Halloween

Tags

Canada., Candy, Charlottetown, halloween, Ottawa, PEI, PMJT, Trick or treat

Here are some photos I wanted to share from Twitter.

Andrew King of Ottawa, famous historian who always comes up with the most fascinating stories on Ottawa Rewind, could not find candies at the store so he got luncheon meat and Maggi instant noodles instead, this made me laugh hard. Imagine the face of the kids getting this stuff, priceless!

Our Prime Minister also dressed up to go trick or treating with his kids in the New Edinburg neighbourhood where they live in Ottawa.

PM Justin Trudeau is dressed up as the famous writer Saint-Exupery and his son as the Little Prince, from the story of the book, we all read as kids.

The neighbours also dressed up, cross dressing Queen Elizabeth II, LOL!

How about this spooky cloud formation with the setting Sun in the Province of Alberta, out West.

Ghost Ship of Northumberland Strait near Charlottetown, PEI
The ship is described as a beautiful schooner that has three masts (sometimes four masts, as reports vary) with pure white sails, all of which become completely engulfed in flames as onlookers watch. There never seems to be a predetermined place for where the ship will appear; sightings tend to happen when least expected.
Sightings have occurred throughout the seasons, but seem to be more prevalent from September to November. These visions are also apparent before a northeast wind, and folklore has it that this brilliant ghost ship is a forewarning of a storm.

 

 

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Plebiscite in PEI!

Tags

Canada., elections, electoral system, PEI, Plebiscite

As of today Saturday 29 October, the citizens of the Province of Prince Edward Island will have 10 days to express their choice for a new electoral system to replace the old antiquated system of First past the post.  We have 5 choices of possible voting systems.

We can vote by phone or by the internet or in person. Each voter is given a PIN number which is unique and you fill out the Plebiscite ballot stating which system you prefer from 1 being the best to 5 being the least favoured.

I hope people will take this opportunity, it is very important. PEI is the first and only Canadian Province so far to hold a Plebiscite on the question. At the National level Prime Minister Trudeau has promised a change and all political parties in the House of Commons are involved in reviewing options by consulting with Canadians across the country, the report should be presented in a few weeks.  PM Justin Trudeau has promised that by 2019 when the next Federal election is to take place we will have a new electoral system. I like a lot of Canadians are looking forward to this new system.

The options are on the ballot: Dual Member Proportional (DMP),

Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), Preferential Voting (PV), First past the Post (current system), First past the post plus leaders.

The MMP system is the one in Germany, Scotland, New Zealand. A lot of people like this system.

The PV system is used in Australia and Ireland.

Our system in Canada does not make every vote count a party can currently get 40% of the vote and the majority of the seats in the House, which is not fair.

 

 

 

Views on immigration

Tags

Canada., Einhorn, Immigrants, Kantor, NYT, refugees, Sponsors, Syria

The New York Times published this week, October 24 an article by JODI KANTOR and CATRIN EINHORN entitled; Refugees encounter a foreign word: Welcome!

The story is about Canadians who sponsored Syrian Refugees and the response of the Canadian Government to this refugee crisis. Canada has a very well established and old refugee program. Canada was one of the founder and proponent of the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee, who deals with all refugee crisis around the world. Canada was also a writer of the International Convention on Refugee who regulate how internationally refugees are dealt with. In 1986 the Canadian People won the Nansen Refugee Medal awarded by the UNHCR.

Canadians in general do not see refugees as a threat to our way of life. Thousands of Canadians have in past decades sponsored tens of thousands of refugees to come to Canada to rebuild their lives. It’s a good and positive story and as Canadians we should be proud of what we have achieved.

There have been a lot of refugee crisis in the 20th Century and now in this new century. Think 1956 Hungarian crisis, 1967 Czechoslovakia, 1976 Vietnam Boat people and so on. In each case Canadians stepped up to the plate to do the need for.

