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Psychologist | Author | Academic | Musician | Gay Silver Fox Read more Newcastle, Australia
  • UK Beckons Anew
    Day 44

    Au Revoir UK

    October 14, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    The time comes at the end of every trip where you begin to turn your attention toward home. The effortful days of travel, transport, accommodation, luggage and schedules begin to recede, apart from the journey home, and you start to feel the call of your own country, your own city, frankly, your own bed and bathroom.

    And there's a sadness too. Overseas, life is always on the move, on the go, new things all the time, energy and anergia every day, decisions, vitality. It's pretty wonderful. There's also that feeling that you've left behind your quotidian life along with its banalities and its responsibilities, its worries and concerns, its sameness.

    But when you've been away awhile, even the sameness takes on new meaning. And that is how Chris and I always want to travel. Yes, to broaden the mind, as they say, but more than that. To have the expereince be transformative in some way. Where it changes you, even if it's just a little, and changes that quotidian life back home.

    This trip has been five weeks. It took us a lot to get here. There were elements of the trip that we did not achieve this time, like writing and art. But we did get some reading done. I gained a lot from reading The Carniverous Lamb, Small Things Like These, and A Single Man, and the beginning of a re-read of some of W. H. Auden's poetry, all of which I found enriching in their own individual ways.

    We traversed new territory this time. Cambridge, Lincoln, Stamford (for a stop-over and parking fine [which was waived]), and Durham. Each of these was a wonderful experience. We were very attracted to the academia of Cambridge and in trying to get the pulse of the University's College system. The medieval towns of Lincoln and Durham were food for our history-loving brains.

    The stand-out for me has to be Lincoln Cathedral. It is so vast both from the outside and the inside, it is a challenge to process. I think it was for me a similar experience to that of tourists coming to Australia and seeing the Opera House or even Sydney Harbour for the first time.

    Neither Chris nor I contemplated mariticide, which we both think is a good thing, and to the contrary, we grew closer as we did last year. We celebrated the 23rd anniversary of our being together while there, which was special.

    We also got to travel some places a second time, London and Glasgow. These were special. We love them both. Glasgow has that Scottish feel, a bit more laid back than down south. And London has found its way into our hearts. It is a wondrous vibrant international city that is multifaceted and multicultural. Everywhere you go, you see a different aspect of London. It has an energy all its own and having stayed there twice on this trip, we felt like we were just getting to know it a little.

    Our trip home was uneventful, but very long; seven to eight hours to Dubai, then onto another plane pretty well straight away for the thirteen hour leg to Sydney. Sadly, I did not sleep well and ended up back in Australia with severe jet lag which took me all week to get on top of, and only then, with the help of melatonin. Chris pulled up quite well in comparison.

    We look back at this trip which we are still processing with great fondness. It represents a sequel or even an extension of our trip to the UK from September 2022. It has that feel. Mentally and emotionally, we are the better for it. We wouldn't have missed it for the world.

    If you've followed along, thank you for doing so. It's been a pleasure to write this for our own memories in the future and for you too.    Read more

  • UK Beckons Anew
    Day 33

    Palace of Westminster and London Eye

    October 3, 2023 in Australia

    The two main events that we had pre-booked for today were a tour of the Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster) and a circumtourist on the London Eye.

    The Houses of Parliament was a great tour. Led by Paul, who gave us all headsets to wear so we could more easily hear him among the many people in the building at any one time, this was a slow meander through the important rooms of the building. The MPs and Lords were not sitting that day, so it was less busy.

    You start this tour in the grand hall, Westminster Hall. Built in 1095 by Rufus, son of William the Conqueror, it is large and capacious. It was once the largest hall in all Europe. Its timbered oaken roof is a wonder to behold and is once again, an extraordinary engineering feat such that the whole thing stays up without any supporting columns.

    Up the stairs at the far end of the hall, you can look back over the room and know that famous trials were held there, including those of Thomas Moore, William Wallace and Charles 1. We've seen Churchill lying in state in that room as well as, last year, Queen Elizabeth. We've seen the new King sitting half way up the steps to receive parliamentarians' condolences on the death of the Queen. Given that the last Charles to be in the place, who subsequently lost his head, I understand the new Kind did not mention his forbear. Photography was only permitted in the Hall, not past that point, so no pics of inside the inside.

    We were taken into all the various rooms that were permitted and heard some basic history and how the British political system works, an interesting and enjoyable two hours.

