Passacaglia and Fugue

We agreed last year, that this year we would holiday in northern Europe, ideally in a location reachable by Eurostar. So it was inevitable that instead we would spend a week in Malta.

Monday 2nd: Our flight departs from Heathrow Terminal 4. We arrive at our usual parking provider, only to be told we have in fact booked the "Meet and Greet" service, and need to go to the terminal instead. Fortunately we have allowed plenty of time. I feel they could have accepted the car there anyway, as it is probably stored in the same place for the week. I always find Heathrow a bit of a nightmare, but once we are through security everything progresses smoothly. It is a 3 1/2 hour flight. The first bus from the airport terminal is already pretty full and we can't get on, not helped by another bus occupying the expected space and a French party usurping any semblance of a queue. Anyhow, once we arrive in Valetta it's fairly straightforward to find our hotel - just as well, given the heat and humidity. We explore a little of Valetta, including the Upper and Lower Barrakka gardens. There seem to be a plethora of commemorative stones erected by military colleagues to the fallen over the centuries, and more recent memorials expressing solidarity with the people of the Hungarian and Czechoslovakian uprisings in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Grand Harbour from Valetta

Tuesday 3rd: We begin at St John's Co-Cathedral. For some time there is concern about R's camera lens; it turns out that the contrast between the aggressive air conditioning in the hotel and the ambient conditions has caused some condensation, which take a while to clear. We move on to the Grand Master's Palace, and then the National Library. In the afternoon we visit the National Community Art Museum, which turns out to be larger and more impressive than might be expected. There are echoes of futurism and/or fascism in some of Antonio Sciortino's sculptures inspired by Charles Lindbergh. In contrast, the Archaeological museum is larger on the map and although interesting, it takes less time.

Futurism at MUZA, Valetta

Wednesday 4th: We take a trip on the fast ferry to Gozo. The Internet was not entirely clear about this, as vehicle ferry services were more prominent and require pre-booking, but the passenger ferry was quite straightforward. We visit the cathedral and citadella museums in the complex at Victoria / Rabat.

Cathedral and Citadella complex at Victoria / Rabat, Gozo

Thursday 5th: We take the bus to Mdina / Rabat. The Domus Romana is just across the road from the bus stop, and it's our first encounter with Sir Themisocles Zammit, surely a name one could not make up. It's not a huge site, but it is interesting nonetheless. We move on to St Paul's Catacombs, Cathedral, Palazzo Falson, Casa Gourgion (an interesting museum although I can't do justice to the animated TV screens in Old Master picture frames), and the Wignacourt Museum.

Mosaic at the Domus Romana, Mdina / Rabat


Boat in St Paul's Catacombs, Rabat

Friday 6th: The St Catherine's Monastery and Garden is a calm place to start the day. Later we're using the buses again, first to Mosta for the Rotunda, based on the Pantheon, and in the afternoon to the temples at Tarxien. Finally, with advance planning we have tickets to visit the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum at the end of the day. The audio guide is mandatory and has some irritating sound effects, but it doesn't detract from the visit, and has the honesty to say that we just don't know a lot of what went on at these truly ancient remains.

Mosta Rotunda


Tarxien Temples

7th: We begin our final day with the ferry to the Three Cities. In practice we have noticed that all of Malta is pretty much a continuum of settlement, and the naming is somewhat arbitrary. We visit the Inquisitor's Museum and admire the view across the Grand Harbour in the reverse direction, to Valetta. On our return we take in Casa Rocca Piccola. Ramiro Calì's painting Electricity fuses ancient and modern in its own curious way.

Valetta from The Three Cities


Electricity

Then it's back to the airport, and the return flight is straightforward, and although there is heavy traffic at Terminal 4 we're home at a civilised hour. Overnight the thunder in the UK reminds me of the regular gun battery firing in Valetta.

The Maltese were friendly and helpful; perhaps an advantage of English being an official language. The food was always served in generous portions - the quality varied but Aaron's Kitchen and Ambrosia were both particularly good. We discovered Kinnie and - by extension - Kinnie Spritz. If we had stayed longer, there were other things we could have done, but the heat and humidity really did discourage over-exertion.

