A last burst of September sun illuminates the tables outside the Railway, typical haunt of a Friday evening after work, where the accumulated clientele ponder their forthcoming weekends. Steve makes at least his 7th appearance on this blog and is the most-featured individual outside (in this order) Joe, Clare and myself. Which is a sign that we’re often in the same place — the aforementioned Railway…
Overexposed it may be, but in a burst of sudden sunlight today I knew this bunch of people would be today’s picture. No offense, everyone.
Ilias is the son of Marilena (behind), who works for me despite living in Corfu — but that’s the online world for you. This was his first visit to England, we met them for lunch in Manchester, and he got to show that he has adopted certain local customs even at his young age. Yia mas!
(Obligatory child protection note: he didn’t drink it, you know.)
To help with the fundraising aspect of the Kilimanjaro walk (I’ve been raising money for the Calder Valley Search and Rescue team, if you’d like to help), my local, the Railway, had an afternoon of fun and frolics. It was Keith’s idea to set up the stocks (a pound for three throws) — he went in first, therefore. But I did get wet myself…
And so it ends. The last night in Tanzania was spent waiting out a 90-minute flight delay before heading home. I chose this as today’s pic, at least in part, to fill in one of the last two remaining time gaps — this is the first picture to be taken within the hour of 2:00 – 2:59am, now only 5:00 – 5:59 remains undepicted in the near four years of this blog.
So I’ve caught up. Time to go and unpack. I had my priorities right this morning…
Barafu camp lies at 4,600m, or about 15,100 feet, and is ‘base camp’ for the final ascent to the summit of Kili, which rises behind this point. One arrives there around lunchtime and is supposed to get some sleep in the afternoon and evening because the final climb is done overnight. But the views are amazing, and I was not the only one defying advice and being up and about later on as the sun went down behind the shoulder of Kibo (and what must be one of the world’s most spectacularly-sited toilets, visible to the right).
It’s the midsummer weekend, but right now the weather isn’t so as you’d realise this. If it were midsummer weather these benches would be packed, but it’s chill and rather grey so only Paddy braves the pub forecourt, and that’s only because he needs a cigarette.
Amazingly we managed to get money off the university this year to have an end-of-year dinner. Why this particular stone started shedding blood for the first time in my 10 years there, I have no idea. Dan (left, student) and Gary (right, colleague) wait to place our order in the highly distinctive surroundings of the old vault — check out those safety deposit boxes — in the former bank building which now houses Jamie’s Italian in Manchester (its second appearance on the blog, after this one 15 months ago).
At the end of a week that I have mostly spent marking but which tired me out anyway. Where else to go but the pub?
Last game of the 2014-15 Championship season. Most Brighton fans will follow this with, “thank God”. It’s not been one of our better ones. But we have avoided relegation, anyway, and today marked this with our annual ‘Flying Squad’ gathering at the last game, which this year was in Middlesbrough. A good atmosphere, a reasonable game, but 0-0, sums up our season. The Flying Squad are so named because many of them come in from abroad, including Phil here, who lives in Canada.
Being 42 