    Then, off to meet our friend Wayne and to do the most touristy thing you can do in London, have a ride on the London Eye. This fourth largest ferris wheel in the world is 135 metres high and rotates at just under 1 km per hour (0.9km) carrying 32 pods or capsules as they call them, one for each borough of London.

    I had thought I might get a little acrophobic or at least generally anxious up there, but in truth, it was such a smooth rotation and the capsules felt so solid, that I was perfectly fine the whole time. The views are truly amazing. Lots of places we had already been to, we could see from the bird's eye view. Our friend is a Londoner and he could quickly spot places and point them out to us. Very handy. I must say, it was Chris' idea to go on the Eye, but I am very glad he organised it. I enjoyed it immensely.

    After the Eye, the three of us went and had brunch and drinks at Gordon's Wine Bar which is a dark downstairs bar in an old cellar. The house over the top of it used be lived in by Samuel Pepys in 1680 and Kipling in the 1890s. Lit by candelight and having to really lower your head on the close ceilings, it was a fabulous experience. And the bvlue cheese, OMG, the blue cheese. Quel fromage.    Read more

  • UK Beckons Anew
    111
    Day 31

    Tower Bridge and St Katherine Docks

    October 1, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    It may seem strange, but I am going to devote an entire footprint to the area in which we have finally landed for our last few days in the UK.

    St Katherine Docks takes its name from the former hospital that was on this site St Katherine's by the Tower, situated as it is next to the Tower of London and our hotel there adjacent Tower Bridge. It's a pretty special place that attracts lots of people to come see the sights.

    St Katherine Docks these days is essentially a large marina for houseboats and some very expensive yachts and even a superyacht. They are linked to the Thames by a gate that opens or closes as they need to vary to the depth of the water. It is very pretty by both day and night, and is surrounded on one side by cafes, restauarants and shops, and some offices on another, while all the rest is built up residential real estate; a lovely, but I would imagine, expensive place to live.

    Staying at Tower Bridge Hotel, you cannot excape the view of Tower Bridge. it is just out the front door as well as through the windows in the cocktail bar.

    Walking across the bridge from either direction brings a new sense that you do not immediately get from looking at it from afar. It is huge. Really huge. It is undoubtedly one of the great bridges of the world. It is lovely to look at in its blue and cream livery, and at night, the lighting on the bridge brings it to life in a ver special, even romantic way. The walkways are generous, and you cannot help but stop and join the throng of other people also stopped while taking pics and selfies, as well as pics of views of the Thames and the city from the bridge.

    And right there, just next to you while you do all that, is the Tower of London bringing in just that bit of added historic atmosphere. London, wow!    Read more

  • UK Beckons Anew
    Day 31

    A Walk, The National Gallery

    October 1, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    On our last day in Farringdon, we set out after dinner to take a long walk. We decided we would just walk along Farringdon Street and see where it would take us. It was a lovely evening and the walk was wonderful.

    Not too far down the road, we came across a high traffic bridge crossing the road. It was beautifully painted and looked very inviting to climb the street level stairs on either side of the road and get up onto it. This was Holborn Viaduct, built between 1863 and 1869. Once up there, you can see that it's a busy thoroughfare and also that it has large statues on each end; two on the south side representing commerce and agriculture, and two on the north side representing science and art.

    Down we descended again to Faringdon Street and kept walking. Various street scapes caught our attention, but eventually, we reached the Thames at Blackfriars. Rather than crossing the Blackfriars Bridge, we turned right and stayed on our own side of the river and headed down towards and past Temple.

    Ultimately, we came upon the famous Cleopatra's Needle at Embankment. This 21 metre (69 feet) obelisk is three and half thousand years old. Apart from the earth itself and its geology, it is the oldest thing in London. For once, the British didn't steal it. It was given to them as a gift in 1819 by the Egyptians and was finally transported there in one piece in 1877. It is very impressive. The Victorians buried a time capsule underneath it when it was erected on the Thames. People go there just to sit and talk by the river or eat some take away. It's a nice place and has a good feel about it.

    The following morning, we headed to Clerkenwell for coffee at Knockbox and moved out of our Farringdon digs and farewelled the place. It was a bit sad, as we had now stayed there on two occasions around two and half weeks and were beginning to feel like locals and to bond with the place. But to the Tower Bridge Hotel we went. Such is travel.

    As the name implies, the hotel is next to and overlooks the amazing Tower Bridge. More about that in another footprint.

    After we settled in, we went into the city, again to Trafalgar Square and decided we would visit the National Gallery, whose memory burns bright for us from last year. We would do another set of rooms.

