Lance Greenfield's Blog, page 61

Review: Dark Fire

Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Continual suspense

Matthew Shardlake has put the nerve-wracking episode of his investigations at Scarnsea Monastery behind him and is living the relatively quiet life of a London lawyer of the Tudor era. Suddenly, his peace is shattered. He is asked to defend a young lady who is accused of murdering her cousin, but refuses to speak to anyone, even Shardlake. A difficult task, and even more stressful because failing to plea when brought to court in those days resulted in a slow and agonising death by “pressing.”

Almost simultaneously, Shardlake is called to the chambers of Lord Cromwell, who commissions him to seek one of the earliest weapons of mass destruction, Greek fire. It is a very dangerous assignment, made even more so because it is so difficult to work out whom he can trust. Wisely, he decides to trust no-one.

There is suspense throughout this book, and more than a few close scrapes. I really enjoyed it.

View all my reviews

#WeekendCoffeeShare: In Which a Family Holiday Almost Gets Cancelled and My Old Dog is Very Happy

If we were having coffee, I would tell you all about the string of stressful events which eventually led to the happy conclusion of my wife lying on a sunbed by the pool at the Hermes Hotel in Kefalos, Kos. To make me even more happy, she reported that she was reading my second novel, Knitting Can Walk!, and was thoroughly enjoying it. She only reads on holiday so, had the holiday been cancelled, she would not have started it until next year!

Joy and friends reading “Eleven Miles” by the pool

Let me take you back to the beginning of this string of stressful events.

The idea was that my wife, Joy, was to go on holiday to Kos with my son, Pete, daughter-in-law, Jodie, grandson, Alfie, and Pete’s best friend, Tim. The Hermes Hotel is run by a family of New York Greeks who we have known for years. Pete goes to visit them in the winter when they return to NYC while there are no tourists to fill their hotel in Kefalos. I usually go with them, but the eldest of our three dogs is very old and infirm and we didn’t want to leave him in kennels. So I was to stay behind to look after Ronan, Bertie and Maisie.

The week before last, the travel agent asked Pete for his Mum’s details for the ticket. These included passport number and expiry date. At this point, I realised that Joy’s passport would expire on 4th August. Most airlines won’t let you fly if you have less than six months left on your passport.

I set about getting her a replacement using the fast track service of Her Majesty’s Passport Office. This meant that, having booked an appointment on the Tuesday morning and paid in advance for the passport and service, I appeared that the office near to Victoria Station in London with the completed forms, Joy’s photographs and a letter authorising me to pick up her passport. The photographs had been taken in the booth at the local Post Office which had assured us that they were acceptable for passports.

The forms were efficiently processed and I was told to report back to collect in four hours. I wandered around London for three hours before ducking into a pub for some lunch. While I was eating, Joy called me to tell me that I might as well head home as HM Passport Office had just called to say that the photos wouldn’t scan for printing and she had to send some more. I went home. Joy had some more photos taken, this time in a professional studio, and sent them by express courier.

The next morning, we received a call to say that the second photos hadn’t scanned either. We went back to the Post Office and took a third set, which we sent by express courier. On Thursday afternoon, when I called the Passport Office, I was told that Joy’s passport had been successfully printed. Hurrah! I told them that I’d be on the next train and should be there to collect it within two hours.

I was horrified when they told me that it had already been sent out to us. “It might arrive by Monday.” They didn’t have a tracking number, but they told me the name of the courier company. After several calls, I managed to track the package and took delivery the next morning, Friday.

With the necessary details, Pete was able to get the tickets.

All seemed well.

On Thursday, the taxi was due to pick up Joy at 09:30 and collect Tim on the way to Pete’s to pick up the rest of the family on the way to the airport.

At 07:00. Jodie called me with the bad news that the holiday company had gone bust and the flights were cancelled!

To cut a long story short, Pete managed to find alternative flights, leaving on Saturday but for nine days rather than the original seven. The cost was substantially increased. Furthermore, Tim wouldn’t be able to go as he works as a manager in a distribution company where leave is tightly controlled. Only three direct flights were available, which were taken by Joy, Jodie and Alfie. Pete had to fly, several hours later, via Athens.

There were more complications. I had booked myself onto a Writers’ Summer School at Swanwick starting next Saturday. I am taking my aging, ailing father and looking after him. As Joy wouldn’t be home until Tuesday evening, the dogs are having to go into kennels after all.