The Syrian refugee crisis should be treated the same as all others. However the world view is different now. The media has fanned the flames of hate with sensational articles and politicians using populist tactics have used the lowest common denominator to create fear. The USA has so far admitted only 10,000 Syrian refugees, a very low number if compared with the past when the USA was seen as a vacuum cleaner picking up every refugee in sight.

There has been a mischaracterization of Syrians, they have been lumped into one group and labelled dangerous. The facts are very different some of them are Christians and others are Muslims, some are Arabs, some are Armenians or Circassian. For many people confusion about the entire political, social, refugee situation in the Middle East is incomprehensible.  An unfortunate word association has been created; Muslim, terrorist, Islamist, ISIS, Burka, Iran, Shia, Sunni, all those words mean nothing to most people and in the end is a source of suspicions, a sign of negativity.

Despite all this, many Canadians have stepped forward to help and sponsor Syrian refugees. Sponsoring a refugee is a process which will change your life, it is a lot more than just giving some money. A sponsor is responsible for the sponsored refugee for 12 months. This means financially responsible, you are like a new parent with a child, all their needs must be met and they must be fully supported.

The story in the New York Times gives an excellent view of what it means, it is an emotional journey but also a very rewarding one.

People who are refugees are not a threat, they represent no danger to the established order, your values or beliefs. Their need is to feel safe and rebuild their lives destroyed by war and political upheaval, situation they found themselves in through no fault of their own and are powerless to change. Only narrow minded politicians who wish to exploit unfounded fears and create hysteria for political gain wish to portray refugees as dangerous.

I have heard many say but they will impose their views on us. That is simple nonsense, Canada is a country of 36 million people of various ethnic background, faiths and culture, it is highly unlikely that 30,000 Syrian refugees mixed up in the general population would be able to change anything. Their priority is resettling. learning the language, finding jobs, learning a new way of life and sending the kids to school.

For the sponsors in Canada it has also been a steep learning curve, the Syrians they sponsored are not fitting the image they had of them before they arrived. Now they are seeing that they are human beings who are grateful for the help and anxious to get along but still have worries about their families back in camps in Lebanon or in Jordan. The Canadian sponsor have found out that Syrians have a rich ancient culture and much to share. One only wish that more Canadians who are still stuck with narrow beliefs and arrogant view points would be open to learning that there are other people in the world not as fortunate who need our help and understanding.

As for the constant terrorist threat, it has been demonstrated statistically that a Canadian has a very good chance of being run over by a car just crossing the street in any Canadian City and zero chance of ever meeting a terrorist face to face.

Let’s also not forget that the two so called terrorist incidents in Canada two years ago, were committed by White Canadians born and raised in Canada who suffered from mental illness and came from broken families. These acts where exploited by the Harper Regime at the time for cynical political purposes. It was also the Harper regime who taking their cue from the GOP strategists created the fire storm against people like the Arabs, who they viewed as a convenient easy target.

Canadians have proven that they know better and continue our tradition of welcoming refugees.

New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/22/world/americas/canada-refugees-syria.html?emc=edit_ae_20161023&nl=todaysheadlines-asia&nlid=66911170

 

 

 

QM2

Tags

Atlantic, Canada., Cunard, Food, Halifax, Ocean, Ocean liner, QM2, Restaurant, Samuel Cunard, Sea, service

For our return we decided to take an ocean liner back to North America instead of flying. The Cunard Company now owned by Carnival Cruises has the Queen Mary 2 sailing from Southampton to NYC and back. The ship carries about 3000 passengers and for us it was the biggest ship we had ever taken. The other companies we cruised with where Crystal, Azamara and Holland American, on ships holding from 800 to 1100 passengers. We love Azamara and all the trips we made with them.

To go to Southampton from London you have several options, the distance is 128 km, the travel time is about 90 minutes depending on traffic on the highway if you go by bus or car. By train the train station in Southampton is not in the docks area so you need to take a taxi for the transfer. There is also no links between Heathrow airport and Southampton.