After some debate and negotiation, we decided on Seville for a summer holiday location this year. The late positioning of the Max Richter Prom was awkward for scheduling, but frankly going to southern Europe earlier in the summer would have been madness.

Thurs 7th: After breakfast, we head off to Gatwick. Fortunately I did print my boarding pass as I struggle to get the self-service bag drop to accept my phone; later I find the auto-rotate setting which I think may have been causing the PDF to flip as I turned the phone upside-down. Everything else accepts the phone version, although my phone also needs to have the magic wand waved over it at security. The flight and arrival seem fairly straightforward, but it is early evening and so there isn't much to do other than adjust to the habit of eating late.

Fri 8th: We begin with the Alcazar at Seville. It is the first of a handful of destinations where the requirement to book specific time-slots is apparent, but we are only postponed by about an hour, so there is time for a bit of wandering around. The venue is impressive and the tiling is ubiquitous. Later in the afternoon we reach the monumental Plaza de España, built for one of the trade fairs that has been hosted in the city over the years. (This one was held months before the Wall Street crash of 1929). I notice that there is frequently an aroma of brackish water around the city.

Inside the Seville Alcázar

Pomegranate tile at the Plaza de España

Sat 9th: We visit a few palaces, including that of the Countess of Lebrija. The ground floor is mostly covered with Roman mosaics lifted from nearby archaeological sites in the nineteenth century. I shall think of her as the mosaic-stealing Countess of Lebrija from now on. We have pre-booked for the Cathedral and the timing works quite well. In the afternoon we cross the river to the Triana district, where the old ceramic factory is disappointingly closed but the contemporary art museum is actually quite good. The site of the 1992 Expo is another graveyard to industrial development, with occasional business parks and lots of fenced-off wilderness, hampering our return to the city centre in the heat. We are finding that Seville is a bit bigger than it looked on the map, but the central district is mostly no-go for public transport, so there's nothing for it but a lot of walking.

The Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija

Sun 10th: We catch a bus to Italica, north-west of the city. Apparently this was one of the largest cities in the Roman world. The site is quite large and what is visible is well-presented, but it seems there has been a lot of earlier removal (see above) or areas that remain unexcavated, or under the present-day settlement of Santiponce. In the afternoon we are back in Seville and see some of the city walls and other bits and pieces, but it is really too hot to do very much. We try a craft beer place quite close to our hotel, and rather like it.

Mosaic of the Planets, Italica

Mon 11th: An early start to catch the train to Granada. We have pre-booked for the Alhambra, but our timing is askew; access to the overall site is for the day, but we miss our slot for the Nasrid palaces. It's quite a hike from the train station, by whichever route; and the signage inside the complex is intermittent. So there's a bit of a downer, but the rest of the site is pleasant, and we also get to see a few other places in Granada later in the day. We find that sangria is available in cans at the station cafe. The aircon doesn't seem to be working on the return train, I have insect bites and a heat rash, and the taxi driver won't take card payments, so it hasn't been the best of days.

The Alhambra

Garden in the Generalife

Tues 12th: After a long day yesterday, we take it easy. The Museo de Bellas Artes is free to EU citizens, but we have to pay €3 as a Brexit benefit. The Archivo de Indias is an impressive building, but it is only a building; if you want to see artifacts, the Museum of the Americas in Madrid is the place to go.

Archivo de Indias

Wed 13th: The train to Cordoba is a shorter trip and leaves at a more civilised hour. We have timed our visit to the Mosque-Cathedral quite well, despite a nervous several minutes while Renfe delay the train shortly after departure. It's an interesting space and shows the heritage of being under various "management" over the years. Is it coincidence that the Christian sections are much lighter, with the dark wooden roof beams removed? I suspect not. After lunch we visit the Alcázar, and the Roman bridge. Again it is bakingly hot, but the return train is also at a civilised hour and has working aircon this time.

Mosque or Cathedral? - or maybe both

Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos

Thurs 14th: Although the train bookings were a little awkward, we've managed to get tickets to Cadíz, and it turns out to be a very welcome trip. The sea air is fresh and the heat feels more manageable. We get to see a few sights, decide to give up on the eating late thing and have paella and sangria in the late afternoon, leaving plenty of time to catch the return train.

