I have been a bit lazy with updating my blog because I am working (not too hard admittedly) at the World Open Youth Championships here in Opatija but more below.
Saturday was a big day. Up early, tidy the house, drive to
Avignon get fuel, return car and board the train for the 2.5 hour ride to
Paris. Get to Paris and the change from Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord. Being
nervous I cab it between stations but in retrospect should have got the two
stops on the RER but my train was late arriving and I only had an hour and
wanted to do something which seemed easier. Boarding Eurostar is time consuming
with French immigration then British Immigration and security but on to the
train for a relatively quick 2.5 hour ride to London.
Arrival in London no problem and again I cab it to Shepherd's
bush rather than metro based mainly on the amount of luggage - remember the
vase I bought on the ship - cursing it along the way. Keys obtained from the
local Greek restaurant and blessed arrival at my friends Espen and Helen's
apartment.
I tube into town and walk down Oxford Street and am amazed at the
number of women wearing Bhurkas and Hijabs - maybe 75% although one could argue
that it was simply the result of summer holidays. Anyway just unexpected.
Around 19:30 I get
hungry, ok more hungry than normal and jump on to TripAdvisor and find a
fantastic Japanese restaurant called Roka in Mayfair where I had a GREAT meal -
think Nobu. One dish arrived lateish so they brought a gift dish and didn't
charge for the late dish - now there is a restaurant that understand customer
relations. Anyway I wander around and finish up in Soho, an area I have never
visited before but which has a great nightlife - a drink of Baileys and home
for bed.
Sunday morning - I've never been a lover of London so I decide to
make an effort to give London another chance and after coffee at Antonio
Carluccio Cafe i bought a Hop on Hop of Bus ticket and spent the day riding the two main lines. This proved a
good idea as it did change my attitude to old London town. I have to coffess to
having lunch at Bubba Gump's a fast food shrimp restaurant themed around the movie
Forrest Gump. Have eaten at this chain in the USA many times and enjoyed it -
don't eat in the London one!!
I did get off at Knightsbridge and wandered around and looked at
the McLaren showroom with the apartment block above. I understand that there is
one apartment for sale for $A300 million dollars and a studio apartment think
luxury hotel room for $A45 million - the world had gone mad and is number numb
- it's crazy.
Around 17:00 I finish touring and on a whim buy a ticket to
Thriller, the music of MJ. I head home for a quick nap and back to the theatre
in Piccadilly Circus. I thoroughly enjoyed Thriller it was great to revisit
Jackson's brilliance. I should however note that the seats were the most
uncomfortable of any theatre I have been in with the distance from the edge of
the seat to the seat in front being less than the length of my hand from wrist
to fingertip. Luckily the seat next to me had obstruction vision (they say no
vision I say) and it was empty so was able to swing my legs sideways. I do
reflect how sad it is that so many people are remembered for their murky world
rather than their true genius. Didn't get home till midnight very exhausted.
Monday had a relaxing late start walking around Westfield at
Shepherd's Bush Before heading off to meet a Czech friend for lunch at a
restaurant he proposed called Colbert in Sloane Square and of course
it's....French. I'm on a French Restaurant moratorium for the foreseeable future.
Anyway nice lunch and good to catch up. On a whim, yes another, I head to Abbey
Road and have somebody photograph me at the famous pedestrian crossing outside
Abbey Road Studios. Seeing signs for Finchley Road and Hampstead made me a
little teary as this was where my darling Linda grew up. Eight years this
week!!
Back to the apartment for a relax before meeting some Israeli
friends visiting London and going with them to see Book of Mormons. I knew
absolutely nothing whatsoever about the show. I didn't know if it was a play or
a musical just that it was not to be missed
I totally and absolutely enjoyed it and would agree it is not to be
missed. It basically takes the piss out of religions but one could also view
that it highlights the success of religion and missionaries. If you get a
chance don't miss it. The cast were Amazingly talented. Dinner with the friends
at TGIF next to the theatre and home for a midnight clothes washing and
packing.
I must have covered a lot of ground in London as I spent around
one hundred dollars on my Oyster Card doing buses and trains. Luckily there is
a daily limit which I did hit both days.
Next morning I decide to avoid the 55 pound cab to Stansted
Airport and bus it to Shepherd's Bush Station, train without change to
Liverpool and Stansted Express to the airport. Feeling very proud of myself
having negotiated all of this with ease.
Go to check in Ryanair to Trieste, my stepping of point to
Opatija in Croatia, and find the shortest Ryanair queue ever. Having paid seventy dollars for one bag they
then wanted another $66 for the excess three kilos. No f...ing way, so I unload
some bits and pieces In order to comply.
Arrived at the hotel in Trieste which I would describe as a typical Italian Hotel - think marble lobby looking very swish with marble etc. Stairs leading up to the TINY lift built into the atrium of the winding staircase barely big enough for me and the luggage. Reach to room and ARGG single bed - oh well only one night.
I spend a few hours walking around this quaint but not better than one would expect Italian Coastal town, Dinner in a beautiful Italian (ah no French) restaurant before a much needed sleep. Next morning it's raining but I still brave more walking around the town notwithstanding that there isnt that much to see apart from the lovely piazza and seaside. Hotel, pack and need to catch a cab for the 850 metres to the train station due to the now heavier rain. Just as I get to the train station I get a message that the inward flight of my co-workers has been delayed by an hour so i sit at the station for an hour having a coffee, get the bus to the airport and then sit there for another hour waiting. Finally they arrive and we are taken in a car to Opatija after crossing the Slovenian and Croatian borders.
Opatija is one of the most beautiful seaside towns I have ever been to. It was the winter playground of the Austra Hungarian royalty in the early 1900's. Visitors were not allowed to simply wander into the town and workers had to leave at 22:00 each day. The architecture is so beautiful. The first day I am told the hotel is below the main street so I go up and have a wander around only to find a few days later than the main street stretches a long way to the left AS WELL AS the right.
I like this place so much I am discussing the possibility of taking a bridge holiday here with Alex Smirnov and Andy Hung - both of whom are keen so maybe I'll be back here soon. Well in any event next year the youth will be in Salsomaggiore Italy and 2017 together with the Open Championship in Lyon (the Gastronomique Capital of Europe I am told) with a plan for the 2018 Youth to come back to Opatija - YAY!
I have been writing around 6-8 pages a day for the 22 page (with results etc.) Bulletin so have been keeping up my end of the workload with two other Co-Editors and Editor. Francesca the Italian Layout Editor and photographer is amazing and the Bulletins are certainly worth a look - my articles excluded of course.
The event is all meals included and while the food is plentiful and has a wide variety it is very much like cruise food - amazing the first day - really good the third day - I've had enough the fifth day.
Have had three meals outside the hotel - one with some Aussie youth players, one with a co-editor and the staff dinner at a seafood restaurant where the owner catches all the seafood - All quite good.
Well this will be my last Blog for this trip. I have been writing a small bridge blog, nothing too special, which you can find at:
http://www.worldbridge.org/2015-championship-diary.aspx
Well I have had an awesome time but its time to return home for three weeks to do my washing - nah to see my family, kids, grandkids and friends as well as celebrate the Jewish Holy Days before two weeks at the World Championships in Chennai (Madras) India.
Hope everybody is well
Love to all
XD
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