Richard Mascall's Weblog

Chicago Holiday Day 9 of 9

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Summary :

Lobby visiting

Travel home

Detail :

Today we explored more of the centre, in particular going into some of the lobbies. One disappointment is that it is no longer possible to view the trading at the Chicago Board of Trade (guess what, since Sept 11^th, 2001 – what do these people think might happen ?), but the Library had a Lincoln exhibition with lots of photos including of him before he grew his beard. They even had an explanation of why he grew it. (Some little girl on the 1860 campaign trail told him he would look more friendly, apparently.)

We saw the IBM office which was a Mies van der Rohe building and possibly my favourite of all the many wonderful buildings we saw all week. The Chicago Tribune Tower has fragments of buildings from all over the world embedded in its walls and also had moon rock on display. Finally we did a 20 minute audio tour of the Hotel Intercontinental, complete with its 9^th floor 1920s swimming pool where Johnny Weissmuller used to train.

There was still so much to see but our time ran out and at 1730 we took a taxi to the airport. Being away from the UK, BA's lounge was almost empty so we had a relaxing time waiting for the overnight plane. We actually had our meal in the lounge so that once the plane had taken off we were able to put our seats down and go to sleep. By 1200 BST we were at Heathrow.

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Chicago Holiday Day 8 of 9

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Summary :

Field Museum

Detail :

Another cloudless sky with temperatures about 20º which meant we could have a very pleasant walk through Grant Park. Here we saw numerous modern sculptures as well as an allotment project, all with one of the most dramatic manmade back-drops in the world.

Our destination was the amazing and huge Field Museum, a sort of cross between the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, and a bit of the V&A thrown in for luck. The ground floor has the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the world, called “Sue”. Almost the only replica component is the skull – the real skull is housed in a glass case upstairs because its weight precludes it being mounted on the now fragile skeleton.

There was masses more to see there but in the end we had to stop for lunch which we ate almost under Sue's tail (rather reminiscent of the Institute Dinner at the Natural History Museum last year.) There was a school brass band playing further down the floor which made me think of what I imagine a Sunday afternoon in Harrogate might have been like.

After looking at yet more exhibits we walked back, past the marina, to see Buckingham Fountain. After this we had a good look at the Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry. Finally, we had yet another explore of the Bean – well, you can never tire of looking at all the reflections.

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Chicago Holiday Day 7 of 9

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Summary :

Walking tour of Modern skyscrapers

Behind-the-scenes visit to Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Detail :

We did the second of our two guided walking tours today, this time with the subject of “Modern Skyscrapers”. For the first time, we had a duff guide who managed to make the tour dull despite the exciting subject matter under our noses (or, more accurately, above our foreheads). We did see some dramatic sculptures and the Sears Building.

As mentioned before, the trip is arranged by Kettle's Yard and after lunch we enjoyed the fruits of another contact. The musician Gerard McBurney left Cambridge to work at Radio 3 for 10 years. He is now working as an artistic director at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and he took us around their building telling us about his work, obtaining funding in the States for the Arts, and the old Cliff-Dwellers' Club which is in the building and on whose balcony we went out to see beautiful views of the lake and the numerous yachts.

Just along Michigan Avenue is the Fine Arts Building, an early twentieth century building which seems unchanged inside since those days, with a warren of little specialist shops, offices, rehearsal areas, and goodness knows what else. Gerard showed us round many of the floors and told us anecdote after anecdote relating to the numerous paintings and former inhabitants.

Later, in the evening, we walked across Grant Park to see some fireworks. They were to quite a high standard but what was particularly enjoyable was that they were unaccompanied by all that blaring music that often mars such displays.

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Chicago Holiday Day 6 of 9

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Summary :

Private Collection

Dinner at Cliff Dwellers Club

Detail :

Our trip is organised by Kettle's Yard, an art gallery in Cambridge we are Friends of.  Through a contact we today had the good fortune to be invited to the home of an Ira and Barbara Wool, a flat on the 14^th floor of an Art Deco building overlooking Lake Michigan.

Ira is a very successful bio-chemist at the University of Chicago and has built up an impressive collection of artworks : paintings, scultures, and furniture. We were taken up to see the collection in small groups using the lift opening out directly into his flat and operated by a liftman. Ira knew all the artist whose work he had bought and indeed some of them had stayed in the flat. So he had a rich store of anecdotes to tell.

I was able to step out onto the fire escape which gave me wonderful views of Chicago and also the ground 14 storeys below. In the main room he had a chair designed by Frank Gehry which we could sit on (so unlike the same type of chair we had seen earlier in the Art Institute !). The room itself had lots of paintings as well as a wonderful view over the lake.

We also went to the top floor to see the ballroom, before ending up out on the roof for more panoramas.

After lunch we had a wander round Chicago on our own, which enabled us to explore the Cultural Centre with many interesting aspects, including a dramatic stained glass dome.

In the evening we had cocktails and then dinner at the Cliff-Dwellers Club, a very smart venue also overlooking the lake and right by the skyscrapers. As the daylight faded we could go out onto the balcony and see the tall buildings lit up.

Finally, we walked down south to Buddy Guy's club, called Legends. They had a perfectly competent blues group playing but then to our surprise, Buddy himself appeared and did a number.

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Chicago Holiday Day 5 of 9

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Summary :

Whole Day at Taliesin East

Detail :

We had an early start, so early we had to use the local McDonalds for breakfast, which must be the first time we have been in one for about ten years. We then had a four hour drive to Taliesin, the Wisconsin base for Frank Lloyd Wright's home and school in the 1910s and after.  We had been to his equivalent place in Arizona, Taliesin West, back in 1998 so this completed a pleasing symmetry for us.

We did two tours of one and two hours either side of lunch, learning more about the man and his work. Apparently he told his students that it wasn't enough to learn the theory about house design – they had to experience the practical side. What a fortunate by-product it must have been that in gaining this experience, the students built all the school buildings and the accommodation without FLW having to spend anything on labour costs.

Our hotel supplied copies of the Financial Times at no charge and we had brought one with us. Since we had seen all the scenery on the way to Wisconsin, we were able to concentrate on the FT crossword during the return. Since this was not that much quicker a journey than the way out, it was a good job we were not too speedy in identifying the answers.

