June 2008

Very changeable weather this month with more than a few days of heavy rain threatening to cause floods reminiscent of this time last year. Thankfully there have been a few nice days too. Local friends Rich and Helen had a barbeque recently in their back yard to celebrate the end of term. They happened across an excellent burger cookbook and were dead keen to try it out. I could hardly walk at the end of that night. Liverpool is the “European Capital of Culture” this year, and one of the themes is “Superlambananas” all around the city. It’s a bit like the painted cow thing in Holland, but stranger. There is even a Sgt. Pepper themed one outside “The Beatles Story” at the Albert Docks. Back at the start of the month I jumped on the bike and headed down to see cousin Phil at the farm. It had been some months since I visited. Most times things change little, but on this occasion it was obvious the work that had been going on there. He had almost finished the entry patio to the main house, and had all but painted what used to be a derelict stone barn. It was now an almost complete self-contained house ready for rental. I had never seen walls so thick that every window is a bay. Trust me to turn up on a toy, as Phil was keen to have a go. Wide-eyed he climbed on the back of the bike and we headed down to another pub I had never been to. Not surprisingly he knew everybody there, and they knew all about him. Not a bad guy to know. See photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35712&l=95267&id=882525575 Had two trips with work to the continent this month – one to our customer in Brussels and my first trip to Germany for a new installation in Hamburg. The job went well and I took the weekend to have a good look around the city. The port of Hamburg consumes the entire south bank of the Elbe River – it is huge. I jumped in a tour boat to get a closer look but sadly didn’t get the whole picture as it was all in German. Ah well. It’s pick-a-language in Europe, and I’m lucky I speak the international one because most people know it. During the week Germany had two Euro2008 football matches that were riotously supported in town in front of the big screens. Colleagues and I got amongst it but didn’t dare wave a British flag, not that I would anyway. See photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=127168&l=90e16&id=882525575 Another big event in town was the Hamburg Harley Days. For the whole weekend the city streets funneled a constant rumbling as if an earthquake was approaching. They reckon 30,000 bikes made it into the city based around a site at the end of the Reeperbahn – the red light seedy bar strip of town. The bikers delighted the crowds with wheelies, burnouts and sidecar balancing (a bit like a car on two wheels) up public roads. The Polizei were pretty lenient on all of this, but still insisted on fining me 5 Euro for jaywalking. XXXX! I know what that means now. There were Harleys of every description, representatives of the Orange County Choppers, local and international customs, V8 bikes, trikes, trailers you name it. Shame I had to come back to the UK really. See photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=127151&l=a84a3&id=882525575