We compared prices and options and chose a private chauffeured car to go from our Hotel Bailey’s in London to Southampton. It took under 2 hours for our trip in a very comfortable Mercedes S class.

On arrival at Southampton embarkation was very well organized and took about 30 minutes.

If you travel with Cunard be ready to be bombarded non stop with publicity telling you how absolutely fantastic they are and no one compares to them, blah, blah, blah. This was a very big red flag and we should have known that if you need to repeat endlessly how fantastic you are, there is an obvious problem.

The majority of the passengers were British 1650 of them, then Americans 620, Canadians at 450 and then Germans, Italians, French and other nationalities. Notices on board were in German and English. Why?

The staff of the ship is mostly Philippino, gone are the days when they were all Brits or Irish, I will tell you why later, then some Eastern Europeans in management and the Ship Officers are British. This being a very big ship it took several days to get familiar with the various decks and where things were located, you could get lost easily.

The ship features many vignettes of the Cunard line and of the various ships and its personnel through the ages who help make the company name. That was when Cunard was owned by Cunard and not some foreign entity, it was also a time when Cunard still abided by British Labour Laws and rates of pay and before they decided to change the Flag on the ship to one of Convenience, which changes the pay scale and work hours.

Cunard today is no longer the company it once was, the world of the Ocean Liner is run on maximum profit business plan and so we felt we were being nickel and dime to death. Breakfast in the morning if you wanted a cappuccino you had to pay $4.50 and go get it at the bar some distance away. The service is also not what it once was, it is mostly serve yourself nowadays. We were rushed though meals, there was nothing leisurely. Order quickly and make sure you put in your wine order before you order your meals because you may get your wine by dessert time. The dining room Britannia had a very unsettling constant vibration. The Maitre d’ assured us on the first night that the speed of the ship was the reason for this unsettling vibration but once we attained the regular 21 knots it would cease, nope it continued to vibrate badly. The food was bland at best, not inspired at all despite the claim of exciting menu choices. The only time we experienced anything better was the evening we went to The Verandah, which is the premium restaurant of the QM2.

The entertainment on board is of OK quality, stuck in 1960 variety model, nothing to write home about and highly forgettable, certainly not world class as claimed by Cunard. Same with their so called World famous speakers, I expected Henry Kissinger, not so. The hype surrounding the shows is a little ridiculous. The various musical groups on board performing where either playing too loudly and/or not well, false notes, etc. with the exception of the Jazz group who played in the Carinthia lounge who were of superior quality. Helen Leek was also a great pianist and a woman of talent who gave recitals.

The QM2 was refurbished in Hamburg, Germany in June 2016, at least all the public rooms and restaurants where, am not sure about the cabins. The cabins are larger than the usual cruise ship cabin and the bathroom is nice, it was very quiet on our deck.

So when Cunard says they exceed your expectations, no they don’t, I expected a nice crossing of the North Atlantic in the style of bygone era, leisurely pace, superior food and no pressure or demands to conform to the expectations of Cunard, after all who is paying for the trip. Every announcement was always on the tone of the nanny scolding, for your safety and security blah, blah, blah, I finally remarked to someone that I was starting to feel there was something wrong or dangerous about this crossing or the boat. They were truly treating us like little kids, which is grating. Even telling people what was appropriate to wear on board. I can understand requirements for a jacket at dinner or on the special night a black tie, but beyond that I found it insulting. Given that the average age on board is 65+, it is inexplicable.

Upon embarkation our luggage was to be delivered to our Stateroom, I discovered one suitcase and one garment bag missing. After one hour of looking around I went to the service desk and found the missing bags just left there, so I had to carry it myself to my cabin, so much for their legendary White Star Service.

In the Port of Halifax, N.S., Canada, statue of a true Haligonian, Samuel Cunard.

I would not recommend Cunard which is now owned and a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation. The business plan is profits first and the rest later. That is not the way to enjoy a crossing or a cruise.