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Chicago Holiday Day 4 of 9

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Summary :

Visits to Oak Park, Illinois Institute of Technology

Detail :

Today we saw work by two of the twentieth century's most influential architects : Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe. We went first to a suburb called Oak Park, which is where Frank Lloyd Wright designed or adapted many of his earliest houses, right back in the 1900s.

Our guide on the two hour walking tour told us about the man's early life and also about the new styles he introduced. We learnt about his inspirations, and also about his techniques. One, for example, was called compression-expansion and this led to low ceilings over doorways which would then draw you into the room proper with its higher ceiling.

After lunch we visited his Unity Temple, which was a very stylish place of worship, if somewhat smaller than its name would imply. The lights, windows, and use of colour all added to the appeal of the building. The local churchman gave us a detailed and clear account of the place, pointing out all the little details which marked this out from the hundreds of humdrum examples of other such buildings. For example, he showed how the design meant that none of the 400 strong congregation would be more than 10m away from the speaker.

Finally we went to the Illinois Institute of Technology(Chicago's equivalent to MIT), where students showed us around the campus. All the buildings here are either by Mies van der Rohe or are inspired by him. We were told that SOM(Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill) designed one of these tribute buildings, accordingly wrapping some of his trademark girders over the roof. Apparently Mies was horrified because he used the absolute minimum of components, so all of his girders were there because they were needed while these girders were ornamentation, something he abhorred.

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Chicago Holiday Day 3 of 9

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Summary :

Visits to Art Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art

Detail :

Taking the opportunity for another exploration, we discovered the James Thompson Center, a modern building with a most impressive atrium.

We spent nearly all of the morning and some of the afternoon in Chicago's premier Art Museum, the Art Institute. We entered via the only-just-opened new wing, once the security guard outside had sorted out the fact that he was locked out.

There was a lot of light in this new wing but not that much content, and the directions were appalling : a triumph of aesthetics over usability, I fear.

But once we found our way into the body of the museum, we were able to see what a vast collection it holds. Or rather we were not able, because it was so big. It had a marvellous Impressionist section where we found the very same painting that was on Pam's bag (Gustave Caillebotte's Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1876-77). The modern section looked good too, but we were familiar with this style of art so instead we spent time on American art from the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Later on, we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, en route seeing an enlarged 3D version of the Grant Wood work, American Gothic, the original of which we had seen a short time earlier. This museum had some small mini-exhibitions, including one which told the story of Buckminster Fuller, albeit not that well.

I was exhausted by this stage but Pam still had some energy so she went up the John Hancock Tower, now the third highest building in Chicago. There were therefore some fantastic views from the cocktail bar on almost the top floor.

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Chicago Holiday Day 2 of 9

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Summary :

River Tour of buildings, Walking tour of historic skyscrapers

Detail :

We started our first full day in Chicago by going on a 90 minute trip through the city on an open-topped boat, looking at the stunning skyscrapers. We had a most knowledgeable guide commentating, so we heard all sorts of interesting anecdotes and histories about all the buildings.

The Chicago Architecture Federation offers lots of two hour walking tours so in the afternoon we did one where the guide told us all about the many “historic” skyscrapers (ie. those built between 1890s and the 1930s).

While we were out we had our first glimpse of “Segway”s, two wheel powered personal transport systems. They were used not just by tourists but by the police too.

Chicago Holiday Day 1 of 9

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Summary :

Fly to Chicago

Walk in Millennium Park

Detail :

We had mixed feelings about our flight out (1200-2000 BST times) on a BA Boeing 777 from Heathrow. There were only 11 of us in our 48 seat section so we had good service, but the lunch was disappointing and although there was an extensive choice of video and audio options, it was not “on demand” so one had to guess the starting times. The only film I watched was the 2008 BBC version of “The 39 Steps”.

Immigration at Chicago was surprisingly swift and by 1535 local (2135 BST) we were in our room at the Palmer House Hilton. This is very centrally placed so when we went for an exploratory walk we were delighted to find that we were only a block away from Millennium Park. This has a wonderful creation by Anish Kapoor whose name is “Cloudgate” but which is more often called “The Bean”. There was another spectacular piece called “Crown Fountain”, two 15m high pillars with videos of faces on the two surfaces facing each other. Every so often their expressions would change and out of the faces' mouths spouts of water would appear.

Windermere holiday Day 8 of 8 – Travelling home

Today was spent driving home, an event free journey starting at 09:30 and finishing about 15:30. En route we stopped at a service station just south of Cannock in order to do a bit of M&S stocking up and to eat our usual picnic lunch.

The place was unusual in that we had to cross the road to reach the shop.

Windermere holiday Day 7 of 8 - Blackwell

Since this was a bit of a wet day, we decided to go to Blackwell, a house run by the Lakeland Trust just the other side of Bowness.

We were very impressed with the house, built in 1898-1900 on the shores of Lake Windermere for a brewery owner called Holt. It was designed, decorated, and furnished in the Arts and Crafts style. About 10 years ago it was acquired by the Lakeland Arts Trust who have restored the place to how it might have looked when it was built.

The printed guide was most informative, drawing our attention to details we might have missed. I find much of the Art Nouveau decoration very attractive and I understand the appeal of the individually created item over a mass-produced one. But some of the Arts and Crafts output smacks of being old-fashioned for the sake of it (for example here, the stained glass was more medieval church like rather than, say, Charles Rennie MacKintosh).

But regardless of some of the individual items, overall the house was a delight to visit, including as it did a small exhibition of modern ceramics and a café serving delicious, and slightly different, meals. On a day with better weather there would have been stunning views of the lake too.

Windermere holiday Day 6 of 8 – Coniston Walk

Today we undertook the longest walk of the whole week : walk 26 in the Jarrold book, up the Old Man of Coniston. We missed the car park we had been looking for, but as a result found a place on a side road, so we enjoyed free parking for the only time this week.

We set off at 10:00 and went up and up for two and a half hours. The route initially followed Levers Water Beck, going past lots of industrial archaeology with the remains of old slate quarries. We passed an attractive small lake called Low Water, a rather dispiriting name given we thought we had climbed quite a bit. The fact that it looked frezing cold did not dissuade a couple of lads from going for a swim in it.

