In Which There is Shopping, Steam & Sunshine

After our cultural excursions we decided that a quieter day might be in order. It began with a trip to the Saturday market, where we got a little over-enthusiastic buying wonderful fresh fruit - 5kg of oranges (having found a juicer in the kitchen cupboard) and smaller (but still large, and astonishingly cheap) quantities of cherries, strawberries, some (probably) Mulberries, nectarines and some apple-sized fruit which looked a bit like tomatoes and tasted a bit like melon. I'm not sure what they were - persimmons of some kind, perhaps..

All that shopping was so exhausting that we had to go and get lunch.  Eating pide and drinking beer, while seated under a canopy of vine leaves takes a lot of beating!

Fortified by food and beer, we moved on to the 'shopping' portion of the day - K was looking for a veil for the whole getting married thing which she is doing in the summer, and she, E and I all need shoes, also for the wedding-ing. Our experience suggests that in Turkey, weddings are all about the frills. And the shiny things. And then the frills on the frills. and glitter on the frills on the frills. And sequins everywhere. Strangely, despite this, we were unable to convince K that she wanted to buy a new dress, in place of her original choice (and even more strangely, I don't seem to have taken any pictures of the dresses!)

However, trying on veils (and shoes) was so exhausting that we decided another Hamman was needed.  we went to the town hamman this time, which was less slick than the hotel (no plunge pool) but with much better massage.

And yet again, they somehow managed to scrub off another layer or two of skin, despite our all having been exfoliated to within an inch of our lives less than a week before... I really need to learn the Turkish for "I do exfoliate, honest. And I'm sure a lot of that is sun cream."

It was D's last day, so we stayed up late chatting, and sitting out on the balcony in the quiet darkness watching the bats flit past, then K drove her to airport to return to England's rain-drenched jubilee.

In which there is more recent history (and pancakes)

After our adventures with ancient history, we decided to stay closer to home, both geographically and historically, the next day.
So we went to Kaya village (Kayaköy /Karmylassos ), which is just outside Fethiye. Kaya was a village inhabited mainly by Greek-speaking Christians, but it was abandoned in 1923, after the end of the Greco-Turkish War (or the war of Turkish Independence, depending on your political views) when, as part of the peace treaty, a population exchange was agreed, allowing Ethnic Greek Christians to move to Greece, and Muslims to move to Turkey.

However, as Kaya had been Greek, Turks did not wish to live there, so it became a ghost town, and is now preserved as a museum.

The village is mostly ruins, now. The majority of the buildings are roofless shells, the alters are gone from the churches, and the place is silent other than the chirping of crickets, and birds.

When we went into one of the churches we flushed out a small group of sheep, and there were swallows nesting in the roof.

There is one house which still has its wooden internal walls, shutters and balcony, although they are rather decrepit, and seem to have been burned at some time. Outside the window was an apricot tree, with all the apricots growing, frustratingly, just out of reach...

From the chapel on the top of the hill, there are magnificent views out over the sea, and there are flowers everywhere, and fig-trees growing up inside many of the ruined houses.

Now that the village is preserved as a museum, and is something of a tourist attraction, there are several little restaurants there. And a random pair of camels and a donkey, on which one can, I assume, have rides. We, however, were far more interested in the gozleme, which are chapati-like pancakes, made in a woodburning oven and stuffed with cheese and spinach.

It's possible that the afternoon may have involved rather a lot of sitting on a sunny balcony. And possibly a G'n'T or two. And maybe some pistachio ice cream.

The baklava, however, wasn't until later.

In which there are more ruins

After leaving Patara, we decided to call in on some more ruins on our way home, and decided to go to Letoon, which apparently has a mosaic and some nice bits of temple.
It took as a little while to find it, as we were lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that there was a sign post on the main road, which led us to believe there would be signs at the next junction, too.
This turned out not to be the case, but fortunately there were not very many junctions. The area is an agricultural one, and there were lots of big greenhouses full of tomatoes (we suspect that the greenhouses are more about preserving humidity than heat) and little fields with goats, and the occasional old lady cutting hay with a scythe. We found ourselves back at the main road, did a u-turn under the bemused eyes of a elderly gentleman and his 7 goats, and shortly after that, as we went along the road we hadn't previously tried, we turned a corner and came upon an amphitheatre, so we deduced we had arrived.

