And welcome once again to sunny Denmark. I am in the office, outside dawn creeps over the tundra of Randers, and inside I have a day of meetings and countless cups of coffee. Over the weekend they had several inches of snow here, and like we would expect of the Nordic types, the roads and car parks are clear of snow and ice, and life goes on.
I was nearly two hours late arriving here yesterday after the plane got snowed in at Billund aiport due to heavy snow. That meant that our flight got delayed too. Thankfully I travelled during the day instead of the evening, otherwise I would not have arrived at the hotel until nearly two in the morning. As it was, I got here at half four, checked into the hotel to find they had given me a suite as I must be some kind of regular customer now. And I have coffee making facilities in the room! And not just the over-priced minibar.
Anyway, I have to say the thrill of business travel has long-since left me, and it is just a grind to climb onto the twenty to seven train out of Dover, get out at Stratford, catch the DLR to London City Airport, print out my boarding pass, check my case in, go through security and wait for my flight to be called. Even writing it down there, I realise that it is an exciting thing to be doing, and much better than shoving giblets back up a chicken’s backside which was one of my first jobs. Even better than working at the box factory too. Sorry Cath, but there it is. The train from Dover is a modern, Japanese built bullet train. Kinda. And it whizzes through the dawn of a new week dropping me off at the International Station at Stratford.
That a new DLR line was built that matches my business trip from that station to the airport means my trip involves just one change until I’m in the departure hall. And the line goes through the heart of the Olympic Park, so I see the main stadium, the aquatics centre and the other iconic venues. It already seems so long ago that we were there cheering on Team GB, the athlete’s village is being transformed into housing, but there does not seem to be any urgency about the work. But then that is compared to the pace of work before the games.
Whilst waiting for my flight, I realised a long-held dream; to have my shoes shined. Not much of a dream, but I thought such things only existed in flims, but no: I climbed up and me and the shoe shine made small talk about the weather whilst he buffed up my old No 1s.
Leaving London, the city was momentarily bathed in pale winter sunshine, I could see along the river towards The City, how crowded it all looks and the people like ants, before the we were swallowed in the low cloud and I returned to read my book as we turned to the north and towards real winter.
We had a good weekend; I left work early on Friday; well, I left just before 11 to head to Canterbury for more physio. I had to call into a camera shop to pick up Jools’ new compact, so I thought I would have left enough time to get there. Traffic in Canterbury is legendary, and leaving 75 minutes to drive the 20 miles to the city and get to the hospital seemed plenty of time. However, the traffic bean in Sturry and was solid into the City. We inched along, I called into the shop, picked up the camera, rejoined the traffic, and despite that only taking 5 minutes, I was still 45 minutes late getting to the hospital.
Thankfully, I was still able to be seen, and I left at two in the afternoon, not having had any lunch and aching from the pummelling I had just received. Instead of heading back into the traffic of Canterbury, as the schools were about to empty and Old Dover Road would be solid with traffic, buses and parked cars, I headed out of the city and down Stone Street to find a place for a bite of lunch.
I stopped at Upper Hardres, pronounced ‘Hard’. I went into The Granville, a gastro-pub and had scotch egg and piccalilli. It was good enough for me, and afterwards headed to the two local churches to snap them. At Upper Hardres they told me of another one a mile away, so I called in at Stelling Minnis too, but that was locked fast with the key holder having no idea where the key was.
I headed home for a lie down as my back was complaining, needless to say soon enough I was joined by a couple of cats who thought they would point out that maybe I would like to feed them instead of just laying down…..
That night Jools had her work’s Christmas party; they went bowling in Ashford. And I headed to the cinema to see Skyfall. The plan being that the film finished I would go and pick Jools up. As it turned out the film overran and I was late picking her up. But, it worked out mostly well enough. The film was good, well the first two reels were action-packed, but let down by a low-key and implausible final reel and scene.