Stopping for breaks gave us the chance to look at the ever more impressive views and we eventually realised that the top was not far away. Once at the 800m high summit, at 12:30, we stopped for a biscuit and a good look at the scenery.

Despite the sun, an icy wind forced us to put fleeces on for the first stage of our descent, down past Dow's Crag to Goat's Water. Since the wind had now dropped, we stopped for our usual delicious lunch.

On our next stage we saw something which we have seen many times on the box but never in real life : a shepherd controlling two sheepdogs by whistles in order to round up three escaped sheep. Later on, we saw a sheep which had apparently given birth to a lamb just a short time earlier because we saw it eating the placenta.

The final stretch of the walk was very pleasant, being flat and alongside Coniston Water. Towards the end we saw both Coniston Hall and, on the opposite side, Brantwood, the home of John Ruskin.

We arrived back at the car at 17:00, thus taking seven hours for the 14.5 km walk.

Windermere holiday Day 5 of 8 – Bowness

Following three consecutive days of serious walks, we took advantage of the lack of sun to restrict ourselves to a walk straight out from our cottage, down through Windermere to Bowness, and then along the lake briefly before returning via footpaths back to our cottage.

After passing a Millennium Memorial, an attractive slab of slate near a small clock tower, we went into a small but exciting art gallery called the Pinfold Gallery. Some of the works were just the sort of thing we liked, and which we rarely find. Although the prices were attractive too we decided we just did not have enough space in the car to transport any home.

We bought postcards and stamps in Bowness but the only place we might have been tempted into for lunch was closed.

Windermere holiday Day 4 of 8 – Place Fell Walk

Today was our third beautifully sunny day out of three. We drove 11 miles over the 450m high Kirkstone Pass to Patterdale where the car park was only £3.50, being owned by the local hotel.

We did walk 25 in the Jarrold book, which was flat at first followed by a steady ascent along the side of a slope with good view of Helvellyn and Striding Edge. At the top of this part we discovered the path went almost straight up to the summit (in fact to Round How) but then the final few metres to Place Fell itself were not so bad. This climb was very steep in places and unrelenting throughout, with the final approach to Round How a scramble. The hot sun and an almost total absence of breeze did not help.

Before the summit we saw 6-10 other walkers but after the summit our route meant we were almost on our own. There were huge views of parallel ridges on both sides as path sloped downwards mostly gradually. Nearly all of the time we could hear only skylarks, and no human generated sounds at all. A buzzard appeared briefly. We had lunch sitting on rock by path 13:50 – 14:15, overlooking Boredale, a most inappropriate name given the grandeur of the steep sided valley.

Immediately after lunch we started a steep descent along the side of Sleet Fell down to Boredale, which was a little painful for the toes. Although sheep, if not lambs, were now in view in general there was not much to see. Finally, about 15:00, we reached Ullswater for what the walks book promised would be “one of the most beautiful paths in the Lake District.” Once again, as for walk 17 yesterday, we found the claim a little exaggerated, with the lake appearing no more than pretty. The ups and downs of the path, together with its rocky uneven surface, did not help either. Indeed, the walk became a bit of a slog, with the path becoming rather more crowded. Finally we reached Side Farm where we shared a bottle of Sprite before returning to the car at 17:23 so the 13km walk took 6hr 50min.

Windermere holiday Day 3 of 8 – The Langdales Walk

Today we did walk 17 in the Jarrold book, around the two Langdale valleys.

We started at 10:45, having again been able to find parking only in a car park costing £6. After a deceptively level start, we climbed up the side of Side Pike, skirting around the summit to descend to the attractive Blea Tarn. Although the paths had loose stones and small rocks which made walking rather tricky, the compensation came in the form of blue skies and spectacular peaks all around.

Blea Tarn was followed by Blea Moss and then we found Ting Mound, a small hump where apparently back in the 9^th or 10^th century locals used to congregate in a rudimentary form of government. We saw something very similar in the Isle of Man last June, only there of course it is still in use.

We stopped for lunch on rocks overlooking Little Langdale Tarn. During the next stretch our walk directions were a little misleading so we found ourselves doing two sides of a triangle rather than the third. But then we enjoyed pleasant sections through Braysbrown and Hag Woods. Unfortunately the last stretch along Great Langdale Beck was both very rough underfoot and ever-undulating, a combination which was rather tiresome. We were back at car at 15:55 after just over 12 km, a walk time of five hours compared with the book's estimate of four.

Windermere holiday - Day 2 of 8 – Wansfell Walk

The purpose of this week is to get Pam as ready as possible for her trek later this year so we are hoping to do as many walks as possible. We are using the Jarrold book of Lake District walks and today are doing walk 20, to Wansfell and Troutbeck.

The walk starts in Ambleside where we found the car park costs £6.00, but at least we found a space. The walk ascended up to Stock Gyhll Force through a wood before going out in the open for very long and steep climb up to Wansfell Pike (484m).

Next we went down a long path, eventually arriving at Troutbeck where we turned right on a road to walk through the long thin “village” (actually more a row of cottages). Having had lunch on a seat just past the Post Office we followed a more gentle climb, which soon revealed beautiful views of Lake Windermere, frustratingly in the sun, though, so no good photos.

Then we continued to Jenkyns Ear, though the view was not as good here as it presumably once was because of trees having grown too high. Finally we did a descent through woods back down to car park, finishing at 15:20, which meant we took 40 minutes more than the estimated four hours.

Windermere holiday Day 1 of 8 – Travel Up

We drove up to Windermere today for a week's holiday. Leaving just after 10:30 we arrived at 16:40. The car told us the driving time had been 5 hours 8 minutes, the average speed had been 58 mph, the distance was 296 miles, and our fuel economy was 48.5 mpg.

The place we are staying in is a conversion of an old school, with two floors being made out of the original tall one. This means the original windows stretch up from our bedroom on the ground floor to our living room on the first.

Apart from the general attractiveness of the place, we were pleasantly surprised to find a Booth's supermarket within five minutes walk. This was a new chain for us but it seemed very well-stocked, including a large selection of “Cook!” products. What a shame we had bought a number of M&S meals at a service station on the way.

