text:
Wien, Grinzing & Worseg
A long summer weekend in Vienna.
This past weekend I ventured to Vienna with some friends, and it was super, I hugely recommend taking a trip. The sun was shining and we ate lots of good food, and ambled about the city, visited the museums to see Kilmt and Schiele, with lunch at Gasthaus Poschl being particularly good, chanterelle mushrooms and a sparkling Riesling, and after an iced coffee at Aggy's. In the evening we felt quite trendy visiting Motto am Fluss, a bar overlooking the river.
But maybe my favourite part was an unexpected visit up into the hills to the vineyards, and a wonderful evening spent at Buschenschank Andreas Worseg, very close to the town of Grinzing. We had such a wonderful time, basking in the evening sunlight, greatly enjoying the local Gruner Veltliner wine, and the view overlooking the city. If you go to Vienna, you really must visit.
This was such an easy trip to do from London, the flight isn't long, and the train from the airport to city centre very speedy. And we walked almost everywhere, apart from a little 'train ride' up to the Vineyard.
Alice xxx
From Canterbury to Jerusalem
Alice spoke with author Guy Stagg about his first book.
I first met Guy Stagg quite a few years ago at a drinks party. I had begun with 'So what are you up to at the moment?', and to my surprise, the answer, for once, was both unexpected and fascinating.
Guy it turned out, had recently arrived home after walking all the way from Canterbury to Jerusalem, alone.
On hearing this, I cornered the poor man for the rest of the evening, gleaning every detail I could. Just what an amazing thing to have done! There we all were sitting at our desks day in day out in London, justifying our 'careers' to ourselves and everyone else, endlessly attending banal drinks parties, or just drinking too much cheap white wine in the pub, and Guy, aged 25 had, instead, decided to make this stupendous trip, and not only that, he had done it alone.
Over the last couple of years I had heard he was writing a book about his walk, and when I got wind it was soon to be published, I decided it was time to get in contact again.
So we met, on one of those abnormally freezing spring mornings, in a Dalston coffee shop, and Guy kindly told me all sorts about his own journey, why he took this pilgrimage and why he decided to write about it.
In June 2012 Guy set out on an impromptu walk from his flat in South West London, with the aim of reaching Canterbury the next day. He walked in a pair of borrowed hiking boots and his Barbour, and he reached Canterbury Cathedral on the eve of midsummers day, and says, on arrival felt 'pure exhaustion'. He said, as he lay in the grass in the shadow of the cathedral bathed in evening sunlight, he felt for the first time in a long time, completely 'in the present', the walk had allowed his 'mind to be cleared out'.
Outside Canterbury Cathedral, there is a stone which marks the start of the pilgrim route the 'Via Francigena' and on seeing this stone, it was in that moment, that the idea came to him, and he knew that what he would do next. He knew that he needed to do it soon, to plan quickly and just go, without too much time to think about it.
The part of this that I find amazing is the complete courage, the courage to walk away from your day job, your 'career' and to undertake a venture into the unknown, and also to do it completely alone.
Guy studied English at Cambridge, and says at 16 he knew he wanted to be a writer. After graduating the logical career seemed to be journalism, but the fast-paced journalistic style on the comments desk at a newspaper turned out not to be a path that would make him happy. He says at that time 'he was not proud of his writing', indeed writing was actually making him unhappy. He was for a time on anti-depressants, and was saving money for law-school, with a change of career in mind.
In the spring of 2012 he came off the anti-depressants, and it was at this point that he decided to make the impromptu walk to Canterbury that changed everything.
Six months later, on new years day 2013, he set out for Jerusalem with the intention of 'leaving his life behind'. Although he was following a pilgrim route, this wasn't a religious pilgrimage, at this point Guy 'wasn't a believer' and didn't believe 'that ritual could heal'. His only initial deadline was to reach Rome in time for Easter. He took everything he would need and could carry, planning for the alps in the winter, and far warmer climes further East. He navigated using maps, although of course he did have a phone with him just in case.
On the way he stayed in refuges and monasteries, and started to go to mass, sharing in the worship and practices, mainly out of politeness but also out of an intrigue for these medieval rituals, and the people who performed them, and the desire to know 'what it felt like to be a believer. '
He passed through France, Switzerland, Italy, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, to Istanbul where he witnessed the Taxim Square Riots, and on through Turkey, Cypress and Lebanon, and did take one flight to Jordan and then onto Israel, walking around eight hours every day. He says he rarely felt nervous mainly because he 'had no prior experience or danger, and hadn't thought about the risks'. But his 'perspective on highs and lows shifted'.
He also hadn't anticipated just how kind people would be, nor how much they would share about their lives and experiences. He says that perhaps they were prepared to share more with him, as he was just a stranger passing through. And that often the personal information and fundamental experiences being shared had a religious strand - marriage, children – the most important times in peoples lives, which he found 'nourishing'.
The purpose of this trip was never to write a book, but as he went, he kept a diary every day taking notes, initially mostly functional jottings, but as he went on, he started to capture events more closely as they had a 'deeper emotional effect'.
On reaching Jerusalem 10 months later, he says he was just 'so glad to have done the walk and 'is glad for every step, good and bad'. He also says he has 'opened up to being changed', with a 'broader shift on his own life', and he could identify with his experience in a more 'holistic way'.
On returning to England, he felt almost obliged to write about his journey 'I have to write about it', the unusual historical events he had witnessed, along with his shifting understanding of religion, and this unique perspective he had gained.
And so this incredible experience brought him back to writing, it has been an open-ended process, and it has taken him four years 'for it to be as good as he can make it'. And he is proud for having worked on something consistently for four years.
We spoke a little about travel writers, and Guy says one of his biggest influences has been W.G Sebald, particularly his 'Rings of Saturn' in which Sebald intertwines the precise details of a walk in Suffolk with history, crossing space and time. Other writing influences have been Bruce Chatwin and his 'In Patagonia' and Olivia Laing.
I wanted to ask about his religious beliefs since completing the walk, and Guy said that he now attends church twice a month, and the walk has drawn him closer towards Christian traditions, fundamentally mysticism, although he still doesn't agree with the creed. For him, religious ritual is a valid resource even for non-believers.
He also says 'his need for walking', for the moment 'has been fulfilled', although he has been for some walks around England since arriving back from Jersualem.
His finished book, The Crossway, excitingly is now complete, and I can't wait to read it.
Guy Stagg
In Travel, Interview, Inspiring Stories Tags guy stagg, the crossway
Talking with Writer Katie De Klee
Alice caught up with freelance journalist and writer Katie de Klee.
Where are you at the moment?
As I write this, I am cruising at 40,000 ft somewhere above Maputo. I suppose by the time I finish all the questions I'll be nearer Morocco air space, but I guess we'll see as we go.
I am on my way home to Sussex for a short while. For the last year the longest I have been anywhere is 5 weeks. Between Sussex, Northern India, Bali and South Africa's Eastern Cape, Western Cape (Jeffrey's Bay, Muizenberg, Kommetjie, Sea Point, Hogsback, Clan William)… It's been a quite a nomadic year. So the answer I suppose is – I am all over the place! Writing on a plane seems somehow quite meaningful. My life is a bit up in the air.
All sorts of things. I am editing a book that tackles conservation in Tchad and shares recipes from a tented safari camps. "Cooking For Conservation" is currently on Kickstarter, and I'm in the process or refining and restructuring the text. I also do copywriting, social media and marketing strategy for South African superfood brand Wazoogles (which is going through a major growth spurt). Plus the odd freelance magazine article, bits of creative writing. And I just did a yoga teacher training, so that's been taking up some time. And I just started learning to surf. So far the shark evasion is going very well… cutting lines down the waves is proving to be more of a challenge. But the sunrises from the water are amazing.
What are you writing about?
Superfoods and breakfasts, African photographers, London grime poetry, the feeling of cold water on bare skin, rebel mice and what it means to get an architectural education.
Tell us a little about your journey to becoming a freelance journalist and writer?
I started out as a freelance journalist in Cape Town in 2013 when I arrived there. I knew very little about the country, so being in a job that demands you ask questions gave me a chance to find out about SA in a way that tourists (and even locals) never do. I worked for a news agency for a year or so, learnt a lot. But writing news is fairy dark and fairly blunt. So after a while I moved to a youth culture magazine and from there to a design/creativity focused platform, Design Indaba. I was the editor of the Design Indaba web magazine for 2.5 years and then decided to go freelance again. In between all of those things I have written for pregnancy websites, advertising, small business, my brothers, myself, and probably a few things I can't even remember.
What do you enjoy most about writing?
I like words. And story telling. I'm better at telling other people's stories than I am my own, so for now being a journalist/copy writer feels like the perfect job. I enjoy the challenge of communicating in an interesting way. I like the mobility of my work. Even when I worked in-house for publications I have always been able to move between my two homes, north and south. And this last year I've worked all over the world.
Who / what is your greatest inspiration?
Difficult conversation. I have many, and they change every day. Some of the people I met through Design Indaba were really amazing. They don't inspire me to join them on their mission, but they do inspire me by having such a sense of purpose. Christian Benimana, Tea Uglow, Naresh Ramchandani. There are more writers that inspire me than I can list… Roald Dahl, Jeanette Winterson, A A Milne, Philip Pullman, Milan Kundera, Ernest Hemingway, Charles Bukowski, Tom Robbins… I could go on…
What has been your best travel adventure?
Too many again! Moving to Cape Town has been a great adventure! Nearly 7 years of adventure. Mexico for 7 weeks while I was at university with a couple of friends. We travelled barefoot, eating mangoes and hitch hiking and feeling totally free and brave. India and Bali last year with my boyfriend Warren was an amazing, more adult adventure. Even the last month in Jeffrey's Bay was a calm kind of normality shift, which opens up a door for more adventures that are similar. We have some adventures planned for the end of this year too.
100 pages on the internet always. Quartz articles (actually sometimes just their email newsletter). Purple Hibiscus, Charles Bukowski poems, and some books from my course still - at the moment one called Anatomy of the Spirit. Which is interesting, but slow.
Peaky Blinders, Chef's Table, Surfing documentaries (not always my choice, but a hazard of hanging out with frothers. "Surfwise" reminded me a bit of my own mad family though, and the Laird Hamilton film was pretty wild. He's a kook).
What are you drinking?
Tea. Lots of it, an old addiction from cold Edinburgh flats. Sometimes coffee, always tongue-scaldingly hot. Cold beer. Leonista tequila on ice, slowly.
Mostly vegetarian food. A lot of smoothie bowls for breakfast (you'll need to meet Warren to understand, we even started making hot smooth oat bowls in the SA winter). Falafels, homemade seaweed sushi rolls, eggs on toast for dinner.
What are you growing?
We grew sprouts and wheatgrass for a while. But then we ate them all… I "grow" my own kefir ("care for"? "farm"?). I got into mushroom and kelp/nori foraging this year too. So the world grows that for me. I try to grow herbs sometimes too… And otherwise some hardy little succulents.
My Discover Weekly. It's pretty eclectic. Franc Moody, Lambchop, Quantic, Paul Simon, Felix LaBand, Bongeziwe Mabandla
What are you dancing to?
Some of the above. Native Young in Cape Town, Franc Moody in Sussex.
Who are you following on Instagram?
Mostly food and travel people, and my friends. And Baddie Winkle.
Online or Offline?
Favourite place in South Africa?
Scarborough beach, and the Karoo.
Favourite place in the UK?
Home at Avins. And the Isle of Mull.
Favourite place in the world?
I haven't finished looking for that yet..
What is your Escape?
Reading, yoga, swimming in the sea. Listening to music. Cooking. Anything is an escape from something else. What's your cage?
Katie de Klee
In Travel, Inspiring Stories, Interview Tags katie de klee
For the Love of Rhododendrons
Anne Boscawen shares her recollections of travelling the world in search of rhododendron species.
When Edward first took me to see the gardens of his family home in Cornwall, I knew nothing of rhododendrons, and he very little, but the waves of scent, at dusk, which greeted us that evening, could never be forgotten. It came chiefly, I think, from the Maddenia hybrids, Rhododendron 'Lady Alice Fitzwilliam', 'Countess of Haddington' and a big plant of R. griffithianum.Cornwall has a variety of landscapes, and the numerous deep gulleys shelter several wonderful collections of rhododendron species, many grown to a great size. There are also big specimens of many of the old hybrids but 'to see these plants in all their true majesty, you must go to High Beeches in Sussex'.1In 1966 we had the great luck to acquire the 'Pleasure Ground' at High Beeches, in Sussex, along with the derelict farm and ruined mansion. It was the original home of the Loder family, when they first settled in Sussex, and an outstanding garden had been created there, but when Colonel Loder died, it was publicly auctioned, and could have been lost forever.Hoping to learn more about our plants, we joined the International Dendrology Society (IDS) and the local Rhododendron Group, of which Edward became the Chairman for a time.As we were now responsible for so many rhododendron species (and other important genera) within the garden, we wanted to see them in their native land, and so, in October 1984, we joined an IDS expedition to East Nepal. This was to be our first great adventure among many others, and what follows is a series of short and very personal recollections of the trips Edward and I took between 1984 and the dawn of the twenty-first century. The world changed a great deal during those years and I hope a sense of that period comes across in my words, which are largely drawn from notes written at the time.
As I said, this trip was to be a great adventure for us and we were not disappointed. We walked a mountain trail through huge Rhododendron arboreum, and on up the Milke Danda ridge. On exposed ridges, with a view of Mt Everest, there were quantities of R. campanulatum.We collected seed of what proved to be a lovely white-flowered form of Rhododendron ciliatum,R. anthopogon and a few Pinus densa which survived at this altitude. The steep slopes were densely covered with rhododendrons, including R. thomsonii, R. hodgsonii and, closer to the path, R. glaucophyllum and R. cinnabarinum with its silvery glaucous leaves.We were 21 in the group, from seven countries, and with Sherpas, cooks and porters, we made up a party of about 100 people, which was really far too many. [In remote areas resources are scarce, and visitors should bring their own food, and remove all their rubbish.] Sometimes kerosene for cooking had to be carried by the porters, and water brought from a river far below. We ate mostly rehydrated dried food, and did our best to persuade the porters to collect only dead wood for a camp fire. High up, wood becomes very scarce, and is used only for cooking.High Camp was at 3760m, with ice on the tents, and it was Chris's birthday, so there was a camp fire, a cake, beautifully decorated, but heavy as lead, and Milke was carried off by the Yeti (Mingma in a mask and draped in moss).