Cadíz shoreline

Parque Genovés

Fri 15th: The last day of the holiday is a bit fragmented, but we find a few things that didn't have listings in the Rough Guide, such as the Palacio de las Dueñas. The main archaeological museum has a long-term closure, but we find some impressive excavations at the Antiquarium under the Setas de Sevilla.

House of Bacchus, Antiquarium

Getting to the airport in good time, check-in is straightforward, but it transpires our flight is going to be delayed. Information is minimal, and Seville Airport is quite small; in fact it's the only time I have seen multiple flights listed with the same gate number, as there are few gates in the non-Schengen area. So there's a bit of a pile-up of passengers and little information. It turns out that there are more air traffic control problems at Gatwick, and it's nearly midnight before we have even taken off. Of course, this means the baggage handlers at Gatwick have mostly gone home and it does seem to take a while for our luggage to return. To cap it all, there's an overnight closure on the M25 and the diversion is poorly signposted (and Google Maps offers a contradictory route). It is 4am by the time we get home, rather more mañana than we had intended. It was a mostly successful holiday, but I think we did leave things a bit to chance; it turns out that Spanish culture is sometimes more regimented than one might expect.

Book Review: Pompeii - An Archaeological Guide, by Paul Wilkinson
We had this before our holiday last year, but I didn't feel it made sense to dive into it before we had visited. I'm still broadly of that opinion, although reading it has been useful in identifying the locations of a few of my photos. Like all major visitor attractions, the site is a mixture of strongly prescribed and free-to-roam - it was easy to find peace and quiet within a minute or two of the main streets and areas. Some of the houses described in the guide were closed or somehow unavailable, but I think we did visit most of them. Wilkinson gives over not quite half the book to a survey of the city's history prior to AD79, a typical day in Roman Pompeii, the eruption itself, and an overview of the rediscovery. The remainder suggests a route, which we followed at least in part, and picks out several buildings of interest, describing structures, decoration, and occasionally referencing found artefacts, most of which now reside in museums in Naples. It's helpful in explaining some of the naming of buildings, which sometimes have nothing to do with their Roman owners. There is an occasional slip-up over which Pliny wrote Natural History, and I am left a little confused about "re-discovery" when apparently some buildings remained above the level of the volcanic flows and were plundered shortly afterwards. But on the whole this is useful reading.

In an attempt to return to normality, we looked at a summer holiday this year. As usual, there were arguments about the Proms (partially voided by later events, obviously) and the likely weather. As usual, a compromise was reached.

Tues 30th: The advice from Heathrow is still to arrive 3 hours before your flight, so we have brought the parking booking forward by half an hour to even more ridiculous o'clock. On the bus from the car park, I discover my EHIC has expired (I confused the digits and thought it was valid until 2023). In the event, Terminal 2 is not particularly busy at 6am and we drift through security uneventfully, although more devices have been installed and I have to stand in odd postures to satisfy whatever scanning technology is now employed. Our flight is via Zurich, where - for the first time ever - my passport is stamped. We make the connection without incident, as both legs of the journey seem to have been delayed by a similar amount. We arrive at Naples and catch the bus into the city centre, then the Circumvesuviana train out to Ercolano, our base for the duration. Later in the afternoon, a trip to Oplontis proves fruitless, as it is currently closed on Tuesdays. It is far too hot.

Wed 31st: We decide to begin at the top of the bucket list, with a trip to Pompeii (which, in Italian, apparently has only a single i). It is impressive. There is nothing like it in scale in Britain, and even Rome does not feel that it compares, as ancient remains are interspersed with contemporary structures, so this really is a unique experience. We are uncertain about the single on-site cafe, but fortunately it proves to cater decent snack food at decent prices. The number of tour parties climbs during the day, probably exceeding the original population of the city, but in fact it's easy to find quiet spots by veering only slightly away from the main roads. As the day progresses, perhaps fatigue sets in - one house after another, all blurring into one - although the written guide suggests there are four distinct phases of construction. Randomly, late in the afternoon, we stumble upon a structure marked DOMVS L. CAECILI IVCVNDVI - the Caecilius of the Cambridge Latin Course and Doctor Who fame. As visitor attractions are open late into the evening and it is on our way home, we re-try Oplontis and check out the Villa Poppea, successfully this time.