And so it was that I was up at 3 am on Saturday morning so that Pete and I could drive Joy, Jodie and Alfie to the airport. They are useless at travelling on their own, so we checked them in, dropped their bags and saw them through to security with strict instructions to get them to the lounge and to the gate in time to board their flight.

All day yesterday, I was tracking their flights and progress until they had all arrived safely in the Hermes Hotel in Kefalos.

I am left at home, not quite alone. I have the three dogs, and you are all welcome to join me for coffee.

This afternoon, I took the dogs for a walk along the side of the River Test at The Cleaves, Longparish. Longparish is the village in which Joy grew up and was the home to many generations of her family before her. It is beautiful and tranquil.

As I told you, Ronan is old and infirm, like my father. He waddled along until he came to a shallow side stream. He entered the water. You can see how much he enjoyed his dip. He turned to me and smiled. I love that dog so much and he loves me. He is a happy dog.

To add to my happiness, my beloved football team, Dundee United, beat Dunfermline Athletic by two goals to nil to reach the last sixteen of the Betfred Scottish League Cup.

Enjoy your coffee!

#weekendcoffeshare

Ecuador 1994 – Part Eleven

14th August – Sunday

Breakfast of fried eggs, lousy coffee and juice, and toast with guava jam. We walked down the 3km track to Bahía Tortuga (Turtle Bay). Along the way we saw a few [Darwin’s] finches and lava lizards and discussed Oli’s schooling. The sand on the beach was fine, silver, coral sand and was absolutely beautiful. The sea was quite rough and it was drizzling but we enjoyed the walk along the beach in the company of the pelicans and finches.

We came to the bay itself, which was very placid and quite shallow. It was protected by a natural peninsular. We chose our spot then went for a swim. I used the snorkel but didn’t see much. I put some suntan lotion on and lazed around while Oli went for a short walk before joining me. Dad was content to sit and read his book.

Later, Oli and I went along the peninsular to watch the marine iguanas and lizards. It’s amazing that you can sit within a couple of feet of these wild creatures and they still come towards you. At this point Oli realised that he was beginning to burn, so we went back to put some lotion on. We decided to wear our shirts for additional protection. The walk back along the beach and path gave us some good opportunities for more photography of the iguanas, lizards and pelicans.

It struck me that, although pelicans are such clumsy, clownish birds when they are walking or swimming, they are magnificent and graceful when they glide along a couple of feet above the surface of the water.

Back in town we headed straight for the west end where we had our fill of fish, chips, salad and bread. Siesta ensued for Oli and Dad; journal-writing for me. Oli’s skin came up like a beetroot and he looked like he was in great pain.

In the evening we went to Las Cuatro Lantinas for a couple of drinks and met Jaquelina who had chatted up Oli in her shop the previous day. She took us up to a classy restaurant called La Casa de Phillippe. We met the owner and settled down to listen to the good, live guitar music. Oli and I had lobster tail and Dad had fish in sauce. With the drinks, coffee and music all added to the bill it came to S/-105,000 (£32). This was our most expensive meal in Ecuador and it was not well cooked, which was disappointing. Still, the restaurant was very nice with good music and atmosphere. I beat Dad at pool, after a struggle, and had an interesting conversation with a Bavarian. My Deutsch is much better than my Spanish.

Dad and I left Oli with Jacquelina and went back to our room. Oli came in less than ½ hour later, having failed in his quest to go home with Jacquelina. I’d come to the personal opinion that she was a bit strange anyway.

Ecuador 1994 – Part Ten

13th August – Saturday

We had to be at the airport by 7.30, so we left El Cafecito at just gone seven. Again we had left some baggage behind, including our boots. Our laundry wasn’t dry, so we took it with us to dry in the Galápagos. By this time I had realised that I’d left my sunglasses in the Yuturi lodge, so I asked Tony if he’d endeavour to get them back for me. I didn’t really think there would be much chance of ever seeing them, or through them, again.

Quito

We hailed a taxi on the corner next to the hostel. As it came towards us I said “Oh no!”. The car itself was in a bad way and the driver hit his wheel on the high kerb as he pulled up next to us. I had an awful feeling that we were encountering another crazy cab driver. My feeling proved to be correct.

