Bulgaria

Introduction

So the random number generator we use to chose the next country to visit has eventually allowed us out of Africa. We went to Bulgaria. I was last there some 18 years ago when it was the first country to be picked out of the hat at the start of my Guinness European Capital City challenge after visiting Dublin. That seems a long time ago now. I remember being very excited about embarking on the challenge combined with the excitement/nervousness of travelling alone to a destination I knew little about. It also had the challenge of coping with the Cyrillic alphabet.

I’ve watched a few videos of modern-day Sofia. The multitude of ‘places of worship’ are still there as are the relic of the communist era but it somehow seems tidier than it used to and maybe there are not so many missing man-hole covers as there were making it safer for the pedestrian on a night time walk. The tour of Bulgaria by Rick Steves was interesting. I also listened to an interesting interview with Bulgaria’s new Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov.

I must say that I don’t think I’ve got properly under the skin of Bulgaria in this ‘virtual’ visit meaning I’ve not attempted any whimsical imaginary trips so please forgive me. Maybe there were too many other distractions in the month we spent there or maybe I got a bit disillusioned about my failure to meet a Bulgarian. I think I’d better reign back my ambitions a bit next month.

Meeting someone from Bulgaria

It’s took a while but I did eventually manage to meet a Bulgarian. Sneja, from Plovdiv, Bulgaria runs the Pekarna stall at farmer’s markets. We met up with her at Insole Court and purchased various items made with hand-made filo pastry, a recipe taught to her by her grandmother and a Bulgarian loaf of sweet bread. It was a pleasure to gift her a clock I had made in the shape of Bulgaria.

Food

We had just the one meal at home this month, a Bulgarian moussaka – which is a bit like the Greek version but made with potatoes instead of the aubergines. And very tasty it was too.

Drink

We found Bulgarian Deer Point wine available and got hold of a couple of different bottles and very palatable it was too.

Literature

Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov. That was sure an interesting read. A labyrinth of stories. Provoked a lot of self-reflection in me. Not difficult to read but in many ways dense and not to be rushed. I lost the thread at times and read it more as a series of short stories. Well-written and well-translated.

On the lighter side I also read ‘A Brit of Bulgaria’ by Richard Clasby. Written in diary format, a good intro to life of an ex-pat in Bulgaria, but one who works as an odd job builder, does lots of charity work and grapples bureaucracy with plenty of wildlife thrown in. Strangely enough it was this book that gave me perhaps my greatest insight into modern-day Bulgaria.

Film

Zift (2008) – A man is freed on parole after spending time in prison on wrongful conviction of murder. Jailed shortly before the Bulgarian communist coup of 1944, he now finds himself in a new and alien world – the totalitarian Sofia of the 1960s and onwards to the modern day. Filmed in black and white, full of somewhat bizarre characters and events but enjoyable.

Love.net (2011) – a film about that follows the parallel stories of a number of characters who are trying to change their lives via the Internet or are simply having fun online. Not a great film but not awful. Improves as it goes on and the stories develop. Too much unnecessary titillation in my opinion (I must be getting old!). Didn’t get too much insight into modern Bulgaria except that the apartments looked very smart and modern.

Music

I tried a number of Bulgarian playlists on Spotify but I kept coming back to a CD I purchased in Sofia when I was in there in 2004. Looking back at my notes from that trip it was a band of five male singers, three of whom were blind, with an accordion performing in the street. Lots of good harmonies. I wonder if they are still performing?

A friend also recommended that I try listening to Ivo Papasov and his Bulgarian Wedding Band. Turned out to be a good recommendation.

Clock

I managed to obtain a nice bit of off-cut hardwood from a local carpentry business from which to make a clock in the shape of Bulgaria. Another interestingly shaped country, perfect for a clock!

Charity

Casting my mouse around to see if there was a Bulgarian charity I would like to support I came across the work of Friends of Bulgaria which focuses on the wellbeing of children growing up without parents or family in institutional care. What particularly caught my eye was an upcoming triathlon they are competing in and raising funds for Ukrainian refugees in Varna.

Railways

Bulgaria is the first country on our virtual tour we’ve visited that has an extensive railway network. I contacted my friend Ian who is aiming to travel by rail in every European country. He’s almost made it. And yes, he has been to Bulgaria and was kind enough to share with me his blog of his 11-day trip there. I was tired just reading it! Ian is a great planer and record keeper as well as someone who finds interesting things to do and see even in destinations described as dull and boring in guide books. I can tell you that on his trip there in 2011 he travelled 1154 miles by train at an average speed of just 30mph. He’s also good at finding restaurants, another reason I like travelling with him!

New Siemens loco about to be delivered to Bulgaria in 2022

Stamps

Used Bulgarian stamps are very inexpensive and you end up with quite and eclectic mix. Art and theatre seem to be one theme they concentrate on as well as sporting achievements.

Geocaching

When I went to Sofia in 2004 geocaching was still in its infancy. There were a few geocaches in Bulgaria but not in Sofia itself. I had an idea of creating a virtual geocache whilst I was there and did all the homework but when I returned home, put it all together and submitted it for review, it was rejected on the basis that I was not a resident of Bulgaria and could not maintain it, even though it was a virtual cache and did not have a physical geocache at the end of it. Bulgaria remains one of the few European countries where I have not found a cache.

As part of this challenge I want to solve a mystery cache in each country I visit virtually. Things have changed a lot and there are now loads of caches there including many mystery caches. I tried to solve one based on the tile game 2048 and must have attempted it more than ten times but failed every time. Instead I solved one called For Bravery and based on the date of the Serbian-Bulgarian War. Not only was it interesting but it reacquainted me with using Excel spreadsheets.

Highest Point

The highest peak in Bulgaria is Musala which stands at 2,925 metres (9,596 ft). A peak that is reasonably accessible in summer months, in particular on days the gondola is running which takes you part way up. It is snow-covered for many months over autumn-winter-spring making ascents much less common. Rob Woodall gives a good account of his ascent, when he was unfortunate enough to turn up on a July day when the gondola was not running.

Sport

Again I failed to find a game Bulgaria were competing in where I could cheer them along. After a bit of research I came across the high-jumper Stefka Kostadinova. Her world record of 2.09 metres has stood since 1987. That’s a long time! She was the 1996 Olympic champion, a twice World champion, and a five-times World Indoor champion.