Implausible? Wouldn’t that describe most Bond films> I guess so. But for a film set in the ‘real world’ it had some unrealistic moments. But, it was mostly a triumph in what was Bond’s 50th year, and will take a lot to top when the next film is made. We drove back under a full moon with the stars bright as diamonds above us.
Saturday morning was much brighter than expected, so after thinking all week how to make my wildlife shots better, I got the chance to head down to the castle to the car park where we have been scattering seeds. I got some great shots of Jays, magpies squirrels and assorted finches and tits, using f6.7 or f8 did the trick and most of the shots are sharp as a tack. Sorted.
We then headed out to Tong Mill to pick up some homebrew stuff for my friend, Shaggy, here in Denmark. We then went on a church hunt, visiting four churches south west of Faversham; only two of which were unlocked, but it made for a pleasant morning. One of the most impressive was the wonderfully called The Beheading of St John the Baptist in Doddington. It has a fine clapboard tower, and inside is typical Kentish, with a fine wooden roof and red Victorian tiles on the floor.
We headed down the hill and found a nice looking pub,The Chequers. We go in and sit by the open fire, order our drink and a meal. I had ham, eggs and chips, a fine meal. The beer is good too, and the landlady is very pleasant calling everyone ‘duck’.
Back home then via Folkestone and along the cliffs, the views across The Channel were great with the buildings in Calais clear as anything. The rest of the afternoon was spent sorting through shots and listening to the football on the radio. A good way to end the day.
Sunday morning we head out to Pegwell Bay to try to find a flock of birds. No, really. Waxwings are winter visitors and can be seen at this time of the year in Kent. A friend snapped them earlier in the week, so we thought we would try. Or I did, as it was a glorious but cold morning, what could be better than a walk in the nature reserve?
It took some finding, the tree that the birds were roosting in that is, but as we arrived the whole flock of 200 or so birds flew off in search of food. I got two shots of them, and none close up; maybe we shall try again next weekend….
We then headed to Monkton, to visit the nature reserve there. Monkton is just the other side of Ramsgate, and not far. They have put some mirrored film on the outside of the library windows, which means the birds feeding just a few feet away could not see us. I got shots of various finches and of a great spotted woodpecker. Well worth going for that for sure.
We called in at Subway on the way home for lunch, then diverted to the old folks place to do our duty. And be home for four to listen to the City game on the radio, and revel in a fine 2-1 win against Sunderland at Carrow Road. Life looks better after four straight league wins at home and 19 points.
All that was left to do was to pack and be ready for the trip away…..
How the time at weekend slips through our fingers……..
5th December 2012
Good morning. It’s cold out there. Yes, minus eight degrees with a frost so thick I could not see out of the car when I got in this morning. At some point last night, the skies cleared and the temperatures plummeted. I had the chance to meet some friends over at Barry’s last night, but the sheer cold and the thought of walking along icy pavements in my old RAF shoes saw me bail on that and stay inside the hotel; they serve big glasses of Christmas beer and acceptable food. And I could watch the football in my room too.
I forgot to mention on Monday night after I arrived, I met up again with my old RAF buddy, Shaggy. He had asked me to bring him over some homebrew stuff, which I did, and we had another chance to chat. This time I went down for dinner before he arrived, so at least I wasn’t drinking on an empty stomach. But I had had one large beer And a glass of wine with the meal, so I was soon feeling pretty tired, and thankful when Shaggy headed for home at nine so I could head to bed.
Yesterday, I had a meeting with my new boss. We talked all afternoon about how we both saw things and where we want to go. Seems like he wants me to come over to Denmark much more often, every other week in the new year, which means more travelling for me and more Lego for Jools! Only joking.
The air last night was crystal clear, and the view over the town from my balcony was so clear. I took more shots of the town and the power station as it pumped green smoke into the night sky. It may be a gimmick, but it is effective seeing the smoke change colour minute by minute.
So, four hours in work, and then the seventy mile drive to Billund and maybe another bottle of Double IPA before heading back to London and the late rush hour back to Kent. All in all, its not a bad life. I certainly don’t miss stuffing those giblets……
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