Pompeii - Theatre

Pompeii - Home of Lucius Caecilius Iucundus

Pompeii - House of the Boar

Pompeii - Forum and Vesuvius

Oplontis - Peacock at the Villa Poppea

Thurs 1st: I observe I am getting bitten by mosquitoes, as before in Italy (particularly Florence). Rain is forecast, so we take the opportunity to visit the Archaeological museum in Naples. As well as Roman remains, there is an extensive Egyptian section in the basement, which proves to be more informatively labelled than is often the case, or perhaps I am just in the mood to pay more attention. By mid-afternoon we make our way to the Catacombe di San Gaudioso. This is the only tourist attraction where we are told to wear FFP2 masks (though we have been doing so anyway when indoors; we have heard enough stories of people catching covid while on holiday). It's a more gruesome tour than the Catacombs in Rome, being largely medieval.

Fri 2nd: The site at Herculaneum is a stone's throw from our hotel. The excavated site is much smaller than at Pompeii (as is believed to be the settlement as a whole), but it seems better preserved, with many buildings of two stories, although they are perhaps less ornate. The on-site museum contains some interesting artefacts, including a fragment of carbonised rope; more carbonised wood seems visible in some of the buildings. In the afternoon we head in to Naples, visiting various places including Pio Monte della Misericordia and the striking Maiolica church at Santa Chiara. We encounter a band of musicians playing what I instantly recognise as pizzica from a late-night Prom in 2019, though consulting the Internet it turns out that in Campania the style is known as tammurriata - all variants of tarantella.

Herculaneum - House of Neptune

Herculaneum - Thermopolium

Sat 3rd: It's time to visit the Royal Palace in Naples, which is a relatively modest affair; afterward, we catch the noon tour of the underground Galleria Borbonica, featuring tunnels intended to safeguard the monarchy in the event of insurrection, but later used as shelter in World War 2, and later again as storage for vehicles impounded by police, and fly-tipping by low-level organised crime groups. In the afternoon we take the funicular to the monastery of San Martino and the neighbouring castle of Sant Elmo.

Certosa di San Martino - Camera Obscura Sundial

Sun 4th: Another rainy day, at least initially, so we take the metro and the bus to the art gallery at Capodimonte. To be honest, this is a bit of a disappointment: the floors that are open are mostly consumed by one after another Madonna con Bambino, and the 18th/19th century floor is closed. As the weather has cleared, in the afternoon we take a trip out to Pozzuoli, which has a remarkable amphitheatre. Sadly there is no access to the ground level, but the underground, where gladiators, prisoners and animals were stored and prepared, is very well preserved. Due to the rain earlier in the day, the Temple of Serapis appears like an island in a lake. Despite applying insect repellent, the bites are now looking quite dramatic, and I feel the need to check symptoms of malaria and sepsis, just in case, but I am reassuringly free of them.

Pozzuoli - Amphitheatre

Mon 5th: It is well known that any English word can, if necessary, be turned into Italian by adding the suffix -o or -io, and it feels like we are playing Crescento di Morningtonio as the Circumvesuviana train takes an unexpected turn off before Naples. We decide to get out at an interchange station, only to discover that the interchange is closed. We walk in the wrong direction to the next stop, where it turns out the contactless card access is not working. Eventually we do get in to Naples, but the Trenitalia ticket machines are refusing to take card payments. We abandon them and take the old-fashioned option of going into the ticket office, where after a wait we accomplish our objective of getting tickets to Caserta. Earlier research revealed that there is a dearth of mid-morning trains, but once we have our tickets things proceed largely according to plan, so it's lunch by the time we arrive. The Bourbon out-of-town palace is on a much grander scale than their city-centre pad, and it's frequently plain that it could be an inspiration for 20th-century fascist architecture. The grounds are enormous, and we follow the rill - though it's really too big for such a name - through various levels. At the top there's an "English" garden - it's not exactly clear why it has this name, beyond the presence of one or two follies in the style of fake ruins, as though there weren't enough of the real thing in this area.

Caserta

Tues 6th: We are a bit smarter with the transport and go directly to the ticket office for a more complicated journey to Paestum. This turns out to be impressive again - three massive Greek temples in a settlement that pre-dates the Roman period. Amusingly, it turns out that the Temple of Hera is purely hypothetical - there is no real evidence for the choice of deity. The site is relatively quiet but the heat is intense.

