More Good Food

More good food from the lock-down in Warsaw, starting with my wife's vegetable soup, thickened with millet, above.

While below, there is my wife's curry where the taste of the curry thankfully overpowered the garlic:

Watching the Traditional Latin Mass Online

Like many Catholics worldwide, I'm unable to get to Mass because of the coronavirus situation.

For me, Mass means the traditional/old Latin Mass.

For the last two Sundays, I've been able to watch Mass online, streamed from an SSPX church in Florida.

Last week, a priest gave a great 30-minute talk about the deeper meaning/symbolism of Good Friday before Mass, and today he did the same about Holy Saturday.

Canterbury: Revisiting the Cricket Ground

Another nostalgic trip in Canterbury was revisiting the wonderful St. Lawrence cricket ground.

There was a nice cafe inside the ground where you could sit outside looking out on the pitch and wonderful stands.

Couldn't help but think back to some of the Kent matches I'd seen there 15-20 years ago when I lived in Canterbury.

My wife and I used to sit up in the Frank Woolley stand looking down on the action, it was fantastic.

Also saw Neil Fairbrother emerge from the stand nearby in the picture in his last match for my native Lancashire.

Canterbury: Passing the Cherry Tree

Since first going to Canterbury in the mid-1990s, I've always had a soft spot for the Cherry Tree pub, which, as the picture above shows, has been open since 1372.

If I remember correctly, the pub has a nice, strong cider on tap, but the name escapes me.

Remember doing strawberry-picking and lettuce-planting one summer just outside Canterbury, and listening to 'Eton Rifles' by the Jam on the jukebox all the time.

Hope the Cherry Tree and all the other Canterbury pubs survive the coronavirus crisis.

Kotek's Home Within a Home

Kotek's customised box where he sleeps during the day.

He constantly rearranges the paper inside and just outside the box to make himself more comfortable.

He has also chewed part of the box at the front so he can stick his head out more easily.

Staple Meal Under Almost Lockdown

Gently boiled carrots and potatoes; steamed broccoli and vegan sausage; and sauerkraut mixed with shredded/raw carrot has become my staple meal while being stuck inside during the almost lockdown situation in Warsaw/Poland (and most of Europe) due to the coronavirus situation.

Find that this meal is both fairly substantial and travels through the digestive system quite nicely. The latter is important given that I've had to give up most of the exercise I did outside.

Preston: A Beautiful Grey Building

Passed the beautiful grey building above on my way to St. Walburge's Catholic church from Preston train station.

The building was smallish with a clock face:

Despite being partly surrounded by trees, it shone out from many nondescript buildings nearby:

No matter how hard I try, I can't find any information about this building on the internet, but it deeply impressed me when visiting Preston last summer.

Galway Festival Big Top

Nice shot of the Galway International Festival big top alongside the river from last summer.

I arrived in Galway en-route to Donegal at the back end of last year's Festival with nothing being that really appealing to me.

Nice line-up this year though with The Flaming Lips and Pixies being on. Saw Pixies at Glastonbury in the late 1980s and a few years later at the G-Mex in Manchester.

Sadly, I guess that this year's Galway Festival may get cancelled due to the coronavirus (like everybody, I hope the latter clears up sooner rather than later, but I really doubt it).

Another shot of the Galway Festival big top in the background below, with a beautiful bridge in the foreground:

Shannon Airport to Galway

This is how I set off on my summer travels last year. At Warsaw Modlin, the temperature had been about 30 degrees Celsius, but it was 12 degrees and driving rain at Shannon Airport.

Still, I enjoyed the coach ride to Galway passing through small towns like the one below:
 

At Galway train station, which is next to the coach station, I sought shelter to change into my wet gear:

After a really rough night on a campsite at Old Salthill, where some French guys kindly helped me set up my tent and I returned the favour, it was a relief to encounter a calm morning:

Had to make my way to the bus stop to get to Galway city centre again, I was looking for the coach to Donegal.

Warsaw: Green Bulding at Racławicka

Really like this light green (probably an administrative) building next to Racławicka metro station in Warsaw, it just adds something to the environment.

Tess Country Shot

Nice shot from my Thomas Hardy travels round Dorset last year. Think the actual place is somewhere between Lower Bockhampton and West Stafford, big Hardy settings, of course.

Can almost visualise Tess and Angel Clare on a courting walk in the picture, that's how magical Hardy country is.

Faversham: Beautiful Buildings

Visited  Faversham the day before and on the morning of the New Day Festival last summer.

Of course, Faversham Town Hall, on its wooden stilts, is the grand centre-piece of Faversham:

I used to occasionally visit Faversham when I lived in Canterbury in the late 1990s/early 2000s, so I knew it was worth an hour or two photo shoot round the town centre:

The town has a nice, laid-back atmosphere:

Really think that the Town Hall is stunning:

And the incredible buildings below have stayed in my visual imagination over many years:

Couldn't take my eyes (or the lens) off the triangular-shaped buildings:

They have a wonderful character:

The setting below has stayed in my visual memory for many years as an idyllic place to have a pint:

Even on the road out of Faversham,

the beautiful rows of houses jump out at you:

The New Day Festival gave me the opportunity to revisit Faversham, Canterbury, and other parts of Kent last summer.

Quick Look at Burnley

Having visited Donegal; Kent; Dorset; and Cornwall, then while in my hometown Bury, I hopped across to Burnley to see an old schoolfriend who'd made his way up from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire on the old canal system.

While quickly making  my way through Burnley town centre to find my friend on the canal, I was somewhat stunned to see how picturesque some of the buildings were:

Love the stone wall carvings below, they remind me of some wall carvings at the entrance to the old Russian soldiers' cemetery in Warsaw, Poland.

Have just read that the red-bricked building below is the old post office building in Burnley:

What this short saunter across Burnley town centre to the canal taught me was that I must have a proper look at Burnley some time.

Bury-Manchester Airport Tram Shot

Was pleased with this shot I got while travelling from Bury to Manchester Airport to fly back to Warsaw last summer.

I'd been expecting to catch a tram to Manchester, then a train from Piccadilly to Manchester Airport, but during a Wetherspoons breakfast, a friend revealed that I could get a tram straight through to Manchester Airport which cut out a lot of messing about.

Crolly, Gweedore: Great Campsite

Camped here for four nights last summer. It was a great base for going trekking round Gweedore.

Also found the owners of the campsite, Ian and Nicola, very helpful.

And, of course, the campsite is just a stone's throw away from Leo's Tavern, the Clannad pub.