo and Pantelleria tomorrow. We opted for the latter, as did 95% of the passengers and stoically waited patiently in Trapani for a bus to arrive. After an hour and a half bus trip to Palermo, we were winding our way through the old part of town looking for our hotel, when word came from the driver that there was still a possibility of a flight to Pantelleria that night because the winds were subsiding, which sent a wave glee around the bus, but alas, that never eventuated and we spent the night in a hotel on the outskirts of Palermo that basically only catered for bus tours. However we made the most a bad situation and enjoyed the free bed and lodgings.

It is amazing in that sort of a situation how you seem to bond with your fellow travellers, as if there is safety in numbers. In particular, two gentlemen from Milan seemed to adopt us, after seeing our plight as we boarded in Rome. Of course, being from New Zealand/Ireland (and the only non-Italians) made us novelty material and every one was very generous in their support. Dinner that night was like a family affair with everyone sitting around communal tables (as you do in Italy) so it was great chance to practice our Italian, and them to practice their Kiwi/Irish!! We were called at 04:30 the next morning for our 07.45 flight to Pantelleria and arrived at our resort relatively unscathed only 19 hours late.

You had to be there, I suppose, but it was the most stressful experience we have had on our many travels, and something I felt the need to record – for whatever reason!
Ciao – until next time.