The nautical maps were also incorrect, geography is not Cunard’s strong point. Canada was shown somewhere in the North Pole region, Newfoundland was described as an Island, as if it was still a British colony. We passed Halifax on our way to NYC, it did not appear on the map, despite the fact that it is the birthplace of Samuel Cunard and he still has relatives living there.  A large statue to Samuel Cunard graces the docks in Halifax where the cruise terminal is located. However it was pointed out to us where the Titanic went down.

Titanic is down there, thankfully no iceberg in sight.

Now this is not to say that all was bad, no, we did have time to read great books we brought along, saw some fun movies, Zootropolis,  Hail Cesar with George Cluny and While we’re young, something we rarely do. We met great people, we had charming dinner companions and met lots of truly delightful people, we slept a lot, and walked the deck which was a great easy exercise. The ship also had a truly impressive wine list, some rare finds and great years. There was also a large collection of Ports some where 170 years old. The various bars on board had just about every alcohol you can think of and a great collection of single malt scotch.

Walking daily on Deck 7 was great fun watching the ever changing sea. The light on the water from grey to dark blue to royal blue all in a few minutes, then suddenly see rainbows and the Sun shimmering on the water making it silver white.

Because we had a large contingent of British people on board, I started to notice the accents, truly some of them I could not understand, it was thick. I was told that some of them come from the region at the border with Scotland. So we just smiled and nodded a lot.

An alumni of Trinity College Dublin, notice the colour.

At the front of the ship, no not modern sculptures but emergency spare propeller blades.

On deck 7 at Sea 

At 5am in the port of New York, our arrival.

The early morning arrival in New York at docking across from Governor’s Island.

From New York we went to LaGuardia which is undergoing a massive rebuilding and the whole airport is in shambles. We flew to Toronto for our connecting flight to PEI.

On our approach to Lester B. Pearson International Airport, Toronto seen from above.

London and Southampton

Tags

Chelsea, Islamic Art, Kensington, London, Museums, UK, V&A

One thing we both noticed during our trip through Ireland and then the UK is how foreign workers most of whom are EU Citizens work in the service industry. Gone are the days when Irish or British worked in that sector. It got us thinking that in the  event of Brexit, Britain will find itself in a very difficult position, all those EU workers in the service industry would go home or move to other EU countries. What will Britain do to replace them? The Brits are not going to take those jobs there has been in the last 30 years a culture change and you will find Brits working abroad but not at home and not necessarily in the service sector. In Hotels, restaurants, etc. staff is from a variety of European countries, not a Brit in site. It will be interesting to see how this situation evolves.

While in London we also stopped at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The V&A covers 12.5 acres (5.1 ha)[3] and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world. The museum owns the world’s largest collection of post-classical sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world.

The V&A has its origins in the Great Exhibition of 1851, with which Henry Cole, the museum’s first director, was involved in planning; initially it was known as the Museum of Manufactures, first opening in May 1852 at Marlborough House, but by September had been transferred to Somerset House. At this stage the collections covered both applied art and science. Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection. By February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site and it was renamed South Kensington Museum.

The official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857. In the following year, late night openings were introduced, made possible by the use of gas lighting. This was to enable in the words of Cole “to ascertain practically what hours are most convenient to the working classes”.

It is an immense museum and you have to choose what you want to see in the various galleries, one can become overwhelmed by the wealth of the collections. We picked to visit the Asian galleries on our visit and looked into Islamic Art. What is on display is of very high quality and is beautifully curated. It is also very well explained and the collections are part of established British policy to bring back to London treasures of conquered lands which at the time came under British rule. You can say the same thing about the French, German, Spaniards, etc who also had colonial empires. This is why museums in Europe have such extensive collections of Art from abroad.

Ceremonial dagger encrusted with semi precious stones, carved ivory, enamel, a gift from Fath Ali Shah of Persia (Iran) to Captain John Malcolm of the East India Company in 1810.

Gold and pink sapphires bracelet, Madras, India.