Letoon Amphitheatre

The caretaker seemed somewhat surprised to have visitors, but he happily interrupted his game of backgammon to sell us entry tickets, and then we were free to wander around by ourselves. The place is named after it's temple to Leto (who, as I am sure you know, was the mother of Artemis and Apollo) It was primarily a religious, rather than residential area, and had temples to Leto, Artemis and Apollo. The temples to Apollo and Artemis have been destroyed, but the temple of Leto, remains, and several pillars have been re-erected.

There are olive trees among the ruins, sheep grazing in the amphitheatre, and frogs in the water. And tortoises, although they are not very friendly!

amphitheatre with sheep

There were no other visitors, and we enjoyed wandering around in our own time.

And then, because we were, after all, on holiday, we went home, and then out to a wonderful fish restaurant. We didn't bother with a menu, we just ordered meze, and they bring out delicious little dishes until you tell them to stop.

I can't remember all of them, but we started with samphire, and later there was calamari with spices, stuffed mushrooms, hunter rolls (like spring rolls, but stuffed with cheese and prawns) curried baby octopi... I seem to recall a bottle of wine, too.

It was a good day.

In which there are trains and planes and sisters and sunshine

I've been away from the internet for the past 10 days or so, as I've been away on holiday in Turkey with my sisters, and for part of the time, with D, my sister K's soon-to-be sister-in-law.
We had a great time, and I really enjoyed being able to spend time with my sisters, and getting to know D.

I think it will take more than one post to cover it, so will take me a few days, but here goes!

Our flight out was on Tuesday evening, from Gatwick, so my younger sister E drove to mine for lunch, then we went to K's home where we left E's car and all 3 of us got a trian to Gatwick.

As we were going on holiday, I'd come prepared, and once we were safely on the train produced cans of G'n'T, slices of lime, and ice cubes (it's harder to transport ice cubes secretly and with no cool bag than you might think) so we all had drinks in style.

We then met D at Gatwick, and spent 4 hours on a charter flight filled with fractious children! Once we got to Dalaman, however, things improved - we picked up out hire car, and K bravely drove us home, in the dark (Both Turkish roads, and Turkish driving, tend to be.... interesting!

K's fiance owns a flat in Fethiye, which is where we stayed. It's about 25 mins walk from the centre of the town, slightly up on the hill, so it's a little cooler, which is nice.

We spent our first morning stocking up on food, then, as one does, we headed out to the Hamman (Turkish Bath). We decided, on the advice of some of K&C's friends, who had visited just before us, to try a new hamman at one of the local hotels - it was very modern and shiny - and instead of the traditional cold shower after the sauna and scrubbing there was a very cold plunge pool, instead. It was fun, and very relaxing,but all of us who'd been hamman-ed before agreed that we preferred the less slick sand more traditional city hamman, and resolved to go there for our next scrub! Although the hamman proved, once again, that no matter how well you believe you've exfoliated, the Tellak (masseur) will prove you wrong. I do wish that there was a Turkish Bath near me at home!

The following day we decided that some Proper Culture was appropriate, so we drove to Patara, which is a Lycian site - it was an important naval base around the time of Alexander the Great, was mentioned in the Iliad, was visited by emperors Hadrian and Vespasian and was the birthplace of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (AKA Santa Claus).  It was eventually abandoned after the harbour silted up, any many of the ruins were hidden, and preserved, by the sand dunes.


Parliament Building, Patara

There has been a lot of archaeological work going on over the last 20 years or so, including, most recently, the excavation and partial reconstruction of the Parliament Buildings - there were the headquarters of the Lycian league, and the archaeologists have partially rebuilt it using some original and some replacement material, and leaving parts as they were found, so that in the seating, for instance, you can see the original ruin, how the building was constructed, and finally the finished article, faced with marble etc.

