My trip to Antwerp

Well, at last, some time to update my weblog.  Starting with my short trip to Antwerp a while ago, in June 2008.  As you can guess I have been taking the pictures!  I travelled with my wise little friend, Eulchen.  We had a great time, eating chocolates and drinking supreme Belgian beer.

The photos you can see here:  Antwerp 08

Things I have to do

I cannot believe how long it has been since my last post! Nothing since December 2008. Well it has been a ‘bastard’ of a year with all sorts going wrong. We had to bring Granny over here as she nearly died where she was far away. Things are getting a bit back to normal now, so with J’s help I will add my comments and pictures for the following places I have been:
Antwerp,  June 08
Australia and New Zealand,  July 08 and July 09
More trips to La Thuile, December 08 and April 09
and a few more adventures I had all over the place.

That’s it for now,

woof woof

More from La Thuile

This is how it was when I left La Thuile in late April 2008!  Hope to find it like that when I go there soon.

Busy times

Have been quite busy since April!  Have been to La Thuile again, visited Antwerp and then was away in Australia and New Zealand!!  So not much time for my little paws typing on the keyboard…  Soon will start updating and add pictures from all the nice places I have visited.

Bye for now

My holiday

First we had to cross the Channel. On that particular day the wind was blowing very strongly. When we arrived in Dover, it was chaotic. We took the Norfolk Line to Dunkirk. The crossing normally takes 2 hours but when we arrived at the port of Dunkirk the captain could not dock the ship due to the high winds!! We then went out at sea while waiting for a tug to come and help; this lasted another two hours… Quite an adventure. It was difficult to stand up straight in the howling wind. We went straight to the first hotel we could find, it was too late (near midnight) to continue our trip. The next day was calmer and travelling through the French motorway system very pleasant. It is so much better than the roads in the UK that most of the time are congested. However, on the way back these same motorways were full of nearly mad drivers on their way to Paris. Have never seen so many cars and most of them loaded with skiing gear. It must have been the return of the hordes after a ski holiday. I believe that the French have a ’snow week’ when people are supposed to go skiing. We proceeded in our journey, drove through the Mont Blanc tunnel: what an amazing construction and in the evening arrived at La Thuile, Italy.

I had a field day in the kitchen, raided it several times and also enjoyed the good wine. But it is best if I let you browse the pictures from the gallery below. Big thanks to our friend Marta, for suggesting the trip to La Thuile. We must go again soon.

interesting and weird?

A few interesting and weird items:

Well, I did not expect snow in England in April but yes, it happened! Not as nice as when on the mountains but I do like the white stuff. April Snow! and more snow and some more pictures of the beloved white stuff

Well, there is no doubt that humans are strange creatures: mobile phones on planes and more weirdness. What next?

Well, occasionally I like two fingers of Champagne (Krug please) but now am a bit confused by this Champagne village in Switzerland!!! And they also make a Champagne. Will have to check carefully the labels next time we order wine.

Greetings

Stripes is back

Have been away from the computer for some time: first, we were on holiday in the mountains and then away for work. After that, my mummy got the flu and this was too bad as she could not help me write my blogs!!! Soon, will be writing my impressions from the snowy mountains, and upload some nice photographs. Be patient…

In the meantime, I have found a few interesting links that satisfied my inherrent curiosity for a while. Here they are are for you too: A Camel Beauty Contest, Australian Crocodile beaten, and Scottish Rabbit adopts kittens.

That’s it for now,

woof

Quo Vadis Education?

I will pose a few questions for which I find it difficult to find answers:

1. Did you know that negative probabilities exist?? that means something other than 0% chance, 10% or 100% (the latter meaning something happens for sure, it is certain), something like -50% chance, or – 70% chance…
2. Did you know that fish do not have passports (!) and as a result have trouble swimming in international waters??
3. Did you know that the square root of 100 is 50 (√100 = 50)??

The above is a selection of answers to university exams that I had the privilege to cast and eye on! Would you believe it? Imagine an engineering graduate designing a bridge and calculating a ’safe’ load… with a negative probability? Would you be crossing bridges in the near future? Not really. No wonder that there is consternation by top scientists .

As per the rest I make no comment. I am happy to be a little dog that takes time and EXERTS EFFORT to be educated.

woof woof

My Birthday

Today is my Birthday. So naturally I was expecting presents and all the attention and fussing I could get. I did not get disappointed. Daddy gave me a very nice pudding that I have shared with my friends while partying. We celebrated Australia Day as well but did not drink bier as we prefer good wine… Mummy gave me a book that hopefully will teach me how to deal with mad relatives with unpredictable reactions. The book’s title is ‘Playing for Real’ and is a text on Game Theory by Ken Binmore, an authority on the subject who has also been engaged in the design of the telecom auction in the UK. I have started reading this book. It is written in a pleasant but serious way something I really value. I hope to keep you posted on my progress as I devour the chapters one by one! Maybe I will manage to teach mummy how to be good at poker, after having studied my new book.

I am off now to continue with the celebrations and partying…

Woof

A Pigeon Tax

I am angry and upset. And with no power to bring about any change to what I perceive as very unfair and unloving behaviour.

My mummy has been trying to explain to her mother, Elena, that the reason why mummy is unwell so often is primarily due to her immune system being compromised as a result of having been infected with a parasitic infection picked from the many pigeons that Elena has been feeding for years. This systemic infection is very difficult to get rid of if at all. The answer mummy gets is that it cannot be true, it is all rubbish, and that pigeons are wonderful and carry no disease whatsoever. This is too bad. Something needs to be done so that these flying rats get evicted for good. We can do without their droppings, mites and all other diseases that have made it impossible to even visit our old childhood home in Corfu.

Apparently, Venice is trying to get rid of the birds as it costs them a lot to clean the historic buildings. Congratulations! Pigeons in large and uncontrolled numbers are dangerous. What about introducing a municipal charge, a pigeon tax? All residents of the city should have to pay it and indeed it would be a good idea to use the money collected to clean the streets, pavements and squares of this beautiful but dirty city! And it would be very easy to collect to if it was added to the electricity bill; no way to escape paying it.

I wonder whether UNESCO who have recently nominated the old town of Corfu as a ‘world heritage site’ can do something about it and press the municipal authorities with cleaning up and educating people about the dangers of feeding pigeons. In addition, I would recommend the imposition of very heavy fines to anybody that feeds pigeons at their balcony, terrace, window sills, on pavements etc. And this would certainly apply to Elena. A financial disincentive might work better when one is faced with obstinacy that borders lunacy.