Paestum

Wed 7th: Our final day begins somewhat frustratingly, as many places in Naples turn out to be closed or to require pre-booking. By lunch time we are heading to the airport, where our flight stubbornly declines to have a check-in desk (we have been unable to check-in online, but the booking did say "airport check-in" so this is not surprising). Eventually things start moving, but it has made our connection in Amsterdam, rather tight. The captain announces that the landing gear of the plane struck a bird on arrival, and that the delay is due to safety checks: fair enough. We make our connection in Schiphol, but on arrival in Heathrow, it transpires that our luggage didn't. We complete the requisite forms and hope for the best. A previous experience in 2017, as well as third-party anecdotal evidence from many years ago, makes me hopeful, but this is 2022 and Schiphol is experiencing problems just as much as Heathrow, it seems.

To be honest, food and drink were unremarkable, though we discovered birra rossa. Public transport was good, provided you researched it in advance - some lines (but not all) take contactless payments like TfL; the last train back from Naples to Ercolano was at 21:30 so we had to be aware when eating in Naples in the evening.

Thurs 8th - Fri 9th: Online tracking of our luggage is painfully slow, although it indicates it has been identified and forwarded to the UK.

Sat 10th: At last, our luggage arrives, in a changed world.

We haven't rushed back to travel after the pandemic hiatus, but decided to take the opportunity of a week's holiday in Sussex - no passport required, of any colour.

Sun 22nd: The roads haven't been too bad, and we stop for a late lunch and garden visit at Nyman's, which has been on the bucket-list for a while. Later in the afternoon we press on to the outskirts of Eastbourne, which has been designated reasonably central for the places we intend to visit. The sea air is bracing, the pier is decaying, but we find mussels and craft beer at The Belgian Cafe.

Mon 23rd: Mostly Roman. The weather forecast isn't great, so we plan for an indoor day. It's quite a trek to Fishbourne Roman Palace, and there are alarming school parties doubtless serving as vectors of disease, but it's worth it for the spectacular mosaics (albeit on somewhat subsided floors). After lunch we move on to Bignor, another Roman villa, and later in the afternoon, to Petworth.

Tues 24th: Mostly Norman. The weather forecast remains unsettled. We start at Herstmonceux Castle, which has attractive grounds and gardens, then move on to Pevensey Castle, where Romans and Normans through the ages have set up fortifications. In the afternoon, after an alarming misting-up in the car during heavy rain, due to fiddling with the ventilation options, we visit Battle Abbey. As the weather clears, we end the day at Bateman's, the sometime home of Rudyard Kipling, fitted out in Arts and Crafts style and reminding me somewhat of Blackwell in the Lake District.

Wed 25th: Slightly awkward scheduling where pre-booking is still required means that we visit the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill first, where there's definitely a sea breeze. Then it's on to Charleston, where Vanessa Bell and others set up their Bohemian home for most of the twentieth century. There is some disagreement between Google Maps directions and the actualité, so we skip a church on the Firle estate and move on to Standen in the afternoon. It appears the owner made enough money as a lawyer during the Railway-mania era not only to build a country house, but also to go on a world tour and furnish it with several Japanese artefacts.

Thurs 26th: Heading a little further afield, we start at Bodiam Castle, then on to Great Dixter, and finally to Sissinghurst Castle. For once it is the Old People who have to be corrected by the guides on not touching the furniture. Kent is known as the "Garden of England" but today it seems more like the "Waiting Room of Heaven".

Fri 27th: Ironically, the weather has improved for our final day, when we're somewhat mopping up the things we haven't visited earlier in the week. We start out at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, which has a collection of Eric Ravilious works (some of which I recall from the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery some years ago), and an interesting temporary exhibition featuring paintings of and by Eileen Mayo. Next it's Ditchling Museum, where the traffic proves to be excruciating (evidently due to a wedding in the nearby church), and the museum itself is rather small. We spend the afternoon in Arundel Castle before heading home into the evening.

Last week I ventured into London on the train for the first time since March 2020. The trigger was social: some former colleagues were hoping to arrange a get-together to celebrate (another) new job. It is striking that none of us has had particularly happy experiences since parting company in 2018-2019, though it seems the second jobs after moving on are more stable.