Patara amphitheatre

There is also an amphitheatre, which has not been rebuilt, 2 bathhouses (one of which is currently propped up with a good deal of scaffolding,

Harbour Baths, Patara

And the triple-arched 'Arch of Modestus' (who I can't help feeling may have been misnamed) and, of course, several of the pointy topped Lycian sarcophagi which I have come to associate with this part of Turkey (there is one in the post office garden, in Fethiye, for example..)

Lycian sarcophagus and arch of Modestus, Patara





 Oh, and did I mention that as well as these spectacular classical ruins, Patara just happens to have a rather nice beach?



I have to admit, that being able to swim and sunbathe on a beautiful white beach in between sessions of exploring ancient Greek/roman and Byzantium ruins does add something to the experience!





After leaving Patara, we went on to Letoon, but that will have to wait until a later blog, as I need to sleep, now.



Parents and Patchwork

My mum enjoys patchwork and quilting, and had heard that there was an exhibition on at Radstock Museum, so she and my dad came down for the weekend so that she could go to see it.
I had also booked a ticket for the Melksham Comic Con (The first, and still very small, con in Melksham), so I spent the morning making beds and buying things to cook, then went over to Melksham where I caught Paul Cornell's talk about writing comics (and novels and TV), which also wandered off into discussions about otters, kangaroos and seahorses, with regard to their child birth and parenting (Paul and his wife are of course expecting a baby, in October), It was fun.

I didn't have time to stay long, but the con seemed well organised, and seemed to be appealing to a wider audience than is often the case - there was someone modelling balloons, so visiting children could have their own 'Captain America' shield, or 'Hulk' arms, and a full size, remote control R2D2, and a storm trouper or two attracted a lot of attention.

My parents arrived on Saturday afternoon, and we spent the rest of the day catching up, and eating, and things like that.

On Sunday, mum and I went to the museum while my dad stayed home to watch the Grand Prix.
I'll admit that my interest in the quilts was fairly lukewarm, but I enjoyed seeing them, and then looked round the museum itself , which is tiny, volunteer run, and a little frustrating in having a distinct lack of information about many of the exhibits.

 However, it's a pleasant enough way to spend an afternoon, and I had come prepared with a book so was perfectly happy, after exhausting the pleasures of the museum, to sit and wait and read until my mum had had her fill of the quilts!

Unfortunately I didn't have a copy of the catalogue so can't credit the makers of these two quilts, but all the quilts were made by people with a connection to the local quilt shop, Midsomer Quilting - customers, students of the classes run there etc, so most will be local.

All in all, it was a good weekend. My parents stayed over Sunday night, and having gone to bed before them, I found it oddly comforting to lie in bed, listening to the muffled sound of their voices downstairs - like being a child again, and knowing that everything was alright, because they were there! I was tempted to go and ask if they would come up and read me a bed time story, but I decided that wasn't really practical!

Cabbages and Kings

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but mostly related to work and other non-bloggable stuff. However, this weekend is more interesting.(It's true that the Olympic Flame relay came through my home town, and through the town where one of our offices is based, but I wasn't there in either case, didn't see it, and had no real wish to see it, which does not make for exciting blogging!)

After a very wet, very cold spring we seem suddenly to have been given all of the missing warmth and sunshine at once - my clematis has exploded into flower, as have the rock geraniums, and after a lot of tiring, and at times stressful stuff at work, this weekend has been about good things.

On Friday, I went to Bath Theatre royal to see the Globe Theatre 's touring production of Henry V.I realised, as I waited for the play to start, that it is not a play I've seen performed live, before. I have read it, and I have seen both the Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh film versions, but never seen it on stage.

(photo from Globe Theatre website)

It is not, of course, one of Shakespeare's more subtle plays, and this production concentrated on doing it well, and not on trying to make it something it isn't. The French were vain, in shiny armour and fancy surcoats. The English had plainer, battered looking armour, and big, ugly pole-axes and pikes - it wasn't hard to imagine them on a muddy battlefield, actaully killing people.
Jamie Parker as King Henry was excellent, coming across as a soldier with a conscience. The production was originally designed for the Globe, but worked well in the Theatre Royal, with lots of exits and entrances through the auditorium, and heralds and drums and pikemen charging up via the stalls.

