Election

Isn't it time that Howard extracted the digit so that we can get the boot in?

The Right Thing

I reckon her father did the right thing in leaving her where she'd be found by people who could be relied on to look after her.

From Niagara Falls to Brisbane

4.00 a.m. wake-up call so ready for taxi at 4.30. Driver much pleasanterthan from Buffalo, chatted all the way-no delay in getting into U.S. at thattime. Surprised by size of Buffalo from air, didn't realise so big. Largeestates of houses of identical design; set back from footpaths identicaltoo. Very neat & tidy & boring. Noticed similar in other cities passedover. Pity can't fly Buffalo-Flagstaff direct, connections at Chicago, inparticular, Dallas & Phoenix involve lots of walking-grateful for movingfootpaths where they exist. Had left 40 F at Buffalo, very dry 97 atPhoenix. 37 seat plane to Flagstaff & I'm the 37th-get the middle seat inthe back row-plenty of leg-room in the aisle. Lot of turbulence, seat beltsall the way. At Flagstaff some delay in luggage appearing, then wait untilapparent that my case hasn't arrived. Report to the airline people who sayit's not uncommon when there's been a change of carrier as at Phoenix whereI had to switch from American to U.S., expect it will turn up on the next orfollowing flight. Taxi to motel; idiot driver wouldn't know one BestWestern from another, drops me at wrong one 2 miles from where I should be &get to not much later. Asked motel staff about getting to Grand Canyon, gotthem to book me on tour next day, then early to bed after flying all day.Woken after couple of hours to be told that case had been delivered-that'sgood, will have clean clothes tomorrow.Brkfst, not hot dishes, inc. this tariff. Tour pick-up 9.15, get to canyon11ish after other pick-ups & comfort station stop en route-no animals at allseen. Short walk to canyon rim from bus stop-walking beside English girl,Rachel, to Yavapi Observation Station agreed that feeling risingexcitement-1st sight awe-inspiring-the immensity of it, colours, depth.From there drove about 25 miles to Desert View Watchtower for morespectacular views inc. across to The Painted Desert. After lunch to CanyonVillage & sight of condors which had been close to extinct until saved bybreeding program-now they're all individually numbered. German girl ingroup had been in Australia & seen wedgetail eagles. I misunderstood her tosay that there'd been a stud for them but she meant that she'd seen them inthe trees at Coolmore Stud in N.S.W. where she'd worked-had had a stud ofher own in Germany some time ago. The local fauna had come to life duringthe day & on the retrn trip we saw a number of different animals.Along the way someone had remarked on the number of trains which ran throughFlagstaff & the driver, Jason, had said that 100 per week passed through,the drivers of which took great delight in horn blowing from one end of thecity to the other regardless of the time of day or night.The following day invited Rachel & 2 German girls to accompany me on a tourof some interesting looking sites not too far out of Flagstaff-Rachelbussing to San Francisco but the others accepted so rented car-brand newPontiac-& had 1st experience of driving on the other side of the road.Started with a visit to Walnut Canyon, very much smaller than the Grand,containing the remnants of an ancient Indian village, then to Meteor Crater,700' deep, 4000' diameter & 2.4 miles circumference formed when a meteorestimated to have been 150' across hit the earth a very long time ago.Basically a big hole in the ground it was used in some way for astronauttraining. From there we went to Sunset Crater Volcano still covered incinders & lava from a long-ago eruption with little in the way of vegetationon the slopes. Nearby were the ruins of Wupatki Pueblo. a multi-storeybuilding, built of local limestone slabs & stones, which originallycontained more than 100 rooms, only a few of which remain. True to the namethe sun had set while we were there so we made our way back to Flagstaff,easy enough while on the highway but rather hard when we hit the city tofind that while it had been easy enough to get about in daylight it wasdifferent in the dark-took quite a while & a lot of backtracking to get backto where we were staying but we did eventually.Next day due to fly home, returned car undamaged & strolled around town;found an internet cafe where I was able to get a proper latte, the onlyplace in what I saw of the U.S. other than Starbucks where they knew how tomake one-I'd had some truly horrible stuff which was said to be latte & mademe unwilling to ask about capuccinos. Later a taxi to the airport for homevia Phoenix where it was 100+ & LA. Good flight, managed to get areasonable amount of sleep & the Qantas meal was the best I'd had in the airsince Qantas on Day 1.

The End

After Madrid

Ages since left Madrid, roamed over the Alhambra & Albaicin in Granada, Granada cathedral too. By bus to Cordoba which, I'd been warned to find boring, I enjoyed-Mezquita Cathedral/Mosque, Alcazar, Moorish town of Medina Azahara still being excavated, Roman ruins. Bus to Seville's cathedral, Alcazar, Roman town of Italica also still being excavated. On arrival in Seville asked for location of Tourist Info., got to hotel after walk for mile or two-if i'd asked for hotel might have had to walk only 200 yards. Big fair started at midnight of my last night.
Flew to Paris-Disneyland, Fontainebleau, Chartres, Notre Dame Cathedral, Rodin Sculpture museum. Hotel room overlooking major streets, plaza, plenty happening all hours, handy to all-pity about all the up stairs in the Metro. Went to Mass in Notre Dame to hear organ but disappointing, not a patch on the Royal Chapel, Madrid instrument which, I've decided, is the highlight of the tour . Heard sermon, sounded impressive tho' didn't understand more than a few words. Paris a shock re. costs after economical Spain e.g. coffee 3.50 cf 1.50, beer 5.00 cf 1.50. Last night in Madrid dined satisfactorily on 2 beers & accompanying tapas-nothing like that in Paris.
Next London.

Madrid´s Done now for Granada

Hotel was very central so walked a lot but used the very good metro too. Highlight so far Tintoretto exhibition at Prado Museum & all other great masters. Bus to El Escorial & Valley of Fallen, train to Toledothrough flattish country then T on big hill-lots of crooked narrow streets I got lost over & over, then it rained. Back in Madrid to palace churches & museums-royal palace disgustingly lavish, buy Bill Gates several times. Now in Granada-flamenco tonight.

Under way

Uneventful to S'pore. Left a bit late but landed early at 7.40 S'pore time-now 3 hour wait to leave for Heathrow. Adios.

I met them at the casino

L to R: Len, me, Len's friend, Natasha.

To & fro Seymour

Just back from a couple of weeks with brother in Seymour during which he went to hospital to have 4 bypass surgery-recovering well. Now trying to find accommodation at intended stopping places.

Round the world in 34 days

I'll be using this to keep you up to date with my progress once I get under way.