Tag: Street art

The first Old Fart’s railcard adventure

In early May, an author friend, Terry Tyler, mentioned getting a third off the cost of her rail tickets using a special rail card for the over-sixties. Entering the seventh decade of life doesn’t have too many benefits, so I thought I’d investigate. After a quick discussion with Commando and a simple online process, I was the proud owner of a sparkly new Senior Railcard. Actually, it’s an app on your smartphone, not a physical card, although you can order one if you wish. Having shelled out the princely sum of £30 each, we thought we’d better get our money’s worth, so on 7 May, we took our Senior Railcards on a trial run.

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Hares of Hampshire

Today, I thought I’d brighten the dismal November gloom and take you back to June, when the sun was shining and the streets of Southampton were full of hares. Of course, there weren’t real hares hopping about. It was another wonderful art trail, like the rhinos, zebras and deckchairs we’ve had in the past. Because of Commando‘s unfortunate tussle with a blue bin lorry, we almost missed them, but a week or so later, he felt up for a walk, so we headed to town for a touch of hare spotting.

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Beyond Graffiti update

Southampton parkrun

A little bird (Kim) had told me there was some new graffiti to be seen in the Beyond Graffiti Tunnel, so for the second parkrun of April, I decided on a change of scene for my morning constitutional. As the park runners began to gather on the flats, I headed past the Hawthorns (still sadly closed), towards the Avenue. Swapping the peace and tranquility of the Old Cemetery for the hustle and bustle of the road didn’t seem like much of a plan at first. Especially when I had to wait to cross. Once on the other side though, I made for Lovers Walk, the relatively quiet trail that runs behind the trees along The Avenue.

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In search of chocolate milk and Kölsch – first published 16 September 2014

We’d made it to Cologne for the September 2014 marathon. We’d collected the race pack and, after a bit of chilling in our hotel, Commando went out for his last training run. This would take about half an hour and, while he was out, I decided to do a bit of exploring on my own. This was part reconnaissance and part mission to find somewhere that sold chocolate milk for his post marathon recovery drink. Surely somewhere in Cologne had to sell chocolate milk? Continue reading In search of chocolate milk and Kölsch – first published 16 September 2014

The land of the midday moon

20 December 2016

Iceland, the most sparsely populated country in Europe, is often dubbed the land of the midnight sun because, during the summer, the sun barely sets. In winter of course, it’s a different story. Sunlight is a rare and fleeting thing. Even after a slightly disconcerting shower in sulphurous water, a leisurely breakfast and a great deal of Google Map exploring, it was still as dark as midnight when we left the hotel just after eleven this morning and the moon was the brightest thing in the sky. Continue reading The land of the midday moon

Castle hunting in Manchester

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9 April 2016

Despite my misgivings about flying on small planes it wasn’t too bad once we were in the air. In fact we had seats right next to the engine nascelle on the port side of the plane so Commando was able to admire his handwork throughout the flight. Thankfully the little door that opens to let the landing gear out, also built by Commando, did open and we landead safely. By the time we’d walked to the train station, caught a train and got to our hotel it was late afternoon. A bit of unpacking, some freshening up and a refamiliaristional walk around Deansgate was about as much as we had time for before we had to find somewhere to eat. At least it wasn’t raining and Commando’s ankle was feeling pretty good. It looked as if the marathon might be on after all, even if a PB was a bit of a stretch. Continue reading Castle hunting in Manchester

A very chilly start

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18 October 2015

The hotel restaurant had barely opened when we went down for breakfast but, with the marathon starting at eight forty five, far earlier than most, we had to eat early. The only other diners were also runners. Back in the hotel room Commando put on his shorts and Itchen Spitfires running shirt and checked his bum bag one last time. Outside the window a row of blue and yellow portaloos had appeared overnight and I could see the start line a little way up University Avenue. We stood in front of the window, using the view as a backdrop for a pre race photo of each of us and then tried to watch some TV to take our minds off the day ahead. Most of it was about the Blue Jays second loss in the series. I hoped this wasn’t an omen for the race. Continue reading A very chilly start