Himalayas Fine, SE England Too Tough

We occasionally attend meetings of the Purley Literary Society, a group which organises short talks by interesting speakers. For example, we made a trip last year. Tonight there was supposed to be a chat given by someone who had been trekking in the snows and ice of the Himalayas but ironically the frosts of Southern England caused the event's postponement. (It was -6 this morning.)

We were interested in this talk having crossed the Himalyas ourselves eight years ago, travelling from Tibet to Nepal. Here is a photo of us at one of the highest points (over 5,000 metres), with Everest behind us.

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 10 of 17

Summary :- Visit to Ziegler Island (mid-day at 81° 03.9' N 56° 05.3' E)

Detail :-

The island is named after an American baking powder magnate who funded an Arctic expedition. We travelled to and from the island on the ship's helicopter, a mode of transport we were becoming quite blasé about. It was our first experience of solid ground for seven days.

There did not seem that much to see at first but once we started looking at the ground we realised there was a huge variety of small flowers, mosses, and lichens, with an beautiful range of colours.

We had our sole accident of the holiday here. Being uninhabited and rarely visited, there were no paths so it was up to you to choose a route of exploration. I was following Pam when she found the ground a little boggy. With hindsight (such a useful commodity) she should have immediately stepped back but thinking that it was simply a small damp patch she took another step.

This was rather a mistake, as it turned out. Her foot sunk a lot further so she tried to pull it out. Not only could she not do so, the effort meant the other foot was sinking too. I stepped forward to try to help and although I was standing on a relatively dry piece of land, the fact that I was putting a lot of stress on that leading leg meant I began to sink in too.

One of the expedition staff had been alerted to our plight and shouted to us to abandon our knee-high wellington boots. Pam had to leave both of hers, one of which was almost completely submerged by now. I managed to keep one of mine but we both had to step rather gingerly back to the helicopter. Fortunately the carpet of lichen meant it was not too painful.

The wellingtons were supplied by the boat so Pam was able to obtain another pair while in my case one of the guides managed to retrieve my stuck boot later.

Trip Snippet :-

I never join in the automatic sneering at "Health and Safety" that seems so common nowadays. While anything is possible to be taken too far I think most Health and Safety measures actually are desirable. So I must report that the trip did have its share of casualties, and we had not been warned about any of them.

The loss of Pam's boots was fortunately no more than an amusing memory but it still might have been better had we been warned about the dangers of the bogs (the boggy ground had been mentioned in a briefing, but only in the context of their making wellingtons more suitable than walking boots).

Three people ended up on crutches. One was from slipping during his engine room tour and breaking his foot. Another person was crossing some snow and snapped his Achilles tendon by slipping on some underlying rocks. And someone else turned their ankle on an island path.

Of course it would be easy to say they should have been more careful but we were on holiday after all. A few reminders beforehand would not have gone amiss.

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 9 of 17

Summary :- Travelling from North Pole to Franz Josef Islands (mid-day at 83° 43.5' N 50° 37.5' E), Engine Room tour

Detail :-

Today it was our turn to do a tour of the engine room. After a presentation by the Chief Engineer (see details below) our group of ten were taken deep into the bowels of the boat. Surprisingly, perhaps, there were no restrictions on photographs with the only exception, unfortunately, being the most photogenic room : the control room. We were more careful walking round than we might otherwise have been because on the first tour one of our fellow passengers had slipped, breaking his foot. We are beyond the range of hospital access of course so whatever goes wrong with you has to be treated on the spot so it's rather more important than usual not to have an accident.

We had a couple of lectures during the afternoon. One was on the history of Franz Josef Land. Despite the name, the islands are Russian, the "Franz Josef" originating from the fact that he was the Austrian Emperor at the time when Austrian explorers discovered the place.

Although uninhabited, the islands have been used in their time for various scientific purposes, especially meteorological. The big historical interest is in a place called Cape Flora. After his unsuccessful attempt to reach the North Pole back in the 1890s, Nansen and his companion struggled back south, ending up in Franz Josef Land. Their status was not wonderful, having gone months without supplies and not being too sure where they were. They were about to set off in an arguably doomed attempt to reach civilisation when what seemed like a further disaster struck : a walrus punctured their makeshift boats skin so they had to postpone their departure in order to make some repairs.

Unbelievably, given that they were hundreds of miles from any settlement, during these repairs Nansen said he could hear a dog barking. His companion must have thought the long Northern nights must have turned Nansen mad but when they went to investigate they found a British explorer called Jackson. Ironically, Jackson had applied to join Nansen's expedition but been turned down, Nansen advising him to do a reconnaissance of Franz Josef Land instead. Good (for Nansen) advice indeed !

The second lecture was on the botany of the islands. This was a fascinating talk describing not only the flowers we might expect to see, along with the various mosses ad lichens, but also the various evolutionary adaptations made by the fauna to cope with the extremely hostile environment. We also learnt that the American name for Rose Bay Willow Herb is Fireweed, because it is one of the first colonizers of land after it has been devastated by a fire.

Trip Snippet :-

"50 Years of Victory" is the largest icebreaker in the world. It is 155m long and weighs 25,000 tons. It can exceed 20 knots in open water and can carve its way though 3m thick ice, although its speed drops to 3 knots then. Its nuclear reactor power does not drive the propulsion system directly, but instead generates electricity for an electric motor which is far better able to cope with rapid changes of propellor speed (so it is a nuclear-electric engine, analogous to the diesel electric engines on railways). It produces 55 MW of electricity for the propulsion system (enough t support a small town 0f 10,000 people) and 5 MW for the other electrical needs of the boat. They produce their own fresh water by desalination.

There are 86 Geiger counters around the boat to check on radiation levels although in fact the amount of radiation passengers are exposed to is less than what is received on a sunny day in a city with reflections off buildings.

The hull is spoon-shaped to help the boat to ride up and crash down on the ice. There is a stainless steel strip along the edge (visible on one of our North Pole photos) to facilitate slipping through the ice. If the boat should get stuck in ice, water can be pumped inside the boat from aft to stern and vice versa, or from side to side, in order to rock the boat and thus to free it.

