Friday, November 25, 2005

General wonderings

In between travelling, I wonder.

This morning it snowed in Bristol, in November!!!! Just wait, soon our trains will come to a halt, schools will close for the day and people won't be able to get to work. We don't cope well with extremes in weather. Piccies to follow.

Todays wonder is whether there are lollipop people in other countries. I passed 4 lollipop people on my way to work and wonder whether they are still required to help children cross the road and whether they are a UK only phenomenon. I remember my school lollipop lady, everyone loved her. They stand on the side of the road in the luminous yellow coats and big lollipop and help children across the road. My wondering has lead me to google and here are my findings :)
  • In 2004, Lollipop men and ladies are celebrating 50 years of their craft.
  • There are now around 30,000 lollipop people across the country.
  • The School Crossing Patrol Act was introduced in the winter of 1953,
  • In 1953 797 children were killed on the roads and in 2002 the number was 179.
  • In 2001 School Crossing Patrols were given the authority to help adults cross the road
  • The UK's longest serving School Crossing Patrol has been working as an SCP for 41 years.
So, if anybody reads this and is based in a country other than the UK, do let me know if you have lollipop people. By the way, I think the politcally correct name for them is School Crossing Patrol people.

Friday, November 18, 2005

More More Room 101

Oh my gosh, winter started yesterday in England and its absolutely freezing so I thought I would share some piccies from the training course I went on for the past couple of days in Chew Valley. The mansion house was the venue!

However, I have more Room 101 :)

Craig David
Every song sounds exactly the same and says nothing!
Lemar
He shouldn't have won fame academy and he is in my craig david box
Loosing toe nails
I've lost my toe nail, the whole thing and am left with skin only. Photo on request :)
Gnits
Oh the memories of my nan going through my hair with the horrible smelling shampoo and gnit comb
Stubbling your toe nail
How often I do this! I know I have big feet so wonder if little feet get hit as much
Rats
No purpose in life but to scare people
Birds
All birds, hate them, have been poo-ed on twice
24 hour supermarkets that say they are always open but not
I don't understand how supermarkets claim they are open 24 hours a day but close at 4pm on Sunday's?????
Forwards
Selective forwards are good, all others are deleted
Shoe shops - don't go up to size 10
I've searched on the web to find where cross dressers buy shoes. Why do womens soes not go up to size 10?
Angels by robbies williams
Apparently, number 2 in the wedding song charts and is the worst song ever. I would choose the muppet song above this for my wedding
People moaning about me being late
When am I early???? Nicky had the right idea, her friend told her to tell me to meet at 7.30 (an hour early), to be on the safe side she told me to be ready an hour before than. So, I was ready at 6.30 when I had to be there at 8.30. Quite extreme but worked
Packing bags for holiday
A personal packer or packing machine would be worth a fortune
Pet names
Hate them like babe, doll, honey, sugar, sweetheart
Paying for a luggage ticket on a tram in eastern europe
See Poland holiday, its to catch out tourists!
Ornaments
Especially ones of fish, dogs, cats that have no purpose but to collect dust
Blowing up balloons
As a kid I made a paper mache thingand the balloon popped in my face, children laughing as I was covered in paper mache
Trends
Like wearing ur jeans half way up ur leg, a comb in your hair, trousers that are below your waist and my recent hate....wellies being fasionable!

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Home bound, 2 hours plane, 4 hours car

We only had a morning in Krakow on our last day to look around so we went on a walking tour to se Wawel, Barbakan and the medieval square. As a compromise, we took a taxi to the airport and sat outside in 7 degree coldness eating our picnic. It only took 2 hours to get to London from Krakow but took 4 hours to drive from London to Bristol. Road Works!.

I really don’t know what adjective to use to describe the trip. I can’t say I enjoyed it but I’m very grateful for the experience and have learnt a great deal from it, if only we learnt from such mistakes.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Polish kebab

12 hours sleep and my legs still ached but we had breakkie without an argument! Today we got on public transport to get to our destination. However, polish people must have very very short legs because I couldn’t physically fit my legs in the seat so I had to take up all three!. Mum says I’m cheap, I call it economical J

Today’s trip was to the Wieliczka Salt mine. We were guided through the salt mines down 394 steps which ends up making you feel quite dizzy. Each of the sculptures was carved from salt by the minders. The sculptures of Princess Kinga, a Hungarian princess and the Pope are especially good.