    Just a few highlights for me. There was the exquisite painting of Susannah and the Elders by Reni. I'm noty sure what it was that took me about this painting, but it did. There were a number of Reni works equally impressive. Another was the Incredulity of St Thomas by Guercino where I think a very earthy quite sexy Christ took me and of course, the famous scene of 'doubting Thomas'. The famous picture by Turner of the Fighting Temeraire being towed up the Thames by a steam tug is stunning. Turner's use of light is jsut out of this world, in not only this work, but all his works.

    The Gallery is fun, so is the gift shop. We did the usual and poked through this and that in the gift shop buying only a msall trinket this time.    Read more

  • UK Beckons Anew
    Day 30

    The Library

    September 30, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    You win some, you lose some. Today we thought we'd give Camden Markets a go. Now, you need to know, Chris and I are typically not market kind of guys. In all honesty, we often find them a bit tacky. That's not to judge anyone who loves markets. After all, one man's tack is another man's treasure. And God knows, we've bought a thing or two at Hot Bargain, our own local dollar shop. So, while we don't frequent markets, we understand that many people get a real buzz out of them.

    Sadly, the famous Camden Markets brought no buzz to us, not even a flicker of a buzz. Embarrassedly, not even a scintilla of a buzz. In fact, that mixed metaphor brought more of a buzz than did Camden Markets.

    The streets and shops go on for a fair way. There are a lot of stalls. And they all seem to be selling nostalgia. You can buy Steely Dan T shirts, Electric Light Orchestra totes, mugs with 70s and 80s pop culture and hard rock culture imprinted, all mannner of goth, pop, rock clothing, vinyl records, as well as the odd Buddhist stall selling Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, or New Age stalls selling incense, runes and dream catchers.

    In truth, while everyone was friendly and chilled and mostly browsing, some of the stalls looked a bit grubby, although some had gone to great expense with lighting. The Google entry for Cameden Market states that it "offers a unique experience that combines an eclectic mix of over 1000 unusual and unique shops, bars and cafes". This is true but only to a point. There is a nice lock there on Regent's Canal, and as Australians, not used to locks, I found this more interesting than the stalls.

    Chris and I walked through, didn't buy anything, finally admited each to the other that "I'm not really into this" and left.

    So, where would two of the finest calibre nerds you could ever meet go after eschewing the delights and pleasures of Camden Markets? Why, to the British Library of course.

    This was one of those spur of the moment ideas. We spend a lot of time in bookstores like Waterstones, so we thought that London would no doubt have an awesome library. We were right.

    It is extraordinary. Located on Euston Road at St Pancras in the heart of London, the Bristish Library is the national library of the UK and has "over 170 million items includ[ing] artefacts from every age of written civilisation'. It is a big building. You would need a tour to see everything. But, you could also just walk in and take a look around. Including into the rooms where they house 'the treasures of the Bristish Library'. We made a beeline for the treasure house.

    And what wonderful treasures. Highlights for me. A FIrst Folio of Shakespeare, which was the first collation of his plays with some 36 of the 38 plays, printed in 1623 just seven years after his death. The First Folio also has that famous portrait of Shakespeare at the front of the folio, probably a very good indication of what he looked like.

    There is a copy of Handel's hand-written score for his opera, Atlanta, 1736. There is a hand-written copy of Mozart's score for his String Quartet in D Major, 1789. There is one of Beethoven's tuning forks that scholars believe he gave British violinist George Bridgetower in 1803. There is a hand-written score of Schubert's 'An Die Musik' (To Music), one of his hundreds of songs. There is a hand-written early draft of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

    The Sherbourne Missal (1399-1407) is a richly decorated giant of a book weighing 20kg and containing 694 ornately decorated pages. It is a huge thing, and even looking at just the open page under glass, one cannot think that something like cold legitimately be priced or sold. It is priceless. The intricacy and colour of the work, the caligraphy and beauty, the sheer size of its hundreds of pages are staggering to consider.

    And finally, we come full circle, back to St Cuthbert, whose tomb we saw in Durham Cathedral. The British Library has the St Cuthbert's Gospel, a hand-written Gospel of John, dated from the early eighth century, and the Bible that was buried with him for four hundred years, still intact and in excellent condition. It is the oldest known book in its original condition in all of Europe.

    As a post-script, The British Library also houses the King's Library, a respository that contains the library of King George III, the King when Australia was colonised by the British. It contains books mainly printed in Britain, Europe and North America from the mid-fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. It consists of 65,000 volumes and 19,000 pamphlets and is housed in a special container that passes through several floors of the main building. It is quite spectacular to see.

