Gypsy Serenade August 26, 2008
Posted by dodo in : England, Germany, Hotels, Restaurant , 3commentsBy the time the train arrived in Madrid the Arabs had stolen my coat. I had not been long in the restaurant car: ten minutes, the length of a cognac. I was coming south from England; they were returning home from a factory in Germany.
On the way to the hotel I stopped the taxi to have a drink in a bar. Outside it was winter and raining. He was standing inside, an old brown overcoat and a white shirt buttoned without a tie, around forty. One of his sons was dancing in worn-out boots, the other singing for him, to the clapping of hands without a guitar. They looked about ten, with long hair, both so brown and handsome I could have hugged them; (more…)
Geomantic feature of the ancient Tower of London, Secret face of Britain’s Capital City continue… August 22, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Airlines, England, Europe, Hotels, London, Rail Pass, Round The World, Sightseeing, Tour, Trails, Travel Gear, Travelling Bag, Trip , 3commentsAfter a short distance, the course of the line connects with the axis of Cannon Street, passing through the former position of the London Stone. The remnants of this undoubtedly ancient feature are to be found today behind an iron grill set into the wall of the Bank of China on the north side of Cannon Street, opposite Cannon Street Tube (subway) station, more or less in the position it formerly occupied against the wall of St Swithin’s church, until that was demolished in the 1960s. Up until 1742, however, it was located on what was then the south side of Cannon Street in a position that would now be in the middle of the modern roadway, as it was subsequently widened. No one really knows the origins of the stone. (more…)
My Traveling Companions two Flying Horses August 14, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Airlines, Beirut, England, Europe, Hotels, India, Museum, Rail Pass, Sightseeing, Tour, Trails, Trip , 3commentsWhenever I’ve been asked to take a sponsored parachute jump I’ve declined, giving the excuse ‘fear of flying’. Of free will I chose to fly to India, taking as my travelling companions a stallion and two mares, in the back of a decrepit Boeing 707 on its third time round the clock. The interior was like a dingier station on the Northern Line, complete with peeling, dripping walls. Outside, the Flying Carrot, as this airline’s cargo planes are affectionately known to the handlers at Heathrow, has peeling orange and green livery. She’ll be all right when she’s finished, said one. Finished what? (more…)
Avebury Village & Related Megalithic Sites: Remarkable Monument, Ceremonial Landscape part 3 August 12, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Beach Resorts, England, Sightseeing, Tour, Travelling Bag, Trip , 4commentsOne way or another, therefore, it seems that the summit-terrace segment of Silbury had great significance. But what could that be? Patient research has revealed that it almost certainly relates to an astronomical effect that can be observed from Silbury.
Looking eastwards from the top of Silbury one can see the nearby ridge of Waden Hill, and, several miles beyond, the far skyline formed by the Marlborough Downs. In 1987, in early May the author observed that the sun rose in a slight dip in this far horizon. (more…)
Not on the Itinerary continue… August 8, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Brazil, England, France, Hotels, Round The World, Tour, Travel Clinic , 3commentsNow I felt well under par. Lying on the bed, which was very old- fashioned but deliciously comfortable, I thought of my home, my Queen and my country. The time was now about nine-thirty, and I must have looked ghastly, for a young nurse who popped in with a set of pyjamas sized up the situation in a second and popped out again, running down the corridor calling for help. (more…)
The Road out of Pinjarra August 2, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Australia, England, Europe, Hotels, Melbourne, Sydney, Tour, Trails, Trip , 5commentsI am sitting in the shade of a gum tree, by the side of a dusty road in Pinjarra, Western Australia. It has taken me fifty lifts to reach Pinjarra; a name on the map you do not notice until fate holds you there.