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 8 of 17

Summary :- Travelling from North Pole to Franz Josef Islands (mid-day at 87° 39.7' N 56° 28.6'E)

Detail :-

Today we are retracing our steps (if an ice-breaker has steps) so it is a day for lectures. We hear about icebreaker technology (see tomorrow's entry), tectonic plates, and more on polar bears.

On the tectonic plates, we heard that the original idea came from an Alfred Wegener in 1912. Although he came up with a lot of plausible evidence, such as the similarity in the fossil records in strata in different continents, he was unable to come up with a mechanism to power the movement of what we now know as plates. It was not until a chap called Harry Hess identified the sea-floor spreading in the 60s that the idea gained support. We now recognise 17 main plates. One of the further pieces of evidence are the matching magnetic characteristics in the rock successions. There have been 23 reversals over the last 5 million years and these can be observed in continents which have moved since the reversals took place.

The significance for the Arctic in all this is that the ACEX convention agreed that the claims to the currently non-sovereign area will be allocated on the basis of geologic evidence. The Eurasian and US plates have clear boundaries in the Arctic but the remainder are more arguable.

The second lecture on polar bears described the attempts to ensure their survival. Over the years there have been various moves by the five Arctic countries (Russia, Canada, the US, Norway, and Denmark (=Greenland), both together and unilaterally, which have been designed to protect the species.

The one laggard has been the States, although even here the polar bear has now been designated as "threatened" (not as strong as "endangered", but better than nothing). Unfortunately the ever-increasing demands for oil drilling do not help the protection of the bears' habitat.

While up on deck looking at the ice we saw a "fog-bow".

Trip Snippet :-

The icebreaker technology lecture was given by the expedition leader, a Lawrie Dexter. He is immensely experienced in Polar regions, having made over 100 trips. Perhaps more dramatically, he was part of the 8 strong Russian-Canadian team which skied across the Arctic from Russia to Canada back in the mid-80s. He was an "ultra-runner", having run 100km in under 8 hours, 200 km in 24 hours, and 600km (c 375 miles, if you prefer) in 6 days. He has also run 10 marathons in 10 days. Finally, at the age of 63 he still takes part in 100km races.

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 7 of 17

Summary :- At North Pole all day

Detail :-

Woken at 0100 (as light as at 1330, of course) and told we were approaching the Pole. We all went to the bow and became ever more excited as we heard the countdown : 5 nautical miles, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... and then at 0200 we were there ! Champagne all round. And back to bed.

In the morning we found the boat had been anchored in a direction such that the "pole" was below our cabin window and the sun was streaming in. ("Pole" is in quotes because the ice moves at about 5 knots or 15cm/second so strictly speaking we were no longer at the Pole. But who wants to be pedantic ?)

We spent the whole day there, and for once there wasn't a cloud in the sky. After breakfast we went down the steps onto the ice and all posed round the rope circle for the official photograph. We then spent the rest of the morning wandering around (never straying beyond our three Russian guards with their Kalashnikovs).

There was plenty to see : the outside of the ship, the ice-pools, and all the heroes taking a dip in the -2 ° sea. We walked round the world in 80 seconds (rather faster than Phileas Fogg, in other words) before eating a three-course barbecue lunch on the ice. Then it was time for our helicopter rides.

I was surprised how flat it was, although of course I should not have been, since there is no land for hundreds of miles. The surface of the ice was rather rough, though, with pressure ridges and blue pools (although the water was just a thin covering over ice). The snow often had holes with blue glows as if illuminated by blue lights underneath. In some places there were icicles under raised slabs. Not only was there no cloud there was no wind either.

The ice was 1.5m thick, according to a fellow passenger who had rigged up a waterproof container on a pole to hold his video-camera. The captain had obviously selected a spot with continuous ice but in the area there is always a mixture of such ice, open sea, and a spectrum of ice density in-between. No-one doubts the effects of global warming on the ice thickness and extent, but there has always been some open sea at some spots during the summer.

Trip Snippet :-

The North Pole has six months of continuous daylight and then six months of darkness. Good job our cabin had dark curtains and that we took our airline-supplied blackout eyeshades.

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 6 of 17

Summary :- Travelling to North Pole (mid-day at 87° 33.6' N 54° 42.0' E, arriving 0200 Friday morning), first helicopter flight

Detail :-

There were no morning lectures because the weather was good enough for helicopter rides. We went up on ten minute flights in batches of ten people, a number which permitted everyone to sit by a window, in my case an open one. This was quite noisy (despite the ear protectors) and cold but did help with the pictures.  See a fellow-passenger's video. 

In the afternoon we had a talk on the "Race to the North Pole" - unlike the South Pole in fact there was not a race but there were plenty of attempts not to mention fraudulent claims. (See below)

Later it was our turn to have a pre-Dinner drink with the captain. He was understandably proud of his boat, the largest ice-breaker in the world. He was also proud of his "visitors' book", which had been signed by a certain Vladimir Putin.

Trip Snippet :-

I had always thought that the American Robert Peary was the first to the North Pole, in 1909. Apparently this is now considered not to be true (a view I confirmed in my Guinness Book of Records on returning home). Before his final push, Peary sent back anyone else who was competent at establishing a position. His subsequent daily distances were unrealistically high. The first person now accepted at having reached 90° N was Amundsen, in 1926. He was in an airship, however, and did not land.

The first person to arrive at the Pole on the surface was an American called Ralph Plaisted. He made it on April 20th, 1968, in other words only just over 40 years ago. However Plaisted's party used snowmobiles. The first chap there under his own steam, so to speak, was British : Wally Herbert. He skied across the Arctic, reaching the North Pole on April 6th, 1969. Unfortunately from a publicity point of view, he completed his crossing on the same day the Apollo 10 astronauts landed.

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 5 of 17

Summary :- Travelling to North Pole (mid-day at 84° 9.4' N 52° 44.7'E) , met polar bears

Detail :-

Called up on deck at 0725 because a mother polar bear and her two cubs crossed right in front of the boat. We are now going through pretty solid ice but of course the boat stopped so we could all have a good look. Shortly afterwards a male bear walked by too.

