‘Abroad’ isn’t a word I use very often, because, not only has it a number of meanings, but they can change according to where you are! If you take the first definition ‘ … in or to a foreign country’ … could I be said to be ‘going abroad’ if I travelled to Scotland or Wales? Or even Ireland? Time is a factor, too. If someone who lived in Prague decides to go to Bratislava, he’s travelling to another country, therefore ‘going abroad’.

But, not too long ago, he wouldn’t be, because the two cities were in the same country, Czechoslovakia.

In Europe, anyway, I don’t think much regard would be paid to this. When I lived in Germany, we visited several other European countries but, apart from the different currencies (this was in the pre-Euro days) there was little sense of ‘going abroad’ … even my morning run took me into the Netherlands sometimes.

Another definition, though, is ‘ … at large; over a wide area’ … and that is a usage I’m happier with. Only the other day, I was talking to an American visitor, who told me. ‘ … we took a vacation at least once a year; more since we retired. Always in the United States though, but we did go somewhere different each time; in fact, we’ve visited each state in the ‘lower 48’. I’m 74 years old and, apart from service in the Army, this is the first time I’ve been out of the US’   I don’t think he could say he hadn’t ‘been abroad’ though.

Over here, we’d call that a (horrible word!) ‘staycation’ Now, whoever coined that word (may the fleas of a thousand camels infest his armpits!) intended it to mean staying in your own home, and just doing day-trips. In this country, it’s come to mean spending your holidays within the United Kingdom … it’s not that long ago, everyone who wasn’t a millionaire did that.

You’re still going abroad, though … I have a Funk & Wagnall dictionary which gives a third meaning ‘ … out of one’s own house or abode’  So, there you have it, folks. Even if you just take the dog for a long walk, you’re ‘going abroad’.

This week’s contribution to the Travel Theme. More at https://wheresmybackpack.com/2017/06/26/travel-theme-abroad/

Anglesey: 2^nd April 2017.

Some of the exhibits at the Anglesey Sea Zoo, especially the sea-horses, require sea-water of the clearest kind, and this is obtained by filtering water from the nearby Menai Straits. Attractions such as the Sea Zoo don’t attract many visitors during the winter months, so, to ensure an income all year round, some of this water is used next door to produce … Anglesey Sea Salt.

It may be asked ‘How is sea salt different to ‘ordinary’ salt? It’s all sodium chloride, isn’t it?’

Sea salt is purer, there are none of the impurities that there are in rock salt. These can occur naturally, because of elements in the adjacent soil, or can be added during manufacture, to ensure free running, for example.

Just so we were in no doubt, we were invited to taste the various grades of salt, and make our own minds up about it. I was undecided … I suppose that the cigars and whisky of earlier years are responsible for that.

We were also shown the process of obtaining the salt from the sea-water … but I didn’t take any photos or video; although it’s interesting, it’s a bit like watching paint dry. But, I did take a picture of the factory itself, which is rather nice, and one of the Menai Straits.

(If you look carefully, you can see the towers of Caernarfon Castle … ‘Caernarfon’ means, in Welsh ‘The Castle Opposite Anglesey’)

Puerto Madryn: 5^th February 2017

Puerto Madryn was first established in the late 19^th Century, not by the Spanish or Portuguese, but by Welsh settlers. There are still considerable Welsh-speaking enclaves around here; it is said that, during the Falklands campaign, several Argentinian soldiers were captured, who spoke only Spanish and Welsh. There is a Welsh dragon on the province’s flag and I did wonder if I should greet anyone I met with a ‘Hola!’ or a ‘Bore da!’ … although most of the Welsh settlers moved inland.

I seem to remember there’s something about this in Richard Llewellyn’s book ‘Up, into the Singing Mountain’. There’s a memorial statue on the sea-front, showing a migrant woman poignantly turning her back on the sea, and looking inland.

 However, language wouldn’t be a problem on this occasion, for the sea lions we went to see spoke neither Welsh nor Spanish. The RIB ride was advertised as a ‘Dolphin and Sea Lion Safari’ but although we didn’t see any dolphins … not too disappointing, for we saw some from the ship later … the mass of sea lions playing, fighting and just sunning themselves on the beach more than made up for it. And, there was the bonus of flocks of seagulls, terns and cormorants.

(You’ll see the sea lions next week … they really deserve a post to themselves, so I’ll do a slide show)

After the boat trip, we took a stroll along the seafront, but there really wasn’t much to see, for most places … apart, of course, from the souvenir shops … was closed, because it was Sunday. Even so, the souvenir shops had competition, in the shape of quite a few traders, who had set up their stalls, or even just laid their goods out on the pavement.

