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: