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Thirty Four in Alert Lockdown

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Music & Radio, NatureNo Comments
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Me, out in the sunshine. Alert for Coronavirus.

I think 2020 will be the year known as what wasn’t, rather than what was. So many of people’s plans have been cancelled. Of course we all understand that it is essential and that keeping safe is the most important thing.

On Wednesday 13th May 20, the UK Government relaxed lockdown. Just in time for my birthday! This meant I could now meet a friend for my birthday, maintaining social distancing and go for a walk in Rivington with them. So the day after, on my birthday, that’s exactly what I did.

It was a lovely walk. The sun was out and was warm. The birds were singing. The stream flowed making a gentle gushing sound. All combined sounded like a nature meditation CD.

The 1975, one of my favourite bands released this song, which I’m absolutely addicted to. I’ve been listening to it on repeat since its release:

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That’s how I spent my birthday. Take care and be safe. Write soon,

Antony

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Adventure: The Metropolitan City of Wroclaw, Poland

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Thinking, TravelNo Comments

I recently visited Wroclaw in Poland with my brother and his friends for his stag do and his birthday. It was the first time I had met many of my brother’s friends and they are a great bunch of lads. In this post I’ll be discussing my experience of being in Wroclaw.

The first thing to write is that the architecture is aesthetically pleasing. There are many buildings with a Georgian style and many churches that are exquisitely designed. Here is an example of one such church:

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A Church in Wroclaw, Poland.

Here are two photos of fountains I took:

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Fountain (1).

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Fountain (2).

Wroclaw is vibrant, youthful and has an upbeat feel. It is a clean city, only being let down by graffiti that is everywhere. There are plenty of places to eat and drink, with some even having English menus upon request. The cost of living is cheap with roughly 10 slotty (about £2) buying a double vodka and diet coke. I did have difficulties getting zero sugar drinks in a number of places, which was a bit of an issue with me being diabetic.

The only Polish word I managed to learn was Kawa, which means coffee. The main square is huge and has flower market stalls that appear to be open 24/7. I found myself listening to Polish conversations as I walked around and appreciating the beautiful sound of the language. Some Polish spoke English exceptionally well whereas others didn’t speak any English at all. I found the Google Translate App really useful.

Without doubt it is people that make a city. All appeared happy, content and liberal. Polish people had less inhibitions when it came to dancing than we English have. Polish people will quite happily bump into anyone in their way in pubs and clubs. This is normal to the Polish, but being British I found it a little rude.

As Poland is known for being Roman Catholic and as such conservative when it comes to gay people and their rights. I decided to test the waters with a Polish man who I had been talking to and getting on with whilst smoking a cigarette. I came out and asked his views on gay people. He said:

“I don’t care, I don’t give a fuck. That’s your choice. We’re all just friends here.”

He described himself as not being religious, male, heterosexual and was in his mid twenties.

Overall Wroclaw is a beautiful city, with wonderful people and a place that I will be visiting again.

Take care,

Antony

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Thirty Two Today – My Birthday Plans

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, LifeNo Comments

Good morning everyone,

Today is my thirty second birthday. I’m not actually sat here writing this, it’s a scheduled post.

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I’m Thirty Two Today!

My birthday plans include a well-earned break from work for a week.

Today I’m off to Newcastle to see castles with Simon. In fact we are probably already on our way as this post is published. There are two English Heritage castles nearby that we want to see, along with Newcastle Castle.

Later in the week, mum and I are off to re-visit Harry Potter Studio Tour. You can see photos from when first visited the Harry Potter Studio Tour in 2014 here.

So expect to see blog posts about the above soon. In the meantime have an awesome week.

Write soon,

Antony

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Book Review: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
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View on Amazon.co.uk
In an unnamed country, Roxanne Coss a lyric soprano is performing for Mr Hosokawa’s birthday. Mr Hosokawa is a CEO of a large company.

The leaders of the unnamed country hired Roxanne, Mr Hosokawa’s favourite opera singer to sing at his birthday, to lure him to their country like a worm on a fishing hook.

They hope to convince Mr Hosokawa to make much needed investment into their country.

The birthday party is being hosted at the Vice President’s house (a mansion). Many VIPs are present, both from the unnamed country and from across the world.

But the President of the unnamed country gives his apologies, the party is on the night of his favourite soap opera and he simply can’t miss it. This decision to stay home, probably saves his life.

Roxanne sings her last note. The room is stormed by rebels. The rebels were really after taking the President captive for their own political reasons and causes. The rebels are mostly teenagers apart from the older Generals, but all are armed and have been well trained.

The VIPs are in shock. The authorities soon realise what has happened. Then starts a long siege. The rebels make demands daily, the authorities provide food, etc. Author Ann Patchett described her discovery and love of opera while writing the book. This is clearly evident throughout and at times distracted from the storyline.

The plot was reasonable but was limited by the situation. Not a lot happened as the authorities and rebels were in a state of deadlock for most of the book. The ending was believable and a little sad. But the epilogue was extremely disappointing as it was so unbelievable and against what the characters would actually do.

The were a whole host of characters, but Patchett rightly focused on a few key characters. The characters were a pleasure to get to know, drove and sustained the readers interest.

The description clear, concise and flowed freely. Patchett’s writers voice and style was engaging and superb – as with all of her books.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett was an okay read and is available to buy on Amazon and at all good book shops.

Review soon,

Antony

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