 

Shildon: 19^th May 2017

If you have any interest in railway history, Shildon, near Darlington, is a place of pilgrimage. It was from Shildon in 1825 that the steam engine Locomotion, with George Stephenson at the controls, made its way to Darlington to pick up passengers for the run to Stockton, becoming the first-ever steam-hauled passenger rail service in the world.

It may have passed under what’s claimed to be the first … and therefore, the oldest … railway bridge in the world. It’s still in existence, although it’s now part of a larger bridge.

(Here, I expect a lot of people will jump up and declare ‘That’s just a bridge, though … a railway bridge carries the railway OVER a road or river or whatever!)

Shildon was originally an engine factory, but was better known as a wagon works. When the manufacture of these ceased, it became an annex to the National Railway Museum … the main museum, in York, was running out of space, and where better to establish the extension than the former wagon works?

There’s a lot to see here, although it’s all static. Engines, of course, and carriages; especially notable are the luxurious ones used by various Royalty.

It’s not the first time I’ve been to Shildon. Some years ago, I came by train … and I thought at the time it was such a shame to ride in a shabby unit that had seen better days, over the line over which it all started.

In the playground of the primary school I used to attend was a walled-off enclosure called the Fir Garden. It contained not a fir, but a tree known as a Wellingtonia, What we knew about it was only that it had a thick, spongy bark that enabled us to punch it without hurting ourselves, and the cones made great hand grenades for a game of soldiers.

During one of these games, the teacher came out, and showed us a miniscule seed that had fallen from one of the cones.

‘Take a look at this seed’ she invited ‘and think! This huge tree grew from this tiny seed!’

We called this tree a Wellingtonia, after the 2^nd Duke of Wellington, who imported the first cuttings, named them after his father and grew them on his estate at Stratfield Saye, in Hampshire. Its botanical name is Sequoia Gigantea, and it’s native to the mountains of California, and is known by various names; the Giant Sequoia, the Sierra Redwood … or simply the Big Tree.

The Big Tree wasn’t imported into Britain until 1857, so the ones we have here are mere juveniles; they can live for over 3000 years. So, a tree that was already well grown when Jesus walked the earth? This has to be seen … and, preferably, without a tunnel cut through it so a car can be driven through, which was popular with many photographic magazines (including, to their shame, the National Geographic Magazine!) of the 1920s and 1930s.

It’s rather far down the bucket list at the moment … but, although a fully-grown Big Tree contains a greater volume of wood than any other, it’s not only the size that’s a source of wonder. It’s the fact that such a mammoth grew from a seed about the size of your little fingernail.

This week’s contribution to the Travel Theme. More at https://wheresmybackpack.com/2017/06/19/travel-theme-seeds/

Anglesey: 2^nd April 2017

It’s been nearly 40 years since we lived on Anglesey, and a lot has changed since then. Three of the attractions we visited didn’t even exist when we lived there. Of course, Beaumaris Castle did, and the Menai Bridge … if I remember correctly, we left on the day the Britannia Bridge re-opened.

On the way to our first call, at the Anglesey Sea Zoo at Brynsiencyn we passed through the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, and I was able to perform my ‘party trick’ of pronouncing it (more or less) correctly.

The Sea Zoo claims to be unique in that it only deals with creatures to be found in British waters … and, before anyone claims that the Lakes Aquarium in Cumbria could give them an argument about that, I should point out that the one in Cumbria is a largely freshwater aquarium.

What surprised me is that native species include starfish and sea-horses, which I really associated with more tropical waters. Less of a surprise was the coral; I remembered picking up pieces of coral from a Hebridean beach, and wondering from whence it came.

Biggest of all is the Basking Shark, the largest shark there is … and completely harmless, despite the fact that its cavernous mouth looks like you could garage a Mini in it. Naturally, they don’t have the facility to keep such a large creature in captivity, but they do have a model. Fibreglass model, or actual stuffed fish? I meant to ask, but forgot!

Punta del Este: 3^rd February 2017

 After the tour of Buenos Aires, in the evening, we sailed. I was going to say ‘put to sea’, but we didn’t really. We just sailed across the River Plate to the port of Punta del Este, in Uruguay. We didn’t know a great deal about the place; indeed, I’d never heard of it, till they held the first ever Formula E race here three years ago.

