A Gaelic Irish Joke

A Paddy walking through a field sees a man drinking water from a pool with his hand.

The Paddy shouts "Na ol an t-uisce, ta sé lan de chac bo" (Don't drink the water, it's full of cowshit.)

The man shouts back "I'm English, speak English, I don't understand you".

The Paddy shouts back "Use both hands, you'll get more in."

Conservation Quick Wins.

Global Warming has certainly been accelerated by the amount of hot air expended on discussing and pontificating on recycling and renewable energy. Every politician, aspiring politician, TV Producer who has run out of creative ideas and 4 X 4 owners trying to pretend they care – “I may drive a Chelsea Tractor but I get paperless statements on my E-energy account” has an opinion to share and a meaningless docudrama or article to fill the white space on the Telly or in a newspaper.

It has become like a game of fridge magnet scrabble with the words used in random order – Eco-Local, Initiative, Solar, Green Drinks, Wildlife Friendly, Recycling, Beanstalk, BikeStreet, Green Champions, Sustainable, Carbon Offsets, etc; etc; etc;. No doubt there are germs and substance somewhere in there when we eventually separate the wood from the trees in the Great Eco Forest but why not start with two initiatives which pass the John Cleese “Bleeding Obvious” test as complete no-brainers and can be done now?

Instead of recycling why not avoid the cycle in the first place? Let us now agree to humanely put down those two old friends who are well past their sell by date: Plastic Bags and Junk Mail.

In the Republic of Ireland a 15 cent tax on plastic shopping bags has cut their use by more than 90% and raised millions of euros in revenue.The Irish environment ministry estimated that about 1.2 billion free plastic bags were being handed out every year in the republic, leaving windblown bags littering Irish streets and the countryside. In the three months after the tax was introduced, shops handed out just over 23 million plastic bags - about 277 million fewer than normal, the government said. Think of it, in a small country like Ireland they have reduced plastic bag use by over 1 Billion bags a year – the equivalent figure for the UK would be in excess of 16 Billion bags of hydrocarbon derived products. This would reduce oil refinery output far more than Airline Passenger Duty or hybrid cars.

There is one obvious disadvantage. The UK would lose its “National Flower”, the plastic bags which grow on hedgerows, waste ground, concrete streets and every water course in the land. Och Aye, wee Gordon, an environmental win and more tax revenues, what is stopping you introducing a 15p plastic bag tax? Some well funded industry lobby group?

The other quick win is self evident in every hallway in the land. Did you know over ½ million tonnes of junk mail is generated in the UK every year? 1 tonne of junk mail is the equivalent of 17 trees so that is eight and a half million trees which die in a needless silvicide each year! That’s 390,000 acres of forest! Put it another way: The average person in the U.K. receives 4kg of junk mail annually and 90% of all junk mail goes straight into the bin. That’s around 224 million kg of junk mail which immediately goes into our bins and that is a conservative estimate based on the dubious premise that the 10% of junk mail which is not immediately binned is in someway useful.

Last week my “Free” local paper come through the letter box with 3 colour inserts. Only there were 8 copies of two inserts and 11 copies of the other, 27 enclosures which went straight to bin. This is the junk mail equivalent of fly tipping and equally a form of anti-social behaviour worthy of being commemorated in the ASBO Hall of Shame. Two weeks away and as well as stamped addressed letters I find 37 items of what the Royal Mail calls “Door to Door Mailings” or unsolicited junk mail addressed to nobody or to that ubiquitous creature “The Occupier”!

So here is the modest proposal, ban “Door to Door Mailings” and compensate the Royal Mail and other delivery companies by doubling the postage on unsolicited mailings. Ban magazine & newspaper inserts, the advertisers will spend the same money in other ways and who knows you could be forcing them to spend their money more effectively.

Above all these two initiatives are about changing behaviour. Shoppers will use reusable or paper bags and advertisers will spend their money in more effective ways than in winding up potential customers by creating avalanche risks in their hallways. The industry which styles junk mail as “Direct Mail” obviously has an advanced sense of humour and the joke is at our environment’s expense.

That’s it! Cut out more than 16 Billion plastic bags and 224 Million kg of junk mail a year and change the habits of a wasteful lifetime into the bargain. Now wouldn’t that cut back on copious hot air and save more than all the proposed environmental initiatives this year? Why are we waiting?

Upun my Word!

1. I met this bloke with a didgeridoo and he was playing Dancing Queen on it. I thought, "That's Aboriginal."

2. This lorry full of tortoises collided with a van full ofterrapins. It was a turtle disaster.

3. I told my girlfriend I had a job in a bowling alley. She said "Tenpin?" I said, "No, permanent."

4. I went in to a pet shop. I said, "Can I buy a goldfish?" The guy said, "Do you want an aquarium?" I said, "I don't care what star sign it is."

5. I was at a Garden Centre and I asked for something herby. They
gave me a Volkswagen with no driver.

6. Batman came up to me and he hit me over the head with a vase and he went T'PAU! I said "Don't you mean KAPOW?? He said "No, I've got china in my hand."

7. I bought some Armageddon cheese today, and it said on the
packet. 'Best Before End'

8. I went to buy a watch, and the man in the shop said "Analogue."I said
"No, just a watch."

9. I went into a shop and I said, "Can someone sell me a kettle."
The bloke said "Kenwood" I said, "Where is he then?"

10. My mate is in love with two schoolbags. He's bisatchel.

11. I went to the doctor. I said to him "I'm frightened of lapels."
He said, "You've got cholera."

12. I met the bloke who invented crosswords today. I can't remember
his name, it's P something T something R.

13. I was reading this book today, The History Of Glue. I couldn't
put it down.

14. I phoned the local ramblers club today, but the bloke who answered just
went on and on.

15. The recruitment consultant asked me "What do you think of
voluntary work?? I said "I wouldn't do it if you paid me."

16. I was in the jungle and there was this monkey with a tin opener. I said, "You don't need a tin opener to peel a banana." He said, "No, this is for the custard."

17. This policeman came up to me with a pencil and a piece of very
thin paper. He said, "I want you to trace someone for me."

18. I told my mum that I'd opened a theatre. She said, "Are you having me
on?" I said, "Well I'll give you an audition, but I'm not promising you anything."

19. I phoned the local builders today, I said to them "Can I have a
skip outside my house?" He said, "I'm not stopping you!"

20. This cowboy walks in to a German car showroom and he says
"Audi!"

21. I fancied a game of darts with my mate. He said, "Nearest the
bull goes first" He went "Baah" and I went "Moo" He said "You're closest"

22. I was driving up the motorway and my boss phoned me and he told me I'd been promoted. I was so shocked I swerved the car. He phoned me again to say I'd been promoted even higher and I swerved again. He then made me managing director and I went right off into a tree. The police came and asked me what had happened. I said "I careered off the road"

23. I visited the offices of the RSPCA today. It's tiny: you couldn't swing a cat in there.

24. I was stealing things in the supermarket today while balanced on the shoulders of a couple of vampires. I was charged with shoplifting on two counts.

25. I bought a train ticket to France and the ticket seller said "Eurostar"
I said "Well I've been on telly but I'm no Dean Martin.

26. I phoned the local gym and I asked if they could teach me how to do the splits. He said, "How flexible are you?" I said, "I can't make Tuesdays or Thursdays."

27. I went to the local video shop and I said, "Can I take out The Elephant Man?" He said, "He's not your type." I said "Can I borrow Batman Forever?" He said, "No, you'll have to bring it back tomorrow"

Bob Geldof and Me.

Bolton Street College

Dublin in the 70’s was a dreary spot. Ireland was in the grip of the old certainties and the thought control mechanisms were still in place. I found myself studying architecture at Bolton Street College of Technology. Here, there were a number of third level courses (Architecture, Surveying, Engineering and Geo-surveying) grafted onto what was basically an inner city college with no campus run by the worthily titled Vocational Educational Committee. It was a clever way of ensuring you had all the disadvantages of university in terms of stress and pressure without any of the advantages of decent campus facilities and a social mix.


The Sage as a student at the 1975 USI Congress, Wexford

However if you wanted to study Architecture you were presented with Hobson’s choice. The only other course in Ireland was at UCD, University College Dublin, and this had been through years of turmoil resulting in it being derecognised by RIBA, the British Architect’s Institute, for poor standards. Either way in those days the grant system in Ireland was so restricted you had to be the 10th son of a smallholder with less than 10 acres to get a grant so student poverty was not an abstract concept. Bolton Street had the other advantage that its fees were a lot less than UCD; the payoff being that very little was provided when you got there.