I personally found the comedy interludes, with Pistol and Bartolph and Nym rather overdone and tedious, and would have been happy for all or most of them to be cut, but I often have that reaction to the 'comedy' in Shakespeare's history plays, so I'm  not inclined to blame the Globe for that !

The Chorus was played by Brid Brennan, which meant that the Chorus was portrayed as an older serving woman,  which was interesting.

Stylistically, it seemed to me that the production owed a good deal to the Branagh film version of the play, and it was definiely well worth seeing. at least 4 stars!

Fiends, Men in Pants, and Comics!

This weekend has been a lot of fun.
On Friday I met my friend Anabel (who was passing through Bath, en route from Dublin to London) and after having yummy Nepalese food at Yak Yeti Yak, including a delicious dessert made with yoghurt and orange and saffron, then  I headed over the the Theatre Royal to see Matthew Bourne's 'Early Adventures'

It was fun! Three short pieces; The first, Spitfire, featuring four competitive (male) underwear models, the second, Town and Country featured a 1930's styled set of short pieces, to well known music, including Elgar's 'Pomp and Circumstances' and including synchronised bathing and dressing, a 3-minute version of  'Brief Encounter',an interpretation of 'Shepherd's Hay', a Clog Dance, and some synchronised scooter-riding. The final piece, The Infernal Galop (A French dance with English Subtitles') which included a sexy encounter in a pissoir, some matelots and culminated in the least be-ruffled and most entertaining version of the Can-Can you could ever hope to see.

If you didn't think ballet could be funny, this will change your mind.

While I was watching fit young men in their underwear, Anabel was seeing The Avengers, and when both had finished, we headed home for chatting.

Then yesterday, as the sun came out, we headed out to Wells on a Hot Fuzz pilgrimage, which included visiting St Cuthbert's Church, the Market Place, and Wells Cathedral and Bishop's Palace. We also bought cornettos at 'City News', but didn't shoot any one.

Bishop's Palace, Wells

Although Wells is still what I think of as my home town, (or maybe because I still think of it as home) it's been a long time since I last did the tourist thing.

Cloister

The Cathedral is beautiful. And although there were lots of  musicians and choristers in the nave, preparing for a concert, but other areas such as the Cloisters, Chapter House and the museum in the Undercroft were relatively empty.

Undercroft door

After  visiting the cathedral (and enjoying our cornettos), we had lunch at  The Old Spot, which is one of my favourite restaurants - on any given day, the menu will be short, but everything is always fresh, seasonal, locally sourced, and oh-so-delicious...

After gorging ourselves  enjoying lunch we headed over to Bristol, where the Bristol Comics Expo was going on.  We met up with Cheryl Morgan, Paul Cornell and Mike Carey, in the bar, and I ended up spending the hour or so chatting with them (much fun) while Anabel headed over to the Expo to see Ian Sharman, then Anabel introduced me to Ian and Holly and we went out for another meal..

Today was much quieter, involving Anabel and I relaxing and chatting and eating the chocolates she until it was time to put her on a train, and for me to go back to laundry and other housework.

A VERY fun weekend, and, for what feels like the first time in months, the sun was out.

In Which There Are Super Heros!

I tend not to go to the cinema very often - not because I dislike it, but because I tend to think of seeing a film as something you do on the spur of the moment, rather than on a pre-planned, pre-booked basis, and as my nearest cinema is about half an hour away, this tend to mean that by the time I've thought of going, it's too late to get there before the film starts. All of which is a round about way of saying it's been a while since I last went to the cinema -I think the last twice I've been it was to see National Theatre Live broadcasts, which have been booked in advance.. before that, the last film I saw may well have been 'Coraline', which was 2009...
Anyway - I've been seeing lots of my friends tweeting about the new Avengers film and sounding very enthusiastic about it, so I decided to see whether it was showing locally, and the upshot was that my friend Cheryl and I headed over to Frome for the 6p.m. showing.