Chintz costume, a man’s morning gown made from Indian painted cotton, very popular in England, France and Holland around 1660. It is recorded in Samuel Peppys journal that he bought himself one around 1661. Much later chintz will become popular with ladies.

Fine stone carved window panels, exquisite design, Iran. This fashion of carving appears also in India, Syria, Egypt.

  

 Men’s Mughal Costume, was based on the Jama a tailored gown tied at the side and the Paijama trousers loose at the top but tapered at the lower leg. An elaborate turban (Pagri) was also worn at Court and a long decorative waist sash (Patka). Fine kashmir wool shawl were often draped over the shoulder, a fashion started by Emperor Akbar (1542-1605).

There were many other objects to see, making the visit most interesting. All this in only one part of the V&A museum.

We then went to lunch or Brunch this being Sunday with our friends J. and David Nice.

The House of Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882 in Chelsea

The Thames at low tide.

On the Thames this sculpture by Korean artist Ik Joong Kan, entitled Floating dreams. It is in front of the New Tate Modern Museum.

A small front garden of a house in Chelsea.

A street by our hotel in London

Now comes the time for our last leg of our trip, going home from Southampton on the Queen Mary 2. A 7 day crossing of the North Atlantic our destination New York.

London and Southwark

Tags

Globe theatre, London, London Bridge, plays, Sam Wanamaker, Shakespeare, Southwark, theatre, UK

I was going to visit JP and Guido in Bermondsey which is in Southwark (Suthick), an old acquaintance of mine Marcus Gheeraerts painted this scene of their restaurant in 1570 in Bermondsey. I think the Spanish Armada had arrived in town at that point. The famous JP can be read at https://itsmyhusbandandme.wordpress.com I would rename his blog Adventures in Bermondsey.

You can see the Tower of London on the other side of the Thames. This is more or less the period of Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare. Unfortunately JP was not in London the day we came by. So we went to visit the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, the project championed by actor Sam Wanamaker.

A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named “Shakespeare’s Globe”, opened in 1997 approximately 750 feet (230 m) from the site of the original theatre. The exact location of the original Globe Theatre is not known.

I would not have visited this site if it had not been for Will, he wanted to see it and this was our chance. Since English is not my mother tongue, I have great difficulty understanding Shakespeare and grasping the meaning of his plays, I think Corneille use to say It’s Greek to me. I always say why can’t they make it into modern English for all to grasp. Nonetheless, it was a fascinating visit and I learned a great deal about the period and life in London at the time. Tours are given and the guide gave us a very good description of how plays were performed and who came to the theatre then. It was a theatre for the masses and people were packed like sardines inside. The whole business was to present a play and make as much money as possible by selling as many tickets, it was rough and ready entertainment for the age, in a brutal world.

The South side of the Thames was a suburb of London and fell outside of the Lord Mayor’s purview, so you could present plays and other spectacle like bear baiting and dog fights and have all manner of immoral and illicit entertainment which would not have been tolerated in London proper. London then was a very small town starting at the Tower of London and ending at Westminster, a small area easily walkable. The only bridge across the Thames was London Bridge which was always congested with traffic. It was easier to hire a barge and row across.

This maquette of London shows the Thames frozen solid which would happen some Winters, with all kinds of activities taking place on the frozen river. The South bank or Southwark.

It was a difficult time politically, Queen Elizabeth I was very suspicious of all around her to the point of paranoia, she saw plots everywhere. Wars of religion was still a fact of life between Catholics and Protestants and Puritans and Presbyterians were constantly agitating for a narrow minded social agenda either in Parliament or at City Hall. Actors and theatres were a favourite target and the threat of closure was always present. Under Oliver Cromwell in 1647 all theatres will be closed and some demolished, bigotry and fanaticism in London led to such extreme measures.

