Two weeks holiday is quite a rarity for me. It's usually measured by week. However, this August I managed to secure a fortnight away from work. It has seemed a very long time, in a good way! As well as visiting some wonderful places, both on the north and south of England. From tip to toe, so to speak. It has also allowed me some serious reading time. I have made us of this. I have made some decent inroads into my planned holiday reads. My holiday reads mainly fall into two categories; quick reads, and, requires effort. I find this is the best combination as I tend to read multiple books at the same time. A hangover from my Uni days. I, invariably, read my, requires work books over a period of weeks and months. The quick reads I'll do in a day or two days. So, this year I packed four books. And here they are; AETHELSTAN: (Tom Holland) quick read Usually, Works of history would fall into the requires work section. And my recent obsession with the War of the Roses, ...
This morning finds me on the 9th of the 10 trains I will have travelled on since Wednesday morning. You would be mistaken if you thought I was tired of trains, I'm not. Tired of the journeys perhaps. This morning was an earlier start as I am heading to London, arriving in time for the tube rush hour, one of the many joys I have experienced in life. In a herodotean type digression, I once did central London to heathrow on the tube with a suitcase as I was flying to Madrid! How popular was I then! Still, one of the very many reasons I enjoy trains is the view. And Autumn/Winter is arguably my favourite time, especially coupled with starting in the dark and still being on the train as daylight begins. Why you may ask? I shall explain. Mainly, at this time of year there is an absence of sun rising in the sky when Dawn breaks, usually blocked by a thick layer of cloud. This makes the day break darker and more emotive, to me. When you travel through the countryside and see the un...
It's been a week since my visit to Cambridge. Cambridge is beautiful. It is also like an island in the fens. Not especially easy to get to, either by car or train. It's a good few hours from home. I chose the train. The journey was better than three years ago. I changed the departure station from home to Newark. It knocked about an hour off the previous journey in 2013. Why three years. It is called the Cambridge Greek play. It is presented triennially by the students of Cambridge university. There are two fundamental aspects to the Greek play: a) It has to be from one of the ancient greek playwrights (for ancient greek playwrights, read ancient Athenian playwrights. All the extant play we have come from Athens) that is, in date order; Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. And, b) It is spoken entirely in ancient Greek. In 2016 they tragic play was by Sophocles. It was, Antigone, part of the Sophocles' 'Theban Plays. These encompassed the myth of Oedipus and his des...
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