The Rats

In 1975 I was Secretary of the Student’s Union and a few of us decided we needed to do something to lift the place so we planned the first “Bolton Street Student Festival”, just like the proper universities had! Being Secretary of the Union was not comparable with Oxford or indeed anywhere else. We had no Student’s Union or Bar but rather had an office in a forgotten room somewhere on the top floor and a Common Room with a shop / snack bar at the back of the canteen in the basement and a modest budget based on a capitation fee. In the previous year we had been at loggerheads with the college on a number of issues with canteen boycotts, sit – ins and all that good stuff. This year everybody wanted a fresh start and the college authorities enthusiastically backed the festival – even they realised a gloss needed to be put on the place.


Early Rats

So the week took shape, parties were organised, an art exhibition was to take place in the canteen, a film week was to take place in the “Kinema”, the only proper lecture theatre in the college, a programme of speakers was organised and we were to have a week of lunch time concerts in the common room. It had some hilarious moments such as the Art Exhibition. One of our lecturers was the well known Irish Artist Charlie Harper and he volunteered to help us get exhibits for the Art Exhibition.




Charles Harper and a Burren Landscape

What actually happened was that Charlie and I spent a day touring the art galleries of Dublin in his Renault 4 (with the back seats folded down and Dougal from the Magic Roundabout on the side!). In each gallery the routine was the same. We arrived unannounced, Charlie would be greeted warmly and introduce me, we would be offered and take a drink, explain why we were there and eventually leave with 2 or 3 paintings by well known artists from the gallery stocks. By nightfall neither Charlie nor I were in good condition and I crashed on the floor of his mews in Monkstown whilst outside there was a Renault 4 parked with 25 valuable paintings. All this lending of paintings was done without one shred of paperwork or indeed insurance, we must have been mad!



Three of the group which became the Boomtown Rats were studying at Bolton Street. Pat Cusack, (aka Pete Briquette) Gerry Cott and Johnnie Moylett (aka Johnnie Fingers). Gerry approached me and said he was in a band which had gone down a storm at student gigs called the Nightlife Thugs. I never heard of them but he was anxious to do the gig so I offered him our standard fee of 30 pounds which he accepted. The Common Room only held 300 and 20p was the most we could charge.

On the day of the concert the Common Room had filled up with apprentices. I should mention these were all big guys who wore Boiler suits and generally walked around with vice grips and wrenches! Just 15 minutes beforehand this tall dishevelled guy wearing boots and an ex-army greatcoat came up and asked to talk to me. He said he was Bob Geldof the leader of the band, he hadn’t known the fee was so little and there was no way they were going to play for that sh#t money! My mind immediately turned to the common room full of oil stained monsters and the consequences of the gig not going ahead so after some haggling I agreed to double it to 60 pounds. We shook on this and he then mentioned that I was to introduce the band as the “The Boomtown Rats” as they had now changed their name. The name came from Woody Guthrie’s autobiography “Bound for Glory” and belonged to a gang formed by the kids of newcomers in the oil boom in Oklahoma City who were excluded from existing gangs.


Give us your Effin Money!

So that was how in October 1975 I became the first victim of the now famous Geldof “give us your effing money” technique and nervously I went in front of a common room of oily monsters and for the first time ever introduced the Pop Group “The Boomtown Rats”. Can I tell you it was a wonderful gig? Well no actually, the acoustics were horrible in the bare brick walled Common Room but even still the Rats, whilst making lots of noise, were bloody awful. Some of the audience did start dancing and saved the day but I was mightily relieved that the first historic gig by the Boomtown Rats didn’t end in a riot. Bob describes the occasion in his 1986 autobiography “Is that it?”

“Well, if you’re so bloody clever, you go and talk to them.”

“I did, but my bluff was called. When I said that 30 pound was an insult and we wouldn’t do it for less than double that, the college promoter said: “All right, 60 pound then.” We were committed.”

