The Bumpkin Bash in Devon

After a rainy departure from Dublin (Karen would say that it was another country teary-eyed at our departure), we flew from Dublin to Exeter to attend the Andrew and Pam Bumpkin Bash.   We hadn't attended one of these for a few years, what with jumping countries and all, so this one would be special.

First there was a walk around the country lanes ....

A newborn Dartmoor Pony

De Goin' home after 14 years

A typical English country lane

De Goin' home after 14 years

before returning to the rather modified crofter's cottage in which Andrew and Pam live ...

Beacon Cottage ... venue of the Bumpkin Bash

De Goin' home after 14 years

Special guest for the 2011 Bumpkin Bash

De Goin' home after 14 years

Then after a lovely meal ... and some sit-around chatting ...

 Group mugshot 

De Goin' home after 14 years

the song-writing John got people up for a special chorus ...

Waltzing Matilda Choral Society

De Goin' home after 14 years

Followed some time later by the very spectacular cutting of the birthday cake for Karen ... even the Lotus atop the cake was edible.

The fabulous Birthday Cake

De Goin' home after 14 years

The week that was ... in Ireland

I thought that I’d spare you blog readers the hour-by-hour details of meeting, eating and drinking with the various family and friends in Ireland … suffice it to say that a good time was had … in the subdued manner of many activities in Ireland these days.

However, on our final day, Karen and I set about ticking some of the activities more appropriate to a Farewell Tour.   First we had a ham sandwich and a pint of Beamish (a glass of cider for Karen) in the Bottle Tower pub … and then later in the day, we had another pint of stout in the Dawson Lounge.  

The Dawson Lounge is legendary as the smallest pub in Dublin.   In the old days, the small size would have been a constraint, but in these times of austerity and home drinking, the small size is a bonus.   The Dawson Lounge didn’t look nearly as empty with 4 customers (us and 2 other blokes£) as the Bottle Tower did with one other bloke and us.   What a shadow of former days.

Karen heading into the Dawson Lounge ... it's down the narrow stairs

De Goin' home after 14 years

That's the full extent of the pub ....

De Goin' home after 14 years

From a big bowl of French coffee to a big pint of Guinness

De Goin' home after 14 years

 A pint of plain is your only man ... Flann O'Brien 

De Goin' home after 14 years

The "pint of plain" quotation is from Flann O'Brien and the original poem was written to give hope to those who were short of money ... suggesting that a pint of stout would solve all problems  ..... a sentiment that might be revived in the current economic predicament. 

The Workmans Friend
When things go wrong and will not come right,
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night -
A pint of plain is your only man.

When money's tight and hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt -
A pint of plain is your only man.

When health is bad and your heart feels strange,
And your face is pale and wan,
When doctors say you need a change,
A pint of plain is your only man.

When food is scarce and your larder bare
And no rashers grease your pan,
When hunger grows as your meals are rare -
A pint of plain is your only man.

In time of trouble and lousey strife,
You have still got a darlint plan
You still can turn to a brighter life -
A pint of plain is your only man.

by Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan)

Springtime in Paris

Compared to the last few weeks, today was quite uneventful.   After the first quiet night for a while, we headed off in search of a café-au-lait to kick-start our day .... as evidenced by the mug-shot below:

Karen's Interpol mugshot

De Goin' home after 14 years

Energised by the coffee, we went in search of some travel equipment for our adventures through Russia and Mongolia, in particular some means of warding of marauding Cossack and Mongol raiders.   So where better than a shop recycling accessories left over from the French revolution:

Just take them in your cabin baggage ...

De Goin' home after 14 years

These are standard issue on the Trans-Siberian ...

De Goin' home after 14 years

Finally we caught up with Peter & Anna Blake and the new baby Blake.  We all had lunch at a classic French brasserie where we had the single obligatory grumpy waiter, but among a group of other waiters who were very friendly and cheerful.

Now we are back in our room ... sipping some Ruinart champagne courtesy of Mercer, and Eric Warner in particular.   Eric gave me a Nicolas voucher when I was in Paris for my farewell dinner almost 2 years ago and this will have been our first and only opportunity to cash it in before it expires.   It is helping to banish the memory of that bottle of Grange Hermitage splashed across Cadet Metro station ... although Blakey was hoping that a good Syrah will help to disguise the smell of urine that is more normal in the Metro stations!!

The Cadet Metro station also featured later on our final evening when a busker was spotted ... playing a piano no less ... not the sort of thing that would happen in Lugano (is it Kevin?) ... but would probably happen in Milan (wouldn't it Allan?).

Clip 1:  note the trolley behind the piano ... but I wonder how it gets it up those Metro stairways.



Clip 2:   Perhaps I should refresh my old keyboard skills ... they're only 41 years old!

Paris in springtime

Paris is always lovely, even though it always seems to rain when we've been there.   Anyhow, we immediately set about fulfulling our gig commitments for the Farewell Tour ... so we walked from our hotel near Gare du Nord right across Paris to the Pantheon just off Boulevard St Germain ... for our obligators glasses of wine at Les Pipos.

Karen enjoying a glass of wine at Les Pipos near the Pantheon

De Goin' home after 14 years

It didn't disappoint ... and the accompanying jambon et fromage was better than we remembered ... but then the price was steeper than we remembered ... but then, that might be pensioner penny-consciousness compared with the old swash-buckling, free-spending corporate days.

Then, after a traumatic few days ... we headed back to our hotel at a time when most Parisians were barely getting into their stride ... oh, how we have aged!!