After three months’ travelling in Australia, hitch-hiking has become an addiction; the stimulation of a new acquaintance, a frank exchange of views, and then back on to the roadside — a self-contained experience without any repercussions. (more…)
Mount Tai Shan, Five Peaks, one of the Nine Sacred Mountains of China continue… July 27, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Airlines, Cars, Destination, England, Greece, Hotels, Malaysia, Sightseeing, Sweden, Trails, Trip, Venezuela, Wales , 4commentsShortly after midnight, a monk with a lantern awoke them with the cry: ‘The Bodhisattva has appeared!’ They threw on their clothes, their teeth chattering with the cold, the excitement, or both, and they scrambled across the temple courtyard and mounted to the tower. As they entered they found themselves facing one of the windows looking out on the vastness of the space beyond. Everyone gasped in surprise — none of them was prepared for what they saw. Numerous orange spheres of light where floating ‘majestically’ through the darkness of the mountain night beyond the window. (more…)
Aboard the Trans—Siberian Express July 25, 2008
Posted by dodo in : China, Embassy, England, Moscow, Rail Pass, Restaurant, Russia, Sightseeing, Tickets, Tour, Trails, Travelling Bag, Trip , 3commentsShe started sobbing three hours before the border. The conductress tried to console her with a glass of sweet, strong tea but without much success. She remained in the long druggeted corridor, a crumpled figure in a pink dressing gown watching the forests spinning madly by. The tankard holding the glass depicted a Slavic swordsman defending a child and she held it tight as a keepsake.
It certainly was a crying matter. The birch forests of Siberia, so upright, so elegant in autumn, had been broken by this winter campaign. Brought into perfect arcs by wind and snow, the younger birches littered the track-side like ribs and tusks while the old and brittle, unable to bow before the onslaught, rose into the air like splintered spines. (more…)
My Perugia Travel Diary continue… June 19, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Aquarium, Art Gallery, Asia, China, Coliseum, Denmark, Destination, Dolphinarium, Egypt, England, Europe, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Gymnasium, Iceland, Istanbul, Italy, Library, Memorial, Morocco, Museum, Norway, Oceanarium, Paris, Planetarium, Poland, Restaurant, Round The World, The Nile , add a commentMass cremation pits containing ashes and charred bones indicate that he feared a plague, but Carthaginian skeletons with all their teeth have been disinterred as well as the tombs, yielding cataphracts as well as bones, of thirty Carthaginian nobles.
Spello, the most appealing of the Umbrian hill towns, is still enclosed by Roman walls with five gates, the main one bearing the legend “Splendidissima Colonic Julia Hispellum” over the arch. According to Spellan tradition, a phallus carved in the inner wall of the Porta Urbica does not celebrate Orlando’s (Roland’s) amatory prowess but the range and perfect arc of his actus mingendi. Spello is noted for its restaurants and truffled cooking, its steep, winding, and narrow streets—all one-way only—its Roman towers and amphitheater. A Vocabolaro del Dialetto Spellano, compiled by NicolettaUgoccioni and published here last year, contains, at a thumb-through guess, 20,000 words in current usage—by a population of only 6,800. (more…)
The relentless uniformity of the bays of the south facade of the Escorial June 3, 2008
Posted by dodo in : England, Mexico, Paris, Peru , add a commentBecause of unforeseen expense and changes in taste, the construction of many great palaces lasted for several generations. Our view of them must therefore take into account the various phases of history that they reflect. This is not true of the Escorial. This enormous building, at once monastery, palace and mausoleum, rose in fulfilment of a vow made by Philip II, the greatest monarch of his age; it was completed 14 years before his death exactly as he intended.