I had dithered over whether this was a good idea or not. On the one hand, new covid cases are flat-lining at the rather high level of around 30,000 a day and it's not as if deaths or long covid have gone away; but on the other, this might be as good as it gets for the next few months, so it might make sense to do things while you can. In the end, I put it to my current team-mates that I might be heading in to London for an evening event, and did they feel like joining me in the office that day? My potential selfishness was countered by knowing that I had made full disclosure of my motives, and that the company is encouraging people to try the office once or twice over the summer, while still maintaining a mostly work from home policy. (We have shed a lot of office space, and the medium to long term plan is for hybrid working). They both said yes, so we booked desks.

Nerves were not helped by car parking fiasco in Reading. The card machine at King's Meadow wasn't talking to the Internet, a common problem from years ago that had, in recent years, been mostly resolved. But I hadn't accounted for the possibility that my RingGo account might also not work. It unhelpfully gave me vague messages about incorrect credentials and promised to text me an access code "if I had an account" - which it failed to do in a timely manner, so I ended up in the station car park. For a one-off, I decided I had saved rather more money over the past year plus, and I could afford it. (Later, I realised the probability was that the account had been deleted through dormancy, confirmed by my ability to re-register.)

I'd had to make a seat reservation the night before when I booked my train ticket, but on closer inspection it turned out to be "optional" and as an earlier train arrived on the platform, it was in fact mostly empty, so I got on. I'd noticed that face coverings seemed to be distinctly optional on the station concourse, but observance was better on the platform and on the train, though there were only a handful of people in each carriage. Say what you like about rail nationalisation, but at least the trains run on time.

I didn't know what I would face in the way of one-way systems at Paddington, but it turned out to be as "normal", only much quieter. Navigating from the footbridge to the eastbound Circle Line / H&C platforms, I noticed the smell of cigarette smoke as I passed the smoking area, which tells you something about the effectiveness of face coverings (although I suppose they are more intended to stop water vapour droplets which would be much larger). Despite being mandatory on the tube, a remarkable number of people appeared to be exempt, and one was compliant only if no air circulated in either direction through his nose. But anyway, I got to the office for about 9am, which was my plan.

It was good to meet my team-mates - one for the first time - and although the office was largely deserted, we felt we had "done our bit" and I think it was a useful day, not so much for productive work but more for getting to know people and sharing conversation, though that has a value to the company too, and indeed is one of the stated reasons for going to the office. We had lunch from Pilpel, sitting outside to eat in a much quieter than normal Paternoster Square.

Google reckoned it was a half-hour walk from the office to my evening rendezvous location, which suited me fine. London did seem quiet, less hectic and more relaxed, than I remember it. Perhaps this is Blitz Spirit - making do with what you can, recognising the futility of being too demanding in such circumstances. Flat Iron Square was busy and we did well to avoid it in the end; a late cancellation meant that we did in fact get to eat outside at O'Ver, a favourite location from past times. It was good to see my friends again; and the food was as good as ever. We did move on to another pub, outside, but still busy, and I only stayed for a short while, because of the long trip home.

The tube back to Paddington was a little busier than in the morning, and although my heart sank seeing the number of people moving to join the train to Reading, in fact I have obviously become less good at judging numbers, as we were all very well spaced out in the carriages again.

Although I had my unease about the whole venture, it was certainly good to see people again and for my mental health, and I haven't been pinged so far. Even if I am, the new rules mean I won't have to self-isolate, which sums up the government's attitude: we're all on our own now.

Book Review: The Naked Shore - of the North Sea, by Tom Blass
There's been a hiatus in posting reviews for a couple of weeks, so I am a little bit behind. This came from the work book sale; it also came recommended in a "summer reads" section a couple of years ago. I may not have been in the best frame of mind to read it at this time, but I found it rather bleak. Of course, there is plenty to be bleak about, geographically and otherwise; but celebration of the North Sea was rarely to be found. The book jumps around, without a clear route around the various coasts, which doesn't help. Such a book must be selective, but it feels that quite a lot was omitted: although Grace Darling gets a brief mention early on, the substance of the book doesn't cover anywhere between Hull and Shetland, for example, and there's no mention of Norway. Sections on Heligoland and the Halligen were more informative - Blass is clearly interested in the various Frisian dialects scattered across the northern European coast - and Skagen was probably the high point of the book, but it feels less than thorough.