He put the music on loud and we asked him to turn it down. Dad sat in the front and Oli and I sat in the back. The driver was looking at us as he spoke, not where he was driving, so we had to keep diverting his attention back to the road. At one stage he put his foot down to the floor and accelerated towards a car parked on the right from which three people had just alighted. There was a taxi to our left. We all shouted “No!” at the tops of our voices. His reaction was to accelerate even more, cutting up the taxi to our left and narrowly missing the pedestrians. He swerved violently away from the central reservation, which was about one foot high. I thought that the car was going to turn over. We made him pull over to the side. I stayed in the back, telling the others to take the bags out of the boot. The driver demanded a fare. We gave the driver S/-3000 and told him to go.

Another, more presentable taxi soon pulled up and took us, safely, to the airport for

S/-5000. It took us two or three hours to get over our nightmare journey.

We breakfasted at Tropiburger at the airport once we had booked in. The breakfast was horrible but Oli spotted a woman who he really liked. She got on the same flight as us and sat opposite to Oli and me. When we arrived at Guayaquíl and went into the transit lounge, Oli’s friend went out through to arrivals, much to the disappointment of my brother.

During the 40 minute stopover at Guayaquíl I started chatting to the Thompsons. They were a very nice couple from Washington State who were embarking on their third Earthwatch project. The project involved investigating Katydids in Peru. On the way they were passing some time in Ecuador.

Itabaca Channel between Baltra Island and Santa Cruz

We arrived at the airport on Isla Baltra and queued to pay our US$ 80 entry fees and S/-15000 tax. About an hour later we were on a 5 minute bus trip to the ferry. The S/-2000 fare took us across the runway and down a dusty lava hill. The S/-1000 ferry trip was about the same distance as Mull to Iona. There were some enthusiastic English ornithologists on board who were intent on making fools of themselves by crying out such things as “Did you see that flightless cormorant fly past?” We saw some blue footed boobies and some frigate birds.

 

The bus trip from the arid north of Isla Santa Cruz down to Puerto Ayura in the lush south of the island took about one hour on a very bumpy road. We saw lots of cattle egrets. On arrival at Puerto Ayura we went in search of accommodation and found perfect lodgings at Hotel Sol y Mar which was run by Jimmy Perez (aged 85½ at the time). It was S/-31000 per night for a triple room.

Before we’d left Quito, Oli had said that his trip to the Galápagos would be complete if he could see a marine iguana. As we checked in, there were two of them sitting on the patio watching us! We soon had our stuff unpacked and our washing out to dry. The two maids took an instant shine to Oli and me but the feeling was definitely not mutual.

By this time we were quite hungry so, after a quick look around town, we settled for a toasted cheese sandwich and some fruit juice. The Darwin Centre and Tortoise Sanctuary was next on the agenda. We saw the baby tortoises and walked amongst some of the larger specimens. There were lots of finches and lava lizards around.

The souvenir shops were very interesting. All of them sold T-shirts, some sold lousy carvings and there were some brilliant books of photographs.

In the evening we ate cod at the Sol y Mar and had a walk around town followed by a nightcap (Amoretto) at Las Cuatro Lantinas. Dad and I had never experienced this liqueur until Oli introduced us to it. It was wonderful and we felt compelled to try another. Thanks Bro!

Ecuador 1994 – Part Nine

12th August – Friday

We had to get up at 3.45 am for breakfast at four. Having said our goodbyes we headed of back up the river to Coca. Despite all the rain, the water level seemed lower than when we’d made the outward trip, so we had to do much more traversing. The current was against us and the trip took about six hours. We had two comfort stops and very sore bums by the time we arrived at Coca. It was very cold and raining most of the way.

Coca

At Coca we were taken by the rickety bus to the airport. Toasted cheese sandwiches, with mild, soapy, Ecuadorian cheese, were taking about 20 minutes to cook, but we got one each eventually. The plane was about one hour late.

As we flew into Quito, I could follow the road which we’d taken from Cochasquí to Quito just a few days before. The taxi from the airport to El Cafecito took an excellent, traffic-free route which ran parallel to Avenida Amazonas before cutting through the back of Avenida Colón.