The St Kinga chapel is a vast chamber with a chandelier of salt crystal. Opera, sports, weddings and new year parties are held in the chapels. Mum went back to the surface while I went into the museum, big mistake. We had to use the miners lift because the tourist one was being checked. We were bundled into a very small lift without doors and sent up the shaft at a very fast speed, in pitch black darkness and only seeing the occasional light pass. Mum screamed apparently.

It was a regular occurrence on the trip to sleep for a few hours before dinner and today was no different. I blame it on the fact that it gets dark at 3.30, it feels like its dark for hours.

It was mum’s choice for evening meal so she went for something very polish, a kebab :)

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Auschwitz - a day that will stay with me forever

 

The day started at 7am with a continental breakfast and an argument on the smoking rules between mother and daughter. After a walk through Planty, we happened upon the train station, quite by chance. One major problem, the information desk didn't speak English. After a slight panic and 're-group' we found a taxi and 4 English people to share a mini bus with.

The first tour was to Auschwitz 1, beginning with a harrowing video showing liberation. A girl was forced to stand bare foot in the snow for a whole day, she lost her feet. People starved near to death, the remaining children holding hands, sunken eyes and a frown on every face.

We walked through the freedom gate and the first block showed us how people were transported to the camp. People travelled thousands of miles across Europe to their 'new home'. They packed belongings to start up their new home and were forced into a cattle truck with 99 other people, no sanitation or water. They even had to pay for their ticket!

The most horrific part of the tour was seeing 1 tonne of human hair, realy human hair taken off the bodies that were in the gas chamber. The gas was made into cloth. What person could wear a peice of clothing that was made by murdered people's human hair? The sight made me feel physically sick and I couldn't look at the hair. There were rooms of spectacles, showes, prosthetic limbs, toothbrushes and shaving brushed. 43,000 pairs of shoes were on display, these were just the ones for the camp. The good ones were sent to Berlin.

By this time I had permanent goosbumps and there was complete silence amongst the tour. The death wall between block 10 and 11 was also horrifying. The windows on each block were covered over apart from the bottom floor which was used by the gestapo as though they receieved pleasure from watching such atrocities.

Block 11 contained the cells. At this point I was considering leaving the corridor. It was very dark and had limited fresh air. One cell only had a few holes for ventilation, people slowly suffocated to death, there were just enough holes to prolong the death. The standing cells held 4 people and were no bigger than a telephone box, I decided to stand in it and the goosebumps became so much that I dashed out of the block before I was sick. It was at this point I had to make a decision as to whether I was strong enough to carry on. I thought I was prepared, I wasn't.

The first gas chamber wasn't like the 'shower' format. People were huddled into a room and gas was thrown through the ceiling. If you were lucky enough to be right underneath the gas, you were killed instantly. If not, it took 20 minutes for you to die. The commandants children used to play on top of the gas chamber. Next to the chamber is the personal gallows made for him.

Auschwitz 2 is a few km away from Auschwitz 1, between camps, the hard labour was done. The scale of the 2nd camp can't be explained. You have to strain you eyes to see the end of the camp. The famous railway and watchtower is the entrance to the camp. We were shown the washouse and toilets. If people weren't out in a few seconds, they were beaten. Beaten for having a stomach problem even though they were fed rotten food on a daily basis. So much we take for granted.

We walked to the end of the camp, past electric boundaries, gas chambers, a chamber that the nazi's exploded when they left and a memorial.

the day was extremely emotional. The day we visited was the All souls day when people congregate around the graves of loved ones. There were over 1000 people in procession walking around the camp. We were very lucky to see this but at the front of the procession were a group of shawled women, possibly survivors of the atrocity. A group of Jewish children walked around the camp with jewish symbols on their flags.

During the day I kept thinking that this actually happened in my grandad's lifetime and such decisions of life and death are still being made around this world. What right does one man have to murder another? How selfish this world has become.

In the evening mum and I went to a Perogi restaurant. it slightly looked like a transport cafe and we had exactly the same meal...again. Onion soup followed by meat perogi (plate of Cornish pasties).