So this insight into our respective negotiating skills probably explains why Bob Geldof is a millionaire and I’m not! I become part of pop history and Bob can’t even name check me in his book! After all these years am I not entitled to ask the question “Is that it?”


St. Bob with another Deity - Paul Hewson t/a Bono(vox)

Riga – Capital of a country in transition

Riga - Arms of the Towns of Latvia


Bridge of the Locks

Staring out from old black and white 1930’s National Geographic’s are haunting visions of lost worlds bordering the Baltic Sea which were soon destined to disappear. The great Yiddish culture of Poland, the sailing fleet of the Aland Islands, the Hanseatic Free City of Danzig, Königsberg and East Prussia and the three Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The remarkable thing about the Baltic countries is that they existed at all. Three countries with no real natural borders or great natural features other than rivers into the Russian interior and ports on the Baltic. Three countries with distinct languages, cultures, folklore and music. Three countries who traded in the goods of the Russian interior but who always looked westward and became rich as part of the remarkable enterprise known as the Hanseatic League. Perched precariously on the edge of the Russian Bear which looked upon them uncomfortably as gateways for foreign invaders they were granted their freedom by Lenin in 1918 only to have it snatched away by Stalin in 1938 who put Russia’s strategic interests and defence in the coming conflict first.







Then in 1991, in a remarkable twist of history, one of these lost world in the 1930’s Geographic’s came back to life as the Baltic Republics regained their freedom. So it was with some trepidation as to what I would find I found myself on a plane to Riga, the capital of Latvia, the Baltic Republic which regained its independence has grabbed freedom with both hands – a fact emphasised by the extensive coverage of the recent N.A.T.O. summit meeting in Riga. The mundane nature of a two hour flight from London did nothing to dispel the sense of wonder that I was going to a country which had been consumed by war and the cantharis afterwards and had disappeared from the view of the west behind the Iron Curtain – what would I find there?



Riga itself was a rich Hanseatic City and the Old Town preserves mementoes of its golden age in fine merchant buildings and the massive “Brick Gothic” churches typical of the Baltic’s. Latvia is an absorbing country and a place where things are happening with a fast changing scene since 1991 with enormous change and inward capital flows and expertise from Scandinavia & Germany in particular transforming the country, so there is a real buzz about the place. The Latvians are an interesting people with a distinct culture and language and are Lutheran as opposed to the Russians who are Orthodox. The country has suffered terribly in the 20th Century, being invaded and thrashed in both world wars and being occupied by the Nazis and Soviets. In its history Riga has both benefited and suffered for being a strategically located and important port only 300 miles from St. Petersburg so every invader of Russia attempting to cut off its access to the West and the Baltic has had to take Riga and for the same reason Russia saw holding Riga as important to its defence.





Despite its medieval origins, Riga's uniqueness as a city lies in the fact that it boasts the largest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe. Between 1896 and 1913, the city expanded and a housing boom followed. The style which developed in Riga was influenced mainly by German, Austrian and Finnish architects. Mikhail Eisenstein is one of the most famous proponents of the style in Riga. After the revolution of 1905 a distinctively Latvian variation of Art Nouveau developed, known as National Romanticism. Architects started to use traditional Latvian folk elements and natural building materials. Typical elements were steep roofs, heavy structures and the use of ethnographic ornamental motifs.This style, which at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century referred both to architecture and other fields of art, dominated in Riga for a short time, however, it left behind extraordinary colourful architectural examples.











The most famous of the local architects was Mikhail Eisenstein. His son, Sergei, was a pioneer of early cinema. Ironically, Sergei moved to Moscow to make propaganda for the Bolsheviks who despised (and eventually destroyed) the same bourgeoisie that supported his father and fed him as a child.









