Pigeon Diplomacy

FTWeekend often provides instructive and profitable insights. An article last weekend seems to be a watershed moment illustrating the former.

Published
Categorised as Politics

Carnival

I’m a bit behind, chronologically. On Saturday morning I went to Albrecht Dürer’s house while Robert was playing in the quarter finals.

Published
Categorised as Art, Travel

I’m into Something Good

An obsequious, chastened Pious brought him the gin on the stoop. Morgan poured two inches into a glass full of ice, added some bitters and a dash of water. He hated the drink but it seemed the apt thing to do; end of a tropical day, sundowners and all that.

Double Chapel

For lunch I had Fränkischer Pfefferschinken & Frankenthaler Käse and Apfelstrudel. Nuremberg Castle was built in the 11th century and played a central role in the history of Bavaria and Germany for almost 1,000 years, that is until 1945.

Rallies

I had six Nuremberg Rostbratwurst with coleslaw, mustard and horseradish for lunch. Biographies usually end with a whimper. Hilary Spurling deserves credit for giving Anthony Powell dignity in his old age. I cannot read a biography backwards but I can see Nuremberg backwards.

Nuremberg

I had gulaschsuppe for lunch in Munich and am on an ICE train to Nuremberg.

Riverside Studios

The Riverside Studios beside Hammersmith Bridge will re-open towards the end of this year. I took a look at progress yesterday afternoon.

Lock and Pots

In weather reminiscent of the opening passage of Dance I walked upstream to Richmond on Monday morning. The white notices on these trees are Preservation Orders dated last month. Does this mean every tree will have to sport a white badge if it’s not to be chopped down?

I Never Met …

I never met Winston Churchill or Princess Margaret. My brother marched behind Churchill’s coffin when he was a young officer in the Irish Guards and Uncle George (aka Sir George Bellew) helped arrange the elaborate funeral.

Dance

I have decided that I am old enough to enjoy reading A Dance to the Music of Time. The first volume was published in 1951 when Anthony Powell was forty-six. It took him twenty-five years to complete the twelve volume series, although at first he only hoped that it might stretch to three books. Nevertheless… Continue reading Dance

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Categorised as Literature