We retrieved the clothes which we’d left behind and gave a large bag of washing to the maid before leaving almost immediately to confirm our Iberia flights back to Madrid and London. We took the opportunity look into a few souvenir shops while we were out. Oli was undecided between an alpaca rug and a Panama hat. He would also liked the idea of taking a large, man-sized, balsa parrot home with him. I also liked the parrot, but couldn’t think of any place to put such a huge beast in our current house. I was sure that Joy would prefer the rug if I could afford it.

As usual, we became quite hungry, so we headed for the Magic Bean for enchiladas and fruit juice. Then it was back to El Cafecito for a shower and a bit of rest. The plumbing had been (sort of) fixed, so Oli and Dad had warmish showers. I managed ½ minute of cold shower before the water completely stopped.

In the evening we went down to Reina Victoria for a pint of Newcastle Brown. What a surprise – they didn’t have any! Instead we had some awful German lager. Oli beat me twice at darts – once at 301, and again at Round the Clock.

The Flying Dutchman had been recommended to us for a curry and Indonesian by David. It was closed, so we went down to Big Dave’s Taco Factory for a taco and a couple of Margaritas. Big Dave is also known as Humungeous Hugh, Man Mountain Malcolm and Gigantic Jim (you had to be there!). He always looked as if he’s about to burp. He is 6’3″ and Texan and has an Ecuadorian wife who is about 4’9″. She does the food, he does the Margaritas. The food menu is a single page. The Margarita menu is a book. Big Dave takes a tiny taste of every Margarita he mixes. If it doesn’t hit the mark, it goes straight down the drain. The tacos were excellent.

Eleven Miles – more touching reviews

It fills my heart with pride and joy when I read reviews of my debut novel, Eleven Miles, which tell of the real reflection of life and society in remote African villages. This is exactly what I was trying to achieve in my writing of Boitumelo’s story. To have endorsements from people who know that society is tremendous.

The review that appeared on Amazon today says, “. . . this book sums up the attitude of the people of this wonderful continent perfectly.” It was written by a British reader who has travelled extensively across the African continent.

Another recent review on Amazon, which was written by a young African reader who obviously has personal experience of that life, tells us, “This book narrates the stories of hundreds, or thousands, or even millions of Africans kids. Almost any African child can relate to this compelling piece of brilliance.”

Wouldn’t any author be extremely happy with such feedback? I feel wonderful!

 

Ecuador 1994 – Part Eight

11th August – Thursday

In the morning we went for another short walk (about 4 hours) through the jungle. We followed the noise of some squirrel monkeys but never caught up with them. Very often we saw tapir tracks but no tapir. We saw the scratch marks of a giant anteater but no anteater. We saw lots of giant armadillo diggings but no giant armadillos. One thing we that we did see lots of were brown leaves (an “in joke” at the time)!

The most exciting finds were strangler figs, which completely overwhelm their host trees by growing from seeds dropped in their upper branches by birds. The roots grow down to the ground, then the fig grows around and over the original tree, which eventually dies. The most magnificent specimen we saw had grown over a kapok tree which is huge anyway. We had previously followed a kapok root for over 90m across the forest floor. Inside this huge strangler fig we found some bats and a nest of conga ants which must have been the 48 hour variety by the size of them!

The other interesting, and perhaps rarest find of that morning walk was a white praying mantis. Amazing to see!

After lunch we set off for the local community on the River Napo. Dad stayed behind as it was raining again. In fact it was raining so hard that I’d taken another shower outside at lunchtime. Much better than the little dribble which came out of the pathetic shower in our room!

We had to take the boat straight over the top of a recently fallen tree in the Yuturi, which was a bit worrying. Out of the mouth of the Yuturi we turned right down the Napo, away from Coca, and went for about 15 minutes.

Innocencio knew the Chachi family who lived in the stilted hut where we stopped, so we went inside for a bit of socialising. All the men were pissed out of their brains. We were served chachi in aluminium bowls. Chicha is made from pulped yucca, sweet potato and banana. It ferments in a container like a small dug-out canoe. In the old days the indians used to chew yucca to pulp it but they SAY that they don’t do that now. It tasted OK but was very potent and a bowlful was a bit much. Still, it would have been rude to decline the offer. We shook hands all round, including the toddler who had been drinking chicha too, and headed off down the track.

Panama hats

We met the president of the community, Bolivarandi, who was remarkably, and somewhat uniquely, sober. Further down the track we ate palm heart from the Pajatoquilla Palm, and saw how the other end of the heart splayed out to make the material for Panama hats. These were always made in Ecuador, but sold in Panama. The leaf of the same palm is used to make roofs which last for 15-20 years. Very good in this climate. The track itself is made between each community and so extends continuously all the way down both sides of the Rio Napo.