Writing plays as Shakespeare did could also be very dangerous, at any time you could be accuse of fomenting sedition which meant arrest and death for the author. Shakespeare was careful to always tow a prudent political line and flatter the Monarch so as not to become a target. He also sought the protection of powerful patrons and financiers. Complete original manuscripts in the hand of William Shakespeare do not exist, there are no substantial surviving manuscripts, so his plays are known from printed editions done during or just after his death. Seven years after his death, two of his friends and fellow actors, John Heminges and Henry Condell produced a collection of 36 of his plays, this became known as the First Folio.

In other words London and England at the time was a nasty brutish place. Contrary to what was shown in the movie Shakespeare in love, Queen Elizabeth I never came to the Globe. The theatre was brought to her in her Palace at Whitehall, this for reasons of security but mostly because the prestige of the Sovereign did not permit that she would stoop to the level of actors who were in the same class as prostitutes, criminals and other miscreants. The first English monarch to come to the Globe will be HM Elizabeth II in 1997 at the opening of the reconstructed theatre.

The highly symbolic painted decorations of the stage would have been easily recognized by people at the time of Shakespeare, above the heavens with the gods, the spheres and the constellations, below the stage was Hell with its malign influences. In between was the resultant disarray of earthly existence, its trials and follies, tragedies and comedies played out on stage.

The exhibits at the Globe are very interesting from explanations on costumes and how they were made, to the make-up worn by actors, most of it made from highly toxic and poisonous ingredients, lead mercury, arsenic.

Also describe the crowds attending, there were various prices for seats and high prices for those special boxes by the stage reserved for wealthy nobles. Then there was the pit the area directly in front of the stage. People packed in so tightly you could not move. Our guide described for us what you could experience. People did not wash and were covered in lice, bad breath and strong body odour, because you could not move or leave during the show, you simply relieved yourself where you stood. People brought food and drink and spoke loudly during plays. In the upper balcony of the theatre all manner of immoral encounters occurred, the guide being a sensible fellow left it to our imagination to fathom what might have happened up there.

Here is a view of the more expensive boxes for Nobles with painted interiors. The Globe is not a big theatre but in Shakespeare’s time 3000 people could be packed inside for one performance. Today only about 1600 people can attend due to fire regulations.

Stage is being set-up for the 1927 silent movie, Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer with accompanying orchestra.

While at the Globe book shop, I picked up Catharine Arnold, Globe, Life in Shakespeare London and The time traveller’s guide to Elizabethan England, by Ian Mortimer. I enjoyed them both.

A wood model of what the final reconstruction of the Globe and adjacent buildings would look like, most of it has been re-built, I am not sure if the rest will be completed.

The area today with the famous Shard building in the background. All in all a fantastic visit and most interesting.

Will and I on the footbridge crossing back the Thames at St-Paul’s Cathedral.

London in September

Tags

Bailey's Hotel, Botany, Carl Linnaeus, Chelsea Physic Garden, London, New Tate Modern, The Globe theatre, UK, V&A Museum

I always love to travel to London at any time of the year. In the last 47 years I have been to London numerous times in all Seasons. There is no end of things to do and see, be it the opera, the theatre and yes we have seen extremely good theatre in London, museums and collections or just the pleasure of discovering a corner of the city not seen by tourists. Seeing friends and having a nice visit with them as we did again this time with J. and D.N., how Enigma Variations of me to just give out initials.

We stayed at the Bailey’s Hotel, 140 Gloucester Road in South Kensington, an hotel Will remembered well. It is very central and close to so many things, the underground is just across the street, lots of shops, restaurants, etc.

We visited the Globe theatre, it was my first visit to the site on the South side of the Thames just across from St-Paul’s Cathedral. Southwark (pronounced Suthick) is an interesting neighbourhood. The Globe is next door to Tate Modern Museum which is located in a former power plant. The whole area has been revitalized and is nothing like it was some 30 years ago, very vibrant.