Art Nouveau District, Alberta Street



This coincided with the period when construction of high-rise residential buildings boomed in Riga and organically found a place in the architecture of Riga. Art Nouveau emerged in response to previous styles, especially to Eclectics, which required following particular historical styles. In contrast, Art Nouveau stresses a complete creative freedom, an expressive flight of fantasy with a tendency to show all utilitarian construction elements as artistic value. Characteristic features of Art Nouveau - sinuous lines, geometrical ornaments – divided into two main directions in Riga: decorative and romantic nationalistic Art Nouveau. Latvian architects, representatives of romantic nationalism, were E. Laube, K. Pēkšēns, A. Vanags, who created unique examples of national architecture (Tērbatas Street 15/17, Brīvības Street 47; 58; 62). Most characteristic examples of decorative Art Nouveau are buildings in Alberta Street constructed by Mikhail Eisenstein. Mikhail Osipovich Eisenstein, (1867, St. Petersburg - 1921, Berlin), was a Russian architect and civil engineer. Being a German Jew, he converted to Orthodox Christianity. He graduated from the Institute of Civic Engineering in St. Petersburg in 1893. He was the designer of a number of the Art Nouveau buildings in Riga. He built several apartment buildings for State Counsellor A. Lebedinsky, including the ones at Alberta iela 4 (1904), 6 (1903) and 13, and at Elizabetes iela 10b (1903).



See Art Nouveau District Riga;



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/09/art-nouveau-district-riga-latvia.html











His son Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was a well-known Soviet film director,paricularly famous for the "Battleship Potemkin" featuring the famous (and oft imitated sequence) of the baby's pram carering down the Odessa steps. It presents a dramatised version of the Battleship Potemkin uprising that occurred in 1905 when the crew of a Russian battleship rebelled against their oppressive officers of the Tsarist regime. Potemkin has been called one of the most influential films of all time, and was named the greatest film of all time at the World's Fair at Brussels, Belgium, in 1958. Today the superb Art Nouveau district around Alberta Street is an invigorating visual surprise for the first time visitor and a reminder of the pride Latvians felt in their country and the prosperity they achieved in the years of freedom early in the century and between the two World Wars.


House of the Blackheads


Astronomical Clock

There is a real difference between those who are doing well in the new Latvia and those who have been left behind. Housing stock for instance is generally substandard with a mixture of drab and rundown Soviet style apartment blocks and timber houses. There was a row of "derelict" timber houses behind the hotel but when I looked out at night there were lights on so they were inhabited! Surprisingly congestion is an issue in Riga and the Old Town is a congestion charging zone using ticket operated barriers to control access. There is no metro and the public transport infrastructure is clearly struggling with a mixture of trams, trolley buses and even the dreaded bendy buses!

Of 2.3M in the country 1.1M are Russian and this is a real fault line as they don't necessarily have Latvian (and therefore EC) passports and can't apply for government jobs unless they speak Latvian. The renovated medieval buildings and flashy new cars can't hide the fact that Rīga is still the capital of a country on the mend. The city is something like half Russian / half Latvian and the two groups have little interaction or respect for one another.



Riga airport is brand new and impressive and the team flew there on that excellent airline run by an Irish Accountant for £31 return – incidentally Ryanair’s business model is based on SouthWest Airlines which is run by an Irish-American lawyer called Herb Kelleher, who appears in their adverts clutching a glass of whiskey! We bought a package from Activitybreaks.com for £89 which included transfers, two nights B & B, a dinner with wine in a restaurant and VIP entrance to a top nightclub.

Speaking about Team Building, your Riga correspondent was taken with the range of events offered by the local handling agents, Baltic Events (www.eventstravel.net) which range from bobsleighing to flying MIG 21 fighters. The verbatim “Borat” style flyer for his personal favourite, “The KGB Experience” will give a flavour of these unique team events. Next year?

“You are invited to simple city excursion, but suddenly you will be arrested by KGB soldiers. Shooting or just "welcome schnapps". If welcome event, then tourist will be transported into some ugly place and there interrogation - why here? Spies? We will execute you and give to special secret forces....... And then group leader will come to rescue them and pay ransom......don't kill us, we'll pay.
If group has ordered shooting as well, then activity continues, on the way to shooting ground and somewhere on road James Bond or Charley Angels will free tourists and see ........KGB still alive and you all must be ready to defend yourself.”


Vansu Bridge



Stick to sightseeing in Riga! The old town is richly textured with the wondrously titled “House of the Blackheads”, essentially a palace for visiting Hanseatic merchants. Due to their indulgent lifestyle they developed blackheads and turned this into a little joke by calling this rather rich palace after what was originally its nickname! The old town is a rich and rewarding mix with Swedish gun towers, a castle, museums, Art Deco district and many fine churches including St Peter’s Cathedral in the Baltic brick gothic style. St Petri has a lift to the top of the steeple affording good views of the city and the river Daugava on which it sits.










