Category: review

Me? In A Red Corvette?

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Our loft, apart from being a mess, can sometimes turn out to be a proverbial treasure trove. Well, not exactly!

We all love to look and dream about red sports cars, especially an iconic red Corvette, naturally, don’t we?

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I look at this red Corvette most days, pick it up and look at the lines, imagining I’m somewhere in the Mid West cruising along Route 66, or some long open highway with only mesas, inselbergs and the odd raptor for company, the shapes of distant mountains blue in the background.

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One day our dreams may become come to fruition.

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Copyright Francis Barker 2020

 

The Only Lamborghini I’ll Ever Own… Probably

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It’s funny what you find in your loft sometimes.

Toy cars are fun when your young and still fascinating when your not so spritely. They bring back a lot of memories, most of the fond ones anyway.

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I’m not sure whether this Lamborghini was ever actually my toy – it was probably my son’s. Nevertheless there’s something nice and classical about these Matchbox models. I won’t be parting with it.

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This one stems back a decade or two but it’s just lovely and sleek, a bit like the ‘real thing’ one would suppose.

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Beautiful, and it sets your imagination going too, You know – Monaco, St. Tropez, the Ligurian coast, Amalfi, Sorrento. Ah well.

copyright Francis Barker 2020

Impressions of Belfast, Northern Ireland

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We recently spent three nights in Belfast and we enjoyed it very much.

However, one more night would have been advantageous. Our flight from England was delayed thanks to President Trump’s arrival and all the extra security that entailed.

So by the time we got to our hotel it was about time for our evening meal – we didn’t have that much time to explore the city.

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The second day was taken up with what turned out to be a fantastic trip around the County Antrim coast, which lasted most of the day.

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The third day we had already pre-booked a visit to the Titanic Experience and the Game of Thrones exhibition, both in the same general area on the city’s outskirts. This took up most of the day too. We did do a little exploration that late afternoon.

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And then our return flight back home was at 8:20 the following morning, so we were up with the lark to catch that.

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So, despite a very full two and a bit days, we didn’t get to see as much of the city as we would have liked.

 

What we did glean, however, is that Belfast is lovely and the people are lovelier. We will return.

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copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019

The Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

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Part of our trip around Northern Ireland’s gorgeous County Antrim coast involved a stop at the world famous Giant’s Causeway.

I have to say that it was indeed everything I was expecting, from the cool, wet weather to the very touristy atmosphere.

Simply Stunning

That said, the place is simply stunning. Nothing can prepare you for walking over those truncated basalt columns, watching your step, while eyeing in disbelief that such a place actually exists, spreading out ahead of you towards the sea.

Made a World Heritage Site in 1986, the Giant’s Causeway lies right at the northern end of Northern Ireland.

Official Story

The official story is that it’s between 50 and 60 million years old. In a nutshell, it’s the result of strong volcanic activity causing lava flows which formed a plateau, cooling relatively quickly, resulting in the distinctive hexagonal columns.

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A similar process or effect occurs when mud dries in extreme heat, though you don’t get the height of the columns of course.

So much for the ‘official’ story. Any self respecting local here would tell you that’s all hogwash.

A Battle of Giants

What really happened, perhaps not that many generations ago, is that Finn MacCool, an Irish giant, was confronted by a Scottish giant challenger, called Benandonner. Finn, who couldn’t wait to tackle this upstart, built the causeway to get across the North Channel to Scotland.

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There are basically two versions of the story. In one, Finn beats Benandonner conclusively. In the other Finn runs away from Benandonner after realising that he’s even bigger than himself.

Feminine Guile

So, using some feminine guile, Finn’s wife, called Oonagh, makes out her husband to be a baby, even going to the extent of placing him in a cradle.

Benandonner is fooled by this, thinking that if the baby is this big, then how big is the father? In shock, Benandonner trudges back across the causeway, taking it down on the way so Finn cannot follow him.

Science versus ‘Myth’

Strangely enough, in the corresponding part of Scotland around Fingal’s Cave on the isle of Staffa, there are some very similar columns of basalt.

Now, the scientific community would have us believe that this is merely part of the same lava flow from many millions of years ago. Of course it is.

But I know which explanation I prefer.

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019

The Titanic Exhibition, Belfast

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On a recent trip to Belfast, we visited the Titanic Experience.

Located a short trip from the city centre, the exhibition lies, quite fittingly, in the old industrial dock area, for so long the life blood of the city.

As you arrive you see the old yellow Harland and Wolff cranes, nicknamed Samson and Goliath; what better sentinels could there be?

New Meets Old

The centre itself is of course very modern, the style of the design reflecting a new take on the industrial old.

Inside it is huge, and as ever in Belfast and Northern Ireland in general, the staff were very helpful and kind.

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Going around, however, although there were several reconstructions of the kind of cabins that could be had on board the Titanic, we were a little disappointed that we couldn’t ‘interact’ with them more.

Lack of Interaction

For instance, you could not walk into the third class cabin. Everything is behind glass, or perspex. Perhaps they don’t want things to disappear, shall we say, considering the volume of tourists they must get.

And also, considering that this event, which occurred in April 1912, was one of the greatest human tragedies of the 20th century, I don’t think there’s quite enough about that human element. Maybe we’ve seen the film too often.

Short Ride

There is a short automated ride around a kind of reconstruction of the shipyard at its height, with all the noises and sights you might have seen. However, I think this is too short and did not convey enough atmosphere for me.

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I don’t think it’s quite on a par with the Yorvik museum in York in this regard, for instance, where you get a better sense, I feel, of what Viking York might have been like a thousand years ago – stronger smells and all.

Evocative Style

Just across the way in an old dry dock, lies the SS Nomadic, a much smaller ship, but which allows you to explore more of what it must have been like aboard the Titanic on its only voyage. The styling and the sense of the pre-war period is evocative.

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So overall, I think the Titanic Experience does a good job. It’s well put together with lots of detail. There is plenty to keep people of all ages occupied for a couple of hours, on several levels. You get a strong sense, too, of how fundamental ship building is to Belfast, the industry which turned a small town into a boom town in the 19th century.

Overall I would give it 7.5 out of 10.

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019