We also discovered with our friend D.N. who has a most interesting blog and who recommends great books to read, he has the nose for books, his suggestions never fail to interest. http://davidnice.blogspot.ca  A garden which has been a fixture of London for centuries, I had never heard of it and it is a fascinating place, Chelsea Physic Garden founded in 1673, located at 66 Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea and across the Thames from Battersea Park.

Tucked away beside the Thames, Chelsea Physic Garden is a celebration of the beauty and importance of plants. Founded in 1673 it is one of London’s oldest botanic gardens and contains a unique living collection of around 5,000 different edible, useful, medicinal and historical plants within its sheltering walls.

Omnia mirari etiam tritissima ( wonder at everything, even the most everyday things), motto of botanist Carl Linnaeus 1707-1778. 

Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who formalized the modern system of naming organisms called binomial nomenclature. He is known by the epithet “father of modern taxonomy”.

Sir Hans Sloane, 1660-1753, eminent physician is another person who was involved with the creation of this garden. To this day the Chelsea Physic Garden remains a wonder to visit.

We also walked some 22 km in London, it is a good city for walking. We also visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, there is always something fascinating to see and it is so well curated.

We only had 2 days this time in London and it was a busy time but so delightful.

 

 

 

Return to Dublin

Tags

1916 Easter Uprising, Dublin, Heuston Station, Ireland, Sean Heuston, West country

After a fantastic stop in Westport and the the visit to Ashford Castle and the time spent with the Hawks and Falcons, we returned via a very scenic route to Westport and our train waiting for us on our private platform. At the Station the train was too long by 3 cars for the platform, no problem, we had more oysters on the half-shelf and this time a small glass of Guinness, which I found to be a very good beer which goes well with Oysters.

Here are some of the views on the road back, Ireland is a spectacular country in its geography.

The West Country

County Mayo, in dark green. The Pink area is Ulster and its 6 counties,(Northern Ireland).

I can say that we have visited all of Ireland now, including Ulster. The Irish are a charming people, helpful and kind. Ireland has beautiful and dramatic scenery of great natural beauty. I learned to appreciate Guinness beer, me a non-beer drinker and sample 2 Irish whiskeys I really liked Green Spot and Yellow Spot which I found to be very good.

Though I preferred Yellow Spot Irish Whiskey.

Nose: There are masses of fleshy stone fruit on the nose, especially peach and apricot with hints of sherried dried fruit and Bourbon cask vanilla.

Palate: The palate is equally fruity with a substantial body and a velvety texture.

Finish: The finish is long and sweet with notes of marzipan and dried apricots.

Overall: This is very different to the Green Spot we all know and love with a delicious sweetness to it and a firmer body.

Our train arrived in early morning in Dublin Heuston Station, we took a taxi to our hotel to pick-up our luggage and headed to the Airport for our flight to London.

Heuston Station, Dublin

The next part of our trip was about to begin.

 

Falconry

Tags

Ashford Castle, birds of prey, co.Mayo, Harris Hawks, Hawks, Ireland, School of Falconry

I now know why Falconry is considered the sport of Kings. At Ashford Castle the Irish school of Falconry has about 24 Hawks and Falcons in residence. The Hawks are Harris hawks from North America. The female weighs about 2.5 Kilos and the male weighs about 1.7 kilos.

At our arrival at Ashford Castle we were taken by Land Rover to the school which is on the estate but at some distance of the Castle in the great park.

 

Falcons and Hawks are birds of prey, they cannot become pets and cannot be trained to be pets, that has to be understood from the beginning.  The instructor told us that we should under no condition try to pet them or cuddle them, the bird will think you want to harm them. They are majestic and dignified, not cute. Their claws are sharp and huge, the wing span when they fly off is impressive at 120cm or 47 inches.

Their eyesight is far stronger than any human eye, they can see things at a very great distance we would be unable to see. The instructor told us that from 4000 feet in the air they can see a little field mouse. They see in colour and differentiate various hue. They are also silent in flight meaning that you do not hear them coming or going. When they come down on a prey, the animal in their sight will never know what hit them. They are like a silent missile.