Heard talks on Nansen, and the making of films such as the Blue Planet. This latter presentation was given by Sue Flood (typically a four week expedition in order to produce a 3 minute clip on the programme)

Trip Snippet :-

In our lecture on polar bears we learnt there are between 21,000 and 30,000. Counting them is very difficult and so claims as to population trends are impossible to prove. There are eight types of bear with the Brown and Polar species being closest. They diverged only about 250,000 years ago and occasionally still interbreed. The female can go without food for eight months, if they survive their early years they can live to be 20 to 30 years old, and they can swim for 100 miles. Their insulation is so good only their noses show up on infra-red cameras (one of the reasons it is difficult to count them) but this does mean they can overheat if they exert themselves too much.

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 4 of 17

Summary :- Travelling to North Pole (mid-day at 78° 50.3' N 49° 08.3'E), encountered first ice, passing through the Franz Josef Land islands

Detail :-

We had several lectures today, on polar bears, on birds, and on the geography of the area. We also had a session by the Official Photographer who gave us tips on photography in such white conditions.

During the latter part of the day we hit our first ice. This was an unnerving experience at first, what with the noise and vibration but after a while we all became blasé about it.

Trip Snippet :-

The origin of the word "Arctic" is the Greek "Arktos" meaning Bear. No, the Greeks were not familiar with polar bears, the word being a reference to the constellation containing the Pole Star which of course is the Little Bear.

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 3 of 17

Summary :-

Travelling to North Pole (mid-day at 72° 54.9' N 38° 5.5'E), no ice yet

Detail :-

Picked up supplied yellow fleece-lined parka.  Lunch.  Watched safety briefing then visited one of the lifeboats. Tea. Chatted to recently retired editor of "Sky and Telescope" magazine.  Given briefing on how to approach and leave the helicopter (our means of travel from ship to any islands we visit). Russian Captain's Welcome Drink then Dinner.

Trip Snippet :-

Expedition staff includes the Leader, a Laurie Dexter who skied across the Arctic from Russia to Canada in the mid-80s (more of him later), his deputy, who has visited more than 115 countries, two historians, an ornithologist, who has visited the Antarctic 40 times and the Arctic 12 times, a marine biologist, a geologist, a film-maker, who was Sue Flood, ex producer of programmes like Planet Earth, an "artist-in-residence", who was a photographer, and of course a doctor, who unfortunately turned out to be needed more than once (see later).

There were also two astronomers, again more of them later

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 2 of 17

Summary :-

Fly from Helsinki to Murmansk (69° 0.00' N 33° 58.0'E), city tour of Murmansk, embark on ice-breaker.

Detail :-

Join rest of 100 strong group at 0420 breakfast. Charter plane took off at 0750 flying over endless lakes, forests, and bare hilltops en route to Murmansk. Also saw a "glory". Landed at 1020 local (1120 Finnish time), through Russian immigration 1140 (even worse than US immigration !).

Onto three decrepit coaches for City Tour, including a lunch at the local top hotel (it's all relative) where we saw restrictions on entry included not being able to take our hand-guns in. Average temperature in July is 10 degrees but in fact it was 25, almost unbearable given our coaches' lack of air conditioning. Everything in the city appeared run-down, although the museum had quite a lot to see. Alas, the story of how the British Merchant Navy had supported the city during the early part of World War II was ignored. The Alyosha Memorial at 42 metres was very impressive.

Wait to get through port security seemed as long as the wait to get into Russia, but much hotter on the coach. On boat "50 Years of Victory" at around 1900, no cooler. Had excellent dinner before watching departure at 1930 boat time (BST+1, for some reason, as opposed to Murmansk's BST+3).

Saw other nuclear-powered ice-breakers (though none as big as our "50 Years of Victory", the biggest ice-breaker in the world.)

Trip Snippet :-

Passenger profile : 109 from 18 countries in total, made up of 35 from UK, 33 from US, 6 from Canada, 6 from Australia, 5 from Mexico, 4 from Iran, 4 from Switzerland, 3 from Germany, 3 from Netherlands, 2 from France, 2 from New Zealand, plus six others.

North Pole and Eclipse Holiday - Day 1 of 17

Travelled from Heathrow to Helsinki on BA, having driven to the airport and parked in our usual long-term car-park. Arrived at Radisson SAS Royal at 1800 local time. Went for a short walk before finding a Greek restaurant (bit of a cultural conflict, it's true) where we had a most enjoyable meal.

Isle of Man holiday - Day 3 of 4

The weather yesterday was glorious but today was more like what you might expect of somewhere in the middle of the Irish Sea : wet and windy. We still had another most enjoyable day, again thanks to Peter and Maureen's great local knowledge and hospitality.

We started by seeing the huge Laxey Wheel, all 22m diameter of it. We took the short trip on a tiny steam train maintained and run by enthusiasts through a tunnel before Pam and I caught the tram into Douglas. We were then treated to lunch at Green's restaurant in the station. After this we spent a most interesting couple of hours in the superb Manx Museum.

Isle of Man holiday - Day 2 of 4

Today Maureen guided us on a walk round the south-west corner of the island, from Port St Mary to Port Erin. Early on we saw lots of new development but soon we were on the coastal path, accompanied by lots of birds including gannets with their plunging dives into the water. Later we saw a peregrine falcon.

We had lunch at the visitor centre on The Sound. This involved a bit of a wait but it allowed us to enjoy the views of the ripping currents and the seals. Later we were fortunate enough to see some basking sharks, something the island is famous for.

After this fascinating but tiring piece of exertion, Peter and I visited his local, the Shore Hotel and drank a couple of pints of the beer brewed on the premises, Bosun's Bitter.

Isle of Man holiday - Day 1 of 4

Pam and I flew over to the Isle of Man today to spend a few days with our former neighbours Peter and Maureen, who moved here back in 1998. It was our first visit to the island and we had been warned to set our watches back ... by 50 years.

Peter gave us a tour of part of the island, taking us to Castleton, Port Erin, the original site of the Tynewald (perhaps the oldest still-running parliament in the world, dating from sometime in the 900s), and Ramsey. The TT races had been held the previous week and we saw much of the associated street furniture, in particular the massive padding around every lamppost, treetrunk, and stone wall.

