It was only towards the end of June that I wrote about Frank Gardner’s memoir, Blood & Sand. I may have omitted to mention that I was given three of Frank Gardner’s books for my birthday this year.
Rigoletto at the Semperoper in Dresden on Sunday evening was a revival of a production first seen in 2006. It has had quite a few outings since then of which the best was surely when Dian Damrau sang Gilda and Juan Diego Flórez the Duke.
The re-building of Dresden is almost complete but, as in any city, there is a continuum of regeneration. A bridge over the Elbe is closed to traffic for reconstruction and some bomb sites have not been rebuilt.
A good game is to name structures called after their architects. Let me get you started in Paris with Charles Garnier’s opera house and Gustave Eiffel’s tower and in Vicenza, the Basilica Palladiana by Andrea Palladio.
Port need not be decanted and savoured at the end of a post-hunt dinner in winter. A chilled glass of white port makes a fine late morning aperitif, especially in hot weather, and there is none better than Churchill’s.
Reggie and I were unadventurous yesterday. We reprised our Monday morning walk to Bruniquel but this time in low cloud and a light drizzle, or a grand soft day as it’s called in Ireland.
Six grape varieties are allowed to make red wine designated Bordeaux: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carménère. The last three are not household names, at least not in my cellar.