Monthly Archives: October 2014

What to do at Grand Central Station (Rousse)

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Dreamaticus

At Grand Central Station in New York we would regroup for the next leg of our journey. In the meantime I scattered my business cards in the hope of widening my network of work contacts. I then returned to my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged business cards, contacts, female, frighten, Grand Central Station, journey, network, New York, relation, relations, work | Leave a comment

The Emperor of China, Tom Forrest, an absent wife, and a widower (Rousse)

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Ancient tradition in China required the donning of a long black robe (similar to an academic gown) whenever the emperor visited. Every day during my imprisonment I was on standby for this eventuality. Meanwhile I joined in with the activities … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academic, ancient, Archers, bars, bed, bedroom, black, blue, Bob Arnold, border, breach, china, chinos. shirt, couple, darling, dead, delight, dress, emperor, English, escape, foreigner, foreigners, gesture, gestures, gown, green, guest, hand, host, hosts, imprisonment, invisible, lake, land, language, minder, restaurant, robe, sad, sign, speak, streets, table, Tom Forrest, TPR, travel, upstairs, weight, westerner, westerners, widoer, widower, wife | Leave a comment

Ducks and drowning risk in city centre (Rousse)

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I’d craved a sea view for years and now I had one – almost. When we woke at 05:00am to the blast of morning television from the flat upstairs TPR and I had no option but to get up and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airing cupboard, back, centre, check, children, city, conduit, door, dress, drown, drowning, duck, ducks, feature, flat, garden, investigate, kitchen, mallard, neighbourhood, river, sea, sound, television, TPR, upstairs, view, water | Leave a comment

Phil Collins’ Ghostbusters dance (Rousse)

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Phil Collins danced with joy as I watched Ghostbusters on a decrepit VHS tape. Afterwards I took the dog into town to find TPR’s abandoned bike. When I returned home to the White House I annoyed my sister J. She … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bedroom, bike, dance, dawn, dog, garden, Ghostbusters, Hartburn, mist, Phil Collins, sister photograph, Stockton, Stockton-on-Tees, tape, town, TPR, VHS, White House, window | Leave a comment

Love strikes in the City of London (Belle)

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Dreamaticus

My advanced tea-making skills had attracted the attention of a handsome young suitor but I knew this was not enough to ensure our long-term compatibility. I was more interested in the older gentleman I had met in the exquisite and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cannon Street Station, car, chapel, London, love, tea | Leave a comment

Cheese throwing with Billy Connolly (Rousse)

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Although the purpose of the exercise was unclear, I enjoyed an afternoon of ‘cheese chucking’ with Billy Connolly and BP. The concept was simple. All you had to do was throw lumps of cheese up onto a high shelf. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Billy Connolly, breeze block, brick, cellophane, cheddar, cheese, chuck, chucking, lift, lumps, PhD, poverty, propel, Reading, shelf, thesis, throw, throwing, viva | Leave a comment

Arthur Lowe and the Penis Olympics (Belle)

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Dreamaticus

It seemed I had – at last – achieved my lifetime goal. I was the passenger in a sweet, vintage car and it was the 1970s. Arthur Lowe was taking me to the shops in Catford, having proposed to me … Continue reading →

Posted in blue, red | Tagged Arthur Lowe, baby, car, Catford, jungle, London, Olympics, penis, South America, television | Leave a comment

A bathroom for every bedroom in Edinburgh’s Victoria Street accommodation (Rousse)

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I visited AC in his Victoria Street flat. None of us had ever been there before, although TPR had once peered into the sitting room and concluded that this was the extent of the apartment. This was on the basis … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged apartment, back-packer, bathroom, bed, bedroom, building, Edinburgh, flat, foreogners, income, New Zealand, resident, shape, street, stting room, sub-let, TPR, Victoria Street, view, walls, windows | Leave a comment

A creepy Cotswolds hotel and a fight for fish fingers (Rousse)

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Dreamaticus

The reviews for the Cotwolds hotel were amazing, but the longer that JC and I stayed there, the less inclined we were to recommend it ourselves. The two owners were rather creepy, following us around everywhere. When they complained about … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged basin, bedroom, bus, catch, chest, clothes mould, Cotswolds, creepy, dinner, fish fingers, friend, guests, hair, hotel fight, ladies, pedlar, roadside, service, warn | Leave a comment

Clever words win Russell Crowe (Belle)

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Dreamaticus

The dog and I stood at the top of the hill, admiring the view in front of us – lush green valleys and emerald green woods. The view behind us was a complete contrast – the whole of London was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Australian, bench, dog, hill, London, Russell Crowe, view, woods | Leave a comment