Prague, the capital city of what is now known as the Czech Republic, is in the region of Bohemia, and the place of origin of King Wenceslas. It was never damaged in the Great War.In June 1985, when we were there with the IDS, Czechoslovakia was still behind the 'Iron Curtain'. The curtain was more of a 'net' by then. Nothing was as it seemed, and no written word could be believed. There were many anti-Russian jokes among the German speakers in our party, which frustratingly we could not follow. The Czechs were frantic for news of the outside world, as all contact was forbidden, except with Russia, and although the botanic gardens were conducting much research, it was usually distressingly out of date. At Průhonice there were many hybrid rhododendrons, bred for their hardiness. Some were registered, including Rhododendron 'Petr', which we have at High Beeches, also 'Beautrice', 1962, 'Blanice', 1969, and 'Violetta', (scented), pre 1977, with many more.Winters there are very cold, and Rhododendron smirnowii was much used to produce hardy hybrids.
SOUTH WEST AUSTRALIA
From September 26th to October 17th 1986 we were with an IDS tour to South West Australia. Rhododendron lochiae, from the rain forests of the extreme north in Queensland, is the only rhododendron endemic to Australia, but there are places where many introduced species and hybrids are successfully cultivated.There are so many microclimates, and such a hugely varied flora that it needs more than a lifetime of study. We were very lucky to have a local botanical expert as our guide.At the King's Park Flower Show, in Perth, we were told that in South West Australia there were a hundred times the species known in the UK, but that many only flower for two weeks in the year, depending on the rainfall. Remarkably, our guide had managed to arrange that we were there at exactly the right time! We were familiar with some of those plants that succeed in the Abbey Gardens, Tresco, in the Scilly Isles.We spent an interesting afternoon touring the Adelaide Parklands. Efforts were then being made to restore them to nearer the original plan drawn up by Colonel William Light in 1840 when he designed the city. North of Adelaide we visited Panmure; situated in a valley, with a special microclimate, it was like stepping suddenly into a Cornish garden! It was a privately owned garden, then being restored. There were many rhododendron species and hybrids, and Kurume Azaleas.Our last visit was to Mount Lofty Botanic Garden, planted from 1952 on acid soil, and with a rainfall of 50ins. One of five steep ravines is dedicated to rhododendrons.
The climate of New Zealand is a paradise for all our three genera. There are no native rhododendrons, and there are stringent laws on importing plants. The first rhododendrons to arrive were mostly grown from Kingdon-Ward seed, and we saw some very splendid plants.In October 1986 we explored the South Island on our own for a week. The garden round our hotel by the lakeside at Te Anau had many hybrid rhododendrons, including one very good yellow. We enjoyed the boat trip to Milford Sound, with its dramatic waterfalls. Also in the South Island, in the Christchurch Botanic garden, we did see a small 'English' garden by a stream with some azaleas and primulas, but an unexpected freezing cold wind made it difficult to appreciate this collection properly.In the North Island we were befriended by Alan Jellyman and the New Zealand IDS.We flew to Auckland, and made a quick visit to the Arboretum, and the very interesting Otari Native Plant Reserve, and on to New Plymouth, where we were met by Alan, and taken at once to join a NZ IDS Group gathering. We saw the Vireya species Rhododendronmacgregoriae in Alan's own very interesting garden.Alan then took us to see Bernie Hollard's garden, and we were made welcome by Mr Hollard and his wife. They were then in their eighties, and until shortly before our visit, had looked after the garden entirely themselves. It was then taken on by the Queen Elizabeth Trust, a body a little like our own National Trust. We saw a species of Bomarea caldesii scrambling through Rhododendron 'Royal Flush', many old azalea hybrids, R. nuttallii 12ft high and R. protistum var. giganteum 'Pukeiti' KW21948.Many of the rhododendrons in the Pukekura Public Park came from Slococks Nurseries in 1936 and included a number of old hybrids, but sadly, many labels are lost.The gardens of the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust were then thirty-five years old, and had suffered much recent damage from gales. Ambitious restoration was in progress, and we saw Rhododendron nuttallii 12ft tall, R. magnificum,R. dalhousiae, R. simsii KW22036, R. protistum var. giganteum 'Pukeiti' KW21948 again, and many more from KW seed. There are also many old hybrids, but, once again, many names are lost.At Tikorangi, Felix Jury had plants from all over the world, and many of his own lovely crosses, especially of magnolias. Rhododendron nuttallii seeds itself in the moss.We also visited the giant Kauri Pines, Agathis australis, in Waipou Forest Sanctuary. The great Tane Mahuta, was then 51.2m tall, and 17.2m in circumference. The large forests were ruthlessly exploited both by Maori and settlers.Back in Auckland, Chris Williams took us to the top of One Tree Hill (Pinus insignis) and backed his truck at speed all down the steep spiral track!New Zealand plants some-times do less well in the UK.
Very few people had then visited Bhutan, but in May 1987 we were lucky to be invited to join a small independent botanical expedition.We crossed the frontier between India and Bhutan – the 'Dragon Kingdom' – at Phuncholing. There was a lovely Cupressus cashmiriana beside the Customs House. A motor road runs right across the country, from West to East but often work was in progress, for improvements or after landslides.Leaving Phuncholing in our minibus, which being Japanese, had very little leg room, we started to drive up the winding road over the mountain range which separates Bhutan from India.We stopped at a road workers' camp, to see a large-flowered yellow rhododendron, in an open space in the middle of the camp, and this was later identified as a Rhododendron dalhousiae ssp. We drove on to our hotel in Paro, seeing quantities of interesting and exotic plants from the bus.From Paro, we walked up a very hot and exposed path, to a restaurant just below a monastery high on the cliff, and known as the Tigers Nest. We collected seed of a brilliant red Rhododendron arboreum, flowering beside the path. [Three plants succeeded, and we registered the best as R. 'Tiger's Nest'.]Driving on next day, we crossed the Dochu-la, with many stops to explore the banks above and below the road. The deep ravines were full of pure white Magnolia campbellii,Tsuga dumosa, with epiphytic Rhododendron lindleyi, splendid giant yellow-flowered R. arboreum with red-brown trunks, and much else besides. We lunched at a café just below the summit, which was surrounded by large deep pink flowered rhododendrons. Close examination revealed this to be a new species, hitherto assumed to be a hybrid of R. hodgsonii. This was later registered as R. kesangiae, in honour of the then Queen Mother of Bhutan. We crossed many high passes, and near the Pele La we saw R. lindleyi clinging to clumps of moss on Quercus oxyodon. At Jakar, we left the road for two days, climbing with tents and ponies to the Hanging Valley of Phokphey, most of the time through drenching rain. Edward and two others took the ponies up to 4000m just below the Rudong la, and saw R.flinckii, R. bhutanense, R. nivale, R. setosum and R. wightii, knee high, under 6 inches of snow.On our way back, we picnicked at Chendabi, a very holy site, enclosed by two rivers. The Chorten and prayer wall were surrounded by green sward, closely cropped, possibly by sheep, and it resembled a natural garden, with Rhododendron griffithianum in full flower and Clematis montana scrambling through it. On the roadside banks were Coelogyne corymbosa, a white-flowered scented orchid; the woods above were full of rhododendrons.
In June 1993 we were in the south of Turkey, with a very wide-ranging and exciting IDS tour. There were then very few gardens or arboreta in Turkey, but we explored some near Istanbul, and visited many mosques and churches, including the Topkapi Palace, Santa Sophia and the Blue Mosque. We were guided round the Attaturk Arboretum, where we learnt that two of our best known rhododendrons Rhododendron ponticum and R. luteum are native to the Caucasus. [R. ponticum has become a major pest on acid soils throughout the UK, and the lovely scented Yellow Azalea seeds itself profusely, and can be a nuisance.] R. caucasicum, R. ungernii and R. smirnowii are all from the North East, near the Black Sea, and notably hardy.We had a few days on board gulets, and travelled inland to see Cleopatra's great Cedrus atlantica forests. We finished our tour among the rose fields round Isparta. Rosa gallica is grown there for the scent industry.
The IDS Tour to North Carolina in May 1996 was very important to us, as we grow so many of their wonderful trees, which also colour here in the autumn so spectacularly.We visited Mount Vernon, home of George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, both of great historical interest.Biltmore is extraordinary. It belongs to the Vanderbilt family, and the design of the mansion was modelled on three of the Loire chateaux! Everything in the garden is planted by the hundred, or even more. The 15-acre Azalea Garden had the most complete collection of US native azaleas known. Unfortunately, there were few labels. The grounds, originally planned by Frederick Law Olmsted, had been neglected, but were then being restored by a local volunteer society.Escaping to the countryside, we walked a trail on the lower slopes of Grandfather Mountain, at 4000ft altitude, through deciduous hardwood forest, and saw Rhododendron maximum, R. atlanticum, R. vaseyi, R. calendulaceum and R. catawbiense. Driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway, we saw R. vaseyi in flower at the roadside at 5000ft altitude, also R. periclymenoides, and R. carolinianum.Merchant's Mill Pond, where Nyssa aquatica, and Taxodium distichum grow in the shallow water, was once a busy commercial mill, now a serene and lovely place. We wanted to take a two-hour trip in a canoe to the centre of the pond, where there is a beaver lodge, but there was no time.On another day we walked through the Joyce Kilner Memorial Forest. This is an impressive remnant of American virgin wilderness. The trail took us through carpets of native wildflowers, under a high canopy of a great variety of deciduous trees. We all, including Lance, our American guide, agreed afterwards that there we felt our spirits lifted, as though we were in fairyland, treading lightly through this magical place.
In April 1998 we were in South Korea with the IDS. The scenery there is enchanting. The mountains are covered with a wealth of trees, many known in UK gardens, with pink granite peaks emerging, and big plants of Rhododendron schlippenbachii and R. weyrichii in the understory, and R. yedoense var. poukhanense, the 'Korean Azalea', in open spaces. The street trees between the skyscrapers in Seoul are ginkgos and metasequoias.We explored many temple gardens. The Garden of the Constitutional Court is terraced using big boulders, and a magnificent Lacebark Pine is complemented by several magnolias and drifts of R. yedoense and R. yedoense var. poukhanense in muted shades of mauve and a pink-lilac.We then flew south to Cheju Island, and there saw several gardens. Driving on uphill, towards the Halla San, at 1950m the tallest mountain in South Korea, we stopped to explore the mouth of the Andok River gorge. Rhododendron weyrichii was in flower and we were treading on a carpet of fallen Camellia japonica flowers.We stopped again to see the rim of a volcanic crater, Samburi, 400m deep. Within the crater is a special microclimate, suiting Korean Azalea and a wealth of other plants, mainly evergreens, on the south-facing side, and deciduous on the north.Back on the mainland, in the Sorak National Park, on an exposed ridge at about 1000m, Rhododendronschlippenbachii was in flower, amongst a wealth of other trees and shrubs.
In Poland in May 1995 we explored the Old Town district of Warsaw which was completely destroyed in World War II, and has been faithfully restored in every detail. We visited many gardens and also arboreta which had also suffered, and were recovering. The climate is Central European, and most rhododendrons struggle, but we saw Rhododendron 'America', a good dark red, colourful beds of R. luteum hybrids, Kurume azaleas, R. groenlandicum (Ledum groenlandicum), which is circumpolar at this latitude, and sometimes known as Labrador Tea, R. palustris, R. catawbiense,R. purdomii and also R. 'Gomer Waterer', a favourite of ours at High Beeches.A part of the Bialowieza Forest is now a strictly protected National Park, to conserve the native flora. Pedestrians are not permitted, so we toured part of the forest in horse drawn carriages. Back in the bus we drove away through the forest near the Russian border and passed many lonely wooden crosses, and small neat cemeteries,We visited many splendid palaces, now most are museums open to the public, with extensive grounds, and a great variety of mature trees. At Janow Podlaski, the famous stud where Arabian horses are bred, many young horses were brought out for us to see. After the war enough were retrieved from local farms, and some from America, to continue the breed.Krakow, once the capital city, and the Wawel Castle, with its arboretum, took a whole, most memorable day.On our last day we had coffee in the main square in Warsaw. Here, we said goodbye to Dr Heino Heine, our dear friend and mentor. He said he was not coming back with us, and that he did not feel well. Dr Heino died soon afterwards, at his home in Mannheim.
Our two visits to Chile in November 1997 and 1999, took us from near the equator to almost the Antarctic. The scenery, between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, is absolutely stunning. From the Wine Palms in the north, through rain forest, to Calceolaria uniflora and the Porcelain Orchid in the lakeside scree in the far south, we saw such a wealth of plants. And penguins, condors and flamingos!The sole rhododendron memory I have of Chile was of Rhododendron 'Sappho', growing in an otherwise uninteresting garden, in the middle of a very damp lawn. 'Sappho' seems to grow anywhere, all over the world. Our worst mistake was to put off visiting China, 'the heart of the rhododendron world', until it was too late. The amazing difficulties and dangers overcome by the early plant hunters are now history, there are lots of roads and aerodromes, but there are still many remote and little known areas, and undiscovered plants. If you grow rhododendrons, or are just interested in them, you must go. It is a lasting regret that we left it too late.REFERENCE
Stuart Thomas, Graham (1983). Trees in the landscape. Jonathan Cape.
This article previously appeared in the 2016, RHS Rhododendrons with Camellias and Magnolias Centenary Year Book.
Photos by Edward Boscawen
High Beeches Garden
In Travel, English Garden Tags rhododendrons
Travelling in China
Palomi Kotecha shares her experiences travelling in China, along with her top tips if you are planning a visit.
China doesn't seem to be at the top of many people's lists when it comes to booking a holiday. Despite having a fascinating imperial history, a cuisine that's reached almost every corner of the world and a vast and varied landscape, it has a reputation for being quite difficult and inaccessible.I'll be honest, China wasn't the top of my list of travel destinations when I first went in 2015. In fact, it probably wasn't even in my top 10. If I didn't have a boyfriend who keeps inconveniently deciding to move out there (Beijing-2, Palomi-0) I probably wouldn't have gone for a long time, and my initial reaction to having to travel out to visit him was more 'needs must' than gung ho.The image that I had, and that a lot of people seem to have of China, was 'polluted, smelly, dirty, too many people', and if you only spend time in Beijing or one of the other major cities, that's probably fair. If you head out of the cities however, and you absolutely should, there are so many incredible places to visit; it's an extraordinarily beautiful place, and really unlike anywhere I've been before. I won't pretend to be an expert on a country that is immense to say the least, but here is a whistle-stop tour of the worst and best bits of my two trips.
First things first – Beijing sucks. I know that's a wildly generalising statement, but honestly I think the city is the pits and reconfirms the worst of people's expectations of China. The best description for it is hostile. It is polluted, dirty and you'll do a lot of hopping out of the way of flying cigarette butts and people spitting.
That being said, I found the best places to go in and around Beijing are the ones which have a lot of green open space, including the Temple of Heaven Park, The Lama Temple, the Summer Palace, Fragrant Hills Park and 798 Art District (no green, but out of the centre and quite cool, if you like modern art…which I don't, but it's an interesting contrast to the rest of the city).
