Africa, city, history, travel

Alexandria

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After another fantastic early Christmas meal laid on by Trish, it was off across London on the rails dragging suitcases behind me to Heathrow.  A pleasant overnight flight (most of which I tried to sleep through) on Egyptair and the new Cairo airport confirmed my expectations that Egypt would be similar in affluence in Turkey; however, these were quickly dashed as we (four other Kiwis & I that were going on different tours with the same company) were driven across Cairo and Giza to our hotel.  There was much excitement in the van (sleep deprivation may have been a contributing factor) when we sighted the famous pyramids looming up behind the multitudes of unfinished multilevel houses (I can’t really go so far as to call them apartment blocks).

Wisely or otherwise, I had arrived in Egypt the day before I needed to and opted for a add-on day trip to Alexandria.  So under-rested and underfed I joined a few other day-trippers on the small bus to the coast at 7.30 am.  Climbing on the bus there was a smell of diesel pervading and the floor at the rear of the bus was very slippery – it turns out that on such a long trip (200 km) in Egypt it pays to carry a bit of extra fuel as in the recent climate one can never be guaranteed a supply and some of this had spilt.  From working in various industrial and chemical plants I have a reasonably high tolerance of such odours, so it wasn’t too bad; others didn’t feel the same way so we stopped along the Desert Road (much more appropriately named than the Desert Road in New Zealand as this one runs along the eastern edge of the Sahara) for hurried cleaning – I could get some much needed sustenance.

I’d heard a bit of Alexandria from Trish whose husband spent quite a few years growing up there and her father had also been stationed there during WWII – with fascinating photos to prove it [Trish, that statue that was uncaptioned in your Dad’s album was of Mohammed Ali (not the boxer)].  So I was interested to see some of the sights of the black and white photos in real-life colour. The chaos of the traffic became apparent as we approached the city – in many hours in traffic in a city of near five million I saw one set of traffic lights and no street signs.  First we had to pop down to the famous Corniche promenade to pick up a couple of South African guys that would be joining us for the day & trip back to Giza.  Eventually we made it to our first sight of the day, by which time we’d had plenty of time for Hesham (our guide for the day & also the guide on the week-long tour I was on) to explain a bit about Egypt and Alexandria.  The history of Alexander the Great’s brief rule and the extended rule of the Ptolemies and Cleopatras was fascinating – they’re still finding historical pieces from these eras in the Med.

Our first stop was the ancient catacombs, Kom al-Shaqafa, which were discovered believe it or not by a donkey in 1900 – it fell down the access shaft.  While not nearly as big as some catacombs I’ve been in, it was interesting as there was a merging of Egyptian, Roman and Greek art.  Excuse the poor quality of the surreptitiously taken photos.

A short distance from the catacombs is the well-known Pompey’s Pillar.  Set on top of the old Alexandria (I don’t know why I bother qualifying that with the word old, as most everything in this country is proper old – but then I come from a country that is not even two hundred years old) acropolis is the granite pillar (a single piece forms the twenty-seven metre tall shaft ) that used to be part of a Roman temple.  Here we started to see the first of many sphinxes.  The slight rise of the hill gave a good view of the surrounding neighbourhood.

Following lunch by the Mediterranean (where I was so hungry I forgot the rule of not eating salad that may have been washed in tap water – my digestive system survived, mercifully) we were off to the last sight of the day – the Modern Library.  On first hearing this, I was disappointed as I didn’t really come all this way to see a library.  It turns out that the ancient Royal Library of Alexandria (from around third century BC) was quite the library way back when (unfortunately it burned at various points).  The modern replacement was heaving with students (a university is just across the road) and despite the guide’s rather oddly accented English, the tour was interesting as the main area was an absolutely huge open-plan and tiered library.  The architecture is simply stunning inside & out.  It’s quite the facility and it was pleasing to see so many students spending so much time in the library – hopefully this bodes well for the country’s future.

So that was my brief visit to Alexandria, most enjoyable even if I was rather tired from the flight and hungry from not quite enough/any food during the early part of the day.

bikes, city, Europe, event, family, friends, history, NZ, snow, travel, UK

2012 was certainly different

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For the first time in four years, I’ve managed to live in the same place all year and to be working for the same company at each end of those twelve months.  While this has given life a bit more stability this year, it hasn’t been without plenty of variety.  The event that influenced half of the year was having surgery on my shoulder to stop it dislocating.  Six weeks in a sling and six months before being fit to mountain-bike again was quite the upheaval – but it was all worth it as my shoulder is much more stable & predictable now.