Having crossed what passed for a football field, and having seeing the school, we came to the museum/shop. Oli and I bought a few things whilst Sonia and Helena chatted with the local schoolmaster. Apart from all the usual miscellaneous local craft found in such places all over the world, the museum housed a tapir’s skull and pelvis and some fragments of ancient pottery.

Evening flight

Innocencio took Oli and me back down the path to see the huge Kapok (or Sabre) tree. David and Helena caught us up as we arrived at the tree. It was hollow for a good 30 feet up into the trunk and there was a huge pile of bat excrement on the ground inside the tree. Shining our torches up inside, we could see hundreds of bats. The evening migration of the flocks of bats as they go out in search of food is quite spectacular.

Warning: bat shit absolutely stinks!

On the way back we saw the oropendolars massing to fly off for the evening. We had to stop to pick up Sonia from the school where she had been trying to set up a link with her own school in Chicago. Again, for Sonia’s sake, we called in at Innocencio’s house in order to pick up an uncleaned tapir’s skull. She really is a pain!

By now it was very dark, and we had to proceed with great caution up the Yuturi using our flashlights to look for any signs of life. We were lucky enough to find a caiman within a few minutes. It was on the bank, so we could see it very clearly – all of 4 feet long. When it slid into the water, all we could see were the red eyes and their reflections. It looked as if it had four eyes. As we paddled further up the river we saw a couple of motmots, which are a bit like giant kingfishers. It was amazing to see thousands of little green eyes all along the bank of the river. We wondered what they were until David told us that these eyes belonged to spiders.

Sonia couldn’t hold out and had to pee over the side as we went along. This seemingly simple operation was carried out with the maximum of fuss and noise which we had come to associate with everything that the irritating lady did.

Although we were late for supper, we still had time to go for a short walk afterwards. Just Dad, Oli and I went. We didn’t find much, but heard monkeys thrashing around in the trees above us.

Ecuador 1994 – Part Seven

10th August – Tuesday

It started pouring down just after breakfast. This was the day of our “long trek”, but we waited until 9 o’clock to see if the weather would break. It didn’t. Off we went down the river but we saw nothing. All life, except human life, was wisely sheltering from the rain. It didn’t stop raining until one o’clock and even then there were intermittent showers.

Lemon ants

The highlight of the morning was the discovery of the tree which houses the lemon ant. These trees seem to adopt a natural clearing. The lemon ants live in a bulbous area of the stem just below the leaf. When the tree is growing this houses an aphid. Once the aphid matures and vacates its temporary home, the lemon ant moves in. It has a small entrance/exit at the bottom end of the bulb. We all had a taste, and they were very nice and did taste of sweet lemon. When we eventually stopped for lunch we had spam and cheese rolls followed by biscuits with a choice of tuna or guava jam. Some of us had a combination of cheese, tuna and jam on biscuit, with a liberal sprinkling of lemon ants. Lovely!

During the walk we crossed a marsh about 300m wide. There were logs and rotting vegetation just below or above the surface all the way across but it was difficult to balance in the slippery conditions. We all had sticks to aid us. Everyone except Oli and I fell in along the way, including the guides. Sonia fell in about 10 times, letting us know with characteristic shrieks.

A little further on, Innocencio found an area under a tree where a deer had slept. Oli was convinced that the guide would return that evening to stock his family larder with venison. He was probably right. On the tree we found a very large, furry caterpillar. it was about six inches long. Having had my stomach painfully smothered in caterpillar hairs in Nairobi a few years before, I decided that we should leave it where it was. Tapir tracks were abundant in this part of the jungle and they were all quite fresh, but we had very little chance of seeing one with our noisy Chilean friend in the party.

Towards the end of the walk we swung on some long lianas, which was great fun. I jumped off the first one, attempting a flip as I dismounted, but slipped in the mud and broke my snake stick. I did manage a couple of very muddy somersaults though.

