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Sunday 17 July 2011

Krakow


Meant to have written this up long ago ... but in May 2005, Paul & Ann fly with Margaret & I, to Warsaw from Manchester early on 13th. We changed in a rainy, rather cold Warsaw to an air screw aircraft for the short hop to Krakow - got there at mid-day. We walked a park into the market square (Rynek Glowny), and had lunch. On the way back to SAS Radisson we booked at a rather promising looking restaurant on the square.


That night we ate in 'Restauracja Wierzynek', overlooking the square - in an old building which boasted of some famous diners. Paul had picked it - looked wonderful, lots of wood etc.

We entered a stone flagged hall which lead to a wooden staircase at the top of which were three or four rooms with old tapestries / oil paintings hanging on stone/brick walls timbered with a light auburn larch wood frame. We stepped down a half floor to wooden platform on which was a beautifully set round table - complete with candelabra and white linen cloth. To our amazement we had a wonderful meal sat in a glorious setting, (perhaps it was the Knight's Hall - a sort of half floor?). The starter I had is still memorable - a sort of cylindrical bread cake roll with smoked salmon as filling cut as a slice through the cylinder and topped with a generous portion of caviar. Wonderful. Full marks Paul.

The next day we got a taxi out to Auschwitz.



This blog entry ends here ... what can you say?

Friday 15 July 2011

Restaurants with great views ...

Will be adding to this as we go ...

The inspiration for this blog article - Il Gatto Nero, Cernobbio, high up, overlooking Lake Como

Skyline Restaurant, Queenstown - a spectacular 220 degree panorama with breathtaking views of Coronet Peak & The Remarkables, over Queenstown and across Lake Wakatipu to Cecil and Walter Peaks ... but much better to go without lunch or pack a picnic and travel by Over The Top's Eurocopter EC 130 B4 - it is awesome!


Strofi, Athens - in a wonderful mid-war house and is located amidst stunning scenery under the sacred rock of the Acropolis, just a few steps away from the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.

Adventure Dining - Jaco on the Western coast of Costa Rica - it's an open air dining platform overlooks the Bijagual waterfalls and coastline.

Sirocco Restaurant - Bangkok - fine dining under the Bangkok sky, on the 64th floor with views of Bangkok and the Chao Phraya river,

Sierra Mar - California - Looking over the ocean

Breeze at The Samaya - Bali
Watch the sunset

Al Mahara - Dubai, UAE
An aquarium with over 70 species of fish (no, you can't order one of the fish!)


Ngorongoro Crater Lodge - Tanzania
Mammals everywhere - some eating! Bob Kirkham and I hope to do this in April next year.

Hosteria il Pino - Praiano
Amalfi coast! Food's good too.


Top of the World Restaurant - Las Vegas
Across Las Vegas and (like The Byrds sang ...) turn, turn, turn.



Isabela on Grandview, Pittsburgh

Had a great time on 'Light Up Night', November 18th (quite a few years ago now!).



The Oxo Tower Restaurant - Ken Gilkes and I had a good meal here in 2010.

Thursday 14 July 2011

Bright Eyes


- O2 Academy Leeds 13th July 2011

Sophie & I went to this gig last night - ("Leeds? Its kinda like Omaha?" thinks Conor!). This gig was added, (with two others), to add to the tour supporting latest album "The People's Key."

It was an OK concert!

Set List

Another Travelin' Song
Four Winds
Bowl of Oranges
Something Vague
Trees Get Wheeled Away
Lover I Don't Have to Love
Shell Games
Approximate Sunlight
Arc of Time
Falling Out of Love at This Volume
Jejune Stars
Beginner's Mind
If The Brakeman Turns My Way
Old Soul Song (For The New World Order)
Land Locked Blues
Hot Knives
Poison Oak
The Calendar Hung Itself...
Ladder Song

Encore:
Gold Mine Gutted
Wrecking Ball
(Gillian Welch cover, with Jenny and Johnny)
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bright-eyes/2011/o2-academy-leeds-leeds-england-3d349ef.html
Road to Joy
One For Me, One For You

State Capitals of the USA ... in memory of Ken McDonald




Alabama - Montgomery
Alaska - Juneau
Arizona - Phoenix
Arkansas - Little Rock
California - Sacramento
Colorado - Denver
Connecticut - Hartford
Delaware - Dover
Florida - Tallahassee
Hawaii - Honolulu
Idaho - Boise
Illinois - Springfield
Indiana - Indianapolis
Iowa - Des Moines
Kansas - Topeka
Kentucky - Frankfort
Louisiana - Baton Rouge
Maine - Augusta
Maryland - Annapolis
Massachusetts - Boston
Michigan - Lansing
Minnesota - Saint Paul
Mississippi - Jackson
Missouri - Jefferson City
Montana - Helena
Nebraska - Lincoln
Nevada - Carson City
New Hampshire - Concord
New Jersey - Trenton
New Mexico - Santa Fe
New York - Albany
North Carolina - Raleigh
North Dakota - Bismarck
Ohio - Columbus
Oklahoma - Oklahoma City
Oregon - Salem
Pennsylvania- Harrisburg
Rhode Island - Providence
South Carolina - Columbia
South Dakota - Pierre
Tennessee - Nashville
Texas - Austin
Utah - Salt Lake City
Vermont - Montpelier
Virginia - Richmond
Washington - Olympia
West Virginia - Charleston
Wisconsin - Madison
Wyoming - Cheyenne

Worth noting too, is the fact that from 1774 to 1800, the US Congress met in numerous locations; per the following, so these cities can be said to have once been the United States capital:

First Continental Congress - Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: September 5, 1774 to October 24, 1774

Second Continental Congress - Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: May 10, 1775 to December 12, 1776 / Henry Fite House, Baltimore, Maryland: December 20, 1776 to February 27, 1777 / Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: March 4, 1777 to September 18, 1777 / Court House, Lancaster, Pennsylvania: September 27, 1777 (one day) / Court House, York, Pennsylvania: September 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778 / Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: July 2, 1778 to March 1, 1781

Articles of Confederation - Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: March 1, 1781 to June 21, 1783 / Nassau Hall, Princeton, New Jersey: June 30, 1783 to November 4, 1783 / Maryland State House, Annapolis, Maryland: November 26, 1783 to August 19, 1784 / French Arms Tavern, Trenton, New Jersey: November 1, 1784 to December 24, 1784
/ City Hall (Federal Hall), New York City, New York: January 11, 1785 to Autumn 1788

United States Constitution - Federal Hall, New York City, New York: March 4, 1789 to December 5, 1790 / Congress Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: December 6, 1790 to May 14, 1800 / United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.: November 17, 1800 to December 8, 1815 / Old Brick Capitol, Washington, D.C.: December 8, 1815 to 1825 /United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.: 1825 to present

Wednesday 6 July 2011

Goodwood 'Festival Of Speed'


Via a night on Chelsea, we turned up at Goodwood, (08.30), on 2nd July to enjoy our first 'Festival of Speed', ('we' being John Phillpotts, Michael Midgley and yours truly).

As we walked up to catch the tractor/trailer to the top of the Hill Climb (the finish and where the rallying was taking place) we passed this little beauty! Red Bull's awesome F! car.

The 50th anniversary of the Jaguar E-type was marked with an jaw-dropping 28 metre-high sculpture of this most iconic of British sports cars.


Saw a Lotus 88 (*see footnote) - wonderful - what a car? On Saturday I saw it do 51.84 secs. But the 2011 Festival highlight was Sunday’s thrilling Top Ten timed shoot-out finale against the clock, with Dan Collins bringing this year’s event to a stirring conclusion with an epic performance in his Lotus 88B. He cut the timing beam at just 48.52 seconds!


The 2011 Festival of Speed had the largest celebration of Indy Cars outside of Indiana - to honour the centenary of the Indianapolis 500. Drivers present included the winners of the last five Indy 500 races, not least the 2011 Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon and Dario Franchitti, driving the Lotus 38 that Jim Clark drove to second place in the 1966 race. They even had a few Indy bricks at the start to remind of the brickyard.

Jenson Button appeared on the 1.16-mile Goodwood hill climb, driving the McLaren MP4-12C - pretty impressive! Photo from www.carsuk.net


At the Lotus stand I managed to get a Lotus baseball cap - got to keep the sun off my head! When Roger (Jones) caught up with us, on the Mercedes stand, he suggested we strolled over to see the Alpha exhibition as we would be knocked out by the Alpha 4C - to be launched next year.



Well - judge for yourselves but I thought it stunning! Looks like the skin is tactile - maybe shark-like - it's carbon fibre. You can see the penmanship of the Alpha Romeo 8C in this I think. Gorgeous - and next year - yours for 40k


It was at this point cars were forgotten as some really loud noise from above told us the Red Arrows had turned up in their BAE Systems Hawk T1s ...


They could fly alright, (I suppose you expect that, but ... well, words fail) ...



However .. words didn't fail Michael as we tried to walk past some American motorbikes ... he kept mumbling Dukes of Hazard or something ...

We saw Stirling Moss - recovered from breaking both ankles, four bones in a foot, chipping four vertebrae not to mention the skin damage in an accident at his home when he fell down a lift shaft! He was driving a Ferguson Climax P99 - the only 4WD F1 and the last to win with a front engine (to date!).


John Surtees came up the hill in a Mercedes W165 - v. nice. It had only one outing - the Tripoli Grand Prix 1939, where it was driven to victory ' class - by Hermann Lang. It was a V8 1.5 litre (the Italians introduced this, the 'Voiturette' - half the size of the V12 3 litre monsters - to try to ensure they won the next GP season! Oh dear! They didn't reckon on the Silver Arrows and Mercedes Benz!).


On the hill climb this car gained a lot of attention - and it is only a Nissan Juke (whatever that is?) ... must be the way it was driven ... on two wheels almost literally the whole hill climb. Remarkable.


All in all a great day ... thoroughly enjoyed it. Michael & I drove back after dropping John off at Heathrow, to get into Central London. PS Day before John picked me up in this ...

*Footnote on the Lotus 88. The 88 used an ingenious system of having a twin chassis, one inside the other. The inner chassis would hold the cockpit and would be independently sprung from the outer one, which was designed to take the pressures of the ground effects. The outer chassis did not have discernible wings, and was in effect one huge ground effect system, beginning just behind the nose of the car and extending all the way inside the rear wheels, thereby producing massive amounts of downforce. The car was powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV engine. Lotus drivers Nigel Mansell and Elio de Angelis reported the car was pleasing to drive and responsive. To make the aerodynamic loads as manageable as possible, the car was constructed extensively in carbon fibre, making it along with the McLaren MP4/1 the first car to use the material in large quantity. Other teams were outraged at this exploitation of the regulations and protests were lodged with the FIA, on the grounds that the twin chassis tub breached the rules in terms of moveable aerodynamic devices. The FIA upheld the protests and consequently banned the car from competing.