Farewell Bulgaria

A lot seems to have changed since I was last in Bulgaria in 2004. Perhaps the biggest change is that Bulgaria is now in the European Union and the UK isn’t. One day it would be nice to go back there in person.

If you enjoyed reading this you may like to read about other countries we have visited as part of our Armchair travel Challenge.

Rwanda

Initial Impressions

The random number generator we use to select the next country for us to visit appears to like Africa. It chose Rwanda this time. Some early homework revealed Rwanda is a country which has some tasty food with lots of bananas included. We thought we’d even aim to source some banana beer. Rwanda looks green and lush and is called the ‘Land of a 1000 hills’. It didn’t enter the Winter Olympics nor did they qualify for the finals African Cup of Nations football competition currently underway so I chose to concentrate on their cycling competition. My other initial impression was that it’s an excellent shaped county to make a clock of! It looks a bit of a no-nonsense country so I’d better watch my step. Please remember therefore that the following tales are all in my imagination.

Travel in Rwanda

Well that was a surprise. Rwanda is not what I was expecting at all. Perhaps that’s why I got so many things wrong and ended up, how can I put this, in trouble.

I should have guessed that my preconceived ideas of Rwanda being a desperately poor and underdeveloped country was wrong when I went to see Arsenal play and their shirts were emblazoned with ‘Visit Rwanda’ slogans.

Like many of you no doubt, the last I had heard of Rwanda was the 1994 genocide when close to a million people were killed in the space of 100 days. A lots been going on since then with reconciliation being at the heart of it. I’m not going to paint a scene of a bed of roses and with an administration in power that could be described as authoritarian, I’m going to watch my step.

I flew from Heathrow on with the swanky RwandAir straight into the capital Kigali. Rwanda is a small, landlocked country, about half the size of Wales, mid way down the eastern side of Africa. I had an image of dry, arid, dusty capital but no its not. Kigali is almost as green as Wales and nothing like I imagined. It is modern, swanky hotels, new cars, lots of scooters and very welcoming. Something I wasn’t prepared for.

I’ve learnt to travel over the years without drawing attention to myself. I dress down and carry what I need for the day in a plastic carrier bag. That way I aim to look just like I am out doing a bit of grocery shopping. This time however that policy got me into trouble. None of my mates told me plastic bags are banned in Rwanda! The policeman was very kind. He let me off with just a warning provided that I attended one of the monthly clean-up days that Kigali has.

I turned up ready to do my penance but it seemed everybody else in the country had done something wrong. The place was packed with litter pickers. No wonder the city is so clean.

I also got into trouble when I walked into a bar and asked for the local banana beer. It was brown and cloudy – a bit like a Bass in the 1970s. I complained saying it looked like it had been made from bananas that had been wrapped in banana leaves and buried underground for three days before being retrieved and fermented. It turned out that’s exactly how banana beer is made.

(A video that helped give me an insight into the country: Oscar and Dan)

Railway

We had a bit of a problem catching a train initially in Rwanda as there aren’t any. But we weren’t going to let that deter us. Rwanda has become known a place where it is easy to do business. It’s like a Singapore of Africa. There’s been lots of tentative plans to build a railway in the past but nothing had materialised – not till now. It seemed like plans are all well and good but if you keep falling out with your neighbours then things aren’t easy. Having said that if the UK and France can build the Channel Tunnel and even get it to meet in the right place in the middle then anything is possible.

Our plan was to build a north-south and an east west railway line to the borders with DRC, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi. That would show a sense of willing and if the neighbours wanted to join up the line they could. Even if they didn’t we thought it would be a great tourist attraction.

One slight problem though. Rwanda is also known as the Land of 1000 Hills and hills aren’t always conducive to building railways. Not to worry, if we can build railways in Wales then Rwanda should be a doddle. We just kept to the valleys and went around any hills. The idea of the prototype trains seen on past Rwanda stamps however had to be shelved. With those long noses they just couldn’t get around the sharp bends we had put in.

Highest Point

They say everything you read about Rwanda is about gorillas and genocide. From my experience it’s true. The books I’ve read and films we’ve watched all focus or mention them, oh, and banana beer – its everywhere. These next couple of days would be no exception. We were heading up to Rwanda’s highest point, the volcano Karisimbi and at 4507 meters, 14,787 feet, and it’s a bit of a beast. It lies in north west Rwanda right on the DRC border, and in the Volcano National Park, famous for its mountain gorillas. We were told that if the gorillas don’t get you the kidnappers will, hence the need for guides and a military escort.

Most people we met were in the area to start their gorilla treks. We were lucky because on the first day a couple of gorillas popped out to see us on the forest trail. I think they wanted to see me in my green wellies. Well, it is the rainy season and pretty muddy, and that’s me saying that from Wales.

We camped just below the summit and the solders lit fires and were kind enough to share their food with us – potatoes and bananas. We were up before dawn the next day, quickly climbing above the tree-line and on the summit by mid-morning luckily escaping any altitude sickness which some suffer from climbing this peak. The other thing I wasn’t expecting was the snow at the top! There’s no road up here but there is a communications mast, built by hand apparently – they must like communicating. In no time at all it was time to head back to Kigali.

(Account plagiarised from Eric and Matthew Gilbertson’s Country Highpoints)

Food

We have had our first experience of cooking plantain – looks like a banana but is starchy rather than sweet. Igisafuliya means “pot” in Kinyarwanda, one of the official languages of Rwanda, and so named because it is all made in one pot. It consists of chicken (not a lot), onions, leeks, pepper, tomatoes, celery (or in our case celeriac), plantain and spinach. The addition of rice and garlic bread was not in the original recipe.

Drink

Every Rwandan book read and film I watched seemed to have a reference in it to banana beer. I managed to find an online purveyor of Rwandan beer/wine and thought I would be daring and order some. It was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience since as soon as I placed the order I received an e-mail back saying that my luxury handbag was on its way from a delivery company in America. Exactly the same thing happened to a friend who writes an excellent beer blog Big Alex’s World Beer Blog and picked up on my discovery of a source of Rwandan beer and ordered some. Fortunately our beer arrived safely and not our luxury handbags. I found the 11% banana beer pretty refreshing. It may look like the homebrew I made in college days but tasted like a fizzy punch.