On August 10, 1557, St Laurence’s day, Philip’s generals won a great victory over the French at Saint-Quentin in Picardy. Philip’s father, Charles V (who had abdicated a short time before to retire to his hermitage at Yuste), sent a message to his son asking if he had occupied Paris. (more…)
River Thames bank: Historic royal palace of Hampton Court June 1, 2008
Posted by dodo in : England, Europe, Jerusalem, London, Museum, Spain , 4commentsThe historic royal palace of Hampton Court stands on the north bank of the River Thames about 11 miles west of Charing Cross in London. This large complex is in fact two palaces in one, for as one moves eastwards from the west front the Tudor wings built in the time of Henry VIII yield to later work designed by Sir Christopher Wren for William and Mary. These two halves represent two distinct and important periods in the history of English architecture—the late medieval Perpendicular style tinged with Renaissance elements and the English Baroque affected by French and Italian influence. Yet overall unity is preserved by the use of warm-toned brickwork and the more-or-less symmetrical balancing of successive low wings. (more…)
Fontainebleau: The Golden Portal of Gilles Le Breton May 31, 2008
Posted by dodo in : England, Europe, France, Paris, Spain, USA , add a commentThe Golden Portal of Gilles Le Breton, which bears the date of 1528 on one of the capitals. Although the rules accepted for the classical orders have been carefully observed, the piecemeal arrangement of the parts is typical of the early French Renaissance.
The vast, rambling palace of Fontainebleau was a favourite resort of the rulers of France from the 12th century until the end of the monarchy in 1870. It reached the height of its glory in the middle of this long period—in the early 16th century—when Francis I assembled a brilliant team of artists and decorators to enlarge and embellish the palace. Later additions, though they sometimes entailed the demolition of earlier parts, were nonetheless marked by a conservative spirit opposed to any fundamental reorganisation. (more…)
Hampton Court: A fine combination of the Tudor and English baroque styles continue… May 26, 2008
Posted by dodo in : England , add a commentIf the unspoiled Tudor character of much of Hampton Court is one of its greatest gifts to us, we owe it to the decision of William III to halt the rebuilding of the palace after the death of his Queen, Mary II, in 1694. In celebration of the Glorious Revolution which had brought them to the throne, William and Mary had been rebuilding rapidly since 1689 from the plans of their Surveyor of Works, Sir Christopher Wren, and these plans extended to a reconstruction of the entire palace, preserving only the Great Hall. Sir Christopher would have given us a palace with two great courts on two different axis, at right angles to each other ; and the architecture of that palace would have been varied and delightful, with a domed silhouette and many subtle recollections of Mansart and Le Van. The designs, in Wren’s own hand, exist and one wonders why they were not carried out. A possible answer is that they did not quite sufficiently resemble Versailles. (more…)
Holyroodhouse: The most romantic of all the palaces in the British Isles May 25, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Denmark, England, France, Hotels, Netherlands, Scotland , add a commentIf you walk down between the soaring grey skyscrapers of old Canongate from west to east, you come in the end to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which lies half in Edinburgh and half in the bald grey wilderness that rises to Arthur’s Seat. It is architecturally perhaps not very exciting to most people, though it is an interesting and an elegant building, but its associations with Mary, Queen of Scots, with the Young Pretender, and with Charles X in his penniless exile, make it by far the most romantic of the British royal palaces. There are several legends about its founding, and historically the most probable is the following: St Margaret, the second Queen of Malcolm Canmore and the sister of Edgar Atheling, brought with her to Scotland in 1068, a gold casket in the shape of a cross, covered by an ebony carving of the Saviour and containing a sizable piece of the True Cross. (more…)
Malmaison: the Favourite country residence of Napoleon and Josephine continue… May 22, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Destination, England, France, Library, Museum, Paris, Turkey , add a commentIt soon became obvious that the château was too small. Percier and Fontaine added on two wings and pulled down the dividing walls in order to enlarge the drawing rooms. In doing so they practically caused the main structure to collapse and had to reinforce it with massive pilasters which still today look somewhat incongruous. The interior was decorated with care in the taste of the day. The walls were hung with both antique and modern pictures. Two red marble obelisks adorned one of the doorways; they came originally from the Château de Rueil, once the residence of Cardinal de Richelieu but now nonexistent. Berthault built follies in the shade of the trees; a Gothic aviary, a temple of love, sphinxes were dotted about the groves and the banks of the stream. (more…)
Fontainebleau: A hunting lodge which saw four centuries of French history May 21, 2008
Posted by dodo in : England, Italy, Library, Museum, Paris, USA , add a commentThe huge and magnificent forest, the fresh water springs, its proximity to Paris, and its convenience as a halting place between the capital and the Loire valley, all pointed to Fontainebleau as the ideal site for the residence of a dynasty of kings passionately fond of hunting and obliged to make constant journeys round their domains.