The subway is the easiest, cheapest way to get around the city, and you'll avoid the traffic, but it is a rabbit warren. If you use it then plot out your route before you leave the comfort of your hotel's wifi. I had to ask for directions once and the first two people I tried literally turned their backs on me, the third (well-meaning) gentleman sent me in completely the wrong direction. If you use cabs instead, then make sure you have your destination written down in Chinese characters.Although a lot of the travel guides will list hutongs as something to visit while in Beijing, you're better off buying a history of the hutongs and settling in one of the city's hipster coffee shops instead. Most of them have been either been bricked up by the government, or horribly commercialised, (several are now home to Starbucks and McDonalds), and walking around the ones that are still residential feels more like poverty tourism than anything else. The coffee shops make for excellent people watching, especially in the 798 Art District.If you're pushed for time then give the Forbidden City a miss, it's not that great (don't @ me). Although it's listed on just about every 'top 10 of China' list, take it from me you'll be missing very little if you don't go. It is enormous, the sheer scale of it is mind-boggling, but there are almost no exhibitions on Imperial history, and limited artwork; what little there is there you will be fighting 10-deep Chinese tourists to get to, and it is all housed behind dirty plexi-glass. The only one worth seeing is the Imperial collection of clocks which are exceptionally lovely. Think parts of Versailles transplanted into Beijing. The architecture is impressive, and if you absolutely can't leave it off your list then whizz through it and walk up to Jingshan Park which sits behind it – up a few steps is a pretty lovely view of an unlovely city.One of the best things about China is, because it is just so enormous, the food from the different provinces varies as much as if they came from completely different countries. We mostly ate in and around the residential district where Garrett lives, but one of the highlights of my second trip was trying Yunnan food at In & Out Lijiang, where the staff are exceptionally surly but the food was to die for. Be more adventurous than me and try the rice and pineapple dish which is apparently a speciality of the province...There's also Beijing's famous 'Ghost Street', which is wall to wall of hot pot restaurants. Go for a walk after dinner, in almost any neighbourhood you'll find exercises classes and ballroom dancing taking place under the massive underpasses, and you'll be encouraged to join in! Mostly so that they can laugh at the silly foreigner, but it does look like fun.
I wanted to do one of the "wild wall" hikes, but Garrett vetoed it as I'm quite slow…instead we went to Mutianyu which is just far enough away from Beijing that you can escape the smog of the city. As with most places in China, go early to miss the crowds. Also as in most places in China, be prepared to become the tourist attraction, as being a foreigner (particularly if you're white) is still a big deal over there. I went to the loo before we climbed the wall, and came back to a gaggle of schoolgirls asking Garrett for photos. They'd waited till I'd gone away to ask, clearly being Indian isn't exotic enough! "Your boyfriend is so handsome, like Jason Statham!" one of them helpfully explained.We walked a bit further than the official end of the Mutianyu section of the wall, and explored some of the 'wild wall'. Vast swathes of it have been dismantled by local villages for building materials, so much of it is crumbling away. As it is less explored it's far more remarkable, but also a lot more precarious as there's nothing either side of you except a sheer drop.If you go to Mutianyu you can take a toboggan ride back down to the bottom instead of climbing down or taking the cable car, which was pretty fun. Just don't fall off!
Being totally honest – we barely saw the city. The only reason for going there was because - PANDAS. There are several panda sanctuaries in Sichuan province; we went to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and it was probably one of the best things I've ever done. Pandas are basically ridiculous drunk toddlers and I could spend hours watching them. If you're partial to a bit of celeb spotting, the Chengdu base is also home to the panda that was the model for Po from Kung Fu Panda.Again, you'll have to do battle with reams of Chinese tourists and the fact that the pandas go to sleep after lunch for several hours (sensible animals), so skip breakfast at the hotel, go early and grab a good lunch afterwards. We went to what is supposedly the home of Mapo Dofu. I had a great lunch – Garrett ended up with chicken feet, so order wisely.
This is probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Jiuzhaigou is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a series of valleys and mountains and populated by nine Tibetan villages – they are pretty touristy as that's the locals' main source of income now, but still interesting to look around. The colour of the water is like nothing I've ever seen, and the pictures are not photoshopped, which is definitely what I'd thought before we went.It's so beautiful that it's a popular pastime for couples to travel there before their wedding, to have their wedding photos taken, and we saw couples in Yangshuo and in the 798 Art District doing the same thing. Pre-wedding photography is such a huge trend over there and so competitive that couples travel abroad to do it as well.Unfortunately the region was badly hit by an earthquake in summer 2017, but the government has committed a huge amount of money to restoring it and it should hopefully reopen again soon. As with all my recommendations – start early! Before the earthquake, as many as 40,000 Chinese tourists visited the park a day (although it's so huge you'd hardly realise), so the earlier you start the more you'll have the place to yourself. It seems to be one of China's best kept secrets, as we only saw two other foreign tourists in the two days we were there.It's either a 10 hour rickety bus journey, or an hour's flight from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou; you'll land at a tiny airport in the mountains, which is so rural that when we turned up two hours before our 8am flight back to Beijing it was still closed.
Guilin & Yangshuo
This was my winter 2017 trip over, and November actually turned out to be the perfect time to visit. The weather is usually c. 20-25 degrees, but it's still considered off-season so the prices are quite low. We stayed in Guilin for one night, then took a 4 hour boat trip down the Li River to Yangshuo. The landscape is all karst mountains and rivers, and it feels a bit like you've wandered into a Tolkein novel, or Pandora. It is probably my favourite place in China so far. The scenery is so beautiful the government put it on the 20 yuan note, which is why almost everyone who goes there has a picture like this.We got pretty unlucky with the weather for most of the time we were there, so instead of all the hiking and cycling we planned to do, we took a leisurely bamboo raft down one of the tributaries of the Li River, which was a nice contrast to the large boat cruise from Guilin.We stayed at the Li River Resort which has a fab location overlooking the river and a brilliant restaurant. This is one of the few times I'd say definitely eat at the hotel, as the food was fabulous, and then go into the buzzy town for drinks on one of the many rooftop bars. A word of warning, there is karaoke everywhere and it is universally terrible.I also dragged a grumbling Garrett out of bed at 4am to climb Xianggong Hill to see the sunrise, but he agreed it was worth it (I think!)
Get your visa early – Chinese visa rules are weird and pedantic and change all the time. You'll need several documents including a confirmation letter from your hotel and a return ticket, so make sure you leave enough time before your trip in case anything goes wrong.Be prepared to unplug. Chinese censorship is real and a pain in the arse, so unless you download a VPN you won't be able to use a lot of things like Facebook/Instagram (!)/Twitter or Google. Also don't make the mistake I did of trying to use Google Maps through a VPN because it is all wrong. Something I discovered trying to find the 798 Art District in Beijing and spent 45 minutes walking in the wrong direction towards the edge of the city…Express VPN is cheap and one of the best. I was out there at the same time as Trump and was hoping he'd manage to get himself arrested by illegally tweeting something outrageous. Alas.If you don't speak any Mandarin– some kind of translation app is a must. Despite the emphasis on education, the standard of English spoken is far lower than you might expect, especially if you're not in the major cities. Even if you do speak Mandarin, the likelihood is they'll be so surprised that you're speaking in their language that they'll still get confused. (Happened to me with my pidgin Mandarin, but also to Garrett who is pretty fluent).Always order the aubergine. Even if you hate aubergine. Seriously."I never imagined China would look like that" is what a lot of people said to me when I came back. Neither did I. It's an incredibly beautiful, bonkers country, and although I wouldn't choose to live there (and would quite like my boyfriend back), I can't wait to go back, I'm already planning a third trip over (to Yunnan, because I can't stop thinking about the food.)
Reading recommendations:
The Emperor Far Away, David Eimer
The Silk Roads, Peter Frankopan
Words and photos by Palomi Kotecha @pkthakkarphotos
In Travel, Contributors Tags 798 Art District, chengdu pandas, ghost street beijing, Jingshan Park Beijing, Jiuzhaigou national park china, palomi kotecha china, palomi kotecha travel writing, rafting on the river li china, the great wall of china, top travel tips for China, travel writing, visiting Beijing, visiting Yangshuo, what do i need to know before visiting china
Living in Yangon, Myanmar
Jemima Neal shares her experiences living in Yangon, Myanmar.
Visitors to Myanmar will often just consider Yangon as a gateway into the country - it certainly isn't known as a destination in it's own right. What some would regard as a frenetic, polluted, Asian metropolis, I feel incredibly lucky to have called home for the past 14 months.
Yangon is the largest city in Myanmar (Burma) and was the capital up until 2006, when the military government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyitaw. Yangon's skyline, the dazzling Shwedagon Pagoda, dilapidated colonial buildings and brand new high-rises, help to paint a picture of its dramatic history. Although, on first impressions it's difficult to ignore the heavy traffic, packs of street dogs and often deeply inadequate infrastructure.
Two years after leaving university I was caught in the same conundrum as many of my friends. Bored in my job, guilty that I wasn't enjoying my job, anxious about what I should do and desperate to do something more exciting. I'd always wanted to live abroad and having visited Myanmar with a friend two years before, the idea of living there seemed fascinating but highly implausible. I was working as an assistant at a fund management company and my job was starting to make me feel downhearted and claustrophobic. I wanted to work, live and experience a new city, rather than backpack. But finding a job in Yangon seemed like a difficult task. A friend had recently done a month's TESOL course in order to move to Barcelona and she encouraged me to look into it. Inspired and in a moment of braveness, I left my job where I'd been for two years and signed up to a TESOL course. Whilst on the course I secured a job teaching English at an international school in Yangon and was set to start the following month. Flights booked, visa approved, apartment sorted I was suddenly about to move to Myanmar! When I told friends and family, reactions varied from: 'What an adventure!' to 'Why on Earth would you go there?!'
Although I thought I knew what to expect, navigating daily life in Yangon was considerably more challenging than I had imagined. It hadn't occurred to me how complacent I'd become about the convenience and plethora of amenities we have in London. Just little things like buying dinner from the supermarket could turn into an hours drive through flooded streets in the heavy monsoon rains, arriving at the international supermarket and leaving with just a packet of crisps! Rent for foreigners is astronomical, so I lived in a fairly basic, old building in downtown Yangon, where power cuts and water shortages were pretty regular occurrences and cockroaches and rats were familiar sights. The intense heat and humidity combined with filthy streets could often be a sensory overload, leaving you feeling frustrated and defeated. Tales among expats and foreigners of extreme food poisoning, dengue fever and street dog attacks were in constant circulation...
However, despite the small frustrations I had the most special and exciting time in Yangon. I was so lucky to be working in the most amazing school where I felt so supported by the kindness of both the international and Myanmar staff. Teaching English to both the Myanmar staff and children at the Primary School was daunting at first but made me realize the appeal of teaching and how dynamic and sociable it is. I was totally enraptured by the colour, pace and chaos of the city. Life is very much on the streets and Buddhist festivals would take over swathes of the city with lights and music throughout the night. Myanmar certainly has a 'golden triangle' of tourist destinations but so much of the country remains barely touched by tourists. A lack of decent roads meant a weekend trip to the beach involved 14 hours of bus journeys, but it was always totally worth it. Yangon has a growing and buzzing ex-pat community with new bars and restaurants regularly opening. The pace of life and incredible kindness of the Myanmar people always made me feel incredibly relaxed and a stark contrast to the pressures and expectations everyone feels caught in living in London. I so relish my experience in Yangon and would encourage everyone to visit this most wonderful country!
One of my staff classes
Downtown Yangon skyline
Umbrella display in Yangon
Cows on the streets of Yangon
Taunggyi Balloon Festival
The empty 10 lane highways of the Nay Pyi Taw
Trekking to Inle Lake
Temples in Bagan
Farming in Shan State
Sunset in Shan State
Ngapali Beach
Weekend away in Dawei
In Travel, Contributors Tags brits abroad, Burma, foreigner, living in burma, living in myanmar, living in yangon, Teaching abroad, Teaching English, teaching english in burma, teaching english in myanmar, teaching english in yangon, yangon, yangon myanmar
St Andrews Revisited
I had a great time in St Andrews. I would really recommending spending a weekend as a student, I am certain it is good for the soul.A trip to Tesco was the first port of call. The thing about St Andrews is it that it is very small. If you have never been, I don't think you are envisioning the correct smallness of small. There are THREE main streets. Nothing is further than a 15 minute walk away. Except Morrisons, and god forbid you live in the Badlands, the area across the Kinessburn, I mean, that is SO far away.So we went to Tesco. And we bumped into everyone. At the turn of every aisle there was another acquaintance and the St Andrews anxiousness began to creep upon me. And I don't even know any of these people. But realistically you cannot go anywhere without bumping into at least 5 people to whom you say 'we MUST go for coffee soon' both knowing full well that over the course of your 4 years you will only repeat this line to each other in Tesco, in the Library, and then accidentally drunkenly snog each other at an event and pretend like it never ever happened.My other favourite Tesco observation was the number of highly youthful looking men wearing black tie at 6pm on a Friday. Because, you know, it's Friday, there are places to be.Having acquired our wine, we then attended a family dinner. In third year, you find yourself academic 'children' from first year, and tonight the children were cooking supper. It was excellent - I forgot how normal attending a dinner party can feel (we've all got far too grown up and proper in our old late 20s) - you turn up with a bottle of wine, you'll be fed and then games will be played and it may or may not descend into drunken fun. There are no clubs in St Andrews - it's all about the dancing in someones living room.On Saturday we went to yoga in the Aquarium, a walk to the pier via the Cathedral, and I also went for a run on West Sands - it was so nice being by the sea and not in grotty dirty London.We also picked up our Don't Walk fashion show tickets. I am going to follow with a full DONT WALK post, no fear, I took so many photos and had the BEST time. But something you should know, to put Don't Walk into context a little, fashion shows, mysteriously, are a BIG THING in St Andrews.If you aren't on a fashion show committee in St Andrews, you are basically no one, and therefore can be spoken to in an off hand, frankly quite rude and very condescending manner. We were there to pick up tickets we had paid money for. My general feeling is, any organisation (ok except maybe Easy Jet) from whom you have purchased a ticket (and an expensive one too) for an exclusive event they are holding, would go out of their way to help you with any ticket issue you might have for their event. Not Don't Walk. No matter that you've spent £160 on a SUPER SUPER VIP ticket 'Did you say you can't get the ticket app to work?' 'Sorry, I can't really help with that right now'. I mean WHAT? The attitude of the girls doling out the wristbands can be compared to the mean cheerleaders in a high school movie, fake smiles all round, with a touch of, 'don't ever think of talking to me EVER again'. (Oh and by the way, there are no standard tickets for this event, you are a VIP in some degree - because obviously the fact that you know someone who has helped you acquire this ticket, makes you slightly less lowly than your average student).So having been made to feel thoroughly unwanted by the all american / scandanavian DONT WALK committee, we left clutching our precious wristbands and goodie bags (this contained a coca cola, a coconut water, and a hair scrunchie - money well spent..), to enjoy the rest of our day before the main event.A few other things I did whilst in St Andrews:A visit to Topping's Book shop, it's a proper bookshop, with every book imaginable from floor to ceiling.Have a hot chocolate in Taste. And a coffee. And a chocolate brownie...Go for another walk on West Sands.Visit the Balgove Larder for brunch.Go to Aikmans for a beer.Go to Empire and buy garlic pizza bread and chips with cheese and eat it all really quite rapidly.I also got ID'd buying a bottle of wine in Luvians, and someone asked me if I was my sister's younger sister - apparently I can pass off as being very youthful.And I was also asked multiple times if St Andrews has changed - NO, nothing has changed - I mean, ok, there is now a Pret A Manger and an M&S, but everything else is pretty much the same - the same types of people, the same events, the same 'chat'.I had such a nice time, perhaps going back to visit is the best way to experience it - no essays to worry about, but you still know the place so well, everything feels so familiar, even the people. And students just have endless time which is amazing (although everyone is SO busy, I mean - you're not, you have 3 lectures a week and are just one of the members on the 50 strong fashion show committee...).And one more note, one of my flatmates occasionally mentions that we need to currently stop living so much like students . The thing is Tom, you just have no idea...Another post to follow full of DONT WALK delights.Alice xxx