The cinema in Frome is small, and old -it only has one screen, it sells little, old fashioned bus-ticket type tickets and has a licenced bar, and after the adverts and before the start of the film the lights go up and  buy sweets or ice cream from a girl in a booth. (but does  awful lot of rustling in the early part of the film!) It is definitely a more interesting option than the local multiplex (and much cheaper)

I don't read a lot of comics, and my knowledge of The Avengers, and the Marvel universe generally is fairly limited - I read Neil Gaiman's '1602', and have seen the two 'Iron Man' films, but that's about it.

I really enjoyed the film. It's got lots of action and stuff blowing up, and it's also got great dialogue, and the characters, for the most part, do have actual character, which is not always the case for action- or super-hero films. I liked that Dr Banner was portrayed as being (at least as) smart as Tony Stark, and that Captain America's 1930s background was there in some of his comments and attitudes, without being too heavy-handed.

The fact that I wasn't familiar with Clint Barton/Hawkeye or his backstory, or Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow or hers didn't stand in the way of understanding or enjoying the film.

I shouls have liked to see a little more balance with both male and female super-heroes, but taken as a whole, I think the film is excellent - it was a lot of fun, and if (as seems inevitable) there is a sequal, I shall be going to see that, too.

Anne Boleyn

 Anne Boleyn starts with members of the cast coming into the  chat to the audience, and swiftly moves on to Anne herself (or rather, her ghost) displaying her own severed head to the audience. What follows is fast moving, often very funny, and thought provoking.

King James I, a camp, twitchy, and at times terrifyingly astute Scot, arrives in London to take the throne following Elizabeth I's death - he is dealing with disputes between different religious sects and becomes interested in Anne Boleyn, finding her (protestant!) prayer book in an old chest. We then flash back to the events of her life, and death.

Anne is portrayed as a very witty, principled woman, motivated by her strong protestant views and support for William Tyndale, seeing her relationship with the King as an opportunity to make England into a Protestant country.

The play manages to portray the frightening and often dangerous flavour of life in 16th Century England without ever losing its light touch, and the frequent asides to, and knowing nods toward the audience work very well (When Anne finally (after 7 years) gives in to Henry's persistent attempts to seduce her she turns to the audience. "There will now be a fifte.. twenty minute interval"...)

A very strong cast, in a very good play. I thoroughly enjoyed my evening out, and am looking froward to seeing 'Henry V' which is on in 2 weeks time, and which is also a 'Globe' production, this time touring before, rather than after, a London season.

Grumbles, and Cheering Things

It has not been the best week. Lots of stress at work, I've been sleeping badly (which makes me feel ill) and it seems to have been pouring with rain without cease since last weekend. I think someone ought to tell the Rain Gods that the "Showers" part of "April Showers"  does imply that there should be gaps between the periods of rain.

However, as is often the case, even the most miserable week is not all bad.

On Wednesday, I received a package in the mail, from the lovely Kitty, of  Neverwear, containing my print of Neil's wonderful Poem, illustrated by Olivia Beradinis. It really is utterly gorgeous, and as it is printed on thick, rag-paper it feels nice, too.

Yesterday I took it to my local framer, (although I was a little reluctant to part with it, even temporarily) He recommends giving it a wide, black frame, with the inside edge of the frame lined with gold, so that when seen from an angle the gold will be visible.

He recommended it on the basis that the print needs a dramatic presentation, to reflect the dramatic nature of the print. I think he is correct. I shall look forward to seeing it when it is done, and shall occupy myself in the meantime, in deciding where to hang it.

I also went into Bristol, to run some errands, one of which involved going to a branch of my bank. I don't go often, as I usually deal with them by phone or online, but needed to drop some documents off, and Bristol is my closest branch. I got there to find a member of staff on the door denying everyone entry.

After a confused moment wondering when the bank started to employ bouncers, and how I ought to dress or act to get past them, I asked him what was up, and he explained that unfortunately they had had to shut, as their roof had just collapsed! As excuses for being unavailable to assist their customers go, I guess it is quite a good one.

I suppose I should be glad I didn't get rained on too badly - it absolutely poured while I was on the train, but only drizzled while I was actually out of doors. Small mercies...