Farewell Tour takes to the road

On Tuesday 26th, all of our worldly chattels were wrapped and packed into a 40 foot container.   Not just the household stuff, but the cherished Lotus Elise was also backed into the same container, after which the container doors were locked and sealed. 

Very sophisticated restaining systems ... don't you think?

De Goin' home after 14 years

The Argentinian truck driver told me that he would take the container over the Alps to Basel where it would be transferred to a train for the leg to the port of Hamburg.   At Hamburg, it will be put onto a Maersk container ship with 6,999 other container friends for its passage to Australia.

Then we left Via Belvedere for the very last time .... to have a last supper at our favourite pizzeria, La Bettola, with Kevin, Cornelia and Astrid.   Kevin is our mad English friend in Lugano whom I met hiking one day.  Shortly afterward we met his girlfriend, Cornelia, who is a fair-dinkum Ticinese girl.  Shortly after that, they got married rather hurriedly and we met the lovely Astrid, Cornelia's mum.

No, the quick wedding was not what you think.   It had to do with Swiss and rules and procedures.   Because Kevin was a foreigner, he had to get a permit to marry a local.   To receive his permit, he had to have a church booked.   Churches generally will not allow you to book in churches outside your little area ... and they will only book a short distance ahead of time.

In the end, it was a fantastic wedding ... with Cornelia's street entertainer friends providing the music and entertainment.

Ciao ciao

De Goin' home after 14 years

The following and final night was spent in a little Albergo in Gandria … very pleasant but quite a hike from Lugano and especially from the train station where we were to catch our train to Geneva.   Karen says that Switzerland was sad to see us go because tears fell from the clouds all the way to Geneva.

Karen having a last glance at Lake Lugano

De Goin' home after 14 years

Looking toward Porlezza in nearby Italy

De Goin' home after 14 years

Looking toward San Salvatore next to Lugano

De Goin' home after 14 years

Geneva evening was lovely ... visiting our favourite pizzeria (Pomodoro) with Neil and Sue.   Friday saw us finally leave Switzerland head up through France to paris.   Beautifully quiet and peaceful journey on a TGV ... made even more quiet and peaceful when a train in front broke down and we had to sit stationary for 2 hours waiting for the broken train to be pushed out of the way.

Apart from being a bit weary arriving in Paris, we were also very sad ... because as we lugged our bags out of the Metro station ... I bumped the bag and broke the last remaining fine red wine that I've lugged around the world.  We were keeping the 1989 Grange Hermitage for a special occasion enroute, but now it's splashed across a Metro platform.

An empty bottle of Grange with its cork still sealed

De Goin' home after 14 years

The time is near ....

After the longest waiting time in recent memory, the time has finally arrived.

The packers came on Easter Thursday to begin the packing and boxing of our worldly possessions. Since Easter occurs between Day 1 and Day 2 of packing, we feel like squatters in a empty apartment for 4 days. There is little furniture, only 1 frypan and saucepan, and 2 each of cups, plates, knives and forks. Oh, and a coffee machine, a TV and a laptop.

Meanwhile, our boxed possessions are in the parking space, so that we can clean and clean ... thereby returning the apartment to its owner in a pristine condition, including echoes.

Most, but not all, of the boxes

De Goin' home after 14 years

Meanwhile, the Elise has its hard hat on, for the 3rd time ever, and is holed up in a nearby parking space that has never seen a car in the time that we've lived here.

Lotus with hard-hat sitting nearby, waiting patiently

De Goin' home after 14 years

Just for the record, the only other times the Lotus has worn its hard hat was when it was brought home from Bell & Colvill as a newborn (there was no other way to carry the hardtop), and when it was driven from London to Geneva for that move (again because it was the easiest way to transport it).

Today is Easter Sunday and we went for a final stroll into downtown Lugano.  It was full of tourists, but still very pleasant, as was the weather.  

Lake Lugano on Easter Sunday

De Goin' home after 14 years

There were some usual stalls offering knickknacks, but then we came across a sole bric-a-brac stall, that had 2 Alpine cowbells.   Now, you have to know that Karen has wanted a genuine cowbell for a long time and had given up any expectation, since we have just 2 days before the packers arrived for final boxing.   So without much consideration, we bought one of them, and carted it home, as you can see below:

Karen, with the bell already around her neck ...

De Goin' home after 14 years

A last weekend in the snow ...

Frolicking in deep snow will be a thing of the past after this northern winter. While Australia does have ski resorts and areas in which to go snow-shoeing, they are not as inspiring as those of the Alps. It's not just the shallow wet snow, it's also the lack of refuges scattered through the hills. These are not refuges in the sense of somewhere to escape from bad weather, but places where you can get good hearty food and a glass of wine or beer, as well as a place to sleep the night if you need to.

We had a wonderful time snow-shoeing in San Bernardino at Christmas, and we back again in February when Karen's brother came to stay for a week. During this 2nd visit, we achieved our goal of snow-shoeing right to the top of the San Bernardino pass itself. I'm not sure that Allan had such an adventure in mind on his flight over, and certainly not one where the tavern at the pass was closed for the winter.



Our more recent outing was very pleasant but without such adventure. The mountains either had too little snow for show-shoeing or had very high avalanche alerts because of the instability of the snow higher up. So we did more traditional hiking with our friends Pierre and Marielle who have been living in Switzerland now for some 13 years.

Because we only have the Lotus left as road transport, we used the very efficient Swiss train system to get from Lugano to Sedrun.   4 trains all of which were scheduled to connect, with very precise 5 minute gaps between arrival and departure at each station.   Each leg was more dramatic than the previous as we headed higher and higher, finally crossing the Oberalpass at 2,033 metres.