In Travel, English Wanderings Tags living the student dream, st andrews, st andrews for the weekend, st andrews university, student living
A Weekend in St Andrews
So I am currently heading North to a small town on the Fife coast 🏙I CAN'T WAIT 😊.I spent 4 years in St Andrews, learning things about art 👩🏻🎨 and am going to be slightly reliving my student days this weekend 🥂.I am staying with my smallest sister 👩💻who is currently studying there, and we are going to do all sorts of St Andrews things including attending an academic family dinner 👨👨👧👦, taking a dip in the North Sea on East Sands 🌊 (ok maybe just a paddle), for sure drinking a hot chocolate in Taste ☕ and maybe a wander across the Old Course ⛳for a drink in the Jigger Inn 🍷.And I will be attending the infamous DONT WALK fashion show after party💃🏻. Yes, I'm going to Don't Walk 🙈😂.So keep tuned in for updates, particularly on Instagram @alicefrancesbAlice xxx 💕
In Travel, English Wanderings Tags st andrews, visiting st andrews
We have arrived back in London (the first flight into Heathrow ✈ on Sunday morning, VERY early), and my new flying coping strategy is audio books - far more effective than films - I got through some Kipling, Graham Greene and Chekov 📚 (ok I did doze off a number of times) it's so much easier to forget you are very high up in the air when someone is reading you a story. And we flew out on a Dreamliner ✈ and back on an Airbus A380 ✈(the double decker one) so Max was very happy 😉.The trip was super exciting 😃, I loved seeing both cities - they were just so different, calm and collected Seoul 🏯 versus bustling, hectic and high rise Hong Kong 🌆, and of course the temperature change was so bizarre, -2 degrees in Seoul ⛄❄, to 23 degrees in Hong Kong ☀! I am missing the warm weather just a tiny bit, but it is very nice to be home. And I am appreciating London all the more - apartments in Hong Kong are super tiny and the buildings are tightly packed in 🏢 making it all rather claustrophobic, it feels quite strange to be back in Wandsworth with the common 🌳 just round the corner and not a skyscraper in sight.Hong Kong 🌆 grew on me whilst I was there, it is a fairly overwhelming place to start with 🙉, but once you get into the swing of it, it really is very exciting, there is so much going on, and such a buzz. The city is a mass of skyscrapers built almost on top of each other, stretching as far as the eye can see, and many of them are a tad shabby. I did love the way the roads are built inbetween the skyscrapers, they weave in and around, up and down, almost like roller coasters 🎢criss-crossing each other constantly. I had also not expected it to be so tropical and really enjoyed the many palms trees 🌴 and other foliage everywhere. We took a fun hike up to the peak 🗻, a hike in the New Territories which I loved 🌺 and a quick swim in the South China Sea 🌊. We ate very very well 😃🍴, thanks to a list of places to eat from a friend - lots and lots of fish, including some amazing sushi 🐟.And of course I took a few photos too. 😊Alice xxx
In Travel Tags a visit to hong kong, hike in the new territories hong kong, hong kong, repulse bay hong kong, sky scrapers
Seoul Searching
We have now left Seoul and arrived in Hong Kong and the contrast between the two cities has made me want to show a little more Seoul to you 👧.Arriving in Seoul from London is a little like stepping into the future. Everything is so clean and efficient, and everyone is so polite. There aren't all that many people, at least compared to London, and we saw very few other tourists. I was surprised by how many of the signs are in English as well as Korean, the metro announcements were given in both Korean and by a Suri type disembodied American lady. The city is full of glass fronted high rise buildings (although not nearly as high as Hong Kong) and the air is clean. For two of the days we had bright sunshine ☀, and although it was icily cold ❄, the chill was similar to being in the snowy alps, it was very pleasant in the sun.We ate amazingly - the best food 🍜 was slightly off the beaten track and we ate at a number of places without a menu, we arrived, sat down, the food turned up and we got stuck in - some of the best place were in the Bukchon area. A side of kimchi 🌿 comes with almost every meal, and I have to say I'm a fan, apart from when it gets too spicy. I really enjoyed the Korean BBQ, cold noodle soups, the buckwheat pancakes too and most of all the spicy fish stew we ate at the Gwangjang Street food market. It is really quite refreshing to have not eaten or seen a single Pret sandwich for five whole days. And I have become a master with Korean chopsticks - they are flatter and thinner than Chinese ones. There are modern coffee shops ☕ and bakeries everywhere, the coffee is excellent, and they always ask if you would like your coffee hot or cold. It was nice to see that the 'Flat White' has not yet taken over Seoul - we happily ordered cappuccinos, and the matcha lattes were great. And of course the dessert cafes 🍧 which are open until 10pm each night, I did not sample enough of these - there is even one dedicated to just green tea products.Everyone is Seoul is incredibly polite 👦👧, and very accepting of ignorant tourists, I suspect we made many faux pas. They are very quiet people too and no one seems to be in too much of a rush, and they are expert queuers, very little pushing and shoving.People are very well put together 👗👠, and I like the style a lot, for the girls it's quite girly in a way, lots of swing coats in fun colours, tidy loafers and of course much fur. They have also got the beauty 💄 thing down to a T, all the girls are subtly made up, a hint of lip stick, neat eye make up and pale skin. There are beauty shops everywhere, if you want an anti-aging face cream that might actually work, Seoul is the place to find one. And it is definitely not a city in which you hungoverly pop to the super market in a pair of leggings, greasy hair and no make up, and pretend you are on your way to the gym when you bump into someone you know. They have perhaps gone too far though - there are adverts for plastic surgery everywhere aimed at young girls.The internet 💻 is also crazily fast, everybody on the metro is deeply absorbed in their phones. It is so fast I actually wrote my last post at Incheon airport using the free wifi, and the photos uploaded faster than they do at home in Sussex.It was a really wonderful trip, and I loved getting to know the city 😍. Maybe the most amazing part was meeting up with friends in a city half way across the world.I have added quite a lot of Seoul photos below, and if you would like to know the names of places we ate do let me know.Alice xxx
In Travel Tags 3 days in seoul, bukchon seoul, changdeokgung palace, Chonggyecheon stream, frozen beer, garden to visit seoul, gwangjang market, Gyeongbokgung Palace, hanok house, hanok houses seoul, korean bbq seoul, korean wedding, milk tea, secret garden seoul, seoul in november
A Little Seoul Shopping
When I first arrived in Seoul I got a little over excited about the clothes, everyone is so well put together 💄👠👗👘👙. I decided it was important to check out the shopping situation, so we had a wander around Lotte Department store and the Hongdae area.I discovered SO many exciting clothes, from many brands I didn't recognise - at the moment they are really into their fur, there is fur everywhere - and a powder pink coat with a fur collar seems to be the item you need right now. I didn't buy one... but I was just so tempted 💕💕💕💗💓.Outside in the streets it got all kitsch 🎀 and fun - multi coloured candy floss was a highlight 🍡. And we recovered at a dessert cafe 🍧, they have cafes just for pudding, I have no idea why don't they have these in London 🍦🍧🎂🍰.Alice xxx
In Travel Tags dessert cafe, lotte department store seoul, rose shaped ice cream, seol style, shopping in seoul
Another Palace, some Lunch and a Protest
Yesterday was really very exciting, it snowed 😍, we went to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace, Hee Yon got married and look absolutely beautiful, and there was a huge protest against the President.I have decided to give you a photo update, as I thought perhaps really you ought to see Seoul 😊, the one photo thing is proving much too hard!!Alice xxx
In Travel Tags Gyeongbokgung Palace, korea, president protest, seoul
A Visit to a Secret Garden
Today we woke up very early ⏰and went to explore the city. It was a beautiful day in the sun ☀although it is VERY chilly ❄❄here, I've never been anywhere this cold, and we thoroughly wrapped up in thermals, hats and gloves .We headed for Changgyeonggung Palace 🏯 and had a excellent tour by a very sassy tour guide, and then a tour of the Secret Garden 🌳at the palace. The photo above shows the palace wall, with the secret garden ablaze with the red leaves of acer trees on the other side. 🍁The direct translation is not quite correct - really it should be 'private garden' as this was the private garden 🌳of the Royal family when they were in residence. It is quite a large area, set into a hill, and the garden path weaves through the hilly landscape. There are many temples in the garden and a library or two, the King was very keen on his reading 📘, although no books anymore 📚. There are also lots of ponds, and even one in the shape of Korea, and they are all currently iced over ❄, with lots of red and yellow autumnal leaves 🍂 🍁 frozen in, creating colourful. It was a beautiful walk in the sunshine, and I love the combination of the dark green pines 🌲and bright red acers 🍁.Next we went to Bukchon which is a charming place, the hilly streets are lined with 'hanok' the traditional Korean houses 🏠 and there are many tiny boutiques, places to eat and coffee shops. We had some lunch 🍜(only one thing on the menu, ideal) and then had some radish tea 🍵 sitting on a cushion on the floor of a hanok house. It is such a peaceful area, with the sun out, and very few cars (and not a plane in the sky!) it was wonderful just to wander about through the maze of little streets. We are going to go back tomorrow.We then wandered down to Cheongyecheon 'stream' 🌊 - which is more like a very shallow clear river running through the city, below ground level. It is rather nice to walk along, as although some of the main roads of the city cross over it, you can barely hear the traffic. And there were stepping stones 🚣!It has been a super day, and most excitingly more people are arriving for the wedding 👩👦👧, it is really quite amazing meeting up with many friends in a city half way across the world from home.Alice xxx
In Travel Tags acer seoul, acer tree korea, autumn leaves, bukchon, changyeonggung palace, cheongyecheon stream, frozen leaves, red maple korea, secret garden seoul
Arrived in Seoul!
So we have made it to Seoul!My body is a little confused by the time right now, day night, night day, day night - and I am definitely tired.This afternoon we had our nails painted, girls mainly although some boys did join in, I chose blue glittery and silver, obviously, so fun!And then had a lovely very yummy dinner, including a little soju and plum wine drunk in shot glasses, and met the other wedding goers 😃.Alice xxx
In Travel Tags blue glitter nail polish, plum wine, seoul, soju, south korea
Time for an Adventure
It is about time for another adventure, particularly as the weather is getting colder and drearier by the day ⛄ in London.Tomorrow I am flying to South Korea for a wedding 👰 and I am just SO excited!!I have never been to Asia 🎎, so this really is a big adventure, and I can't wait.The one thing I am not looking forward to are the flights ✈. I am one of those people that just doesn't enjoy flying. It's not the discomfort, I'm small and the lack of space doesn't bother me too much (but if you do want to upgrade me to Business Class, I'm totally happy with that 😃). It's the irrational fear of being cooped up in a aluminium box, suspended 30,000 feet in the sky for 11 whole hours. There is part of my brain that knows this is just wrong, the ground is a very very long way away 😳.And it really is an irrational fear, however many times you tell me I am far more likely to come to a sticky ending crossing the road in London, than fall out of the sky in an aeroplane, I still can't quite rid of the feeling that the whole process is terrifyingly unnatural 🙈.It starts to build a couple of days before, gets worse at the airport going through security, I hate all that unnecessary waiting around. The worse bit is take off ✈, as you watch the ground getting further and further away, in the absolute knowledge that there is nothing you can do for the next 11 hours except sit tight. I'm actually totally fine in-flight, but if there is turbulence please do not expect me to be making polite conversation with you 🙉. And I like the landing part, as it means firm ground is getting closer all the time. Although don't get me started on flights that circle above the destination runway 'waiting' to land.To be honest, it's rather frustrating, as although I am excited to be going away and I know it is going to be fun when I arrive in the country, the very beginning of a holiday is always overshadowed by this flying malarkey 😳✈✈. And of course, as the holiday ends, there is only one way home, back on that plane again. If only we could disapparate and apparate like Harry Potter 🔮 (sadly I'm still waiting for my Hogwarts letter).I have once refused to get on a flight, but that was a while ago. And the thing is, if you don't fly, you don't get to see so many exciting things 🏰⛺🗻🌇. So the best thing I find is to not look out of the window, pretend you are on a long train journey and get stuck into a good book, and I'm sure I'll watch a couple of films.Packing is done and it has been super fun deciding what to take. After completely ignoring mutterings about taking a 'capsule wardrobe' I have basically packed for two holidays, a winter wedding in a very chilly Korea, and then onto humid Hong Kong for a short stop after. A fur scarf and a bikini have both made it into my suitcase, along with a number of other sparkly items and only six pairs of shoes... 😘I have decided to do the same as Tresco, I'm going to post one photo a day on the blog for the time I am in Korea, although I suspect it is going to be a hard choice!!So, I will catch up with you again on Thursday once we have arrived in Seoul, and definitely keep an eye on my instagram.Alice xxx
In Travel Tags fear of flying, holiday to south korea, irrational fear of flying, packing for a winter wedding in korea, scared of flying, wedding in south korea
A Little Trip to Scotland
Last weekend I went to Scotland - we flew up to Aberdeen and stayed with Katie, Aaron and Lily (thank you for having us 😊) and then took the train home via Edinburgh. It was a lovely trip! 😃Alice xxx
In Travel, English Wanderings Tags aberdeen, aboyne ball, andrew hunter murray, bryony and co, edinburgh, godiva edinburgh, gordon mitchell altered images, monymusk, reeling ball, scotland