We also managed to find some Rwandan coffee. One of the books I read described the challenges of developing a coffee industry and the need to get the freshly picked coffee beans to the washing plant within four hours. The lack of transport made this difficult hence initiatives started up to provide loans for people to purchase bikes to transport the beans.

Film

We managed to find three films to watch about Rwanda:

‘Shooting Dogs’ with John Hurt and Hugh Dancy. A film about the 1994 genocide from the point of view of a priest and an English teacher who share their school with UN peacekeepers. A harrowing watch which leaves you asking ‘what would I have done?’

‘Hotel Rwanda’ . Another film about the awful 1994 genocide. It portrays hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and his efforts to shelter over 1000 people in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines during the genocide. Since leaving Rwanda in 1996, Paul Rusesabagina has become a prominent critic of the Rwandan regime and is currently serving a lengthy jail sentence.

‘Gorillas in the Mist’ starring Sigourney Weaver as the American naturalist Dian Fossey who goes to Rwanda to study the mountain gorillas. She is appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, hands, and heads. She is eventually murdered by person/people unknown. Her efforts are said to have helped save the gorillas from extinction and made the administration in Rwanda realise the tourist potential of the mountain gorillas. Part of the income generated from gorilla treks now contributes towards their preservation. The film seems pretty dated now but still a moving watch.

Literature

There was no shortage of literature for me to read. I ended up reading four books in all, two fiction and two non-fiction books, a bit of a record for me as I’m normally a slow reader.

‘Our Lady of the Nile’ by Scholastique Mukasonga. It may seem strange but out of the films and books on Rwanda this is the best I’ve encountered for giving me a real insight into the country, customs, food, countryside and its people. It is told from the point of view of the pupils at the Our Lady of the Nile boarding school and has translated very well from its original French.

‘The Flower Plantation’ by Nora Anne Brown – beautiful writing. I hadn’t realised how it dovetailed into the ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ story till part way through

‘Do Not Disturb’ – Michela Wrong. A weighty tome. A piece of investigative journalism looking at Rwanda over the years. Puts the genocide in context. Not a book to take with you on holiday to Rwanda.

I extended my ‘virtual’ stay in Rwanda to follow the Tour du Rwanda and read ‘Land of Second Chances’ by Tim Lewis. I don’t pretend to know a lot about cycling but now know more than I did before and much more about life in Rwanda. A good read, well written and more than just about cycling.

Stamp

Gorillas seem to be synonymous with tourism in Rwanda so what better stamp for me to get as part of my ‘virtual’ holiday than one with a gorilla pictured. They look fine creatures.

Geocaching

I tackled solving the only Puzzle Cache currently in Rwanda. It was called Never Again and gave me an opportunity to learn more about the genocide and to spend time reflecting on past atrocities in the country. Here’s wishing Rwanda a bright future moving forward.

Charity

I was happy when I discovered Rwanda Restored, a local charity based here in Cardiff that is supporting education in Rwanda. Rwanda Restored seeks the advancement of education of young people in Rwanda by building or improving schools, relieving financial hardship by providing money for food, housing, education, clothes and social support for widows and orphans across Rwanda. It was certainly interesting learning more about the valuable work they have been doing in Rwanda over the years, building a school and financially supporting pupils who attend.

Clock

I’m continuing to try and make a clock in the shape of each country I visit. Rwanda is another nice shape for a clock. I failed in my attempt to meet anyone in Rwanda in Cardiff so rather than have the clock sit on my bookcase I gifted it to Rwanda Restored and they kindly took it out to their school in Kigali where it now of the wall. Many thanks.

Sport

I stayed on a bit longer in Rwanda than I originally intended to in order to catch some of the Tour du Rwanda cycling race. I didn’t find a live stream of the race but the highlights on the official YouTube channel were good to watch. As well as the cycling it was interesting to see countryside and people. Stage 6 was won by Ukrainian Budiak Anatoli, a valiant effort considering the terrible things happening in his home country.

Rwanda – Music

Rwanda is quite a musical and dance nation as far as I could tell. Like the Rwanda nation itself it has modernised quickly and there is a lot of hip-hop music around. Searching Spotify and I came up with quite a few playlists that appealed to me from gospel to traditional music with a strong bass and harmonies.

Farewell Rwanda

The modernisation of Rwanda had completely passed me by so it’s been an excellent month learning about Rwanda old and new. I haven’t met a Rwandan as yet but did get the opportunity to meet up with some people who had visited the country and it was great to listen to their experience. Farewell my friends.

Meeting someone from Rwanda

When we had our ‘virtual’ month in Rwanda earlier in 2022 I never managed to arrange meeting anyone in Cardiff from Rwanda.

In August 2022 presented an opportunity to put that right. We had the pleasure of seeing and meeting Ingoma Nshya – the ground-breaking Woman drummers of Rwanda.

I learnt that for centuries in Rwanda, drumming was an activity reserved exclusively for men. Women were not permitted to touch the drums or even approach the drummers.

They played at the Clifton Street Festival and gave it their all. Well done.

Libya

Getting to Libya

It’s a public holiday today – Independence Day. They are celebrating 71 years of independence since King Idris became their first head of state. I’m not making that up – his name was Idris. There must be some Welsh blood in there somewhere.

Welcome to Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It’s sunny and 18 degrees. Getting here was not easy and things here are, let’s say, a little bit tense. Tourist visas don’t exist so it was a case of obtaining a working visa, not an easy task. We flew in via Tunis and were met by our official guide at Tripoli airport. This isn’t a place to wander around alone. Our guidebook was published in 2002 and a lot has changed since then!

Today was also supposed to be the day of Presidential elections but they got postponed on Wednesday, hence things are even more tense than normal.

Many Libyans were looking forward to casting a vote and getting a taste of an election process – maybe next month. One of the candidates was Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Some of the other candidates were equally controversial.

After being taken on a tour of Tripoli, seeing some of the ancient buildings in the Medina built in the 4th century, the modern Tripoli and the blue of the Mediterranean, we have escaped back to our apartment to make Independence Day dinner. We had Mbatan Batata – stuffed and fried potato wedges, accompanied by couscous and fried vegetables.

Here’s wishing you all a Happy Christmas. May your couscous be free of sand.