The port has no facility for cruise ships, so transfer had to be by tender. There were two other ships in port so our ship was moored about three miles out. Tendering ashore, therefore, was a long drawn out process, especially as those who had booked tours had priority. Lesson learnt …if transfer ashore is by tender… book a tour.

Anyway, after waiting over two hours for a tender, we were just about to knock it on the head and go sunbathing when our number came up and we finally stepped ashore at about 11am The original intention was simply to walk to the gigantic ‘Hand’ sculpture and maybe have a coffee and seek out some free WiFi.

But, they were waiting for us on the quayside, offering minibus tours at only USD25 a throw … cheaper than the ship’s tours and, since we were in minibuses, we’d be only a small group.

So, we were shown the highlights of the town; the ‘Hand’, the lighthouse and the houses where the ‘great and good’ lived, for this is a very upmarket kind of place. We passed a site where a Trump Hotel was being built. An American in our group asked if we could stop, as he needed the toilet. Alas, the guide didn’t get the joke, and said there’s be facilities at our next stop!

We were allowed 20 minutes at the Ralli Museum, which displays the work of artist and sculptor Carlos Paez Vilaro … of whom I’ve never heard. We didn’t go in, for I feel any museum deserves more than 20 minutes. And, there’s some of his work displayed outside.

We got to the port having fallen between two stools. We got back to the ship too late for lunch, but there really wasn’t enough time to grab a bite before queuing for the tender.

We’re still debating whether or not it was worth the hassle. Would it have detracted much from the cruise if it had been omitted altogether? Probably; we had a sea day the following day, and it did make a nice break. And, we were able to cross another country off the list.

Decadent? I don’t do decadent! At least, I didn’t think I did. I looked it up in my Thesaurus, and the synonyms weren’t at all edifying. Corrupt, dissolute and immoral stood out on the long list. But, just at the end were the words ‘self  indulgent’ Yes, I do that sometimes. But, what as that to do with travel? Let’s have a trawl through the photo archives.

This week’s contribution to the Travel Theme. More at https://wheresmybackpack.com/2017/06/12/travel-theme-decadent/

Arnside: 17^th May 2017

We were just looking for somewhere in the area to lay our heads for the night, but Arnside, on the southern bank of the Kent estuary, proved to be a pleasant little place, although somewhat out of the way. We reached it from the M6, but following a tortuous labyrinth of back-roads; there is a simpler way, but since when did SATNAV use a simple way?

Low tide exposes a vast expanse of golden sand. However, it’s just for seeing, not walking on, unless you know the area well. There are channels and quicksand and, like many river estuaries, the tide comes in extremely quickly. The Coastguard station sound a siren when the tide is on the turn, and anyone on the sands hearing it is well advised to get ashore pronto.

The village is especially noted for the railway viaduct across the estuary, which opened up the Furness area to the railway, but prevented ships from getting to the port of Milnthorpe, So, the ships docked at Arnside, instead, at a pier built by the railway company. They rebuilt the end of the pier when it was partially destroyed by a storm in 1934.

The pier was bought by the local Council for £100 in 1964, although, by now, it was rarely, if ever, in use. It was completely destroyed by another storm in 1983, but people cared enough about it to raise money for its rebuilding by public subscription.

It’s occasionally used by small boats, but generally, people just like to walk along it, and maybe sit and enjoy the view of the viaduct, the estuary and the hills beyond.

Let’s try a word association test with the word ‘precious’ We cast aside the vision of Gollum, in Lord of the Rings, cackling avariciously over his ‘precious’; apart from that, most people would say ‘stones’ or ‘metal’. In such cases, ‘precious’ usually means ‘expensive’, too. At a diamond centre in Antwerp, I was given a diamond to photograph; I forget how much it was worth, but, I remember thinking if I lost it, I’d better not plan on changing my car for some time!

But, the toddler who picked up a few pretty stones from the beach holds them just as precious, and what is a diamond but, as Henry Kissinger once said ‘ … a chunk of coal that did well under pressure’?

Third place in our word association test would probably go to ‘moments’ … and precious moments could cost you nothing … for instance, the delighted shouts of your grandchildren as they run out to greet you. Or even the stormy night, when my mates and I huddled cosily in a tent, sharing cigars, a delicious corned beef hash and cocoa laced with Navy rum.

The more tangible precious moments, you can photograph, or video and share. Tell you what; let’s have a slide show!

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This week’s contribution to the Travel Theme. More at https://wheresmybackpack.com/2017/06/05/travel-theme-precious