Not being able to ride my bike did have the advantage of forcing me to find other things to do with my time & money.  Consequently, it turned out to be a bit of a travel year with twelve significant trips:

First up was an excellent week of skiing in the Alps with good friends

The day after the sling was banished, I finally crossed Rome off the top of my list – it had been there some time

The Pantheon was the highlight for me, followed closely by climbing St Peter’s Basilica

A week in Turkey was mostly spent in Istanbul, where the architecture continually impressed

Hot-air ballooning early morning in Cappadocia rates near the top of all I’ve done in the last three years away from NZ

Prague – with Te Puke school friend, Levi, a long way from Fairhaven Primary

The country was gripped by the Olympics late summer, great to be around for that

I was lucky enough to take a last-minute spare ticket & made it along to watch some of the mountain-biking – quality athletes & a great course to be a spectator

The highlight trip of the year was finally heading back to New Zealand for a whirlwind two weeks of thirtieth birthday parties (mine), a wedding (not mine), and tripping all around the country & spending time with dear family & friends (not to mention meeting quite a few additions that have arrived in the intervening three years).  There was also the added bonus of the physio declaring my shoulder fit for gentle exercise – so I managed a bit of mountain-biking and a ski too.

Treble Cone, near Wanaka, is a spectacularly beautiful ski field it turns out

These photos don’t come around as often as they should – excellent to have all the family together

Shortly after NZ, a work trip to Italy sprung out of nowhere – I managed to tack Venice on the end

Gorgeous city for a day – but I found the lack of trees, grass and bikes a little disconcerting

Pleased to finally make it back briefly to Edinburgh & even see the sun

I’d waited a long time to see Sagrada Familia, after hearing Dad’s stories – it didn’t disappoint and was, in a word, incredible

Watching football with eighty-odd thousand Spaniards at Camp Nou; Barcelona crossed off the top of the list

Still managing to explore England a fair bit, mainly the south – Leeds Castle (in Kent) was one of the most enjoyable visits

Fancy that, a summary of my year & no mountain-biking pictures, that should change next year – here’s hoping.  In the last few months I have been riding a fair bit (even though my bike-commute is short, the miles add up), but it’s pretty flat & wet (for now, or perhaps always) around here so the riding isn’t too exciting.  Work will be changing a bit next year too; I managed to be a process engineer of sorts for a year but am now moving into a different role scheduling the site’s production, amongst other things.

So that’s about it for this year – thanks to all who had me to stay, travelled with me, helped while my shoulder was out of action or simply kept in touch.  I’ll have to take this opportunity to wish all a merry Christmas and the best for the New Year, as I’ll be incommunicado then – Egypt will be off the list by the end of next week.

family, history, UK

Leeds Castle

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Not having been to London for almost four months(!), it didn’t take much motivation to make the trip up after work on Friday.  The factor in choosing that weekend was to see (childhood friend) Levi, who I haven’t seen since Prague in August, before he goes back to New Zealand.  Contrary to what I thought, he is in fact coming back to Europe – so that’s good news.  With the first spell of proper southern-England winter weather finally arriving, London was a little chilly but not unpleasant as we generally hung out around Hyde Park (the Christmas market was as packed as last time I visited three years ago), Oxford St, Marylebone and Kensington and caught up on all the recent news & future plans.

Fantastic to see Trish after a few months, I was well fed with some scrumptious meals, caught up on all the family news I’ve missed recently and was surprised to look out my window in the morning & see the back garden looking very different.  I was about to say Sunday dawned stunningly clear & bright, but then I remembered that I caught up on a fair bit of sleep after an exhausting week at work.  So, by the time I got up Sunday was still very frozen but wonderfully clear & bright.  That played right in to my plan of finally going to visit Leeds Castle – which, confusingly, is only thirty-odd minutes down the M20 in Kent and most definitely not in Leeds.

From the entry it’s quite a walk up to the castle – which is all very nice when it’s sunny & there are plenty of birds to see (especially the ice-skating & ice-breaking varieties), but I imagine is downright miserable if it’s raining.  That must be what the fake-train is for.

Leeds Castle has been around in some shape or form since the early twelfth century, but most of what is there now is less than two-hundred years old.  Pleasingly, it’s built on two islands (now joined by the castle) so it has a proper moat – which may not be so useful for defence if it was much colder, and the ice thicker.  The castle survived the Civil War well and a long connection with America developed as the owners were granted massive land rights in Virginia.  The last owner (for most of the twentieth century), an Anglo-American heiress (Standard Oil money if anyone cares) spent a lot of money on remodelling & upkeep.

All the Christmas decorations were up – this was probably the least impressive, but I didn’t take any photos inside as there were massive Christmas trees everywhere (& I forgot to)

Finally, a photo of me – thanks Trish

As well as the castle to look through we enjoyed a hearty lunch in the restaurant that looked like an old tithe-barn (or so I’m told), a small falconry display, got lost in a maze and wondered just how cold the people were in the WWI-era biplane that was buzzing overhead as the sun quickly sunk.