To get a feel for what it is like in modern Tripoli through the eyes of actual independent travellers I recommend these two videos: Drew Binsky – This Is Libya and Indigo Traveller – Walking the Streets of Libya’s Capital City

Travel whilst in Libya

There’s a lot of Libya. It’s one big country. But as everyone will tell you most people live along the coast and have done for generations. This included the Romans. They build a huge city here called Leptis Magna, the largest Roman city in Africa. Our local guide took us the roughly 150km ride to see the remains. There was hardly anyone there. I made my usual weak jokes about how it will be nice when it is finished which didn’t go down too well and I was told the remains would have been even more intact had the French not nicked a lot of it, shipped it back to France and incorporated it into the chateau of Versailles.

Libya Highest Point

The highest point in Libya is Bikku Bitti, 2,266 metres (7,434 ft). It is located in southern Libya, near the Chad border and is incredibly remote, deep in the Sahara Desert. Add to that that the area is extremely arid and littered with landmines and ordnance, the risk of bandits and it is illegal to visit. It only has one recorded ascent, by British mountaineer Ginge Fullen. I say only one recorded ascent but when he got up there, with a couple of guides, on his third attempt, there were same cairns at the top. That must in one way have been somewhat disappointing. There is an interesting report of the successful expedition, but no summit photos mind you. It states that on reaching the top Ginge left a bottle up there with Gadaffi’s Green Book inside which he had signed and dated, a toubou knife along with some M&Ms inside a cairn along with his walking stick.

For our trip, Alex and I went well prepared. We weren’t going to let a scarcity of water defeat us so we took a very long hose pipe, heavy and time consuming to lay but worth it in the end. I had told Alex it only rains there once every 30 years but we still took our macs – after all we are from Wales. It took an age to reach the summit and boy were we glad to find a packet of M&Ms someone had left us and a knife to open them. We left an tin of spaghetti hoops and a copy of the Western Mail.

Libya Train Journey

You just wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to get to go on a train journey in Libya. Ian told me it wouldn’t be easy, there being no railways, but I was up for the challenge. First we had to overcome the problem that tourists aren’t allowed into Libya at present. Going under the guise of a pair transport consultants overcame that hurdle. We soon hooked up with our guide/fixer who had connections in all sorts of places.

To say Libya hasn’t a railway isn’t quite correct. It doesn’t have a functioning railway. It has a short section of track and one train – and boy, what a story there is behind it. The train is an Italian IC4 ‘given’ to Colonel Gaddafi by then Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2009. I say ‘given’, it was one of those gifts that had conditions attached i.e. if I give you a train, you give Italy a big railway construction project. The flaw in this plan was that Gaddafi was overthrown before the contract came to fruition.

The other flaw was that it wasn’t Silvio Berlusconi’s train to give away. It was part of a contract to deliver 83 trains to Denmark. It took Denmark a number of years to discover they only had 82 trains and what had happened to their missing train. The giveaway was that the IC4 in Libya had signage in Danish all over it.

Anyway, this IC4 train is still laid up in Tripoli – until now that is. Our guide/fixer was very clever and had many friends. First he discovered that the key had been left on top of the front wheel. Then he got his friends to give the train a service, some new oil and even to construct some extra track for us to use.

And we were off. An early start as I know how Ian likes to have his cooked breakfast on board a train. Before Berlusconi shipped the train to Libya he had arranged for a bit of an upgrade. He didn’t want to see Gaddafi slumming it after all. One carriage was converted into a suite and another into a conference room. Ian and I made best use of these facilities we could, careful not to spill any couscous on the carpet.

Before we knew it, it was time to park up the IC4 back where we found it, lock up put the key back. Another great international armchair railway adventure.

Reference: Gaddafi’s Personal Italian High-Speed Train

Libya Geocache

Yes I know I said I was aiming to solve a Puzzle Geocache in each country I ‘virtually’ visit but the problem here is that there aren’t any in Libya. Instead, I chose to ‘virtually’ visit Acacus – First earthcache in Libya (GC18KWH) . Anyone who caches with me will know I’m no great fan of Earthcaches (and that’s putting it mildly). You would have thought being a scientist that I would like them but I’m afraid geology just doesn’t rock my boat. So to try and make things easier I invited Olddandare to join me. I’m sure I recall him telling me he knew a thing or two about riding camels and picked it up watching John Noakes ride one on a Blue Peter expedition.

This earthcache is in the Fezzan region of Libya in the South-West, where its hot and sandy and as I’ve found out from reading, a long way from anywhere. It’s an area that used to be popular with tourists but in recent years not so much. You still need as permit from the authorities to visit and a 4×4 or in our case, some good camels.

The scenery was stunning and the evenings chilly. Apart from the unusual rock formations there are ancient wall paintings in the area. What these reveal is that the area hasn’t always been desert as amongst the paintings are things like rhinos and crocodiles.

Last night was indeed a bit chilly in the desert, but made bearable by the high quality sandwiches prepared by Olddandare. I did have trouble getting to sleep though because someone kept humming Maria Muldaur’s – Midnight At The Oasis. Not sure if it was Olddandare or the camels.

And could I answer the question on the cache page? No, of course we couldn’t. Back to school for us.

Olddandare reported back that he’d had some difficulties with the visa but thanks to my insider knowledge he arrived in the country. We had two types of sarnies representative of the national dish(es) of Libya the traditional tuna and harissa and also Imbattin, which is fried potato and beef. We got sand in them but surely that’s part of the fun of a picnic in the desert?!

He said he could have done with a bit more padding on the camel, and I bet he/she was struggling under the load.

Charity in Libya

In all the reading I’ve been doing about Libya in the past month, migrants and refugees feature highly, whether it be the part migration has played in Libya’s history or the present day migration crisis. In recent years, stories of migrants and refugees is about the only time we hear Libya mentioned in the UK media. The country is on the main migration route from Africa to Europe and the last African county refugees visit before embarking on the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean. Reports often feature stories of exploitation, gangs, imprisonment and violence. Some of the refugees are from Burkina Faso, the country I ‘virtually’ visited before Libya. They are fleeing the violence that’s been occurring in the north of Burkina Faso in recent years. I don’t pretend to have any answers. It hasn’t been easy for charities to work in Libya but one organisation that seems to be doing so is the International Rescue Committee. I was interested to read that their roots go back to founder Albert Einstein.