Ashbourne Holiday - Day 8

Summary :

Travel home via Brewery Museum

Detail :

Most of the time today was taken in packing, driving home, and unpacking. But we fitted in a memorable and timely visit to the only general museum of beer brewing in the country, in Burton-On-Trent.

It was memorable because of the size of the site and the richness of its contents, covering both the history of brewing in Burton and also a more general exhibition of the beer brewing process.

It was timely because, amazingly given how ale is such a traditionally fundamental component of English culture (where else in the world can you buy ale easily, other perhaps than in some places where the English have migrated to ?), this sole museum is about to close ! It used to be the Bass Museum but a few years ago the American company Coors took Bass over and they now say the museum is too expensive to run.

What a loss.

Ashbourne Holiday - Day 7

Summary :

Walk on Tissington Trail

Brownend Quarry

Detail :

We went to Tissington for our walk today, walk 7 in the Jarrold book. Not for the first time this week, we found ourselves on the route of a disused railwayline, now being used as the Tissington Trail. During this initial stretch, we had a go at finding a geocache, our only attempt of the holiday which was a bit of a shame since it ended in failure. There was compensation in the fine views of the White Peak countryside.

We left the Trail to ascent gently across fields, some with cows in, some with medieval "ridge and furrows". On finishing the walk, we ate our lunch on a picnic table on the site of the former station.

We walked to a candle shop in village where we bought a little jar of Vanilla Musk. Having supported the local economy (a remonstrably rare occurrence this week), we spoilt it all by calling in at a Halfords and a Homebase.

Next we drove to Waterhouses where we eventually found where the river disappears into sinkholes. First, though, we walked round Brownend Quarry, with interpretative boards describing the history of limestone.

Ashbourne Holiday - Day 6

Summary :

Chatsworth

Detail :

Today was my most eagerly-anticipated day of the holiday and it did not disappoint : our visit to Chatsworth. We had certainly been before, back in 1986, but one could probably visit once a year and still appreciate the wide variety of interesting sights without a hint of boredom.

En route there, I enjoyed a bit of self-indulgence when we stopped at the hamlet of Sheldon. Why did we stop ? Well, it reminded me of the main character on my favourite TV series of the moment, The Big Bang Theory. (See here for a previous reference.)

At Chatsworth, we walked round the garden first, seeing some exotic chickens, a smart modern-looking (though actually 1970) greenhouse, a 120m long cascade, a secluded secret pond with big bright yellow and white azaleas, a disappointing grotto, an Allen Jones sculpture in the process of installation, and half-hidden in the undergrowth, a trough cascade. We ate our picnic lunch on a seat by a pond with a 4 metre high statue of a hare.

We quickly found the centre of the maze, then read about Joseph Paxton on the site of his Great Conservatory, sadly demolished after WW I when upkeep costs became too great. It made me wonder how big his Crystal Palace was. We failed to see the Coal Tunnel because it said it was closed although supposed to be open from 13:00. We had a close up of the Emperor Fountain, shooting water up to "only" 30 metres. On special occasions it can do 60 metres and, in theory, it can do 90 metres. 3 hectare lake on hills above providing the power, 125 metres above. It was built for Czar Nicholas 1st who, sadly, never got to see it.

Next we did a tour of the house, which took from 14:15 until 16:45. The rooms were very large and were luxuriously decorated and furnished. The paintings had been cleaned which made a dramatic difference. There were lots of modern works of art with explanations of why the Duke had bought them. We saw a large chunk of quartz found during the digging of the Simplon Tunnel and also a Lucien Freud picture of a horse. There was a grotto under some stairs with a Caro as decoration. The Oak Room was rather different.

All in all, it was a fascinating place.

Ashbourne Holiday - Day 5

Summary :

Millers Dale walk

Visit to Buxton

Detail :

Today's walk, walk 10 in the Jarrold book, started in Miller's Dale and continued along a stretch of the Limestone Way. It then entered the National Nature Reserve of Monk's Dale, an almost fantasy world of moss-covered boulders beneath a low canopy of lichen-coated branches snaking through a wood along a stream bed. We could have been in a scene from Lord of the Rings (although not Mount Doom, obviously).

Eventually climbing out of the wood onto a gassy hillside, we were amazed by the profusion of Early Purple Orchids, almost weedlike in their numbers. We then dropped back down to the stream, crossing a footbridge and up a slope to the road, returning to Miller's Dale Station.

Next we drove to Buxton, where we had had a week's holiday back in 1976. There is a lot of regeneration work going on and I particularly appreciated the renovated Victorian bandstand.

Ashbourne Holiday - Day 4

Summary :

Walk at Dovedale

Visit to Heights of Abraham

Detail :

We skipped the Jarrolds book today, instead walking up Dovedale and back. The walk was quite pleasant being quite close to fast-running shallow stream. There was nothing particularly spectacular although some of the rocks were quite impressive.

Next we drove to Matlock Bath, negotiating a surprisingly deep ford en route. This was to go up to the Heights of Abraham on a cable car. We then went straight into the Coffee Shop which was surprisingly smart with a good selection of food and pleasant service.

Next to Cave 1, where we did a 30 minute guided tour, having looked at small exhibition first. On emerging onto a hillside with good view of Riber Castle on other side of valley, we walked down to a second cave where we did another 30 minute guided tour. The man rushed his spiel but there was a good pre-recorded bit at end. We were too far down to climb back up to cable car so we continued walking down to road where some of the party (not me) ate an ice-cream.

Ashbourne Holiday - Day 3

Summary :

Youlgrave Walk

Visit to Haddon Hall

Detail :

Today we did Walk 12 from the Jarrolds book, which took us from the village of Youlgreave (or Youlgrave) down to the River Bradford, then up along the River Lathkill to Over Haddon. We climbed up through a wood and then the rest of walk was completely different, crossing open fields on the limestone plateau with cattle grazing.

Following this we drove to Haddon Hall. This was not just old but actually looked old inside compared with other stately homes with lots of oak, both pillars and panels. The Kitchen, Great Hall, and above all, the Long Gallery were particularly impressive.