Provider of health and wellness services. The company's health and wellness services include massage, skin treatments, chiropractic care, acne treatment, facial and weight loss programs, enabling clients to meet all their wellness needs.
This information is reserved for PitchBook Platform users. To explore Wellness Worx's full profile, request access.


Iruka frowned as they approached a bright and sunny clearing. He didn't like the feel of the forest, but then he didn't like most of their mission. He'd had a bad feeling about it from the minute it'd been assigned to him. The fact that he was out on missions at all said something about the state of the village. He shouldn't be here – wouldn't have been here if it wasn't summer and all of the Academy students on vacation – and the others had done nothing but remind him the entire time that he shouldn't be here. They were polite about it, never complaining outright, but he heard their mutters when they thought he wasn't listening. He was slowing them down, but there was no one else the village could spare. Everyone else was either injured, defending the village, or out on another mission.
Kakashi was their team leader, which seemed a bit ominous to Iruka. His last mission with Kakashi had ended poorly, so poorly that Iruka had quit active duty to become a teacher. It was slightly fitting that it was Kakashi who led his first mission back out, but that didn't make him feel any better about it. Some Sound ninja had stolen a scroll during Orochimaru's invasion and they'd gotten a lead on its location. It must have been an important scroll to bring Kakashi out for it, and it must have been a dangerous scroll given that Iruka was out with another chuunin and two jounin besides Kakashi.
The jounin were in the trees, scouting ahead and scanning the area from above. He saw Kakashi flit ahead on the opposite end of the clearing. That left Iruka and the other chuunin, Midoriko, to search the low ground. The scroll was supposed to be hidden somewhere nearby and they couldn't afford to miss any hiding spot. Iruka was surprised they hadn't run into any other ninja yet. Surely whoever had hidden the scroll out in the woods would have left someone to defend it.
Iruka took a step into the clearing. Chakra flared beneath him. He had half a second for his stomach to twist, not enough time to move. He barely had time to open his mouth. His warning shout never made it out of his mouth.
The clearing exploded in dirt and fire and blood. Pain. There was so much pain. It washed red through him, taking away his sight and his hearing until all that was left was bright red pain.