    If I were a Londoner, I would make good use of this extaordinary library. It is magisterial in its scope and is beautiful to look at. What a great place to study, write or work.    Read more

  • UK Beckons Anew
    Day 29

    Return to London 3

    September 29, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Effectively, with extra days up our sleeve here in London, we could give ourselves a more languid pace, slow down a bit and just take each each day as it comes. That's a nice way to travel.

    Clerkenwell is just across the railway bridge from Farringdon where we have elected to stay this trip. We walked there each morning for a cofffee and croissant at our favourite cafe Knockbox.

    Today however, we dropped some washing off at the local laundrette in Clerkenwell, and proceeded to Cafe Fidelio (named of course after Beethoven's only opera). Cafe Fidelio is covered in pictures of composers and its walls are wall-papered in musical score. I felt very much at home as I drank my latte and read the score to some Schubert art song that he probably wrote when he was four. A couple of pics.

    After, we tripped off to the Tate Art Gallery on the Thames just down from the Vauxhall Bridge. We didn't make it to the Tate last year, so I was pretty keen to get there to check at least part of its permanent exhibition. That's the thing with these large galleries here. They are so big that you cannot really take them in in one day. You have to pick a wing or a set of rooms and 'do' them and resolve to come back another day to 'do' the rest.

    The Tate is the gallery that is devoted solely to British art. And there's plenty of that, so there's lots to see, going way back to the medieval period through the 18th and 19th centuries and up to the modern era, 20th century and beyond. We had a wonderful time there. We generally separate in any given room, maybe go in the same direction around it with one of us in front the other behind, or sometimes going in opposite directions.

    The building itself is a work of art. It's all domes and arches, and beautiful corridors. A lovely place in which to house precious art. Of course, dealing, as it does, with those periods mentioned above, there is no getting away from the British Empire. And that means entering into an uncomfortable space these days as new ways of thinking of colonialism are now paramount in historical epistemology.

    We are definitely in the post-colonial era, and post-colonialism is the lens through which we look at Britain's history with her former colonies, including of course, Australia. I was glad to see the Tate own this, acknowledging slavery, theft, dislocation, even murder in its official writing.

    One young twink who clearly had a major in art history and who apparently worked for the gallery gave a talk about one of the major pictures of this era, The Death of Major Peirson 6 January 1781 1783 by John Singleton Copley. It was a good talk, and the young man delivered it with great panache.

    He did think however that the inclusion of the one sole black person in the large painting was maybe a sign that the Empire was generous and magnanimous in its attitudes to colonials. They were not his words, but the feel was there nonetheless. I wanted to offer an alternate suggestion, but there is always one person in an audience like that, and on this occasion, I did not want to be that person, so I left it.

    Some shopping and lunching in the city was followed that evening by a trip to the Hampstead Theatre in Swiss Cottage to see a performance of Anthropology, a very timely play about the presence and potential influence in our lives of AI. A cast of four women, written by an American playwright, this was an excellent night out at the theatre. Wonderful perfomances and some very chilling scenes were brought to life and really challenged us to think about the future with AI.

    The story centred around a young computer scientist whose younger sister had gone missing a year before, presumed dead. As a way to cope she downloaded her sister's entire digital life into an AI program that could act and sound like her sister. However, things get very complex with the entry of the mother, the girlfriend and ultimately the 'dead' sister herself, 'miraculously' found by means of the AI. Spooky and troubling things ensue.

    The theatre is a moderate sized auditorium with comfortable seating and a stage that you feel close to. A wonderful asset for that local community. Some pics.    Read more

  • UK Beckons Anew
    1
    Day 28

    Return to London 2

    September 28, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Our second full day in London was largely taken up by our visit to the Chuchill War Rooms, situated under Whitehall.

    We started as always with a coffee just near the War Rooms. As we left the cafe, a policeman rode up on his motor bike blowing a whistle, then another and before we knew it the intersection we were standing at was blocked off. Then a securty car came through, then a shiny black car followed with Princess Anne and presumably her daughter in the back seat. Then she was gone. The police opened up the intersection and everybody got on with it. Only in London.

    This is not the place to go into a lengthy treatment of WS, but a few thoughts. Churchill is a complex character. He was brilliant, super intelligent I think, an extremely hard worker, a determined man, a writer, a painter, a man who had an eye to history ("we are all worms, but I think I am a glow worm"), devoted to his wife Clementine (and the only person by whom he could be pushed around), a brilliant orator, a flawed tactician, a formidable politician, and I think a man who'd pondered long on his mistakes.

