Shortest Day

E was born in England on the longest day and now celebrates her birthday on the shortest! We went for a celebration meal in The Atrium at Crown on a very rainy night, and our disabled sticker allowed us to drive to the door and get complimentary valet parking. The buffet with its multiple choices of different cuisines was very popular on a Saturday night and the place was packed. Oysters were being consumed in quantity, then we tried Indian and Chinese delicacies. JL saved space for several helpings of dessert.

Christmas Cactus in flower at Como

JL and C at The Atrium

E eats Yorkshire Pudding with olives, salami and roast potatoes

This must surely be the last soft toy!

Chinese for me

Giant portion of bread and butter pudding for JL

Tiny dessert for E
Note birthday earrings!

 

This cute kid has now become a teenager!

Winter warmers

Winter is now well and truly here: a week of rain and cold mornings and grey miserable skies. I went out with some friends for a Ladies Lunch to the Partisan at Claisebrook, a beautiful spot to sit outside on a sunny day. They had set up gas heaters and a huge umbrella to keep the rain off. The Canadian waiter suggested we start off with mulled cider to warm us up. Later, I made some at home with an invented recipe inspired by Jamie:

The cider is stirred with cinnamon sticks and served in my special china mugs, designed by Philippa Nikulinsky featuring West Australian wildflowers. There is an exhibition of her work at the art gallery in UWA at the moment:

http://www.lwgallery.uwa.edu.au/exhibitions/nikulinskynaturally

It’s on my to-do list.

She loves those intricate twisted branches.

After another cortisone injection into my knee (more effective than the Spanish one) I’m gradually getting back into some walking. I took these two photos outside Crown Towers the other day, because the colours are so bright and cheerful:

The pelicans have taken possession of this island
in the middle of the lake.

Burswood sunset

Since I got home, I have rested my knee completely. The furthest I’ve walked is around the supermarket. Every afternoon, I sit on the balcony getting winter sunshine on my body. The weather has been beautiful, even though people are crying out for rain.

This is my favourite spot for a G and T as the sun goes down:

Napoleon’s Hat and Morher-in-Law’s Tongue in the foreground.

Sunset reflected on Crown Towers. James Packer has just sold half his share in Crown to a Macau based company. Who knows what will happen next?

Those town houses directly in front of us are not selling well, so maybe it will deter people from building any more.

Home again

Trains, boats, planes.... and now back home again, resting my knee. I received a lot of sympathy from the Croatian taxi driver who drove me from Perth Airport. He knew all about meniscus injuries being an ex-footballer. He told me about a guy he knew in Croatia who had cured his knee with bee stings. The trick is to put 5 bees on your knee and let them sting you! (And just hope you are not allergic!)

On the plane home I watched 3 episodes of My Brilliant Friend based on the novel by Elena Ferrante about growing up in Naples. I’m now reading the book:

How did I miss this before?

Barajas Airport, Madrid

A few hams on sale. I just bought some cheese!

Ourense to Madrid

I arrived at Ouense Station in good time to have breakfast and buy a ticket for the 8.29 train. I was amazed to be told there were no trains to Madrid for the next 2 days, “due to work on the line”. For some unknown reason, the incompetent woman in the ticket office sold me a ticket for Leon, then change for Madrid. It later transpired that this ticket was for tomorrow! I only discovered this when I was trying to board said train. After much argument, it appeared there was a replacement bus to Zamora, which would connect to a Madrid train. Why I had not been told about this originally, I don’t know. Anyway, the replacement bus was a very comfortable 3.5 hour trip, in a luxurious bus on the motorway. It was a lovely sunny day, with nice scenery from my front seat, but I was still fuming over the misinformation I’d been given previously.

The train from Zamora to Madrid fairly rattled along reaching 250 km per hour, even in the long tunnel after Segovia. I began to feel more human after finding the buffet and ordering a beer and a sandwich. It was a relief to arrive at my hotel in Madrid, the Barcelo Imagine, with its strange musical theme, a little haven of tranquility 2 minutes walk from Chamartin Station. I was given a nice quiet room on the 1st floor, but I was keen to visit the roof garden and look out at the view. I remembered last year having a room on the 6th floor, from which I could observe trains coming and going all afternoon (as well as watching a homeless man who was squatting on the waste ground just below, and had even planted a veggie patch). He was still in residence!

Trains coming and going at Chamartin.

Homelessness.

Now for a glass of sparkling in the bar.

Healthy fruit platter.

Ourense

I came by bus, south from Chantada to Ourense. This is my last chance to do some sightseeing before returning home. I’m staying one night at the Barcelo Ourense, which seems brand new. Just across the road is a stop for the Thermal Tourist Train which crosses the river by the medieval pedestrian bridge, turns left and chugs along for half an hour, stopping at all the various thermal pools. Discovered by the Romans, hot water gushes out of the ground into pools, where you can lie and soak yourself till you get wrinkly. There are private spa establishments at Chavasqueira (recently destroyed by fire, though) and further along at Outariz. I intended to visit the latter, but didn’t get off in time, so I proceeded to the next public (ie free) pool. So I saved myself €5.50 by not going to the private one. The public pools were full of oldies like myself (though mostly a lot fatter, I have to say)  soaking in the warm water. The whole area was warm and protected, with big blocks of granite or sandstone retaining any sun that fell on them on a slightly overcast day.

An exotic tree has been planted near to the pools

(an Australian bottle brush just like the one at home).

Thermal Tourist Train.

The fast flowing River Miño, seen from the train.


New bridge: similar design to ours in Perth.

Approach to the medieval bridge.

I finished the day at this place, which boasts that it is the No 3 place in the world for G and T , based on the number of gin types that it has!