"URUGUAY, SWEDEN, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT??"

WEIGH-IN WEDNESDAY

Good news - another 2lbs off bringing my total loss since January the 8th to 75lbs so,  hey

guys - I think I need that "New Weight Loss Certificate" like the last one. Here's to the next 25lbs

and the Evil One Golf Match - bring it on!!

LETTER FROM URUGUAY

(Letter from Angus)

Greetings from Punta del Diablo. 

I thought I’d write you a little update on my goings on since moving to Uruguay at the end of October with my girlfriend Elisa. 

After calling time on our Chilean adventure, the two of us decided to move to a town called Punta del Diablo on the Uruguayan coast for a working holiday. My plan is to spend the southern hemisphere summer on the coast while plotting my next move — a job at a newspaper in an English speaking nation would be nice though a few of my friends from the newspaper in Chile have floated the idea of Barcelona which also seems intriguing. I would love to be a whole lot closer to you, Cindy, mum, Mais, Ems and the babies some time next year.

Anyway, Punta del Diablo is the temporary new home — Elisa has a friend out here who manages a hostel on the beach and we are putting in some shifts for room, board and pocket money. It’s a lot more work than I anticipated and I have less time to sip on “caipirinhas” on the beach than I had hoped for, though that’s probably a good thing. 

Caipirinha recipe: 

The town is a chilled out spot — I’m told it’s like a small Latin American Goa, the famous Indian seaside spot frequented by hippies and junkies including Kate Moss. It’s great right now as the population is no more than 2,000, though that number will rocket to around 35,000 come high season in mid December.

Just an example of some of the beautiful cabins around the town that people rent out for the summer.

I have four beautiful beaches at my disposal. 

Playa de la Viuda is windswept and wild. 

Playa de los Pescadores is where you go to eat at one of a handful of beachfront restaurants and to buy fresh fish. 

Playa Rivera is the place to go to surf, play football and volleyball.

Boys from the staff - great fun, and we are trying to get a tournament going this summer against other hostel staff - would be brilliant. 

Playa Grande is protected by a cove, meaning the water is calmer and warmer and perfect for swimming. 

Coming off the bay is a beautiful pine forest where Elisa and I are going camping for the first time this weekend, and beyond that is a national park called Parque Nacional de Santa Teresa. We took bikes there last week and it’s bizarre. It’s less a wilderness park and more a giant countryside estate sold back to the government by a colonial era monied family of some sort.

 I have seen quite a few snakes around so I feel at home! 

In the middle of the park there’s an animal sanctuary where domesticated animals and placid breeds of wild South American indigenous fauna roam about and freely interact with one another. The place is absolutely pristine and manicured and looks like it was dreamed up by Disney. Giant capybaras graze happily next to geese, while tiny mouse-deer dart from bush to bush and rheas bask in the sun. I also saw a chicken aggresively fucking a duck which was very disturbing.

Capybara, the largest rodent in the world and native to tropical South America.

Perhaps the most surreal aspect of the sanctuary is that its maintained by the Uruguayan military. With no guns in sight, men in uniform nochalantly feed rabbits and chuck bird seed toward parakeets, presumambly stoned (the men, not the parakeets) on the generous daily dosage of marijuana which they are legally allowed in this country. 

Back to the hostel – all the staff (about 20 of us) live in a favela near the property. This is a downside – the living conditions aren’t great. The rooms are knocked together out of bits of scrap wood, meaning there is little privacy from the neighbors and flies or mosquitos have no trouble finding their way into your abode. 

The staff are a mixed bag — some genuinely nice people, some gossiping juveniles and some magnificent twats, though I guess to some I fall into the latter category so who am I to judge. Well, I suppose I am me to judge— hippies are an insufferable breed of unhygienic hypocrites. 

The seclusion of this spot is very welcome — having lived in London and Santiago for the last six or so years, escape from the city could not feel any better. I’ve taken up jogging on the beach — I don’t have a Fitbit so can’t measure my distances or speeds but I run for about forty minutes a day while listening to the fantastic RadioLab and This American Life podcasts and then end with a vigorous swim in the Atlantic for another 20 minutes. This (almost) daily regime is doing me good I think – I have more energy in the mornings, though I suspect this is also down to cutting out my pack-a-day habit with my e-cigarette – a real godsend. I don’t doubt, Father, that your healthier lifestyle and continued progress have subconsciously inspired me into taking better care of myself. 

I am reading novels for the first time in Spanish. It’s a painstaking process but it’s helping me a huge amount to build my vocabulary. Right now I’m working on a translation of The Old Man and the Sea (El Viejo y El Mar) — the simple language is good, though still a stretch for my level. A great writer Hemingway. A shame he was a racist, woman-hating animal slaughterer. 

