Saturday 8 February 2025 Exactly 6 days after returning from Piemonte, David and I were catching yet another train to an airport - Gatwick this time. Mid afternoon is a good time to travel! We were checked in by a garrulous Norse employee on Premium Economy desk, and were through security in no time, as … Continue reading South Africa part one: 8 – 13 February 2025
Piemonte 28: Turin and the Langhe 25 January – 2 February 2025
Saturday 25 January: Torino e Grandi Langhe 2025 We travelled to Gatwick from Andover on the 09.06, which involved a change onto a very full train at Basingstoke and the tedium of the slow Richmond loop, to reach Clapham Junction. The onward train was quick, and we arrived (not for the first time) very early. … Continue reading Piemonte 28: Turin and the Langhe 25 January – 2 February 2025
Piemonte 27: 10 days in Gattinara – December 2024
Thursday 27 November 2024 Stansted is perhaps the least inviting airport for those living on the diametrically opposite side of the huge M25 circle, but by using the 09.06 train from Andover, changing at Clapham Junction for Vauxhall and the Victoria line to Tottenham Hale, followed by half an hour on a Greater Anglia train, … Continue reading Piemonte 27: 10 days in Gattinara – December 2024
Autumn 2024: Art, Drama and Music
After months - or rather years - of focussing on wine, David and I embarked on a modest re-boot: re-engaging with the rich worlds of art, drama and music; all of which continue to be readily available to us - with a little more time on our hands. No sooner back from Lisbon, and fired … Continue reading Autumn 2024: Art, Drama and Music
Lisbon : the OIV reception for David’s book award : 19 – 24 September 2024
Thursday 19 September We left Andover at 10.06 travelling via Waterloo and Blackfriars for a Thameslink train to Luton Parkway and the newish Dart shuttle, arriving at the airport in plenty of time for the 15.25 Easyjet flight to Lisbon where a pre-booked taxi, though hindered by serious parking restrictions, arrived within 15 minutes and … Continue reading Lisbon : the OIV reception for David’s book award : 19 – 24 September 2024
Switzerland 28 July – 2 August 2024: friends, mountains, glaciers; and Lake Geneva at Vevey
Sunday 28 July The only morning train left Orta station at 07.40, having travelled from Novara, so we crept out of the hotel via the white door into the underground garage (always open) at 07.00 and pulled or pushed our cases along tarmacadam roads up to the station. Hot work even before 08.00! The train … Continue reading Switzerland 28 July – 2 August 2024: friends, mountains, glaciers; and Lake Geneva at Vevey
Piemonte 26 : and a special birthday : July 2024
Monday 22 July Despite world-wide IT outages and dramatic weather causing weekend travel chaos on both trains and planes, we left Andover promptly on the 09.06 and reached Gatwick North by 11.00, with more than two hours to spare before our Easyjet flight to Milan Malpensa. Nevertheless, life is rarely this simple. En route David … Continue reading Piemonte 26 : and a special birthday : July 2024
A grace day: Thursday 28 June 2024
Now lost in the mists of time, memory and gender correctness, Guardian Women, formerly known as the Women’s Page within the Guardian broadsheet, was published just once a week. Was it on a Wednesday? or was it Thursday? I can just remember my mother’s excitement at its inauguration in 1957. I read it faithfully throughout the … Continue reading A grace day: Thursday 28 June 2024
Hampshire : April to July 2024
Odds and ends from this late spring and early summer…. Ernest took part in a young people’s drama course, culminating in a performance in Winchester’s Theatre Royal (second from the left, below) and a prize for being the most engaged, which took us all by surprise. Later in June the sunshine singers also carried off … Continue reading Hampshire : April to July 2024
Piemonte 25 : Novara for the Alto Piemonte tasting: 10 – 13 May 2024
The drive south east from Gattinara along the SP 299 was straightforward, following a tributary of the Agogna across endless rice fields. We intended to leave the Fiat Panda (hybrid) at the Maggiore depot in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Novara, and arrived there after a 40 minute drive (extended slightly by my … Continue reading Piemonte 25 : Novara for the Alto Piemonte tasting: 10 – 13 May 2024
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