Monday, Sep 03, 2012
Europe
I (David) have just (Thursday midnight!) returned from Europe. I went there to visit friends and brothers in England (plus Scotland) and to go to the European Cardiac Society meeting in Munich.
No visit to John and Mark’s house in Cark this time, which was a pity. I travelled by rail this visit to the UK, which turned out to be a great idea. We booked a little bit in advance: Mark did most of this for me, for which I am very grateful – he can find his way around the timetable and special prices very much better than I could have done. By doing so I could travel about 3/4 of the way in First Class. Many people seem to do this now, and the railways are very much better-used than I remember from my time living in England. In making the decision to travel this way I could undertake the journey up to Glasgow, not really possible by road.
After a few days in Oxted with Mark, I went to visit Steve and Christine in Sheffield. It is always a joy to go there: good food, good wine, good beer, good walks in the Peak District. I took along a bottle of Arras Grand Vintage from Tasmania as my contribution – the best sparkling wine from Aussie at the moment!
Front of Charlotte’s and Andrew’s House
Charlotte’s and Andrew’s Dowstairs Room
I then travelled up to Glasgow to visit Charlotte and Andrew. They have taken on an old house designed by and built for a Scottish architect, “Greek” Thompson. It is clearly a labour of love for Andrew. The house is huge.
There are two living rooms each of which is about 15 square metres, another one about 2/3 the size, about half a dozen bedrooms, three toilets. It’s hard to say at present how cold it would be, but my guess is VERY cold in a Scottish winter. Several of the rooms had had false ceilings put in (which are now being removed of course) which are usually installed to make rooms easier to heat.
The house is seriously messy. It really was like going back and visiting a house from our student days. Paint peeling off the walls and ceilings, rugs covering the polished floorboards, etc. It will be magnificent when finished.From Glasgow I went down to Telford to stay with Mark and Karen. As ever it was great to see them and stay with a family much like my own.
From there it was back to Oxted, but on the way I was lucky enough to contact David and Amaryllis and discover that together with Isobel they were in London for the day (seeing the Munch exhibition at the Tate), so we were able to gave an excellent evening eating at a South Bank Turkish restaurant. Isobel is (as you might anticipate) a striking, tall, thin, articulate, woman now.
From London I took the train to Munich (!). First the Eurostar to Paris, then a 400m walk between Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est followed by the TGV to Munich. A very civilized way to travel.
Munich is a lovely place to visit: the trams, the food, the general ambience. The conference? Oh, yes, the conference ….
I had a good trip home.
Having arrived back just in time for the hockey Grand Final, and jet-lagged, I wasn’t really in a fit state for the excitement. Andrew and Nick’s team had come top of the league, undefeated, but were 0-2 down within five minutes of the start. They clawed one back, but until 3 minutes from the end things looked increasingly grim. However at the death there was the equalizing goal. Then came extra time. They were scheduled for 5 minutes each way, down to nine players, then a further five minutes with seven players (no goalkeeper), then penalties.
Fortunately it did not come to that. A few seconds before the end of the first period Nick received the ball, mid-field. He saw one of their strikers in the goal area, and sent the ball straight through. Tim just had to tap it past the goalkeeper, and the “Golden Goal” rule meant that Andrew and Nick’s team had won after all!
The two hockey Captains shake hands
The celebrations were long and loud.