World Book Night

It was back in December, I think, that I saw that World Book Night was inviting people to sign up as 'givers', to distribute free books on World Book Night - 23rd April - chosen as it is UNESCO's 'International Day of the Book', Shakespeare's birthday, and death-day, and the day Cervantes died (although I learned today that Cervantes and Shakespeare in fact died on the same date, in the same year, but on different days, as Spain had adopted the Gregorian Calendar and England hadn't)

Anyway, I liked the idea of joining in, to share my love of books and reading, and to get the chance to give away books to people who might not otherwise be reading, so I sent in my application, and forwarded the links to friends I thought might be interested in doing the same, and then I waited. And in February, I got an e-mail to say my application had been accepted, and I would get to play.

I'd had a hard time picking which of the books to ask for, but decided upon 'Good Omens', partly because it's a great book, one which I go back and re-read on a regular basis, and partly because I felt it was more approachable than some of the other books on the list, and that a book which makes people laugh might encourage them to read more in the future.

This is, after all, supposed to be something you do for pleasure! (Don't get me wrong, I love Pride and Prejudice, for instance, which is another of the books on this year's list, but for people who have been put off reading at school, I suspect Austen may just feel like more of the same...)

Last week I got an e-mail to say I could pick my books up, and so on Friday night I went to the Library to collect them - 24 beautiful new books!

Opening up the box and unwrapping the books, I felt like a child on Christmas morning. And, since I had to take the books out of the box anyway, in order to write their unique ID numbers in the front, it seemed only right to play with them a little, and make an interesting heap out of them...

Then, today, it was time to start giving the books out. When I applied, I explained that I would aim to give some of the books out via work - in particular to clients involved with Social Services. I hoped to give some to neighbours, too, as it's long been clear to me that books and reading are not a big part of the lives of most of my neighbours.                                                                           

It turned out that I had to be in court today, so I packed half the books into a bag and took them with me. The court was less busy than I'd expected, but I was able to give a copy to one of the security officers at the door, one to a server at the coffee shop outside, and one to lady waiting for hearing.

Later on, after getting home, I was able to give one to a neighbour (she told me she wasn't really much of a reader, I explained that meant she was exactly who the book was supposed to be for, and she smiled, and accepted it) and then walked down to my local chip-shop and gave several more to people waiting for their food. My favourite was the young man in a hoodie, slouched in the corner of the shop. He watched as I gave a book to the woman ahead of him in the queue, and then when I offered him one, he replied "really? No-one ever gave me a book before!" he seemed so surprised, not only to be given a book, but also, I think, that he was offered one, just the same as the other people waiting. I do hope he reads it. I do hope he enjoys it.

I still have quite a few copies, and I shall be trying to give away more tomorrow, when I shall be at my local Social Services offices. And then to the supported house for teenage mums, and the half-way house for those overcoming addiction. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to both of those this evening, but I believe that giving the books away 'on or near' World Book Night counts, and this way I should have time to explain a little why there is a strange woman showing up on the doorstep and pressing books on the residents!

Happy World Book Night, everyone!

Barefoot in the Park

I've always enjoyed Maureen Lipman's work, both as an actor and writer, so when I saw that she would be appearing  at Bath Theatre Royal I booked my ticket immediately, and last night, I went to the show.The play was 'Barefoot in the Park' by Neil Simon, which I think it would be fair to say is not a heavyweight show.

The plot follows a young couple in the first days of their marriage, in their first, small, apartment, as they  meet their (odd) neighbour, and deal with the Bride's mother, and with their first row.

It *is* funny, although there are some aspects which are a little dated, especially in the relationships and expectations of the husband and wife (there is, for instance, no suggestion that the young wife might look for a job)

However, I did enjoy the play (other than the couple behind me who decided to chat loudly throughout the first act, despite glares from everyone around them. I mean, why bother to fork out £60 or more for a pair of tickets and then chat rather than watch the play?)

I will be looking out for Faye Castelow and Dominic Tighe (who played the young couple) in future productions, as, other than occasionally allowing their American accents to slip, both were excellent.

An enjoyable evening. And having made a spate of bookings, I am also looking forward to seeing Anne Boleyn, Matthew Bourne's Early Adventures and Henry V over the next few weeks.