    The Dardanelles Campaign (Gallipoli to the ANZACS) in WWI was an unmitigated disaster, badly thought through from the start, both strategically and tactically, ending in the deaths of over 130,000 men, including more than 8700 Australians.

    Churchill was an aristocrat. His grandfather was the Duke of Marlborough, and his father was the Duke's fourth son, Lord Randolph Churchill, also an aggressive Tory politician and someone whom I presume Winston felt he had to live up to. Churchill did not receive the love and affection of doting parents. He was raised by a nanny and packed off to boarding school when the time came. Psychologically speaking, that is all fertile ground for an overachiever and an individual with an 'unrelenting standards' schema embedded. Maybe just the kind of person you want to take on a ruthless megalomanic bent on world domination.

    So, as they say, "cometh the hour, cometh the man". Churchill WAS the right man to take on Hitler, as he never ever trusted Hitler's words of reassurance in the early years, and his own determination and resolve ever came to the fore, as can be heard in his wartime speeches, some of them made from his bedroom in the War Rooms which we saw. He seemed to know where Hitler was headed. And said so.

    The Churchill War Rooms are well-laid out. They are far below the surface with concrete slabs poured over their ceilings to shield those beneath from the unrelenting bombs falling on London (see the tally sheet in pics).

    They lived down there with conditioned air and prosecuted the war effort from those rooms. It was a fascinating and well-run self-guided tour which we enjoyed thoroughly, although Churchill's Dardanelles Campaign didn't get a huge mention, one small section, and a comment, "I am finished" referring to his political career, nor did the rape of India get much of a coverage, as Churchill did not want India to go the way of the other colonies and proclaim independence, the end of the British Empire as he saw it.

    A walk down Whitehall followed, a treatment of an errant little toe, and a walk past Buckingham Palace on the way to a pub for a well-earned drink. Why not!    Read more

  • UK Beckons Anew
    1
    Day 26

    Return to London

    September 26, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    On Tuesday 26 September, we were to have left Glasgow for Inverness and the Highlands. However, when travelling, we have discovered two things, the first, that the best laid plans don't always pan out exactly, and the second, is, that if you're going to travel internationally, you have to be flexible and open to adjustments.

    Inverness was to have been an oasis for us to write and draw, to tap into our creative muses and produce some work. But neither of us were in the right space to do that. We had been dealing with a number of significant issues, not our relationship I am quick to advise, but other fairly big stuff, and that process had left us somewhat drained and depleted. When you're not in the right headspace, it is impossible to be creative. And so it was, that we made one of those adjustments. Instead of Inverness and the Highlands, we decided to return to London to have some extra time there. We knew London would reinvigorate us. And it has.

    The trip by train from Glasgow was five and half hours and seemed like only two to me. The train was smooth and much of the scenery was pastoral or little villages.

    This section of the travelogue will be a little more sparse than before. Just a few thoughts here and there, and the pics to go with each of the days.

    While Chris had another massage, I caught up with my friend and former teaching colleague, Susanne. I had not seen Westminster Cathedral at Victoria, the Catholic Cathedral and head RCC of the UK, so we decided to meet there. As it happened, Susanne was caught in traffic snarls and late tubes for almost an hour past our appointed time, so I took myself through the Cathedral while I waited for her.

    Westminster Cathedral is different from any of the cathedrals we have seen. It is quite extraordinary in that it is not ancient or Gothic. It was started in 1895 and was completed in 1903. Cardinal Vaughan wanted an uninterrupted nave with the high altar at the far end as the punctum of the 'painting'. He specifically did not want to compete with the Gothic splendour of nearby Westminster Abbey, so shunned the Gothic style. They did not have unlimited funds and so chose brick instead of stone.

    Vaughan chose an Italian style cathedral to be similar to early church architecture, and so the Cathedral today looks and feels very Byzantine. Lots of tiles. Lots of iconography. Lots of sparkly bits. Interestingly, the Cathedral decorations remain unfinished. I guess they will complete it as they can afford to do so. The cupolas along the ceiling are all raw, looking more like Dickensian Industrial revolution than the splendour of Near-East Christian architecture.

    Having said all that, it is very beautiful. It has a lovely reflective quality about it, a quiet space. Although, I was treated to some Baroque organ music while I was there looking at the central nave and the various side-chapels. It is defintiely worth a look if in London.    Read more

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