In search of a van

St Guthlac's Church

The Fish and Chip van comes to my village on a Friday evening. On google there is a website with the van timetable, and backing this information up, Diane and Jeremy saw the said van when they drove into the village. So with crutches at the ready, we set off for the first stop to buy fish and chips assured it would be parked there. No van! I had lurched my way with determination and speed to the first stop. I just had to do more lurching. We walked to the second stop. The van overtook us while we were walking towards the stop. Where it had been hiding,  God knows. All I can say is that I certainly got my exercise in before tucking into the fish and chips. 

By the time I had got to the second stop, I had almost done my village circuit. The village isn't very big so one trip round isn't a big deal, even on crutches. The biggest challenge getting round the village is shuffling up the slope that leads out of the Horse Tunnel. I walk up that bit like a crab. As soon as I could put my foot down, I started getting out and about. It is such a joy to be mobile but I have eased off on the walking as my wound still bleeds a little and my ankle swells up so I know I am doing too much now I have the freedom to walk with a boot. Silly me!

Life suddenly became so much easier when I had a boot fitted last week. I can put weight on my leg and with just one crutch, I can get up and down stairs and walk around the house provided I have the boot on. Without a boot I can't do much at all still. Life was so much better the first time I found I could carry a coffee cup and sit comfortably to drink it instead of propping myself on a stall in the kitchen. Getting things done is still a bit of a faff but that won't be for ever. Things are looking up already.

The doctor told me my scar was healing nicely. He also suggested a G&T would act as a mild painkiller. Who am I to go against doctor's orders?  It is surprising that this is not available from a pharmacy. I have been to the supermarket and got round without a wheelchair. My big embarrassment on that trip was the result of a sartorial blip. I went shopping wearing a slipper. I am sure there must have been a few glances my way sympathising with the poor old dear on crutches where house slippers. At least I had changed out of my jimjams. 

The Barley Mow is now under new ownership and it opens on Thursday. Today they posted the new menu on FB. Sausage and mash costs £19. I can only imagine how big those sausages must be if they cost that much. The new menu looks like it is a Harvester Style one. - Errrr. Already, my hackles are up. It doesn't look like this is going to be the popular village pub it was two weeks ago. Worse still, Richard, Jim and Ezra-Mae went to The Galleon, the next pub along on the Canal from the Barley Mow, where they ordered a lunch that never turned up. You would think the landlord would be rather apologetic for this  - absolutely not. He was rude and abusive. Just the sort of customer service everyone should avoid. 

On a happier note, I went to St Guthlac's Church Open Day yesterday. It is a small church that has a big history in a hamlet near me. I hobbled across a field where I parked the car and lurched through the gravelly graveyard to visit the building. There is a proud association with the English Civil War, especially so now they have found a 22 foot pike that dates back to the Civil War. After an enjoyable visit, I then popped into Stony Stratford to cash a cheque which I forgot to take with me. Duh! 

I am looking forward to getting back to swimming. Last time, I felt this was key to my speedy recovery. Perhaps it will get my brain working too. I seem to have done some pretty daft things lately.

A self-confessed plonker

The local pub

There are many words that have drifted through my mind this week to describe my behaviour. Being on one leg brings many frustrations, especially as I am beginning to feel more energetic as I recover from my operation. My mind believes that I can do so much, yet even small things wear me out. Added to this, I can't carry anything while I am on crutches. My hands are already full! I thought that I could wear dresses and skirts to cover my cast and then realised crawling around with a long skirt on is really hampering. Each time I kneel on the hem, I stop dead. Errr.

My first idiotic escapade was to The Barley Mow  - the pub next door.  The village held a party to say goodbye to Paul, the publican, as he retired last Saturday. Obviously, I wanted to raise a glass and say goodbye so I pulled the zimmerframe downstairs, bumping my head repeatedly on the way down and lurched to the garden gate. I was well on my way to the pub. Probably 30 meters more and I'd be at the bar. The trouble was that just climbing out of the front door and making my way through my courtyard had already exhausted me. By the time I got to the top of my road, I had gathered a group of concerned supporters who walked slowly with me. The barman brought a drink to me and I settled in a seat and stayed there. 