I was surprised that the queue for Prom 64 was already quite long at 9am, and I had ticket number 35. A few people have commented that the arena seems less busy this year; there have only been a few concerts where the stewards have been exhorting us to "stand up and move forward". This was one such occasion, and someone claimed he'd heard on the radio that both arena and gallery were sold out - a genuinely rare occurrence. The concert was a single work - Verdi's Requiem, given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada. So far, no household names, although a popular work. The soloists were Sarah Connolly (a last-minute replacement for Karen Cargill due to illness), Lise Davidsen, Dmytro Popov and Tomasz Konieczny - of which I only recognised the names of Cargill and Connolly. So, I'm mystified quite why this should draw such a large crowd; it's been on a few times in the last few years, and my reason for going was that I've missed it a couple of times. Maybe everyone else thought the same. Anyhow, it was a passionate performance from all concerned, and I'm glad I got to see it, though I have to admit it's not a particular favourite. What I did find interesting was Verdi's range between spectacular orchestral outbursts and calm a cappella part-writing for the four soloists. Inevitably it went down well; the Royal Albert Hall is a perfect venue for this "opera in church vestments".

For the third day running, there were signalling problems on GWR's main line, and although it was a short concert I got home quite late. Friday's news that Crossrail won't open until 2019 just compounded my despair at our infrastructure. It's not surprising that such a large project should be delayed, but it is remarkable that it's been claimed to be on time and on budget right up until 3 months before it's due to launch, and now a 9 month delay is a significant disappointment.

After looking through the guidebooks, we decided we couldn't fit all three Baltic states into a single holiday, so we opted for a trip to Rīga and Tallin. The logistics were straightforward but not trivial, and we ended up with flights to/from Gatwick instead of our more usual Heathrow.

Fri 8th: We get up at ridiculous-o'clock. Fortunately the roads are running smoothly and the directions to Purple Parking are clear, and we get there by 7am. Check-in/bag-drop with Air Baltic is straightforward, as we can use the business queue (a quirk of having the temerity to pre-purchase hold baggage). Normally I don't pay much attention to the aircraft itself, but I do notice the Bombardier CS300 seems particularly new and shiny, and the airline magazine informs me it is also significantly more fuel-efficient. However, it does seem unusually warm, unlike most aircraft which seem somewhat over-chilled. The flight is smooth and on-time, and although there are at least two stag parties on board it's an orderly affair. Transfer by bus into central Rīga works as advertised and it's a short walk to the hotel. We take a walk around the town, taking in the Alexander Nevsky orthodox cathedral, the Art Nouveau district, parks, squares, and the old Zeppelin hangars which now form the central markets, which are closed by the time we get there.

Sat 9th: Overnight, the power has blipped at least three times, and each time it comes back on, all lights in the room come on, which is irritating to say the least. But after a decent breakfast we're off to the Art Nouveau museum and the cathedral. In the afternoon we visit the House of the Black Heads - a guildhall whose name derives from St Mauritius, though the house is a complete post-WW2 (and indeed, post-Soviet) reconstruction.

Sun 10th: We take in the Rīga Bourse art museum, and later the Latvian National Museum of Art (which turns out to be free on that day) and the Metzendorff House.

Mon 11th: We have a short morning to fill, so we visit the Synagogue (again, largely reconstructed) and the interior of the central market, before catching our bus to Tallinn. It's a four-hour trip (with a short pause in Pärnu) and the Latvian A1 isn't the best of roads - a single carriageway, though it's so straight it could have been built by the Romans. The transfer between Tallinn International Bus Station and the hotel is the one bit of the trip I hadn't researched properly, and we muddle around without actually paying for the tram ride, because it seems everything is electronic and online. (Fortunately, we don't claim back the outstanding balance on the card we buy for the rest of the holiday, so my conscience is clear). We wander around in the late afternoon and early evening in part of the Old Town. It's obviously picturesque, though I have a sense the tourism element is hammed up and over-done, with medieval-themed restaurants all around the town square.