At the school they are kept in large enclosure, but each has its own territory inside  the aviary and a distance of at least 2 meters between birds must be kept. Otherwise they would attack each other and fight to the death. We took them out in pairs but I did notice that when they fly off they do so separately and will perch on different branches of different trees always at a distance of each other.

Since about 1980, Harris’s hawks have been increasingly used in falconry and are now the most popular hawks in the West (outside of Asia) for that purpose, as they are one of the easiest to train.
Their desire and ability to work closely with their falconer allows them to take a larger and more varied score of game than any other falcon or hawk species. They are effective on both bird and mammalian prey, and are willing to tackle game larger than themselves. Though not quite as athletic as falcons, the close and cunning ways they learn to work as part of a falconry team more than makes up for their somewhat lesser speed and endurance. Trained Harris’s hawks have been used to remove an unwanted pigeon population from London’s Trafalgar Square.

Will is holding on his arm the male Hawk of the group. Females are usually the dominant partner of any Hawk group. They do not migrate like other birds and stay in the region where they live.

 

They come back to us because they know that in our gloved hand we have a piece of raw meat. However do not make the mistake of trying to fool them by not having that treat of raw meat, they will not return to you afterwards, you will be seen as untrustworthy by the Hawk.  Here I am walking back with my female Hawk, Maya. What a wonderful afternoon that was, quite unlike anything I have done before.

Ashford castle, Falcons and Hawks

Tags

Ashford Castle, County Mayo, Falconry, Falcons, Guinness, Hawks, Ireland, Westport

So after an extensive tour of Connemara our last leg of our trip brings us to Westport, Co. Mayo. Our visit here hit a highlight by visiting Ashford Castle and the school of Falconry.

Ashford Castle a former private residence is now a veery exclusive Luxury Hotel. The setting in a very large private park with its golf course, tennis courts, lake Lough Corrib, and Ireland’s School of Falconry, shooting range, etc. Guests are chauffeured around in luxurious Range Rover similar to those made for HM the Queen with liveried drivers.

view from the Golf course. 

A castle was built on the perimeter of a Monastic site in 1228 by the Anglo-Norman House of Burke.

After more than three-and-a-half centuries under the de Burgos, whose surname became Burke or Bourke, Ashford passed into the hands of a new master, following a fierce battle between the forces of the de Burgos and those of the English official Sir Richard Bingham, Lord President of Connaught, when a truce was agreed. In 1589, the castle fell to Bingham, who added a fortified enclave within its precincts.

Dominick Browne, of the Browne Family (Baron Oranmore) received the estate in a Royal Grant in either 1670 or 1678. In 1715, the estate of Ashford was established by the Browne family and a hunting lodge in the style of a 17th-century French chateau was constructed. The double-headed eagles still visible on the roof represent the coat of arms of the Brownes.

In the late 18th-century a branch of the family inhabited the castle. In the early 19th-century, one Thomas Elwood was agent for the Brownes at Ashford and was recorded as living there in 1814.

The estate was purchased in 1852 by Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness from the Encumbered Estates’ Court. He added two large Victorian style extensions. He also extended the estate to 26,000 acres (110 km2), built new roads and planted thousands of trees. On Benjamin’s death in 1868, the estate passed to his son Lord Ardilaun, who expanded the building further in the neogothic style.

Lord Ardilaun was an avid gardener who oversaw the development of massive woodlands and rebuilt the entire west wing of the castle, designed by architects James Franklin Fuller and George Ashlin. The new construction connected the early 18th-century part in the east with two de-Burgo-time towers in the west. Battlements were added to the whole castle.

The Castle passed to Ardilaun’s nephew Ernest Guinness. It was gifted to the Irish government in 1939.

Today Ashford Castle is a luxury hotel, a major refurbishment was done in 2015.

We had lunch at the Castle in a beautiful dining room, service was in the grand style, very attentive, rarely seen today in any hotel.

Hotel grounds and garden