When it came to going home, I managed to lurch to the carpark where two young boys offered to help me. I am not sure what they had in mind but I appreciated their concern. I gave up and asked for a lift from a car that had just pulled in. I was driven home and my zimmerframe was delivered to my gate by the son of the driver. How lovely everyone had been. Yet, I felt I was a complete bozo for even thinking I was capable of popping to the pub. 

Other descriptors for my idiocy spring to mind - twat, dork, jerk, twerp - we English have so many colourful words for stupidity. Later on in the week, I chose similar words for a judge who had hit the headlines for passing judgement on a zoom call conducted from his bed. What an idiot, I thought. Judicial standards are slipping. Then the reporter said he had had an operation on his Achilles tendon the previous day. Immediately my sympathy was for this poor man who had struggled to do his job just one day after an operation. How dare he be criticised for going to the lengths he did just one day after being under the knife. 

Since my disastrous trip to the pub, Danielle took me shopping to Tesco. She borrowed a wheelchair and parked in the disabled parking lot. It was good to get out of the house but it was so frustrating being pushed around. Supermarkets are not designed for wheelchair users. Everything I needed was just out of reach. I can see myself being consumed by sheer rage in my old age when I can't do simple things.

Mattaya in her new jumper

At least, from the comfort of my sofa, I have been productive. With my leg up, I've done a bit of writing here and there and some crocheting too. I have already made a jumper for Mattaya and she loves it. I am on my second book too. No point twiddling my thumbs. There is lots to do. 

Next step. My new boot

Loose Ends

My leg!

 I am on my sofa just as I imagined I would be. The operation to repair my Achilles tendon went well and now I am on the mend. For the time being I hop round the house on one good leg - but not for long. The upside of this arrangement means that by lying down with my leg up, I have time to reminisce my holiday. I have lots of photos and having only shown them to two people so far, I have looked through them a few times by myself to recount the pleasures and there are so many pictures of Mosques with beautiful blue tiles. I like to think I spent my time soaking up memories rather than photographing everything I saw. 

I am turning into Mrs Misery over some behaviours I really don't understand. Top of the list is people taking selfies in front of anything and everything so that the actual building or object is obscured. On my trip to Prague, two girls were in a queue pouting and taking selfies while waiting for a rather grotty toilet. Why oh why? Then when I was in Prague, mostly women posed in front of statues, towers and churches for someone else to take multiple photos of them. I am not against personal photos per se, it is the quantity and repetition that irks. People on the bus took selfies too. Do they look at ALL of them?

While I am on my soap box, I have to mention bags. Suitcases, wheelies, rucksacks - all the types of bags we use for our holidays. Bigger bags mean you can take the kitchen sink along with you which might come in handy, but these bags need to be lifted onto trains, into buses and dragged onto the Metro. One lady dropped hers down an escalator  in Istanbul and the handle bent until it was all but useless. I try not to take more than I need on holiday and then not buy too much while away. However, there were a few things I regret not buying this time. I promised my son a camel but the humps would not have folded into my little soft-top wheelie. He got socks and my daughter got a silk scarf. I, too, have a few treasures to remember my trip by. I bought a picture of the Silk Road and a silk scarf for me. All this was quite manageable. I started with less than 14kg and I wasn't much heavier when I got home. 

I was much taken by some of the names I came across on my journey. In Istanbul there was Hotel Magnificent. That is a name to live up to and from the outside of the building, I feel it had a long way to go. In Athens there was Hando Massage - what else would you use? Also the VIP Cafe had seen far better days so I don't think many VIPs would venture there - it was all but derelict. I stayed in Ideal Hotel in Tashkent - again this had a few things that needed sorting to be truly Ideal - even though it wasn't bad. 

