Electric Ladyland

 Goodness me what a night as a mega storm hit Cape Cod. We were out for dinner and managed two beers before moving on for a Thai. We never made it as thunder and lightening hit the village together willtorrential rain. Then boom the whole power supply shut down so we started back home canopy to canopy. About half way back we noticed a Chinese all lit up so managed some crispy duck and sizzling beef from one of the only outlets spared the blackout. We just got back to the motel before another deluge!!!

So this morning we needed a proper breakfast and decided that The Shipwreck was walking distance. Bother it was closed so no alternative but to try Betsy's and so glad we did.

A rave from the grave with 60's music  juke boxes on each table and retro decour

. The food was the best of the lot, so I brought one of their mugs!

All the talk of electricity reminds me that we took delivery of an electric car before we left blighty. A Corsa-e for SWMBO to swan round in. You dont see many electric charging points over here but with petrol at $4 a gallon there is no huge demand for them, other than a few Tesla.

Off to Boston tomorrow for the rest of the tour. Golf at Oakley Country Club tomorrow then a Patriots pre-season friendly and Fenway Park on Friday for some Red Socks action.

The Little League playoffs have been on in the bars we have visited. Some of the kids look about 12 and the pitchers have been in tears. Where is the fun in growing up going??

Diners dollars and dimes

 As my invincibility at knock-out golf disintegrates, it is time to take a break and travel again. This time we are attending the 10th anniversary football festival in Boston in memory of SWMBO brother Marin, who died there so young.

Firstly though we are having some beach time in Falmouth,Cape Cod. From the shore we  can watch the ferries to Martha's Vineyard and the whale watch vessels plying their trade. All very relaxing.

There are  similarities with our cruise to Croatia in so much as each town has a Main Street a ferry terminal and a harbour inlet. Main difference is that real estate prices start at about $2m. Yesterday we went to Hyannis where JFK had his Summer House. and we will drop into Sandwich on our way up to Boston on Thursday.

The motor Inn we are staying at has limited facilities although the pool is very handy, so we are eating out for breakfast and dinner. The diner options are interesting. The nearest,the Black Dog, is a semi-take-away with good coffee and muffins. Yesterday we tried a Portuguese cafe but that was poor, so Shipwrecked, on the beach is winning so far with just Betsy's to try tomorrow.

Evening meals have been good with the obligatory burger and Guinness in the local Irish bar followed by two Italian meals. The first was great but the second didn't suit me as their starter filled me up too much and the rissotto was too stoggy and a bit like porridge.

Micro breweries seem to be everywhere with cloudy IPA dominating, but the search for an amber beer continues.It will probably be Samuel Adams.

What did the Romans do for us?

Koper in Slavenia and Split in Croatia probably had the most interesting architecture. The similarities were very strong, and the old towns had managed to hold onto their Byzantine past. Split indeed is a UNESCO World heritage site, but the walk to the Cathedral in Koper was probably the highlight. Here are a few pictures which caught the eye during the week.

Emperor Clementines Palace in Split

The Cathederal in Koper

Emperor Clementine

Garibaldi, the biscuit man, and a rare holiday snap!!

Game of Thrones

 SWMBO and I are in the Adriatic on a cruise around Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. Many of the towns and cities were used in the filming of titled TV series but as we have never watched it, it all passed us by!!

The first and biggest city was Dubrovnic but sadly due to flight and luggage delays we arrived too late to look round. We next went to Rijeka, a port town which was fun. It had underground tunnels which were built as defences during the Second World War as Russia looked to liberate Croatia from Italian advances. It did give a feeling of how things must have been in Mariupol during the recent siege in Ukraine.

It did also have a certain resemblance to the cruise ship accommodation which was to be our home for the next few days!

Ravenna the port city for Venica had limited appeal and we were there only because we could not face the 3 hour trip to .Venice. Koper in Slovenia and Ancona in Italy were a couple of church fest locations both being very Roman in their influencing architecture.

 We are now on our way to Split where I will update the tour details and add some more pictures. Oh did I fail to mention the ship has a golf simulator? I was pushed out of first place in the nearest the pin competition by a flukey thined 7 iron!!

 

 

 

The pretentious 'The'

Playing Warrington, oh sorry, The Warrington golf club at the weekend got my blood boiling again much as it did when I played The Wilmslow golf club.It is such a pretentious addition and in most cases unnecessary. 