Already in the twelfth century Louis VI, le Gros, built a dungeon there ; then Louis VII erected a chapel which is believed to have been consecrated by Thomas a Becket as he fled from the wrath of his master, Henry II of England ; St Louis founded a monastery to which Charles V, le Sage, added a `library‘, and this group of buildings encircles the Cour Ovale. (more…)
Sans Souci: The light-hearted summer-house of King Frederick the Great continue… May 18, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Airlines, Destination, England, Flight Schedule, Library, Lodges, USA , add a commentThe entrance hall contains Corinthian columns exactly matching the colonnade outside. Doors lead off on the right to the service rooms, left to the corridor, and straight across to the cupola hall. Both halls were by von Knobelsdorff. The floor of the cupola hall was designed by Johann Christian Hoppenhaupt and executed in marble intarsia by Duquesnoy. The Italian marble blocks for this hall were too large to bring to Berlin, and two stone cutters, Heller and Grepler, were sent to Hamburg to work them in the rough. The most decorative room was without doubt the music room, with decorations by Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt and a series of wall paintings by the court painter, a Frenchman, Antoine Pesne, director of the Berlin Academy, who was here to be seen at his best. (more…)
Aranjuez: Philip II’s leafy palace on the banks of the River Tagus continue… May 14, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Airlines, Beach Resorts, Destination, England, Hotels, Lodges, Travel Gear, Travelling Bag , add a commentAranjuez’s beautiful gardens have long been famous. The oldest is the Garden of the Island in a loop of the Tagus on the north side of the palace; a narrow canal, the Ria, has been cut across the base. Philip II introduced elms here from England, and in spring it is a paradise of shade and running water. As Saint Simon remarked in 1722: ‘ There are all sorts of curiosities in the shape of artificial trees with birds perched in them, which let fall showers of water when one walks underneath ; (more…)
The Escorial: Nobility without arrogance, majesty without ostentation May 9, 2008
Posted by dodo in : England, Italy, New York, Spain, USA , add a commentThe first sight of the Escorial is breath-taking, whether seen from the mountains against the rocky outcrops and stunted willows of the plain, or from a rise in the Madrid road, reddish- brown against the bleak Guadarramas. A distant view-point is needed to appreciate its merits of mass and proportion, as well as the subtle variety of the roof-line: the dome and two bell- towers of the church at the centre, the slender spires of the towers at each corner and the pedimented elevation above two rows of engaged columns over the principal door. Approaching closer, these qualities tend to be forgotten in face of the oppressive monotony of the walls, on which the plain windows scarcely project, renouncing even the ornament of light and shade. (more…)
Queluz: A rose pink palace in the French eighteenth-century style May 8, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Bank Note, Beach Resorts, Brazil, Denmark, England, Europe, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Italy, Library, Lisbon, London, Memorial, Museum, Portugal, Restaurant, Spain, Sweden, Travellers Cheque , add a commentThe palace of QUELUZ, near Lisbon, is elegantly rustic in a way that is very characteristic of Portuguese life and manners. It has a seductive grace, for its muted beauty grows on the beholder gradually, until at length the splendours of a more conventionally royal building seem almost vulgar in comparison.
The rose-pink colour-washed facade is cunningly designed with two low semi-circular wings springing out from a small central block. The southern side ends in a black onion dome above the chapel, and goes on at right angles in a series of dependent buildings of different sizes. The northern wing now contains a luxury restaurant in the original kitchens of the palace. (more…)