There are a few things that have made me chuckle. In Kyrgystan, the guards did a wonderful rendition for the Ministry of Silly Walks and then in Athens, the guards outside the presidential palace, wearing curly slippers with bobbles and retro uniforms outperformed the men from Kyrgystan with their high kicks. It made me consider what foreigners might think of our changing of the guard with their big bearskins. I think the slippers with the bobbles on takes the biscuit.

Kyrgystan guards on the move

Having suffered from diarrhoea and sickness for much of my trip, I am an expert on toilets. I got used to paying for the pleasure. The further west I travelled, the more expensive my visits became. In Brussels it cost 1.20 Euro to go to the toilet at the railway station. Having paid, I discovered it was disgusting. Yucky disgusting. Then even further west at St Pancras the toilets were spotless and free. I knew I was in the UK as it took three "sorry"s to negotiate my way out of the ladies'. 

And so, back on English soil, I walked to Euston, got on a train and was home in no time at all. Suddenly my holiday was over. Until the next adventure....

A big welcome home

And then it Rained

My penultimate destination was Prague. I needed to get from Athens to Prague fairly quickly as time for my travels was running out. I have a surgery planned for 16th September so I need to be home for that. 

Flixbus company changed my ticket and asked if I wanted a refund. Of course I didn't. I needed to get to Prague. My new route took a few hours longer and went via Sofia - another country accidentally bagged thanks to Flixbus. My passport is filling up with stamps. Having huffed a little, I sucked it up and got on with the trip.

I chatted to a professional violinist on the bus from Sofia. What an amazing opportunity and what a lovely person too. This made that leg of the trip fly by. Then spending half a night at Zagreb bus station slipped by chatting to another lovely lady from Bulgaria; mostly about the failings of men. Everyone speaks English beautifully while I struggle with other languages so having people to speak to who have such a good command of my language never fails to impress.

I had three days of planned sightseeing before moving onto Brussels so I could return on the Eurostar. I have been away for just over a month, travelling through ten countries and absorbing so many different things, my mind goes giddy just trying to work out what day it is.

I do get a few clues from my phone. I always know it is Tuesday as someone from the orchard where I volunteer sends far too many whatsapp messages to let everyone know which bus she is on. I get to see these even though I am away. Because I am on limited data, I don't open my messages up if I can help it but when I see ten or more, I wonder if there is a problem. 

I have recently realised that I had not been rained on until Wednesday. It was such a lovely sensation, I was happy to get wet. I walked through the streets of old Prague stepping in puddles and getting a buzz out of feeling cooler. Give me a couple of wet days back in Blighty and I'll probably feel depressed like everyone else.

I love Prague. I get the feeling it is a city that doesn't take itself too seriously. Clock bells ring out on every hour and the historic towers that got knocked down during conflicts were rebuilt in the original style. The buildings are decorated with baroque plaster work across the whole city, I wanted to take pictures of everything. How do you chose the nicest? Impossible. I just gawped and absorbed the delights.

I did the Big Bus tour and the river tour to get my bearings. I found my way through the narrow streets from the area near the castle across the river to the streets of the old quarter. My hotel was really close to the Powder Tower so that is a good landmark that helped me locate myself.

I climbed up the Powder Tower, so called as it might have stored gunpowder. I also climbed up the astronomical clock tower and then visited the dungeons below. However, my trip to the cathedral of St. Cyril and St. Methodius made the biggest impact. It was there that seven freedom fighters fought to their death against 700 Nazis. The reprisals for their resistance resulted in hundreds of people being executed and two villages destroyed. A film was made of the story. 

The crypt

It left me thinking. These people fought and died to make their world a better place. Today we are in an even bigger mess. The crypt is a memorial to these men who died to save their country. We certainly don't learn from history. That's for sure. 

On my last day I did the museum. Once again I was impressed. It was interactive and engaging. The Twentieth Century rooms covered the wars and communism. The natural history section was laid out in an informative way; linking the rooms with evolution theories.