Ashbourne Holiday - Day 2

Summary :

Walk at Wetton via Thor's Cave

Visit to Ilam Park

Detail :

The walks we are doing this week come from the Peak District volume of the Jarrolds Short Walks series. It contains 20 walks of varying distances and today we did Walk 13 "Thor's Cave and Beeston Tor".

We saw the cave, which was much bigger than expected, the line of the former Leek and Manifold Railway line, now a cycleway, and the route of the River Manifold. It's "route" because outside of particularly wet spells, the river disappears down sinkholes.

It reappears via boilholes, which we found when we went for tea at the National Trust site of Ilam Park. The other unusual sight was of ducklings jumping almost out of the water to catch flies.

Ashbourne Holiday - Day 1

Summary : Travel from home to holiday cottage

Detail :

Pam and I travelled up to Derbyshire today for a week long holiday staying in a cottage just outside Ashbourne, on the southern tip of the Peak District.

The cottage was not the most luxurious we have stayed in, but it was warm.

 

 

On the way up we found this rocket in a motorway service station car park.

 

Lack of Excitement at Hinton Ampner

After a very leisurely start to the day, followed by a bit of shopping in the nearby West Quay shopping centre (with its John Lewis and Marks & Spencer), we set off for the National Trust house of Hinton Ampner
.

The house itself was a little dull but, to be fair, the place is really known for the associated park and gardens. Since the weather was not exactly favourable, we decided to save these for another day.

Spitfires, Sculptures, and Saxons in Southampton

We spent much of today walking round the numerous tourist attractions of Southampton.

We started with the walls, including standing under an archway through which the troops had marched en route to Agincourt, almost 600 years ago. Then we crossed a park with a sculpture made out of a dead tree, ending up at the large Sky Museum. Here we saw a Spitfire and sat at the controls of a flying boat.

The museum took around 80 minutes to go round so by now it was time for lunch. We went to Oxford Street, which has a number of eating places, and had a pint and a bite in the White Star Tavern. The beer was Ringwood Ale, something I had not tried before. Both the place and the beer can be recommended.

Suitably fortified, we moved on to the Museum of Archaeology, which featured the three previous Southamptons : the Roman, the Saxon, and the Medieval. It was full of interesting exhibits. Finally we visited the Maritime Museum. This had a large model of the port area in 1939 and a wealth of items to do with the Titanic, including many potted biographies of passengers and crew, both survivors and those who did not make it.

South To Southampton

Back in the gloom of January we decided that we should take a weekend off for a bit of relaxation. And so we booked ourselves into an excellent hotel I stayed in six years ago for work : the de Vere Grand Harbour in Southampton. Apart from its many internal attractions, described in my TripAdvisor report, the hotel has an excellent position for both the tourist and the shopping sites of the city.

Bolivia - Day 15

Day 15 - Summary

Bolivia is the the seventh South American country we have visited over the years, and the poorest. But there are many positive aspects to the place : it is very colourful, the scenery is grand, and there aren't too many tourists in the touristy spots.

Everything is so cheap which means it is possible to stay in the best hotels and eat the best food without even thinking about it. There is quite a bit of history to see, there is the contrast between the highlands (plains and mountains above 3,000 metres) and the humid jungly areas (only around 2,000 metres), and there are enough llama and vicuna to keep any animal lover happy.

Against that, the infrastructure is as backward as might be expected, which means it takes a long hot journey to get from one sight to another. Many tourists will think this part of the adventure, of course, but I like my comforts !

My top three sites ?

(1) The Uyni salt plains

(2) The Cal Orko dinosaur tracks site

(3) The Potosi tin mines

Bolivia Day 14

Day 14 of 14

Location : KLM flight to Amsterdam, Surrey

Summary : Flight to Schipol, then flight to Heathrow, taxi home

Highlights :

Watched early "Bewitched", and repeat of first Martha Jones Dr Who, managed five hours sleep on 12 hour flight. Arrived 1230. Caught 1515 flight to Heathrow. Saw O2 building, Wimbledon Centre Court, and Twickenham Stadium. In taxi 1700 and home by 1750.

Bolivia Day 13

Day 13 of 14

Location : Lima, KLM flight to Amsterdam

Summary : Morning - city tour, Afternoon - start flight home

Highlights

Main square, San Francisco monastery with lots and lots of bones, Larcomar shopping, flight left 1835 local (0035 Amsterdam)

Bolivia - Day 12

Day 12 of 14

Location : La Paz, Lima (Peru)

Summary : Morning - fly to Lima, Afternoon - visit anthropological museum

Highlights

Highly interesting museum, guided by a David who spoke each sentence both in Spanish and English. Five periods of pre-colonial Peruvian history, clearly described and compared. Extensive erotic sculptures with numerous combinations

Bolivia - Day 11

Day 11 of 14

Location : La Paz

Summary : Morning - tour of Tiwanaku, Afternoon - postcard writing

Highlights :

Five year old museum very good layout with lots of space, in particular showing a 10m high Pachamama. Excavated area full of items too. Dinner on 16th floor of hotel.

Bolivia - Day 10

Day 10 of 14

Location : Potosi/ La Paz

Summary : Morning - fly to La Paz, Afternoon city tour

Highlights

Chocolate box soldiers in main square, posh residential area, Valley of the Moon a sort of poor man's Bryce Canyon. Although at over 3,600m, a decline from previous altitude of 4,100m so had delicious wine with dinner.

Bolivia - Day 9

Day 9 of 14

Location : Uyuni/Potosi

Summary : Morning - Drive to Potosi, Afternoon - visit to tin mine

Highlights

Train cemetery with locomotive that supposedly pulled last train Butch Cassidy robbed, turned down opportunity to buy dynamite as gift for tin miners choosing coca leaves instead, mine very narrow and water-logged. Interesting tour of Old Mint building.

Bolivia - Day 8

Day 8 of 14

Location : Uyuni

Summary : Drive across part of salt plains, including visit to Isla Pescadores

Highlights

Family run salt production operation in mud hut, trick photography on 10,000 sq km (size of Surrey + Kent + Sussex) flat salt plain, "island" with 10,000 cacti, unsurpassed view of Milky Way with totally clear skies, no moon, and the nearest streetlights scores (and the nearest serious town hundreds) of kilometers away.