LAKE FOREST – If would seem to be a tailor-made play for him. After all, it may very be the most famous moment of his NFL career.
But on Sunday, it wasn't Trey Burton that was throwing the pass on the Bears' version of the double-reverse pass, similar to the Super Bowl LII "Philly Special." Instead, he was the one taking the initial toss, then pitched to Tarik Cohen who threw the pass to Anthony Miller for the touchdown.
Was it a way to fool the Giants, who might have expected Burton to throw it? We'll not really according to the tight end.
On Thursday, Burton said it was he who called off throwing that pass on that play or others in the future like it.
His reason? Some anxiety on trying to pull it off again.
Burton said he let Matt Nagy know about it, and he was good to switch the throw to Cohen. It was shelved for the rest of October and November before it finally came out in the first week of December.
It wasn't just Burton revealing something this week at Halas Hall.
Nagy was answering a question on Mitchell Trubisky continuing the chemistry that he built with the team now that he returns after missing two games. The head coach decided to bring up the classroom with his answer.
The follow-up question to that concerned Nagy's own history as a substitute teacher and the coach revealed the toughest level he had to teach.
So many people thought of "The Fridge" when Akiem Hicks barrelled over the line of scrimmage for a second quarter touchdown against the Giants on Sunday.
After all, it was William Perry who made the defensive lineman touchdown famous on the 1985 Super Bowl champion Bears a few times that season.
While Hicks certainly enjoyed his moment in the offensive spotlight, one would wonder how Vic Fangio would feel about the move. A few times this season defensive players have been used on offense, but Hicks was the first one to score a touchdown.
As long as it's a success, the defensive coordinator certainly doesn't mind.
The number of completions Chase Daniel had over the last two weeks.
In his previous seven years in the NFL, he had 51.


