There’s another museum in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close, which also allowed free entry on the Open Day. This is the Regimental Museum of the 4^th Rifles. The museum has undergone several name changes over the years, in line with the amalgamation and name changes of the regiment it served. The 4^th Rifles was formed only recently, from the amalgamation of the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment with others. The RGBW had been previously formed by the amalgamation of the Gloucestershire Regiment with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment, which was, in turn, formed by the amalgamation of the Royal Berkshire Regiment with the Wiltshire Regiment.

Complicated, or what?

Anyway, the first thing to catch your eye as you enter this storehouse of military memorabilia is … a stuffed dog!

In 1880, the 66^th Berkshire Regiment was serving in Afghanistan, and six companies were ordered to accompany an Indian brigade to intercept what was thought to be ‘an advance guard of irregulars’.

Contact was made at the village of Maiwand, about 45 miles north of Kandahar … but the ‘small advance guard’ they were expecting turned out to be an army of about 30,000 well-trained regular troops.

The Indians, totally demoralised, were being slaughtered wholesale, and, of the 450 men of the Berkshires, only 161 survived, 33 of whom were wounded. But, among those who managed to trickle back to Kandahar was a little mongrel dog, Bobbie, the pet of Sergeant Peter Kelly. Several people reported Bobbie in the thick of the battle, barking defiance at the enemy.

When Queen Victoria heard the story, she was delighted, and invited representatives of the Regiment to bring the dog for her to see. The little dog was dressed for the occasion in a fine coat, with the insignia of a Staff Sergeant picked out in imitation pearls. The Queen asked to see the scar of the wound he’d received, then presented him with the Afghan Medal, tying the ribbon around his neck with her own hands.

She never lost interest in him, and frequently sent messages enquiring after him. He was, unfortunately, killed by a runaway cab in Gosport … but, in a way, he’s still with the memorabilia of his friends, the soldiers.

Another survivor of the Battle of Maiwand was Surgeon-Major A F Preston, MB, on whom Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based his character ‘Dr. Watson’ … also a ‘survivor of the battle’; see the opening lines of ‘A Study in Scarlet’

Cairns – Transportation – Public Transport

It’s even better from Kuranda to Cairns! The commentary was informative, and I’d say, in this case, the description ‘scenic’ is well deserved. The train stops at Barron Falls for quite a while, so you can dismount, take your photos and get back on the same train. I don’t know if this is a regular thing, but, at Barron Falls, the staff re-distributed the passengers so everyone got a window seat.

The Stoney Creek falls were just as spectacular. The train slows to a walking pace here … to negotiate a tight turn, rather than to accommodate the photographers, but we’re given plenty of warning that it’s to happen.

There’s only one thing that could improve it; that’s if steam locos were used. But, I suppose that’s impracticable, otherwise, they probably would.

Check out my review of Kuranda scenic railway – I am nomadkeith – on Qype

Lanzarote: 15th December 2009

On our way to our last call on Lanzarote, we passed through the Valley of the Palm Trees. The dates those palm trees produced, explained the guide, were no good for eating, due to the lack of water on the island. They were usually used for feeding the goats, of which there were many.

Another way they’re used is to position their beehives close to the palms, and the bees produce a local specialty, date honey. That honey isn’t just used for spreading on bread, though. The guide told us of a drink the islanders liked to make. Ron Miel, or ‘honey rum’

Eventually, we stopped at a high mountain ‘mirador’ or viewpoint, where there was a restaurant which sold Ron Miel. And, in the course of ‘don’t knock it till you’ve tried it’, we bought one each.

Take a glass, pour in some honey, add a measure of rum, top with whipped cream, dust with cinnamon and that’s it !

I’m not sure we can try this at home, though. You really need the date honey of Lanzarote, and the only rum we have in the house is Bacardi. It’s going to be fun experimenting, though.

My latest at http://www.justsaygo.com/archives/barrier-reef 

　

The author: enjoying a pasty

A Cornish Pasty

 

Tasting the food has a large part to play in travelling. It’s nearly as important as seeing sights and meeting people. You don’t always have to travel to remote places and eat exotic food to do it. In my case, I just need to travel a hundred miles down the road to sample the Cornish pasty.

In 1890, Cassell’s Family Magazine published a recipe, specifying:‘… slices of meat, either pork or beef, mixed with potatoes cut in slices, also swede, turnips and shredded onions. The pastry is the ordinary dripping crust, similar to that used to make large meat pies.’ And that’s not far off the modern recipe.

According to TV chef Clarissa Dickson-Wright, one thing that should be avoided is carrots; apparently, they don’t grow in Cornwall.

 

The Cornish pasty began in Cornish tin-mines. A tinner’s wife could take his midday meal to him in one package.

The meals were usually put on the hoist that lowered the miners into the shaft to work Accidents sometimes happened, so the pastry had to be strong enough to withstand being dropped down a mine-shaft, but still remain moist enough to be eaten and enjoyed, without addition.

Contrary to popular belief, the crust is crimped around the side of the pasty, not over the top. That’s how a Cornishwoman can tell the real thing at a range of several yards … her husband, it is said, can tell by the delicious aroma!

The tinner would hold the pasty by the crimping before eating, because tin-mining produces arsenic and antimony … two things you definitely don’t want to transfer from your fingers to your food!

Naturally, the crimping was discarded, or, as the miners would say, left for the ‘buccas’ or ‘knockers’ … benevolent spirits said to haunt each mine, and give audible warning of any impending rock-fall or other disaster. In return for this service, they wanted feeding, and, since they were dead already, what’s a bit of poison between friends?