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Krakow and a plate of roast potatoes

Oh I do love the low budget airlines. This weekends trip was to Krakow, Poland.

Our day started at 3am on a cold Saturday morning. At 6am we were at Gatwick, checked in and had a 4 hour wait until out Central Wings plane left. I was horrified int he airport to find that they already had their christmas decorations up. Mum made full use of the smoking cubicle which always amazes me how the smoke doesn't escape as they are no doors.

I throughly recommend Central wings, they even give you a sweet on the landing (I'm easily swayed by food). We arrived in Krakow very weary and not knowing how to get on a bus, a simple thing in your own country but it takes ten times longer when you don't know stupid rules like having to pay for your luggage! Why! After a very worried bus journey (becuase I knew I hadn't of paid for the luggage but mum didn't) we had a long walk to the hotel where we found out that we had to be relocated to another hotel. So, we used our 5th mode of transport for the day and got in a taxi for a 5 minute walk (we weren't paying)

First impressions were that Krakow is a very rich country and has more colour that Warsaw. I was in Warsaw in 2001 and I remember greyness and being stared at beucase my friend has a rainbow coat on.

The environment is so bad in krakow that we were charged climate tax!!!!! 1zl per person, per day which meant about £2 for the whole time we were there. However, the steel companies make a fortune and the people have to pay for the privilage of being covered in acid rain?

Mum unpacked while I documented what she had brought for LM purposes. One kettle, one hair dryer, tea, coffee, milk, a bag of toiletries that was bigger than my whole clothes allowance for this trip, 2 pairs of shoes, 5 travel adapters and one phone charger. However, only 2 sets of clothes (as per my orders) :)

I must be getting old becuase I had a nap while mum unpacked and had a 'first'. I dreamt that I was sleeping. I have never done that before, bizarre when you wake up ad to what is reality.

Dinner consisted of us having the exact same meal (a trend that followed the entire trip, can you tell that we are related?) Polish cheese board, leek soup and then my mistake. I ordered potatoes with bacon and onion. Little did I know that I would be served a big dinner plate of roast potatoes and thats it!

Friday, November 04, 2005

More Room 101

Turkey ham -
Who can explain to me what turkey ham is? How can you mate a turkey and a pig (I almost said ham). What does it taste like? I'm not sure I want to know what it consists of. So into Room 101 it goes.
Warts and veruccas -
Again, they have no purpose in life but to fund the liquid nitrogen companies. They look horrid and after beinga lifeguard for years, they are my enemy.
Zebra crossings after a roundabout -
Why would you put a crossing after a roudabout? You are already dizzy and trying to run stupid drivers off of the road that hog the outside lane. Then you have a zebra!
People who go on annual holidays to the same place -
There are so many more interesting places to go to!
Benidorm -
I have never been but why don't you just spend a week at home? At both locations you can enjoy your english breakfast, english conversation and generally english people.
Dust -
Well, I need to put into Room 101 the actual dust element as well as the people who insist on writing 'clean me' on my TV.
The office, monty python -
I've grown to like Little Britain but The Office and Monty Python is just wrong. How can anybody find it amusing?
People that use mobile phones in garages -
We all know the risks
Headphones that tangle -
A recent annoyance, I spend the first few minutes of every day untangling them.
Hangers that tangle and fall in the floor -
Why do hangers tangle so well and always fall on the floor?
Breaking the spines of books -
One of my biggest hates
People that force things -
Its not meant to be that way if forced
Call centres -
Instead of 'School House' I was sent a letter to 'School Mouse'. The only thing correct was my postcode, thank goodness becuase it was the legal agreement for my car.
Speed cameras -
I got caught last week. I once loved them, now I hate them. Like -
I did that today!!!!!!
American words -
Ya'll, center, color, bum bag. I don't know if this is American but who invented the word 'Chav'?
Stickey pub surfaces -
Especially putting your arm in wet patch :(
Sitting on chewing gum -
And putting it in the freezer has always mystified me.
Tourists that take pictures of stupid things -
The number of tourists that have pictures next to statues they don't even know who they are.
Limp huggers -
I'm a big hugger and limp huggers just don't do it for me, you have to mean it.