Well, to wrap it all up, I’m thoroughly enjoying the sunshine of this lovely seaside town, living with Elisa again, and the tantalizing prospect of Northern Argentina and Southern Brazil as nearby travel destinations over the next few months. I will write again after the camping trip and also a trip we are taking next week to a tiny fishers village that has no electricity and little cabañas on a pristine white sand stretch of coastline. 

Much love, Gus

(Thanks Angus - a great addition to the Blog)

A LUNCH AT BAFTA

Last Wednesday I had lunch at BAFTA with someone I haven't seen for over 40 years!

Bernard Krichefski was a director I worked with at the old Salisbury Playhouse when I was

an 18 year old Assistant Stage Manager in 1968.

Bernard directed me in a School Tour which went on Tour to Jersey where his father was the Senator - an extremely important position. I remember as the Ferry docked in Jersey I whispered into Bernard's ear "One day,  my Son, all this will be yours...!!" We were invited to have dinner at the big house with his Mother and Father and I can remember being extremely impressed by a buzzer that Mrs Krichefski rang on the floor with her foot when she wanted the servants to remove the plates from the dinner table!! Bernard went on to be a TV producer - producing such shows as Madame Bovary, Doctor Finlay and Leonardo. It was great catching up with news of both our families.

KUNI'S COFFEE SHOP SIGNING

Kuni's Coffee Shops in Rugby & Daventry.

Last Thursday and Friday I had a couple of special signings at Coffee-Comic-Shops in Rugby and Daventry called Kuni's. These are run by Brian Cooney, the Organiser of the MCM Conventions I've been attending during the year - in Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, etc. As well as selling coffee and American Style Milkshakes they also sell Sci Fi Comics and related merchandise:

Some of the Minions from "Despicable Me"

One of the Attendees!

With the Coffee Shop Staff.

With the Owner Brian.

TRIP TO SWEDEN

This weekend I made a flying visit to Sweden with my friends Robert and Susie Dickson - to visit our friend Tom Boltjes who lives with his family in Ekero - 20 klms from Stockholm. Sadly Tom has 

alzheimer's and can't travel abroad on his own anymore. Tom was at school with Robert at Eastbourne and Tom and I have been friends since we were in our twenties.

Tom with Robert

With my God-Son Erik

 For most of his life Tom has worked as a Hotel Consultant all over the world. He now lives with his family,  in what can only be described as a compound of houses (rather like the Kennedy's!) This comprises of Tom's wife, Ingrid,  my God-son Erik,  his wife Marie and their lovely children Amanda (6 yrs) Elsa (4yrs) and finally Lamina - Tom's daughter. Their other son Petrus was offered a house on the compound but chooses to live in Stockholm.

Erik, Maria, Amanda and Elsa

It was a very early start on  Saturday morning when a Taxi picked me up at 5:30am from my flat in Brentford and took me to Barnes where I joined Rob and Susie and travelled down to Gatwick where we caught a 9:10am flight to Arlanda Airport, Stockholm where we were met by Petrus who drove us to the compound in Ekero. In fact the compound comprises of not only the individual houses but also a series of stables that provide shelter for 50 horses. Tom's daughter Lamina runs the operation of looking after the horses with the book keeping handled by her mother Ingrid.

Inside the Stables

THE BOLTJES COMPOUND

Exercise circle for the horses

The Stables

The Stable Block.

Lamina's House

Tom's House.

On the Saturday Evening Ingrid cooked a lovely dinner for us.

On the Sunday we drove into Stockholm to have Brunch in the Strandvagen Restaurant before we took the 16:20pm flight back to Gatwick.

The Restaurant was next to the National Theatre.

and just across from the water's edge.

Tom and daughter Lamina

With my God-Son Erik

Susie Dickson and Tom's Wife Ingrid.

Tom's other Son Petrus and Robert Dickson.

Call me old-fashioned but I thought this was a rather bizarre photograph to have on the wall of a Restaurant!!

A big thank-you to Tom and his Family for a lovely Swedish Weekend!

JENNY McNEICE

Jenny sent me this email: 

"I thought you might like this: Have you been to an Apple Store recently? Have you been to the REAL apple store?

Lots of love from SF"

http://sfist.com/2014/11/18/afternoon_palate_cleanser_the_real.php

xx

THIS IS DEFINITELY WORTH A WATCH - JUST CLICK ON THE BLUE LINE ABOVE
OR CUT AND PASTE AND PUT IT IN YOUR BROWSER - ENJOY!

JJ

MY WEEKLY FITBIT STATS

Sadly I left my FITBIT behind when I went to Sweden. It was very early in the morning

and I put it on to charge just before I left and forgot all about it. With all that Airport Walking it would have made a fair contribution to my Weekly Stats - Shame!

COMMENTS

Please leave your comments - They would be most welcome!