Statue of The Latvian Riflemen



The Latvian Riflemen, whose statue is in front of the Museum of Occupation which documents the Nazi and Soviet Occupations, have a paradoxical place in the nation's heritage. They were formed with local recruits in 1915 to defend central Latvia from German troops, often bearing the brunt of the heaviest fighting. No one fights harder than the farmer defending his own field, after all. They were military heroes of Latvia, but eventually they became disillusioned with their status as cannon-fodder and turned against the Russian Tsar.



The joined the Bolsheviks, playing a key role in Lenin's seizure of power in November 1917. A year later they were given the order to execute the Tsar and his family - a delicate task not suitable for native Russians. Most importantly, they prevented a June 1918 coup that would have surely ended Lenin's reign.



The Latvian Riflemen were instrumental in setting up a regime that would eventually attempt to destroy their homeland's culture. Not surprisingly, today their grandiose Soviet-made statue sits in the middle of a barren bus stop. Still, they disbanded in a positive light and their bravery as Latvian patriots is impossible to ignore.









Zeppelin Markets



Eating out is not a problem in Riga with a wide selection of restaurants, snack bars and coffee shops. Many of the newer ones are very impressive with some very original and entrepreneurial concepts which would travel well – all we tried were excellent value for money with good service. However the two meals I enjoyed most were the cheapest, both left me with change from £2.00. On the first damp & misty morning in downtown Riga myself and a colleague got off a trolley bus by the Occupation Museum (do go and see it) and happened upon a traditional café specialising in pancakes, breakfast, savoury and sweet. Both of us enjoyed good coffee and filling pancakes for less than two pounds in the company of office workers and students who were similarly fuelling up on this cold and damp day. On our last day I found myself in the huge market complex on the edge of the Old Town known as the Zeppelin Market as 5 of the 7 market halls are former Zeppelin sheds transported from East Prussia in the 30’s. There I enjoyed a hearty traditional broth, a cutlet and vegetables and coffee and pastry for £1.70 but more than that in the midst of all the hustle and bustle I enjoyed a window onto ordinary Latvian life. Riga's Central Market has to be one of the biggest I have ever seen. It contains every form of food produced in the waters and fields of Latvia. It's a vibrant place seven days a week with people from all walks of life going about their daily business.






Orthodox Cathedral





Hitler and the Nazis may have lost the war, but they succeeded in wiping out the entire Jewish population of Rīga. Thousands of Jews, 25,000+ from Rīga alone, were murdered in the forest several kilometers outside of town. It was a simple matter for the Nazis because a local Latvian 'security' team willingly did most of the work. It's easy to overlook, but anti-Semitism was a virulent force far beyond the borders of Nazi Germany.



This pile of rubble was the Jewish synagogue. A few days after the Nazis arrived it was torched... packed tight with Rīga's first victims.





Riga Synagogue Ruins



Apart from this one stone plaque, you wouldn't know that this barren wooded park is actually the city's pre-WWII Jewish graveyard. The gravestones were removed and smashed to bits during the war.





Site of Jewish Cemetery



We did encounter some negatives which, whilst not discounting them, gave a frisson to the few days and added to the feeling that you were somewhere different. There is a major sex industry controlled by the Russian Mafioski in Riga. The local what’s on guides have a plastic encased supplement on “Riga at Night” which lists the often dubious “delights” on offer – as everywhere else, tourists should not leave their common sense at home. I wondered why the taxis in the old town where fully loaded Mercedes and BMW’s until I took one and realised they were only shop fronts – your taxi driver can provide everything and isn’t shy about telling you this. I got the distinct impression that if you wanted a Mig 21 it would be delivered to your hotel next morning – cash deal only! As in Russia and the former statelets, those two sides of the same coin, racism and xenophobia are not far below the surface. An Indian friend got abused outside a night club as a terrorist whilst inside the, otherwise impressive, nightclub a colleague got jostled and pushed because he looked “foreign.”