Libyan Film

Lion of the Desert film Libya doesn’t appear to have an established film-making industry. I therefore had a search around to see if I could find any films that had been filmed in Libya. I came across ‘Lion of the Desert’, a 1980 film about the Second Italo-Senussi War, starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan tribal leader Omar Mukhtar, a Bedouin leader fighting the Italian Army and Oliver Reed as Italian General Graziani. It also starred Rod Steiger as Mussolini. Even John Gielgud was in it. Quite a star cast. It is set in the 1930s and tells the story of Omar Mukhtar and his men fighting the Italian colonization of Libya.

A tough film to watch in some ways but educational at the same time. The last hour of the three was hard going. It was also a whole new experience for me – renting a film on-line. This project is teaching me all sorts of new things!

Libyan Literature

I read ‘The Bleeding of the Stone’ by Ibrahim al-Koni, Libya’s leading novelist and published in 2003. He has been called a master of magical realism. I don’t begin to say I understood all the symbolism that was no doubt present but it certainly helped to develop the sense of the area and well as the Bedouin people. I don’t think I’ve heard of them since school geography lessons. It’s a book about deserts, man’s relationship with nature, spirituality and religion, environmentalism and the effects of solitude as well as a good dose of mysticism.

I also read ‘Green Mountain’ by Gwyn Williams, a Welsh poet who was Professor of English at the University of Libya in the 1960s. The book is a travel book about the Cyrenaica region of north east Libya. As you may expect from a book written by a poet, it is well-written with lovely descriptions, and has lots of history. It’s also a book that contains a snapshot of the time, around the time oil wells were being developed and pre-Gaddafi.

Libyan Music

I was struck with what a high proportion of Libyan music was labelled as ‘wedding music’. It was only when I read about the average Libyan wedding lasting over a week did I realise why – they need a lot of music to fill that time. I listened to some Libyan folk and other selections on Spotify including the Libyan Icon playlist.

Libyan Food

We made a couple of Libyan recipes over the month. They certainly reacquainted us with couscous which we hadn’t had for a long while. It used to be one of our regular starch accompaniments but for some reason had got forgotten about.

I’ve already mentioned the Mbatan Batata – stuffed and fried potato wedges, accompanied by couscous and fried vegetables. This takes more patience than some dishes as the potato wedges have to be carefully stuffed and fried. Our son proved he had the necessary patience to make them – thanks. And very tasty they were too.

I ventured into the kitchen and had a go at making Kusksu (Libyan Couscous with Spicy Beef and Vegetables). My wife helped by laying out all the ingredients I needed making sure my patience wasn’t tested by not being able to locate thing. Yes, I know if I cooked more often I would get to know where things are. For this recipe I needed to make a Hararat spice mix and here’s what went into it: cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, chilli flakes and allspice berries. They were roasted before being ground. The meal was very tasty though I can tell by the quality of my photograph that I’m never going to be a cook with thousands of followers on social media.

Libya Sport

I get the impression Libya isn’t famed for its sporting superstars. That’s no doubt doing a disservice to the many Libya sportspeople toiling away on the training grounds. My guidebook, albeit 20 years old now, writes how Colonel Gaddaffi’s son is the captain of the national football team and attempted to bring Pele and Maradona to Libya to make him the best player in the world. I think that’s the same person currently standing in the Presidential election so I guess he is focusing his efforts elsewhere at present.

As I couldn’t find a big match to follow live I thought I’d take a look back at the Libyan involvement in this year’s Olympic games i.e. the 2020 Olympic Games (good quiz question for the future – When were the 2020 Olympic Games held?). They had 4 participants. Hadel Aboud competed in the Woman’s 100 meters and came 5th in her heat with a personal best time of 12.70 seconds, not fast enough unfortunately to qualify for the next round. Their flag-bearer was Al-Hussein Gambour who competed in the men’s single skulls rowing. He qualified for the finals, rowing the 2000 meters in 7min 47.64sec but in the end ranked 29^th, an improvement on his position of 32^ndat the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Rumours are that the others were competing in the best selfie competition.

Libya Stamps

My selection of stamps may appear strange. It was a set of three 1979 stamps featuring Colonel Gaddafi and the Green book. It is in no way meant to convey any support for the Colonel, more a look back in history. The Green Book contained Gaddafi’s political philosophy. It was widely distributed in Libya and abroad in Arabic and in English. The book contained some interesting ideas, the last being: ‘Spectatorship in sports, theatre and other entertainments is foolish. People should engage in sports directly, deriving the benefits of athletics for themselves, rather than standing by and watching others perform’.

Libya Clock

Libya was another good shaped country to make into a clock. If only all countries were this easy. It surprised me how much of their borders were straight lines. I think that stems from the resolution of relatively recent armed conflicts with neighbouring countries such as Chad.

𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 from Libya

A perfect conclusion to our ‘trip’ to Libya. We met up with Shoruk from Libya for a chat. Shoruk is a charming and bright young lady who my wife taught A-level chemistry. She has recently gained a degree in Architectural Studies at the Welsh School of Architecture here in Cardiff. It was lovely to learn some more about Libya from someone who has lived there. It was great to find a home for the Libya clock and even nicer to gratefully receive some gifts including a picture and some homemade cakes. Thank you Shoruk.

I also met briefly Libyan Adnan Arashi and his son-in-law who run McSims Maltese Bakery on Senghenydd Road. Their pastizzi signature bakes were very tasty. They gave me lots of hints about Libyan food as well as some history and what to look out for as a tourist.

Farewell Libya

I must admit there are some categories here that I haven’t quite got to grips with as yet such as Geography / History / Current Affairs / Economy / Nature / Science etc. I don’t mean in relation to Libya specifically, I mean in relation to this ‘challenge’. I don’t just want to sit here and repeat what’s written on Wikipedia and other such websites as it is dull for me and easy for readers to do that themselves. After all, I may get things wrong.

Instead, I now bid farewell to Libya. The people I have met and seen on videos are smiling and welcoming. The country is going through difficult times in recent years. I wish them all the best.

Progress to date: Armchair Travel Challenge

Llantwit Major

A shorter journey today for us found us at ‘L for Llantwit Major’. A varied day of history, a blustery beech walk and Greggs vegan sausage rolls. What more could a man want?