Exhibit A. A giant garoupa

The history of the region was more difficult for me to grasp. Being land-locked, the shape and size of the country changed and shifted over the centuries. It fought the thirty years war against Sweden, through a few religious renegades out of windows, struggled with the ethnic makeup of its population. It also spent some time subsumed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then soon after independence was then rocked by the rise of Nazism. Now it is two separate countries and thriving. A success story on so many levels.

My planned overnight sleeper to Brussels did not work out. A moment of panic passed and then I booked another long bus trip. So without a bed for the night, I set out to explore Brussels before my Eurostar departed for London.

I'm home, I've had guests for the weekend and my son has come up from Brighton to visit too. I gave him socks made from camel hair. I said I couldn't fit a whole camel into my small suitcase so it cold only be a pair of socks. So... I'm home.

Dam wesring his camel-hair socks

Crossing Continents

The Acropolis from the Agora

Turkey straddles two continents and this is my excuse for a longer rambling discourse than is usual to share my adventures. Istanbul has all the hustle and bustle of Asia as well as the behaviour of people not respecting your space. I attempted to walk down the main thoroughfare from Taksim Square but was buffeted by so many people who walked straight through me. Even children walked into me along the way. Why? I ask myself. Am I so diminutive that nobody notices me? Whatever the reason, it is both frustrating and tiring. 

A selfie

It was lovely to be able to spend time with an old friend, Maram, in Istanbul. She showed me the other side of Istanbul with its modern elegance and quiet charm. That was such a delight. At one hotel in Tersane the pool had been designed so that it looked as if a Persian carpet was soaking in it. I was blown away. No photo could replicate how amazing this looked. 

Magic carpet

And so it was that my journey had to continue. I went back into Asia, across the narrow strait and spent a goodly time in a Hammam - escaping with most of my skin intact after a very harsh rub down. After this I set off for the bus in Dudullu to the south of Istanbul. I had to remember names spelt in a different alphabet, and ask for directions when I wasn't sure. The further away from the centre of tourist Itanbul you go, the less people can communicate.  Throughout my trip, I have once again been dogged by wifi issues which means that getting around is not quite so easy. My Ryoko overheated and died on the Silk Road then I got an e-sim which would not link up with Turkish telecoms. Now I am in Greece, life is a bit easier and for now, I am connected. 

The bus trip did not pass without difficulties. It arrived late, left the station even later and then on the road somewhere near Bodrum it stopped so a man with a van could  take loads of stuff out of the bus storage compartment. Surely for Flixbus this must be a dodgy practice? My mind raced - a drugs drop? Black market trading? Intrigue! Worse, it took longer than I expected.

Added to my woes, I went to the wrong ferry port in Bodrum and then had to race to the correct one. I was the last on. On the upside, at least I got to see bits of Bodrum I would have otherwise missed. Herodotos was commemorated there and as they say, the rest is history!

Kos at sunset

Kos was packed to the rafters with tourists supping cocktails and soaking up the sun. Surprisingly, the unofficial uniform for women of all shapes was cheap batik and crinkly cotton outfits. It was worth going to Kos just so that I don't have to go again. It is beautiful but the mass tourist industry has made it just another hot place to have a holiday - even though you do have a range of options as to which Pirate ship you might want to escape the island for a day on. It must have been quieter when Hippocrates and Alexander the Great were there even with the intermittent wars.

I set sail for Piraeus at sunset and got to Athens the following lunch time. That sunset really was a wow moment. I stayed on deck until we were well on our way. Those moments are what holidays are made of. Athens is full of Americans. I know because I can hear them! Even in the museum they share their chat with everyone in earshot. Definitely annoying.

I just loved the museum - absolutely everything about it. The archtecture, the exhibits, the stories  - all so well done. I now know I should have burnt my toys in homage to Artemis so that I could grow up. Big Ted is still in Danielle's garage so no hope of my becoming grown up for a while yet. I listen to Natalie Haynes which has given me a bit of a heads up on all the goings on with the Greek Gods. Athena is practically the Godess of almost everything. Zeus ate her Mum, Metis, before she was born. Probably not the best start to a promising future and now she has a city named after her even so. 