This was originally published in the Wikipedia page here.
Upon CIS-A2K's explicit request, Goa University has approved the re-release of Konkani Vishwakosh under Creative Commons License (CC‐BY‐SA 3.0) to make it freely available to public and thus preserve Konkani language and culture in the digital era. This encyclopaedia will also serve as one of the main sources of building and writing articles on Konkani Wikipedia (which is currently under incubation).
We'd like you to be a part of this event and help showcase Konkani community and language on a global digital platform such as Konkani Wikipedia.
Please click to see the invite. We look forward to seeing you at the event.


We've been around for over 29 years and are dedicated to our customers needs.
We strive for accuracy, customer service and making you a life-long customer.
It is not only our philosophy but the way we do business.


text:
#ifndef SIMULATOR_REQUEST_SENDER_H_
#define SIMULATOR_REQUEST_SENDER_H_

#include "simulator_client_types.h"
#include "simulator_resource_model.h"
#include "simulator_error_codes.h"

struct RequestInfo
{
    RequestType type;
    std::map<std::string, std::string> queryParams;
    SimulatorResourceModel payLoad;
};

class GETRequestSender
{
    public:
        typedef std::function<void (SimulatorResult result, const SimulatorResourceModel &resModel,
                                    const RequestInfo &reqInfo)> ResponseCallback;

        GETRequestSender(const std::shared_ptr<OC::OCResource> &ocResource);

        SimulatorResult send(const ResponseCallback &callback);

        SimulatorResult send(const std::map<std::string, std::string> &queryParams,
                             const ResponseCallback &callback);

        void onResponseReceived(const OC::HeaderOptions &headerOptions,
                                const OC::OCRepresentation &rep, const int errorCode, RequestInfo &requestInfo,
                                ResponseCallback callback);

    private:
        std::shared_ptr<OC::OCResource> m_ocResource;
};

class PUTRequestSender
{
    public:
        typedef std::function<void (SimulatorResult result, const SimulatorResourceModel &resModel,
                                    const RequestInfo &reqInfo)> ResponseCallback;

        PUTRequestSender(const std::shared_ptr<OC::OCResource> &ocResource);

        SimulatorResult send(const SimulatorResourceModel &representation,
                             const ResponseCallback &callback);

        SimulatorResult send(const std::map<std::string, std::string> &queryParams,
                             const SimulatorResourceModel &representation,
                             const ResponseCallback &callback);

        void onResponseReceived(const OC::HeaderOptions &headerOptions,
                                const OC::OCRepresentation &rep, const int errorCode, RequestInfo &requestInfo,
                                ResponseCallback callback);

    private:
        std::shared_ptr<OC::OCResource> m_ocResource;
};

class POSTRequestSender
{
    public:
        typedef std::function<void (SimulatorResult result, const SimulatorResourceModel &resModel,
                                    const RequestInfo &reqInfo)> ResponseCallback;

        POSTRequestSender(const std::shared_ptr<OC::OCResource> &ocResource);

        SimulatorResult send(const SimulatorResourceModel &representation,
                             const ResponseCallback &callback);

        SimulatorResult send(const std::map<std::string, std::string> &queryParams,
                             const SimulatorResourceModel &representation,
                             const ResponseCallback &callback);

        void onResponseReceived(const OC::HeaderOptions &headerOptions,
                                const OC::OCRepresentation &rep, const int errorCode, RequestInfo &requestInfo,
                                ResponseCallback callback);

    private:
        std::shared_ptr<OC::OCResource> m_ocResource;
};