There are a couple of different way of getting to Llantwit Major by train from Cardiff. You can either go via Bridgend on a modern GWR train, change and then south to Llantwit Major, or you can choose to go TfW via Dinas Powys, Barry, Rhoose. Going via Barry allows you to travel over the viaduct at Porthkerry, something I normally just look at from the ground up. It’s a wonder it is still standing given the problems they had constructing it in the late 1900s, with lots of subsidence experienced and underpinning necessary. Sorry, I didn’t man to make you nervous next time you are crossing it.

Llantwit Major railway station

After arriving at Llantwit we headed for the historic part of the town taking in the town hall and views of some attractive and tempting pubs. We arrived at St Illtud’s church which seems a microcosm of history covering the last 1500 years. We struck lucky here in that the church happened to be open, it being a Sunday.

This was the site of the Monastery of Illtud and the college known as Bangor Illtyd, said to be one of the most esteemed centres of Christian culture in the Celtic world with 2000 students – no wonder there’s a lot of pubs in the town. Some claim this is the oldest educational establishment the country was on this site and St David and other saints were taught here in the 5th century. I wonder how he did in his SATs.

The church now houses a collection of Celtic stones which date back to the 9th century. The church itself dates back to the 11th century with later additions in the 13th and 15th century. I was particularly impressed by the medieval wall paintings in the old chapel.

St Illtud's church

After adsorbing all that history it was time to head to the sea. Its about a kilometre SW of the town and we mainly kept to the paths that ran parallel to the road. Not too many people around today on this blustery Sunday. The tall crumbly cliffs east and west of the pebbly beach always look impressive.

Llantwit Major beach

On arriving back in the town we had a bit of lunch and then ambled onto the station for our train home. We waited, and waited, and waited ………. a bit of a medical emergency at Bridgend apparently. Eventually it arrived and all was well – with the casualty too I hope.

Date of trip: 10 Mar 2019

See progress to date: A-Z of Railway Stations

Knighton

I’d been wanting to ride the Heart of Wales line for a number of years and visiting Knighton provided the ideal opportunity. We had our South Wales Rover Tickets so planned to do a circular route, or should that be a triangular route, Cardiff to Llanelli, up to Knighton for some exploring, then onto Craven Arms and back down to Cardiff.

heart of wales

In winter months, over 60s living in Wales go on the Heart of Wales Line for free. As a result of this generous concession our single carriage from Llanelli to Knighton was rather full and noisy. The driver luckily spotted the fallen tree on the line as we approached it and he and the conductor jumped out to move it away – all part of the service. It was a bit like scenes from Casey Jones, the American railroad series I used to watch when I was a boy. If you did too then I bet the theme tune is playing in your head right now!

Casey Jones
Steamin’ and rollin’
Casey Jones
You never have to guess
When you hear the tootin’ of the whistle
It’s Casey at the throttle of the Cannonball Express

Knighton is right on the Wales-England border. Knighton first prospered as a centre of the wool trade in the 15th century. The town itself is in Wales but the train station is actually in England. The station opened in 1861 and is an impressive station in comparison to some I’ve seen recently. After a bit of exploring of Knighton we headed for a cafe lunch.

The town is dominated by the town clock, seemingly modelled on a space rocket. I wonder what it’s like inside? Can you still get all the way to the top and look out of the small windows I wondered.

I’ve been looking at the photos of our trip (a few years after we made it) and just got very confused. There were pictures from the inside of a church and along a riverbank that I have no recollection of. It’s taken a while for me to figure it out – I wasn’t there. It was in fact the afternoon of the Wales versus Scotland rugby match, so whilst I retired to the Horse and Jockey to watch the game and Ian went off for an energetic walk. I should have remembered it as Wales beat Scotland in Edinburgh and went on to win the Grand Slam.

Sheep at Knighton station — The days when sheep were the main passengers using Knighton station.

By perfect timing the train for Craven Arms left shortly after the final whistle where we picked up a Cardiff train. A long day on the rails and another great railway adventure that’s for sure.

Date of trip: 9 March 2019

See progress to date: A-Z of Railway Stations

Johnston

My friend Ian joined me for a bit of train travel and we had a cunning plan. We would buy a South Wales Pass which allowed us four days travel on the train. One day 1 we went to Johnston in Pembrokeshire. As the train heads west from the busy Cardiff and Swansea stations things get a little quieter. Some trains go direct from Cardiff to Johnston but for us we had the added excitement of having to change trains at Clarbeston Road which is a request stop. It gave Ian an opportunity to take some photos, one of which is one of the best photos of a railway I think I’ve ever seen – well done that man.

Would our connecting train pick us up I wondered? I needn’t have worried. It all worked very smoothly and we were soon on our way to Johnston.

I’d never heard of Johnston before I started searching for stations beginning with the letter J. Having arrived there I could understand why. There’s nothing wrong with the village at all, just not somewhere you may come on a day out, unless like us, you had a cunning plan.

After being on a train for close to three hours I felt the need to do some geocaching. I found the cache near the station no problem and then the one near St Peter’s church. There’s been a church here since the late thirteenth century but there’s been a few rebuilds since then. After exploring the churchyard for a while we set off south down the Brunel Trail. The walk followed the former GWR line, designed by Brunel. I geocached for the first part at the same time was dodging the occasional cyclist. After that it was time to concentrate more on the walking. We passed some pretty ex-railway properties now converted into cottages and the Westfield Pill Nature Reserve.

On the outskirts of Neyland we left the trail and took another mode of transport, a bus over the Cleddau Bridge and into Pembroke Dock. There was enough time remaining for us to explore a bit of the town, go down to the dock and see the ferry leaving in the distance and then walk up to the station to catch our train home. Pembroke Dock station is one of those that looks like time has forgot. In fact it you didn’t know the timetable you may have wondered if it was still in use. Luckily it was and we were soon on our way back to Cardiff, via the Pembrokeshire coastal towns of Saundersfoot and Tenby.

Thanks to Ian for most of the photos.

Date of trip: 7 March 2019

See progress to date: A-Z of Railway Stations

Walking Cardiff – The Republic of Roath

My adventure today was to follow the route entitled ‘The Republic of Roath’ in Walking Cardiff by Peter Finch. It’s a beautifully written book, as are all Peter’s works. Here is not the place to reproduce sections of the book, nor for that matter the excellent photographs by John Briggs. Instead you’ll have to make do with my ramblings and my less impressive photographs.