And whilst generalisations are dangerous the dichotomy between young Latvian men and women is both remarkable and highly visible. Latvian women have a well deserved reputation for beauty with an alluring mix of Slavic and Norse features. But more than that, they are serious and hard working grasping and appreciating the opportunities of freedom and education that the New Latvia affords them. The male 18 to 30 demographic gives a very different picture. They have an ex – military air about them, there is very obvious aggression and unattractive machismo on display and a very visible alcohol and drug problem. A small example, the night club had 6 security personnel on duty none of whom I would have picked an argument with and during the course of the night they unceremoniously frogmarched at least 10 drunken / stoned males who were causing problems and dumped them on the pavement outside.






These are as niggles set beside the energy, sense of purpose and historic and human interest to be found in Riga which makes it such a worthwhile travel destination. The persistence of the ideals of personal freedom and free association cemented by trade of the Hanseatic League can be seen in the way the cities of the newly free Baltic countries have readopted their Hanseatic titles after gaining their freedom.

My abiding feeling coming back from Riga is how important freedom is to people who have been deprived of it and how much in the West we take it for granted, not something they will ever do in Riga which is watched over by the symbol of Latvian nationhood “The Freedom Monument.”




Freedom Monument



travel

The Lion Sleeps Tonight!

http://www.kewego.co.uk/video/iLyROoaftIvk.html">Lion Sleeps tonight - Animation - kewego
An animation in which a hippo performs the solo 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' with a dog.

Keywords: animation dog parody solo cartoon animals hippo sing solomon linda the evening birds lion sleeps tonight

Video from hazuki

Freddie

Freddie died today just after 13.00 hrs after being in Hampden Animal Hospital since last Wednesday week when he had a second thryoid removed.

He has been on a drip since the operation as his calcium levels didn't recover and he has had to take calcium tablets as his para-thyroids (which regulate his calcium) didn't operate as they should to control his system. Overnight his lungs became congested and filled with fluid and he was moved to an oxygen cage this morning. Despite the best efforts he had a seizure probably due to his heart having been weakened and damaged by his thyroid problems this year and last.
Jo visited him in the week and the nurses commented on how they spent loads of time with him as he was such a nice cat. He was well looked after to the end. We reckon he was 17, which is 3 years more than the average span for his breed.

We will really miss our little friend but we'll remember the happy cat we had and the affection we shared.

Mud on the Road!

On last Sunday Pop History and myself once again crossed paths and I “enjoyed” my most surreal experience since I saw the Bee Gees perform at the old Wembley Stadium. (You know the old one with the Way of Champions and the Towers of Glory, not the new one with the Arch of Agony.) The Bee Gees were different as all 4 appeared, 3 on stage and one, Andy on video. Being dead, Andy’s performing style was somewhat cramped. If the Bee Gees reprised their concert today the line up would be more evenly balanced and Andy wouldn’t have the pressure of being the only dead performer. As for the audience they were a spectacle in themselves, permed bouffant hair dos, rhinestone boots and luridly bright crushed velour jackets. And that was just the men, the female audience were even more dramatically attired!

So it was with a heightened sense of expectation that I took myself to Kingsbury Square (remodelled, with many delays, for only £2 M in the “continental” style) to have my senses assailed by those dinosaurs of Glam Rock, MUD!! O what a diet was promised “Oh Boy!”, “Tiger Feet”, “Lonely Tonight” – the best of MUDROCK!!!


The original line up of Les Gray, Rob Davies, Dave Stiles and Dave Mount

Doubts set in on the way about Carshalton’s great contribution to popular culture for like the Bee Gees, were Les Grey and Dave Mount not dead, resulting in a somewhat cramped singing style? Would this still count as "Live" music? Fear not for this free concert as part of the proud town of Aylesbury’s “Hobble on the Cobble” season (don’t you just love the ingenuity that goes into these names? No??) had spared no expense in ensuring a Glam spectacle.

Sure enough, after a suitably bad warm up act, the MUDS stepped onto the superb stage (OK, It was a Robinson’s of Aylesbury Removals open sided removal van) resplendent in powder blue Teddy Boy coats with leopard trimmed pockets and collars, blue suede shoes and red socks! Wow! Two of them did look suspiciously young but this didn’t hold them back from laying into a session of Golden Oldies before a sell out FREE concert of, maybe, 150 people. How the kids loved them as they danced in the fountains but, in fairness, they would have been doing that anyway. How we swayed on a lovely Sunday Afternoon to all those reassuring lyrics etched into our cerebella!!