After supper Oli and Dad went off to bed. The other party were going off in the boat to look for caimans with their guide. Laura. Sonia and I were the only ones from our group who joined them. Laura sat in the bow. Behind her sat Sonia and a lady from the former East Germany who had been a Russian language teacher but was now learning Spanish in order to teach it. Then came me and Klaus (from Frankfurt), then Klaus’s Frau, then all the rest. The three in the front were chatting and giggling until Klaus and his Frau got very upset. “You muss keep quiet! It is useless to see anysink if you vill make zoh much noise!” He was quite correct. We didn’t see anything until we were coming in to the jetty from our hour long paddle. It was then that we saw the red eyes of a caiman reflecting our lights about 10m from the lodge.

Previous episodes: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six

Ecuador 1994 – Part Six

9th August – Tuesday

After a breakfast of bacon, eggs and juice, and an hour or two of observing the waking jungle, we set off on our morning walk. It is worth mentioning that the time to get up is around 5.45. At that time, you can hear the distinctive calling of the howler monkeys and see many birds including the scarlet tanager, blue and yellow macaws, red-bellied macaws, hoatsin, blue and white swallows, Amazon parrots, parakeets, the brilliant blue tamarind, finches, anis, oropendulars and many others. We paddled, or rather Innocencio and Lino paddled about half a mile down a side stream which was very narrow at its mouth and widened out into a lake. Oli spotted a white-eared jackamar, which is a small owl. It was only two or three yards away, staring at us as we floated by.

We made a landfall and set off into the jungle for a four-hour trek. Innocencio showed us the sandie tree. When it “bled” it produced lots of white fluid which tasted like milk of magnesia. It is used to combat kidney disorders and stones, tumours, indigestion and stomach disorders. After about 10 minutes, Innocencio heard some peccaries. These are small, wild pigs which run around the jungle in groups of up to 300. We weren’t lucky enough to see them but we did see plenty of tracks. At one stage Innocencio said he heard one cry out in a way that he hadn’t previously heard. “Maybe one has been killed by a jaguar or puma.” Sure enough, about ¾ mile further on we found jaguar tracks among the peccary tracks. We saw a few birds and a couple of leaf toads, but mostly we just saw a wide variety of plants and trees.

Dave introduced us to the conga ant (aka Yuturi or 24-hour ant). Its bite makes you feel very bad for 24 hours. On the boat back we saw four howler monkeys up in the trees. They were red and one was carrying a baby on its back.

After a good lunch of yucca chips, soup and meat with veg, we had about an hour before we were due to set off on another jungle trek. Oli and Dad had a lie down whilst I went for a swim in the river. Some of the children were in the other party were fishing for piranha and had caught some which were up to a foot in length. I was told that it was perfectly all right to swim there though, because they had enough small fish and vegetation to feed on without having to bite humans! I survived to tell the tale.

I thought that I’d have a shower before tea, but the shower in the hut delivered water at the rate of about two drops per minute. Fortunately, the afternoon tropical downpour was much more reliable. At four o’clock every afternoon, the skies opened and the rain bucketed down. I took advantage of this phenomena. I grabbed my shower gel, stripped off and made my way to the middle of the lawn. I had the perfect shower. Some of the tourists thought that my behaviour was outrageous but the locals didn’t bat an eyelid.

Our evening trek started, as did most treks, with a short canoe trip. This trek was much more leisurely, and the highlight was when the group spread out as individuals to see what we could find. This expedition resulted in more discoveries of tree and leaf frogs, centipedes and stick insects.

Later in the evening, after darkness had fallen, Oli and I went for a short night walk in the jungle, but we didn’t find anything noteworthy.

Previous episodes: One | Two | Three | Four | Five

What a great week for running – for me, anyway!

I’ll be brief.

I had three wonderful, early-morning runs in Bois de Boulogne in Paris while I was there for business meetings.

On Saturday, I went for my usual Andover parkrun. I was on a good pace for 24 minutes when my friend, Jan North, was wiped out by a child buggy just in front of me. I quickly checked her welfare, but the buggy assassin had stopped to help her already. At the same point on the course, on the second lap, a man who was running just behind me fell and hurt his knee. I stopped to help him to his feet and check that he was OK. In the end, I finished in under 26 minutes, but I felt good as I had shown the wonderful parkrun spirit.

On Sunday, I ran in the Wyvern 10k and turned in a not bad time of 52:44. I also met a man, as I was running, who is from Perth. We ran together for a while and chatted about our desire to run the Perth parkrun on the North Inch some day.

These photos say the rest.