Holidays and absences [2]

David H wrote:

Norc wrote: also we only almost died twice..

Twice isn't too bad for a road trip. I hope they were interesting deaths!

First time I was just wandering around in my mind and ALMOST forgot to turn the wheel and when I turned it, I turned to much so we were almost driving up on the safety rail.
Second time I almost bumped into a trailer of a car! No biggie.

Not sure thats first one is not a bit of a biggie!

Lancebloke wrote:Have fun Eldo.

This will be my last check in before I go. Sure I will catch you all at some point!

get off the boat.

You should know where to get off Lance, I imagine if Figgs is near enough to the coast you will be able to spot her bustle from the ship (It'll be the most splendid one)

Hey all, just checking in.  The main camping leg of our vacation is over, so we're in Rehoboth Beach in a hotel for the last couple days now.  Waves have been somewhat disappointing except for Thursday, but it's been better than last year.  I did a bunch of biking which I haven't in ages so my legs are a little sore, but it's been a good trip.

I always do a lot of reading when camping and (after finishing a history book I'd already started) I'm about a third of the way through Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which I had selected as my main beach read a couple weeks before we left.  I'll probably most some thoughts on that over in the book thread when I finish it.

Norc wrote:Huff had me so it wasn't completely boring also we only almost died twice.. so yah i'll be more or less absent now.. Fadderuke and studies. Studying politial science

to you being absent ... and I have no idea what Fadderuke is ... but I can approve the choice to study political science.

Nice book choice Eldo! Enjoy the beach reading, sounds marvelous.

Good to hear from you Eldo. Glad you enjoyed your holiday.
Will be interested on your thoughts on the book- are you planning to watch the BBC adaptation of it afterwards?

Thanks guys. I am enjoying the book so far. It had been on my radar for a while but it was the buzz surrounding the BBC adaptation that got me to actually pick it up. I haven't decided if I'll watch the miniseries yet; that depends in part on how much of my interest the book continues to hold once we're back in civilization (and plentiful Internet).

Hope you are having a nice Holiday Eldo

Well, we're back. It was a nice trip (thanks Malick!) and feels much longer than a week. I got in the water every day except the last one; yesterday the waves were so good that it just felt like a good note to go out on. Plus I would've had to shower in the public bathhouse today since we were checked out of the hotel and those can be kinda nasty.

Instead, to kill time while other people were finishing their shopping (a big part of vacations for some in my family), I wandered over to the local library to check out their fiction section. As I often do I wander to the T's and discovered that they had a first (American) edition of The Silmarillion there. According to the card in the back, it had been with the library since November 1977 and there were a bunch of check-out dates from the '80s and '90s there too. I don't know if it had been checked out more recently since they had at some point transitioned to a computerized system.

The library also had a number of Simon Tolkien's books, and since there was no separate sci-fi/fantasy section they were right next to his grandfather's. For those who don't know, Simon Tolkien is Christopher's son by his first wife; he's a barrister and he also writes legal thrillers. He also gets brought up in movie arguments some time since he had a falling out with his father allegedly over the LOTR trilogy, though from what I've read I suspect there were many other factors at play, and they have fortunately reconciled since then. (Generally speaking, news reports of the Tolkien family are often unreliable; just look at how many places uncritically reported that Christopher's interview with Le Monde a couple years ago was his first in decades when a simple Google search could disprove that in seconds.) Anyway, I read the first several chapters of Simon's first novel, Final Witness, and while I have no familiarity with the legal thriller on which to base an opinion, I enjoyed it pretty well. I couldn't check the book out since I won't be back in Delaware for another year though.

I'm still working through Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. This is becoming more of a post for the books thread so I'll try to keep things short, but I'm beginning to be a little bothered by the lack of limitations on magic (I'm about halfway through so far). I normally don't care too much about the details of magic and the all-too-common recommendation of fantasy novels because "it has such a cool magic system" is always off-putting to me, but the ease with which Strange...

Spoiler:

That said, I am still enjoying the book, though I'm beginning to feel the length. The pacing is really unusual -- I'm honestly not sure I've ever read something that accelerates and decelerates its chronology so much -- but I kinda like it how Clarke is able to cover so much ground and so many characters through this approach. And the narrator and the footnotes have a character all their own that renders most "show, don't tell" complaints irrelevant, at least in my view.

Hey all. Just checking in from Cartagena, Spain. Found some WiFi at Cafe Carlos 3!

Figgy.. me and the other half are thinking of getting off and going to Cinque Terre (I think that is what they called it). Not sure yet. Be straight after a long day in Rome though.

We shall see. Anyway, off to the Roman Theatre now, then back to the boat. Will catch up in everything else when I can!

Sounds like a lovely trip lance, hope you and the missus are having a ball and sampling the local buckies as you go

Lancebloke wrote:Hey all. Just checking in from Cartagena, Spain. Found some WiFi at Cafe Carlos 3!

Figgy.. me and the other half are thinking of getting off and going to Cinque Terre (I think that is what they called it). Not sure yet. Be straight after a long day in Rome though.

We shall see. Anyway, off to the Roman Theatre now, then back to the boat. Will catch up in everything else when I can!

Cinque Terre is not to be missed. its way better than Rome. which apart from the Pantheon was a big let down when I went.

It's good to hear from you, Lance. I hope everything with the trip is going well!

Figgy... I am sitting outside the Pantheon now! I thought the Colloseum and Forum were great!

Be in your neck of the woods tomorrow!

Thanks all... going well so far.

When I visited Rome for the first time I was disappointed to find that I wasn't met by Russell Crowe stroking his corn?

the Pantheon was my favourite building its got amazing atmosphere, although theres too many people everywhere. If you go to the Cinque Terre, Monterosso is the best one to relax in. its got a little beach. and take little boats to each town. walking is too hot.

I have fantasized about Russells corn for years. I would give it a good stroking. But by all accounts corn stroking is illegal.

did you enjoy the 5 Terre Lance?

Just got some WiFi. In Lisbon at the moment. And yes, it was very nice thanks!

very nice?  is that it? I was hoping for some impressions. still Lisbon is nice too.  actually I wasn't too impressed by Lisbon and it was full of poor beggars. Sintra Castle is absolutely amazing though. a highlight of my trip. I imagine Prince Imrahil would live there.

Just googled Sintra Castle and I definitely see what you mean, Mrs Figg.

if you think that's unreal check out the fairy palace of Quinta da regaleira. #mindblown

Wow! I can picture a dozen master stone carvers and masons with a swarm of a hundred journeymen and apprentices painstakingly carving each flourish with eyes that see both individual beauty and how it will all come together as a whole. And above all a sense of building something of beauty for the Ages.

I hope there are still talented students taking up the art.