This is the definition of the word:

definite article

(used, especially before a noun, with a specifying or particularizing effect, as opposed to the indefinite or generalizing force of the indefinite article a or an): the book you gave me; Come into the house.

(used to mark a proper noun, natural phenomenon, ship, building, time, point of the compass, branch of endeavor, or field of study as something well-known or unique): the sun; the Alps; the Queen Elizabeth; the past; the West.

(used with or as part of a title): the Duke of Wellington; the Reverend John Smith.

(used to mark a noun as indicating the best-known, most approved, most important, most satisfying, etc.): the skiing centre of the U.S.; If you're going to work hard, now is the time.

(used to mark a noun as being used generically): The dog is a quadruped.

(used in place of a possessive pronoun, to note a part of the body or a personal belonging): He won't be able to play football until the leg mends.

(used before adjectives that are used substantively, to note an individual, a class or number of individuals, or an abstract idea): to visit the sick; from the sublime to the ridiculous.

(used before a modifying adjective to specify or limit its modifying effect): He took the wrong road and drove miles out of his way.

(used to indicate one particular decade of a lifetime or of a century): the sixties; the Gay Nineties.

(one of many of a class or type, as of a manufactured item, as opposed to an individual one): Did you listen to the radio last night? 

 

So now you have got that, there will be a debate about why The Lensbury Club and not Lensbury? Well the difference is the multifunctional characteristics in my view. Warrington golf club is fine, The Warrington Club is fine, but The Warrington golf club uses the definitive article unnecessarily. The Belfry does not bill itself as The Belfry golf club and nor does the Northern Club.

 

Is it a Cheshire thing, I don't know, but I do find it a bit irritating. Rant over 

 

Sticky wicket

Before my golf fest started, SWMBO and I made our annual trip to Lords for the first test against New Zealand. It was a while since we had been there, and also a while since we stayed at the Lensbury Club.

First though the cricket. after a leisurely breakfast we set off for Lords. it does take a while from Teddington but we thought 11:30 was a reasonable time to arrive as we passed through the turnstiles. Imagine our shock then as we saw New Zealand were 12-3. Luckily more wickets followed as they were bowled out and England came out to bat.

We took a lunchtime stroll down St Johns Wood High Street,paying. particular attention to the charity shops, before rejoining the game.At this point we became aware of the large amount of alcohol the group in front were consuming and were just waiting for one of the girls in particular to stand up and promptly fall over!!

England only lost one wicket before tea and with Crawley in control we anticipated a final session devoid of drama, allowing us to depart early to our pre-booked dinner appointment. Joe Root came in and knocked a couple of 4's and with the score on 82-2 we made our excuses and left.

Our very pleasant evening at the Duke of Sussex in Waterloo was then shattered as I spotted a headline      ' England collapse again' and yes we missed a further 5 wickets at the end of the day.

So back to the Lensbury before home the next day for a 75th birthday party. The Lensbury is now a regular hotel which anybody can book into and like everywhere, they are suffering staff shortages. The clientele is different with the parents less likely to control their children than previously was the case. The hash browns at breakfast were pretty poor as well.

They seem to be fairing marginally better than the Anglers next door as we waited 35 minutes to be served there on the Wednesday night, and for a Fullers pub to not have any London Pride was just bang out of order.

Anyway, we are back on the horse so to speak and with a couple of rugby tickets for the New Zealand game in November, I can see if things have improved.    

Le Golf

People said this golf business would get easier once the captaincy was handed over, but that does not seem the case to me. I am into a run of nine games in 9 days at the moment, although I have to say the first three were of my own making.

A traditional match featuring teachers from the UK against an assorted team of French gentlemen has been going on for some time, and I was asked to take the number 12 shirt at the weekend. We played at The Vale of Llangollen on Saturday with the England team winning 2-1, then on to Wallasey where the lead was increased to 4-2 before the final singles matches at Warrington, sorry, The Warrington golf club. There, in a tense battle, the French won the day 3 1/2 - 2 1/2 but overall victory was that of England by one point.

My match was particularly tense and unknowingly, key to victory. I was 4 up with 4 to play but only 1 up on the 18th. My laser straight drive took a wicked bounce into a fairway bunker and my recovery only left me in another, 135 yards from the green. In the meantime my partner was way left but safe in two. I hit a worldie hybrid onto the green which put pressure on my opponent who failed to deliver and after a lagged first putt we shook hands and the cup was secure.

It was a great three days and should see me on the plane to France next year tres bien.