I was tempted to buy a Gorgon's head just to keep the grandchildren in check. People frequently did that back then to scare of unwanted guests - probably not just for their grandkids.

There were a couple of exhibits I would have renamed. One said; "Horse without a rider." The horse only had two front legs so it was a horse without a backside - much more accurate. There is thirteen centuries of development and the buildings of the Acropolis are just two and a half thousand years old. It has served many functions - temple, home, church, mosque, fortress. The question is, did Elgin steal the marbles through subterfuge? He certainly  wasn't careful in taken the treasures and managed to destroy some on the way. However, the Ottomans used the building as a fortress and much of it was blown up through their doing. Things stolen are now exhibited in the museum as plaster cast models with the small bits remaining slotted into the casts. I think maybe it is time to hand the disputed marbles back. Greece is looking after its history extremely well. Brits should bury the hatchet as to whether it was legit or not how we came by them and be magnanimous.

My trip has a recurring theme. Police presence. Even in Athens on a Friday night there were vans and police with riot shields, padded jackets all ready for action. I found that 30th August in Turkey was a celebration -Victory Day and that explains the police. At least I missed Putin's recent visit to Bishkek. 

All the President's Men

Reaching Bukhara from Samarkand, we found a hive of activity. The place was abuzz with police, street cleaners and security agents wearing blacks suits and white shirts in plus 40c heat. These men were hardly incognito. The President of Azerbaijan's visit to the ancient city was imminent. I must say that in 24 hours, the roads got painted, zebra crossings gleamed, the flower beds were stocked with colour and most of the roads were blocked off. 

A big regret. I didn't buy the sheep hat

This was effort on a grand scale. The centre of the old city is Disney-fied to the extreme. Renovations to buildings that had fallen into disrepair began in tbe 70s under Soviet rule but went on apace from the 90s onwards. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ready for action

Flowers from far and wide planted together

The cities on the Silk Road are fully geared up for tourists. It only had the finishing touches added for the President's benefit. It is amazing and very neatly manicured. I know the Silk Road is essentially about retail but I am incredulous that anyone makes a living as there are stores galore in every corner. 

By the time I got to Bukhara, I felt a little domed-out. I had seen so many; and they are all so beautiful. The sheer amount is overwhelming. 

Moving on from Bukhara, we caught a Soviet style train through the Red Desert to Urgench and then immediately onwards to the desert by minibus to see a few of the one thousand fortresses that were established in the first century AD. This swathe of Asia has had upheaval and wars aplently throughout its long history. Then with Soviet control, the ethnic groups became mixed, religion was squashed and now it is peaceful. This is surprising considering its proximity to Afghanistan. 

I have found it hard to put into any order the rise and fall of so many little empires. The history goes back fifteen centuries where there are so many khans, rulers, tribes and shifting borders. Algorithms and algebra came from Khiva in the nineth century. Astronomy also had its grounding in the region through Ulugh Beg. These famous people have statues and mausoleums - so many that I hardly remember any.

Khiva

My holiday has gone by in a blur because of recerring tummy troubles. The low point was when I threw up in a plastic bag while travelling in the minibus. The bus stopped for me. I splattered the verge, knotted the bag up and held it for many more kilometers before I could find a bin just to uphold my green credentials. 

Now I am in Turkey. I am almost scared to order anything that might set me off again. My flight on Uzbek Airlines didn't help. Universally the food offered was rejected by everyone on the plane. Everyone wanted to get to the front, heave their heavy bags and ignore all other passengers and obstacles.

I tried to visit the loo. Queuing didn't help. Just when it was my turn, the staff asked me to move inside the food prep area so they could move the trolley. Two other people jumped in before me. I couldn't even claim my aisle seat. A hefty woman climbed on and over me three times to get into the aisle and then wanted me to get out of the way so she could get off the plane when there was no room for me to move anywhere. Being under the weather made this all the more irritating and I found myself resentful of the way people behave in some parts of the world. I tried to watch Wuthering Heights... aah... I never did get to finish it... I'll never know whether Cathy does meet Heathcliffe in the hereafter in this version... Hindley is MIA.