A pleasing & beautiful day out; trips to London never disappoint.

city, Europe, food, history

Dublin

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The drive to the airport was considerably shortened by choosing Southampton instead of Gatwick for a weekend away – however that was largely undone by an afternoon of fog cascading delays through the evening. Nevertheless, I made it into Dublin in good time to settle into my room & have a brief wander around Temple Bar & over and alongside the Liffey.  The slightly cooler air necessitated a winter coat & beanie/toque, but it was hardly uncomfortably cold.

My airbnb host had previously sent me a useful Google map with places to visit/eat/drink around the city.  Immediately catching my eye was small the eatery named Brendan’s close by that apparently served the best full Irish breakfast in the city – for those working at the adjacent produce market.  It was a good meal to get me fuelled for a day wandering – & I got to meet a fellow Brendan.  It was a little strange being in Ireland for the first time & seeing my first name plastered in all sorts of places (it’s an Irish name if you haven’t joined those dots yet).  Along with the coffee shop, there was St Brendan’s Hospital and then a minor character with the same name popped up in the book I was reading.

My first encounter with an Irish accent that completely bamboozled me was here

I found Dublin a great city to wander around and get glimpses of a long and varied history.  Unsurprisingly, a lot of this was to do with rebellions and struggles.  I spent a good hour or so at the National Museum at Collin’s Barracks where there was an intriguing exhibit detailing all the various places Irish have fought around the world.  It seemed to me that there were Irish fighting in most of the major conflicts around the world in the centuries before WWII, even when it seemingly had nothing to do with them.  Either they’re always spoiling for a fight, they liked to fight oppressors or were just looking to be somewhere else.  I was puzzled that the republic refrained from sticking it to one of the biggest oppressors in WWII, but by then I suppose they had their independence & didn’t fancy all the bombing.

Wishing I had a wider angle or could get a bit further from Collin’s Barracks

The most interesting place I found to visit during my stay was Kilmainham Gaol a little west of the city centre.  Entry was by guided tour, but it was only six euros & it would have still been good value at twice the price.  The building itself wasn’t particularly interesting, but the endless self-deprecating stories told of failed rebellion after failed rebellion were fascinating.  It was rather chilling, & not just from the mid-afternoon gloom & wind, standing in the windowless courtyard where the key figures from the 1916 Easter Rising were executed.  Obviously, that rebellion was also pretty rubbish & mass support for the independence movement only really got going after the harsh punishment handed out in that cheerless stone enclosure.

The Victorian addition to Kilmainham Gaol

General Post Office – one of the key buildings seized during the Easter Rising

It turns out that that famous stout does taste better in Dublin.  It may be accentuated by my only previous Guinnesses were consumed on the other side of the world, where all that shipping may have done something to it.  Still, it was good fun (somewhat surreal) sitting in a neighbourhood bar nursing a pint, reading Rebus and explaining the differences between Kindles & tablets to a guy setting up the karaoke whom I could hardly understand.  Dublin sure is not short of bars & pubs (I saw quite a few claiming to be the oldest around) – that is to be expected; but oddly, almost as plentiful as watering holes are convenience stores and, even more bizarrely, American diners.

Sunday was spent walking around a lot – two walking tours probably contributed to that.  The guides were excellent, with gentle ribbing of the hated English and yet more stories of disastrous attempts at overthrowing the rulers.  The intervening pub lunch was interesting – I quickly saw why a potato blight would lead to an awful famine.  I ordered Irish stew – the first guy behind the carvery put a healthy serving of mashed potato on my my plate & then covered it with stew.  The next guy then loaded more mash on & then thought I could do with four pieces of baked potato as well.  I don’t think I’ve ever had so much potato in my life, & I didn’t even finish it all.

The oldest part of Dublin Castle – the tower at the back

The filled in bit where the black pool (the literal meaning of Dublin) used to be beside the castle. The River Poddle still runs underneath – what a great name

The weird bit of Dublin Castle – it’s only a castle, why not use vivid primary & secondary colours? Bare stone is so last century

Of course, no visit to this city could be complete without visiting the Guinness factory.  Well, the Storehouse which is quite the behemoth of an old building surrounded by the still working factory.  With seven, or so, industrially-sized floors there’s plenty of space for all the necessary visitor experience bits & bobs.  There were quite a few old industrial artefacts – even older than some of the stuff we’ve got at work, hard to believe as it is.  Getting to pour, & then hastily consume, my own perfect pint I then had to dash off to walk across town, get my bag & head to the airport.  No time for dinner that night, just as well all that spud meant I wasn’t hungry or in need of a meal.

So a very good weekend in Dublin & I think I got a good overview of Irish history – I now look forward to visiting other counties, perhaps some of the southern ones.

Biking to go places, going places to bike.