The route started off in town, outside the City Hall, then headed for Cathays before scything its way through the heart of Roath. In fact it began at the Lord Ninian statue, one I am familiar with having put together a treasure hunt based on some of the civic centre statues of Cardiff last year. Today, Lord Ninian not only has his view of the City Hall blocked by the conifer tree that has grown but he also has to endure the sights of Winter Wonderland, which will no doubt keep him well entertained.

The South Africa war memorial next to the City Hall is indeed one of those often overlooked by people like me who spend time researching names on war memorials. I normally concentrate on WWI and WWII, maybe because they are easier to research. One day I intend my work on the Roath Virtual War Memorial will take in the names on this memorial.

The walk route then took me into Alexandra Gardens. This is a park I love visiting on long summer evenings. The flower displays are excellent and it’s a place to witness the cosmopolitan nature of our city; residents, students and visitors. There were still a few brave flowers making an appearance in the borders today, this late in the year.

I cut through to Park Place between the Sir Martin Evans building and the main Cardiff University building. There were still a handful of students around, probably the PhD students with an experiment to complete of a paper to finish before heading home. The Martin Evans building is decorated in multi-coloured hexagon glass but what caught my eye today was the sculpture of an insect on a leaf seemingly injecting another, all in the name of research no doubt. It is a sculpture commemorating the life of entomologist Dr Mark Anthony Jervis.

The Centre for Student Life building which had only started being built when Walking Cardiff was published is now open, with just a row of red and white plastic barriers distracting your eyes from the vista. Do I like it? I’m trying my best to. The tall pillars are different but I remain unconvinced, particularly the way the building has been pushed towards the road. Having said that, it is better than another non-descript box-like structure.

The footbridge took me over the railway line into Cathays and another new building to look at, this time the new Department of Mathematics Abacws building. Again it is better than just a non-descript box and I like the way the angles on it contrast with those of the curves on the nearby Sherman Theatre.

I’ve recently started a new challenge – Armchair Travel Challenge where the aim is to visit every country in the world – virtually. I’m spending a month in each, learning as much as I can, trying the food, listening to music and a host of other things. This month is Libya and I had heard that the owner of the McSims Maltese Bakery was from Libya. One of the aims of my challenge is to meet someone from each country, so it was great to meet Adnan Arashi and his son-in-law who run McSims Maltese Bakery on Senghenydd Road. Their pastizzi signature bakes were very tasty. They gave me lots of hints about Libyan food as well as some history and what to look out for as a tourist.

The student streets of Cathays were quiet today. I walked down Miskin Street, past the site of Miskin Street Bible Christian church which fell into disuse and was later demolished. It was where Sir William Crossman attended, the first labour Lord Mayor ever to be knighted. He lived a simple life in nearby Harriet Street.

I cut down Lowther Road. Peter was right, Dan Green’s Uganda art work has now disappeared to be replaced with a keyboard, the musical kind not the computer kind. There was time to view a bit more street art before heading up Northcote Street and the Gateway Christian Spiritualist Church which most people pass without even realising it is a church.

I stopped at the traffic lights, not just from the fear of being run over, but also to cast an eye at the house where Viscount John Sankey, Lord Chancellor – Roath’s top brief, grew up and is now Souvlike Greek restaurant. Across the road is the Roath Park Hotel, hanging on by a thread from the threat of being torn down and replaced by more flats. The redevelopers have said they are open to offers from people looking to return it into a business or community venture but I suspect it is going to require not just ideas but also a sizable cash offer.

One building that appears safe, at least for the present time, is the Mackintosh Sports and Social Club. Although it may not look like it necessarily, it has a long history by Roath standards, and was originally home of the Richards family in the 1800s, the heir of whom married chief of the Mackintosh clan, Mackintosh of Mackintosh. They sold off the Roath land for housing and hence many of the Roath streets have Scottish names.

I walked along Keppoch Street and Cottrell Road, across Albany Road and Wellfield Road, too slow to snap the elderly Mods on their scooters, and into Bangor Street. That’s one street I have never found out the origin of the name. Is it named after Bangor, Northern Ireland or Bangor, North Wales or somewhere else I wonder?

I was on home dog-walking territory by now. I crossed Pen-y-lan Road and into Roath Brook Gardens then Roath Mill Gardens. Signs of Christmas are already here, people out walking in family groups. I was approaching the very heart of Roath, where the old mill used to be. In winter you can just about see some remains of the old wall on the river bank. Roath used to be the bread-basket of Cardiff, a rural population supplying food to those who lived in and around Cardiff Castle. The sculpture of the former mill by Rubin Eynon is holding up well. Almost opposite on the other side of Sandringham Road is the home of poet and physician Dannie Abse, tastefully commemorated with a slate plaque.

My walk finished at St Margaret’s church, the Parish church. the graveyard is largely devoid of headstones now after most were removed decades ago. One interesting one remaining is that of Thomas John whose headstone reminds us that he fought at Waterloo. His history is explored in the latest edition of the Roath Local History Society newsletter.

So why is the walk called the Republic of Roath. I guess that’s another reason to buy the book.

Date of walk: 22 December 2021

Iver

I realised I’d had it easy up till now, experiencing no real problems finding a station beginning with letters A to H. Finding a station beginning with I was a little more challenging. I did however have a stroke of luck. We had a wedding to attend in London and that meant I could widen my search area. Hence I stumbled upon I for Iver. It is west of London, on the GWR mainline, some 14 miles from Paddington. I did some homework on Iver and failed to come up with anything that would entice my wife to accompany me on the journey so instead she spent the morning at the V&A museum and I headed out to Iver.

If I told you how I had tried to sell the idea of Iver to my wife you may begin to understand why I failed. Firstly I’d had to admit that the train station isn’t in Iver at all and she faced a walk to get to the town. Then I described Pinewood Studios (but we weren’t allowed in there) and Heatherden Hall, a mansion where the agreement to form the Irish Free State happened to be signed (don’t think we are allowed in there either), and Richings Park which is where RAF Bomber Command used to be briefly in WWII before it was destroyed – can’t go there wither as it has been developed into housing. And that’s why I went on my own.