The plane landed. The pilot got a round of applause. Why? I am sure the President of Azerbaijan would have had edible food and a more restful flight. I can only tick this one off as one of the worst flights I have taken. EVER. 

My time in Turkey has been blessed yet again. This time I met up with Maram, a friend from Syria. We hit the high life visiting a hi tech toilet. It washed and dried you at the press of a couple of buttons.. Woohoo. Match that UK! Istanbul is party central. It lights up at night and everyone is out on the street - even police with guns! Perhaps there is a president lurking in the vicinity.

And now... onward... 

A Public Inconvenience

 I thought of calling this blog, "Toilets I have Known". Holidays inevitably require the use of public toilets. It is a popular topic of conversation and often the stuff of  holiday memories. Perhaps it is the wafting aroma or the design than lingers long in the memory. It may even be the location or the urgency with which you need to use the said public convenience. 

Whatever the reason, I can think back to holidays years ago and still remember some of the worst places imaginable to relieve myself. For a few days on this trip I have suffered from Delhi Belly. I think it might have been a hibiscus tea that triggered my angst in the first place but the effects have lingered long since. 

Many Asian toilets are no more than a hole in the ground over which you squat. This to the uninitiated means that you need to be cautious with your aim and this takes a little practice. I went to one toilet on a hill on the way to a waterfall. That one was black and very wet. It smelt so bad you could sense it was there before entering, the smell even wafted from the carpark. Then I went to one on the Kyrgystan Kazakhstan border. That was al-fresco and almost as bad. There were no doors! The through breeze reduced the intensity of the smell though. That was a blessing. There are others I could describe but I am sure you get the picture. There are certainly no electronic feedback boards near these toilets where you can leave a happy face, that is for sure. I am always inclined to hang on for a better place to go but with an upset tummy this isn't an option. 

Registan Square

I am writing this from Uzbekistan - a place where everything is clean. Nobody drops litter. The public toilets glow! In fact the toilets at the train station in Kazakhstan smelt of fresh bleach and were beautifully kept. They put toilets in the UK to shame. I have only been in Uzbekistan a short time but already I love it. I can tell the people love their country and rightly so. It is something to be proud of. The architecture is European, the streets are broad and the traffic flows. The train service runs on time too. It was only really Kyrgystan that was developing and in need of a leg up out of the three countries I am visiting.

I have also had to get used to the different exchange rates for the three countries too. We had som in Kyrgystan, Tenge in Kazakhstan and now so'm in Uzbekistan. The pronunciation of the currency sounds like the word for poison in Arabic. I am a millionaire still as the small notes have at least three zeros on them. Ticket offices are Kacca. Silly me for being amused by this!

Most of my pictures are of mosaics, mosques and madrasahs. Absolutely stunning and built with such skill, it is difficult not to take photos. We were treated to a light and laser show on the walls of Registan Square, acompanied by classical music and narrated by a voice like Tom Waits. Woohoo!

This is my holiday and while I'm loving it, I am unclear of about anything that is happening on World News. I bought a Ryoko so that I would be connected to the internet, as much for safety as anything else. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a hopeless investment. It won't connect to the internet so I rely on hotel internet only. The Ryoko support asks me to try this and try that. Nothing works. It overheated to the point I thought it would catch fire and now it won'y turn on. Argh.... I am a wee bit concerned that I will need to make an emergency call or check something and I will be cut off from the world. It is a personal inconvenience.

I have been crossing borders as this vast empty part of the world needs long distance travel just to get between places. Even so, having been to a wonderful museum in Almaty, I realise how much I won't be able to see on this trip. One of my big things was to see Tamberlaine's tomb. I saw that on Saturday and it didn't disappoint. 

I still have a few days left and so much to pack in. Must dash!