#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The modern woman's life hasn't been easy-make time for makeup right and look great every time it's something very difficult. Sometimes it appears that desire to be ready by magic, isn't it? And not only in the busier, but also on those who think they're "embarrassed" in time to make a nice makeup. The good news is that, even if there's no magic wand, the cosmetic companies have sought to facilitate our life and some have already invented, for example, the makeup in adhesive. Will this trend will catch on?
Maybe. All right, a make almost every woman knows how to do basic: first goes the correction, then the Compact. Mascara, blush and lipstick complement a simple yet efficient production. The big problem is in the shade. "My difficulty is not just fume, but also choose the tones in shaded correct", Karina Macdonald vents, marketing analyst carioca de 29 years who loves makeup but confesses to little skill with the shadows.
The Brazilian, especially the locals, don't like shadows very showy, and prefer the lighter shades, such as kill and beige. See this questions and answers website for all information.
For Karina and other millions of women, this issue may be near the end: were released in the American and European market the shadows adhesive, ready in seconds, with a great variety of colors and options of smoky. Work as those children's tattoos, which release the ink after moistened. Above, is a species of fixer, included in the kit. Anyone who wants to can finish with a flush illuminator eyebrows. Perfect, right?
In the United States, the company Color On is selling kits that allow up to 20 applications and cost $ 35. In London, Avon offers consumers a game with seven sets of shadows adhesive at a price of 5 pounds. But the Brazilian will have to wait a little longer. At the moment, the only way to get the product here is doing with friends. That's because, according to the Press Office of Avon in Brazil, is not scheduled to arrive until the patches to the country in the coming months.
One of the top ten brands of Karina Macdonald is the Mac. Although it has shadows on your favorite tones (Pearl, old gold, ivory), the most commonly used items end up being compact, lip balm, lipstick, mascara and blush. "It's hard to know where to start and where to finish, pass evenly," says she, who prefers to use Shadows only at dinner parties, cocktail parties and more sophisticated meetings, usually on weekends.
Asked about the news, she says: "I have to try. If the result to stay natural, would use, Yes. After all, would be more practical and certainly avoid mistakes ". Already the designer Camilla Baffa, 32 years old, showed skepticism: "I believe in practicality, but I found the colors strong. I'm more discreet. The pictures I saw on the website of Color On Pro, we look like a drag queen"jokes that usually use Shadows only at night (graphite or champagne) and want to learn how to smoke with the color black.
Some makeup artists polled also found the colors over. There are from dark brown with Golden gradient black illuminated with white. The more relaxed have orange tones, lilac, blue, green and peach. And the fun zebra skins and mimic an ounce, in addition to the camouflaged military uniforms-ideal for our Carnival. Edy Clement, Werner Coiffeur, is emphatic: "If you come to Brazil, these shadows will not take job as makeup artists".
For him, the colors are strong and sparkling too much. "They're out of fashion or look good only in nightly parties and fashion editorials. The Brazilian, especially the locals, don't like shadows very showy, and prefer the lighter shades, such as kill and beige, "says Edy, adding that maybe the Brasilia and southerners, in the range of 40 years, identify themselves more with the product.
On the use of makeup, Edy Clement ponders: it is necessary that the consumer has a big space between the eyebrow and the eyelid to apply the adhesive. And it's good to remember that the shadows, by themselves, do not make up the make. "It's going to take a complete with eyeliner, mascara and the rest of the makeup," he concludes.


text:
Zawadzkie Huta – towarowa stacja kolejowa w Zawadzkiem, w województwie opolskim, w Polsce.

Linki zewnętrzne

Stacje i przystanki kolejowe w powiecie strzeleckim
Obiekty budowlane w Zawadzkiem

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The only game that can be favored to the player in the casino is Video Poker. The only way to actually get the edge out of the house's favor and into your own is to play with optimal strategy on the right machine. Michael Shackelford, better known as the wizard of odds, has formulated a number of video poker strategy instruction pages. From his repertoire we borrow two methods that you can use to learn how to play and up the return percentage of specific video poker machines. One explains a straightforward and easy to try method for approaching full pay jacks or better video poker, which when used properly can up the return percentage to over 99%. The second strategy is a little more in-depth. It represents an ideal strategy for full pay deuces wild video poker. It has been worked out mathematically by the wizard of odds, and will average a return of 100.77%. This of course means the game has a player edge of 0.77%.
Always keep in mind that a million factors contribute to a player's ability to utilize a strategy perfectly. Anything from fatigue to casino distractions to your own bad memory can make you miss a hold or play something imperfectly. Don't get too encumbered by the 'perfectness' of a video poker strategy. Most strategies are written to compromise a bit of accuracy for added usability. This is another reason I have chosen to feature the strategies from the wizard; I feel there is a good balance between ease of understanding, and quality strategy.
To use this video poker strategy on our free game, look up all viable ways to play an initial hand on the following list, and then elect that which is highest on the list. A "high card" means a jack or higher.
This video poker strategy is altered to be easier to use. For a more advanced Jacks or Better strategy with a slightly higher return percentage achieved, check the wizard of odds video poker section.


Hi I'm Shani, Thank you for visiting my storefront. I have a passion for helping brides feel and look beautiful on their wedding day. I use a variety of professional and luxury products to pamper you as you get ready for the ceremony. All the hustle and bustle fades away and all that matters is sitting in my chair relaxing, while you transform into a radiant Bride. I specialize in clean, beauty that brings out your best features while still looking like you. I always offer lashes and specialty airbrush for a flawless finish.
I am a Kansas City girl transplanted from the wild west via Idaho. I met my husband and got married in 2005 in Las Vegas until 2011 when we moved back to his hometown with our toddler in tow. Fast forward to 2017 we have 3 little BBQ loving, lightning bug catching, midwestern kiddos. I love Kansas City and the beautiful people in it.
My experience as a freelance makeup artist specializes in Luxury Bridal And recently added Runway and fashion editorial photo-shoots to my passions. I use professional products designed for film, photos and TV. And have the skills and tools to accommodate any color or skin type.
Wedding Services range from $75- $125 per person and and packages start at $300. Message me for availability for your date, and pricing options.
Absolutely AMAZING! I enjoyed working with Shani and was beyond impressed with how I looked on my wedding day. I received many compliments on my makeup and my Bridal party's makeup. I have nothing by the HIGHEST recommendation for Shani.
I used ShaneliseMUA for my wedding day! Shani was amazing to work with! She was very attentive and the quality of her work was flawless! My hair and makeup stayed up the WHOLE entire day! As bad as this sounds, my MOH went to bed with her makeup still on and she woke up the next day and it was still just as beautiful! Shani is an amazing artist and I highly recommend her!
Thank you so much Vivian! You were a joy to work with and such a stunning bride! I am so happy to hear that you and your bridal party members were happy with everything and that everything held all day (Especially with how many events you had going on that day) Thank you for taking time to write me a review!!
Shani did an absolutely amazing job on my hair and make up for my wedding day. I contacted her about two weeks before my wedding and she always responded very quickly. She produced the exact look I described to her as well as making me feel at ease on my wedding day. She even got me ready with my dress and jewelry just before I left. I love Shani! Thank you so much.
Thank you for your kind words Libby! You were such a joy to work with and it was my pleasure to have been able to spend time with you on your special day. I loved the clean, classic look you chose and were a vision in your gown and veil!
Shani was so fun to work with! We would definitely recommend her to our brides!
Shani is fantastic! She is so sweet and easy going but also totally knows her stuff. It is difficult to find someone in the KC area who is comfortable doing both hair AND make-up (it is normally one or the other) I loved working with her on a recent styled shoot and will definitely be recommending her to future clients looking for hair and makeup recommendations. She is great!


text:
111-117 Marylebone High Street development site in November 2018.
Corner of Blandford Street and 115-117 Marylebone High Street in London W1.
111-117 Marylebone High Street
111-117 Marylebone High Street , London W1U 4RZ
Local Authority:
Flats:
Retails:
Description of 111-117 Marylebone High Street
Development Site At 12-14 St Vincent Street, 4 Blandford Street and 111 - 117 Marylebone High Street in Marylebone, London W1.
Planning consultant is Gerald Eve.
2016 September - Planning permission granted for:
Erection of a single storey mansard roof extension above No's 2 and 4 Blandford Street and the corner building of 111 Marylebone High Street, second-floor infill extension on St Vincent Street and the rear extensions at second and third-floor levels projecting into the internal courtyard. Installation of balconies on the rear elevations, alterations to fenestration and creation of a shared external amenity space within the courtyard area at first floor level and installation of new plan and associated works, all in conjunction with works to combine and to combine two residential blocks to enable the reconfiguration of 24 existing units and to provide an additional 7 residential units. Ref. no 16/03666/FULL.
1. Westminster City Council westminster.gov.uk.
Barbara Weiss Architects
The nearest tube, train and bus stations.
Bond Street Underground Station
Central, Jubilee
Portman Square
13, 189, 2, 274, 30, 74, N2, N74, 113, 139, N113
News: (0)
*DISCLAIMER! Information on this page is for guidance only and remains subject to change. Buildington does not sell or let this property. For more information about this property please register your interest on the original website or get in touch with the Connected Companies.
New London developments on Buildington - monthly update
Buildington © 2011-2021

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This topic contains 2 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by skiv71 3 years, 8 months ago.
This is an idea I've been toying with for a while now.
Would it be possible to enhance a future version of the lightwaverf sockets to broadcast the energy usage, this would also provide the device status which I've seen a lot of people asking about.
My idea is that using this data one could in detail track down devices which are drawing excess power. Also having thus feature would enable me to snap profiles Of what devices are left on and which are left off. Then I could set a whole house mood effect. Ie I'm leaving the house, turn off all non critical devices then when I come back I could just restore them all back on. I'm sure this would save almost the cost of the devices.
I currently have some manual energy monitors, the electrics can't be that difficult because the plugs only cost me £10 each. Just I have to look at the individual screens to see the data which isn't always convenient.
I ended up buying a device called Smappee.
Not cheap nor perfect but it does have the ability to recognise different appliances from their electrical signature (current draw) from a single clamp-on sensor near your meter or incoming mains supply.and you can refine & label anything that you like.
Sounds like you want what other tech's already offer out the box.
developer of BMS Link (http://linode.bmslink.co.uk). A cloud based Home Automation platform for LightwaveRF, Z-Wave, RFXCOM.