Tues 12th: It's raining - the one bad weather day in our holiday - so, having sorted out a public transport card (which it seems must be paid for by card, not cash) we head off to the Kadriorg district and the Kumu art museum. By the afternoon the clouds have cleared and it's dry to walk across to the Kadriorg palace. We also see Peter the Great's house and the Russalka memorial.

Wed 13th: We find we are waking up very early, due to the long hours of daylight, and the absence of any climate control in the hotel room, so before museums open we check out the ferry terminal, which is a 10-minute walk from the hotel, before booking ferry tickets for a trip to Helsinki later in the week. Back in the Old Town we take in the Kiek in de Kök Museum and Bastion Tunnels. An afternoon walk around the west side of the Old Town walls seems much quieter than the centre.

Thurs 14th: Out to the Kalamaja district and the Seaplane Museum. The Suur Tõll icebreaker is particularly interesting. Like all museums of this type, it is plagued by small people, but for the most part we avoid them.

Fri 15th: Another early start. We looked at the times and decided the 07:00 ferry to Helsinki was the one to catch. Check-in and boarding is straightforward, and we've booked breakfast on board. We get a good view of the archipelago and Suomenlinna fort as we approach Helsinki. Once we've disembarked it's about half an hour walk into the city centre, where we visit the cathedral, the impressive University Library, the Railway Station, and other attractions.

Most of the afternoon is taken up in the Ateneum and National Museum. The return ferry departs at 20:30 and we've booked the all-you-can-eat buffet, which turns out also to be all-you-can-drink, but the wine isn't so good that you want more than a couple of glasses anyway.

Sat 16th: It turns out we misread the opening times of the architecture museum, so our morning is filled by the Estonian History Museum at the Great Guild Hall instead. This proves to be more interesting and less interactive than the guide book had suggested.

We're very early at Tallinn airport, but it was always going to be a difficult day to fill; it gives us time to stock up on essentials such as canned bear meat, elk salami, and lingonberry jam. The return flight is smooth and we're home at a reasonable hour.

This year Christmas just arrived; I hadn't done much in the way of preparation, nor had much in the way of anticipation. I did book my train tickets early - so early, in fact, that I think I booked them before the holiday closure of Paddington station was announced; but I can't be sure, because I didn't pay too much attention to the London-Reading section of my journey beyond checking that there were trains running.

The journey up to the Lakes was reasonably smooth. Dad was fine; he struggled with his new TV set-top box while I admired in equal measure the awkward and over-complicated user interface, and his navigation through it. Not that there was much on TV; though I enjoyed Maigret on Christmas Eve and Doctor Who on Christmas Day. ( Spoilers ) Other than that, we watched some Joan Hickson Miss Marple episodes that he'd recorded previously.

Christmas Day was quiet; presents, dinner, and a walk up to Oxenholme afterwards, which was rapidly curtailed as the rain became heavier. On Boxing Day we were invited to visit a couple of my Dad's friends, and had a lovely meal.

I headed off on Wednesday morning, knowing that the return journey wasn't going to be straightforward. The first step was easy, as I got on an almost empty train from Oxenholme to Lancaster. But appearances can be deceptive, and the queues for the replacement bus service at Lancaster were chaotic and poorly managed. The situation at Preston wasn't much better, although I boarded the train when it eventually arrived without too much bother. I try to travel relatively light and my rucksack fits into the overhead luggage space, which avoids most problems as people fight over the limited space for larger suitcases.

The 10-15 minute delay at Preston was mostly maintained throughout the journey, though we picked up a few minutes I think before arrival at Euston, where there was an almost stationary queue at the entrance to the Tube. This is not my normal route - usually I go to Euston Square - so I don't know if this is a regular problem. Having despaired at it, I decided to walk to Warren Street after a few minutes, but as I exited the station, I saw signs for an additional entrance to Euston tube by staircase only, which I took without incident, and finally emerged at Waterloo with about 5 minutes to spare before catching the slow train to Reading, which was slow, but at least ran to time. I noticed how cold it was in London, though there was no sign of snow (the train from the North passed through a couple of areas with a blanket of snow, but I couldn't say how deep it was). Reading Buses had originally promised a Sunday service, but at some point this had been changed to a Saturday service, so in the end I didn't have to wait too long for the bus home, but the journey overall was quite a tiring ordeal.