Nowadays, there’s little, if any, tin-mining goes on in Cornwall, but the tradition of the pasty goes on. You can buy them at any baker’s shop, or café, and it’ll usually be served to you in a paper bag, which you’ll use to keep the arsenic off your pasty … or, more usually these days, to keep from burning your fingers.

Most lunchtimes, in just about any Cornish town, you’ll see many people walking down the street eating their pasty. In Cornwall, you’ll rarely see a knife and fork being used. Neither will they add sauce, ketchup or other suchcondiment. The pasty was designed to be eaten on its own.

The ersatz imitation, with its tasteless grey mush filling, is often eaten with chips, (that’s French fries, to readers across the Pond!) vegetables, gravy or some such complement. The genuine Cornish pasty is a meal in itself, and needs no addition … even if you can manage it!

This post has been entered into the Grantourismo/HomeAway Holiday-Rentals travel blogging competition.

http://grantourismotravels.com/2010/09/03/grantourismo-travel-blogging-competition-september/

www.homeaway.co.uk

 

Hong Kong: 21^st July 2010

We spent the night in Hong Kong, as the wait between aircraft was a little too long to spend sitting around an airport concourse.

Our room … or rather suite … at the Kowloon Hotel was ‘way up in the gods’, and the large picture window gave an excellent view down Nathan Street … unfortunately, the weather wasn’t all we could have wished for, for we arrived in Hong Kong at the tail of a tropical storm. And, the waterproofs we brought with us were of the flimsy ‘stick it in the rucksack in case the weather-man got it wrong’ kind, so a lot of the planned exploration had to be curtailed.

But, we did venture out in the evening, to stroll along a kind of promenade. Notices along the prom said that the evening’s ‘Festival of Light’ had been cancelled owing to adverse weather conditions. But, there were still crowds of people there, and, as you can see from my photo, even the ‘normal’ lights of the city were pretty spectacular.

I did note, though, during the day-and-a-bit we spent in Hong Kong, I didn’t see a single cheong-sam. Maybe, if the weather had been kinder, and we’d been able to explore further afield … ?

Brisbane

Although it’s only about half the height of the London Eye, the Wheel of Brisbane is, nevertheless, a landmark that can be seen for miles around … as well as one from which you can see for miles around.

There are 42 air-conditioned gondolas, each seating up to 6 adults and 2 children, and takes passengers for about 3 or 4 revolutions, taking between 12 and 15 minutes for the trip. A recorded commentary tells what is to be seen.

The Wheel was built on the banks of the Brisbane River, originally as part of an Expo. It’s said to be only a temporary structure, and is intended to be dismantled shortly … but they said something similar about the Eiffel Tower!

Check out my review of Wheel of Brisbane – I am nomadkeith – on Qype

The other week, Selma, at ‘Selma in the City’ asked if I’d put up a picture of Salisbury Cathedral, and, by an odd coincidence, this was near the head of the queue to be posted.

We’ve already visited Salisbury Museum in the course of the ‘Cathedral Close Open Day’, and, also on offer that day was free entry to various houses, gardens and museums within the Close. This one was taken in the garden at Arundells, the home of former Prime Minister, the late Sir Edward Heath.

Ted Heath was a long way off being my favourite politician, but I have to admit that he liked his garden and his views. And, while the house and gardens are open to the public at present, they probably won’t be for much longer. The charitable trust to which Sir Edward left the house can’t really afford to maintain it, and feel the money is better spent on the charities which he supported.

So, the house is to be sold … and, if I had a few million pounds kicking around the place, I’d probably be first in the queue.

Lanzarote: 15^th December 2009

Our next stop was to visit more of the work of Manrique at the Mirador del Rio. A lot of coach tours on these islands seem to consist of visits to a succession of miradores, but this one’s different.

It’s actually built into the towering 500-metre-high cliffs, with the Cyclopean glassy eye of the window of the café and souvenir shop, staring unblinkingly out to sea. There’s a balcony on the outside, too, and, from either, you get superb views of the small island of La Graciosa, and its outlying volcanic islets. And, of course, there are the close-up views of the cliff itself.

If you were wondering about the Rio, when there are no rivers on Lanzarote … that’s the name of the strait far below, between La Graciosa and the main island.

It wasn’t originally built for visitors to look out to sea, though. Early settlers took advantage of its lofty eminence to look out for pirates. In later years, it later became a gun emplacement called the Bateria del Rio.

It was only in 1974, that it came out of use as such, and Manrique and his associates converted it to become so much more than a ‘car park with a nice view’. And, if you think you’ve seen it before, the BBC once used it as a location on an ‘alien planet’ in the popular ‘Doctor Who’ programme.

‘The holiday’s over … back on yer heads!’ as the old joke goes!

I’m back at home now … the biological clock is still all over the place, but I should be all right by Monday, when the blogging re-starts.

For the immediate future, the blog will be mainly devoted to the ‘trip diary’, in a three-pronged sort of format. What will happen (approximately) is:

MONDAY: The ‘Cruise Diary’ will continue where we left off, on Lanzarote.

WEDNESDAY: We broke off the ‘Wednesday Dish’ halfway through the Open Day at Cathedral Close, in Salisbury. We’ll continue with that, and follow it with the visit to Maastricht. My upcoming visit to Valdelavilla will follow whichever of these threads runs out first.

FRIDAY: This will be a new one; my latest trip to Hong Kong and Queensland … which should keep me in ‘blogunition’ for quite a while.

‘Pic of the Week’ will continue, usually on a Saturday, and, if I have anything for the HomeAway, or any other competitions, that will get posted on Sunday.

Finally, while I was away, another article went live; it’s at http://thetraveleditorblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/24-hours-in amsterdam  

　

It’ll be some while before I get my video edited, so here’s a link to one made by my brother-in-law, Garry, on our recent visit to Australia Zoo

http://vimeo.com/14294926