The was construction work ongoing at Iver station when I arrived. May be it was all part of the handover of the station from GWR to Crossrail. It certainly had me confused when I was looking for the Sidetracked – Iver geocache. I found the Grand Union canal and went for a stroll along it but to be hones canals don’t look their best in February, all rather grey. From there I headed the half mile north towards the town centre. I stopped off to explore St Peter’s church and read a bit about its history which goes all the way back to Saxon times. The history included the interesting fact that in the Eighteenth Century the churchwarden made payments for killing a wide range of ‘vermin’ —polecats, stoats, hedgehogs (porpentines), and sparrows.

From the church I headed north up Swan Lane to find a couple more geocaches and admire the houses. Returning to the church I then went west into the centre of Iver. If I’m being honest with you I don’t find a lot there to explore or write about. The old pub looks nice, there is a village sign and the local restaurant try and make a play on words with their names. I wandered back to the churchyard and ate my lunch musing on what other properties in the town may have been called. Would the GP have been Iver Temperature and the dentist Iver Toothache?

I scampered back down to the station, caught the train back to Paddington where I met my wife before we caught the train back to Cardiff.

Date of visit: 25 February 2019

See progress to date: A-Z of Railway Stations

Hereford

I chose another cathedral destination for my next destination – Hereford, and once again it was approximately an hour by train from Cardiff. Hereford station is one of those that looked much more impressive from the outside than the from the platform. What a great red brick frontage it has. The station was originally called Barrs Court Railway Station and opened in 1853.

I headed for the cathedral as I was keen to see Mappa Mundi which is the largest medieval map still known to exist. There used to be a larger one in Hanover, Germany but it was destroyed in an Allied WWII bombing which seems rather an unjust way to gain the record. It was indeed fascinating to see and a February morning the ideal time to visit judging by the fact I had the place to myself. The map is 130 centimetres in diameter, large enough to see the detail. A modern depiction of the map nearby helped make things even clearer.

The Mappa Mundi wasn’t the only fascinating thing to see in the cathedral. It also has a chained library. The blurb says ‘The chaining of books was the most widespread and effective security system in European libraries from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, and Hereford Cathedral’s 17th-century Chained Library is the largest to survive with all its chains, rods and locks intact’. Just the sight of the chained books was enough for me – I didn’t have any compulsion to see inside the books, it was just the realisation of the fact of how valuable books were in the past that it was deemed necessary to chain them up. How we take books for granted these days.

Of course there was some geocaching to be done in the middle of the day that took me through parks, through the centre of town and some places a normal day visitor would never have got to see.

What I did stumble upon though and a place that I hadn’t planned to visit was the Museum of Cider. I wouldn’t claim to be the world’s number one cider fan, but if the beer has run out and the weather is hot then I have been known to enjoy a glass or two. What I was more interested in was the mechanics of cider making. I had walked through a few cider orchards last summer and had a couple of friends who were developing a cider orchard in West Wales and was interested in learning about the various stages involved in turning the humble apple into something that makes you fall over.

I found there was plenty in Hereford to entertain me for the day. Well worth a visit.

Date of visit: 22 February 2019

See progress to date: A-Z of Railway Stations

Gloucester

Doctor Foster went to Gloucester
In a shower of rain,
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again.

For some reason that little ditty was recited endlessly in our house when I was young. It must have been an indication of how much it rained in Cardiff. No rain today though, a pleasant sunny winter’s day. I travelled for an hour by CrossCountry train from Cardiff to Gloucester, along the bank of the Severn Estuary. This used to be the main London to South Wales line until the Severn Tunnel was opened in 1886.

I planned to spend the day exploring the town, docks and cathedral areas. The first thing that caught my eye was an equestrienne statue. It was the Roman Emperor Nerva and the plaque said ‘after whom Gloucester was named’. Obviously one or both of them has had a name change since. If of course he’s been called Emperor Gloucester it would have made more sense and the nursery rhyme could have gone ‘Emperor Gloucester went to Gloucester ……’, and would have been much more fun.

Gloucester Docks is now a gentrified old Victorian Dock where some of the old buildings have been saved and converted into accommodation, museums and shops. It was the most inland port in the country apparently. It is home of the Inland Waterways Museum. There’s a Victorian Pillar Box outside the museum which I got all excited about until later reading it is a replica. How disappointing.

The giant 21m tall Candle sculpture did impress me however, as did the name of the sculptor, Wolfgang Buttress. I stood and admired it whilst at the same time trying to figure out how it had been made. Laser cut out of steel apparently. That’s one heck of a laser cutter I thought.

From the docks I made my way to the cathedral, and wow, what a structure it is. I spent a couple of hours exploring it and the surrounding medieval religious buildings. Cathedrals evoke a whole range of thoughts and feelings in me. I naturally admire the architecture and the phenomenal effort it must have taken to design and build, the years of man-hours those stone masons must have spent carving. But then I think about who paid for it, the common people living in their poor living conditions staring at the religious edifice being created in their midst. I always wonder how they felt about it all.

There’s quite a historical link between Gloucester and Cardiff – I see it every time I go into the centre of Cardiff. It’s Cardiff Castle, built by Robert Fitzhamon, Baron of Gloucester. I was reminded of that link when I went into the cathedral and saw the tomb of Robert of Normandy, William the Conqueror’s eldest son. He had a rocky relationship with his father and brothers and never became king. In fact he was captured by his younger brother, Henry I, and sent to prison in Cardiff Castle, where he died. I wonder why they bought his body back to Gloucester to be buried in the Cathedral if they didn’t think much of him.

The other thing that caught my eye in the cathedral was the giant marble statue of Edward Jenner. He was a doctor in nearby Berkeley and through his observations of milkmaids appearing to be immune to smallpox he developed the first vaccination, subsequently saving the lives of many people. There’s another Cardiff connection here – there is a carving of Jenner of the Cardiff University building on Newport Road.

There was just enough time left to have another wander around the centre of town including the Baker jewellery shop on Southgate Street. Under the actual clock there are five bells in a display that are used to signal the quarter hours and hours of the clock. Each figure has a bell to strike with the centre bell being hit by a hammer attached to a cord pulled by Old Father Time in the centre of the tableau. The other bell chiming characters are represent the nations of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales respectively.

And so home to Cardiff on another CrossCountry train. With the dark evenings it wasn’t possible to admire the scenery so I was left to contemplate which station I was going to visit on my next day out – one beginning with H.

Date of visit: 16 February 2019

See progress to date: A-Z of Railway Stations