It'll be lonely this Christmas
Without you to hold
It'll be lonely this Christmas
Lonely and cold
It'll be cold, so cold
Without you to hold
This Christmas

Sometimes it needs lyrics like that put life into perspective – thank you MUD for getting stuck in!! Let’s keep MUD on the road, vote for eternal YOUTH, innit?

All my life
I've been a-waitin'
Tonight there'll be no hesitatin'
Oh boy, when you're with me
Oh boy, the world will see
That you were meant for me

Oh to be alive in beautiful downtown Aylesbury on a day such as this!!

Originally formed in 1966, Mud bumbled along for a bit before being taken under the wing of RAK and the Midas-like Chinn and Chapman song writing partnership. They'd already done wonders for The Sweet, what could they do for Mud?

In 1972, RAK and Mud were a partnership made in heaven. RAK was interested in scoring hits and Mud were interested in being on Top of the Pops and having a laugh. The partnership suited both sides and it worked a treat. They scored a total of 15 hits between 1972 and 1976 and the tigertastic Tiger Feet was top of the charts for six glorious weeks in 1974.

"That's right, that's right, that's right, that's right, Really love your tiger light
That's neat, that's neat, that's neat, that's neat, Really love your tiger feet"

(Cue two-note Woolworth's guitar solo)



Their other great pop moment was also in 1974 when they had the Christmas number one with a song called 'Lonely this Christmas'. Its opening lines were: 'Try to imagine a house that's not a home; try to imagine a Christmas all alone. That's where I'll be, since you left me.'

When the song was performed on Top of the Pops, tons of fake snow was showered on the group which got in their mouths as they tried to sing. It was enjoyable Christmas fun.

After the Glam bubble burst in 1976 they disappeared, jettisoned by their public like an empty fuel tank. Sir Les kept going (in his tight white Lurex trousers), renaming the band Les Gray's Mud. The band continued touring until 1997 when ill health tapped Les on the shoulder - a bill from the early Seventies.

Ryanair - The European Airline?

Once again here is Ryanair, the main beneficiary of European de-regulation, pretending that European law does not exist and, in effect, sub-contracting its non compliance to “Service Agents” at small airports who have no training, no briefing and frequently no method of communicating with Ryanair.

Whatever about the Stanstead connection, the delay at Aarhus clearly comes under European Regulation 261 and the passengers should be offered assistance (meals, phone, calls and internet access) and help without charge by the airline in getting to their FINAL destination. It is all on

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air_portal/passenger_rights/information_en.htm

And the EU operate a Freephone Helpline on 00 800 6789 10 11. Ryanair’s Operations number is 003531 8121238 as you will be told by airport service agents they have “No way” of contacting them to do anything. Their head of Customer Services is cgreen@ryanair.com .

The European Commission has given National Enforcement bodies 6 months from 01/04/2007 to enforce the regulations or face sanctions – passengers should always complain in writing.

Let us be clear. Ryanair is hugely profitable company with over 1 Billion euros in the bank and is largely owned by US Private Equity funds. There is no way they should be allowed ignore European Law and abuse passengers when the European Law has made this profitable business possible. So Michael O’Leary, Tony Ryan and David Bonderman, do business ethics and complying with your regulatory framework count?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irish Independent
Children stranded in London after Ryanair hold-up
By Paul Melia
Tuesday August 07 2007

The soccer players, aged between 12 and 16, were due to travel from Denmark to Dublin with the low-cost airline but a technical fault at Aarhus airport delayed them for over five hours.

When they arrived in Stansted for their connecting Ryanair flight home, they were told they were too late to board the plane, despite being just a few minutes late.

The only offer from Ryanair was to fly the group home on Thursday morning, said a spokesman for the group. But the flight was going from the East Midlands Airport - almost 200 km away - and the boys would have to pay all their accommodation and expenses in the meantime.

"There's five or six parents here in my house and we're all very upset," said Eamon Casserly, whose 14-year-old son James is stranded.

"We're now trying to get them onto a bus and get them to Holyhead so they can get a ferry. They've no food. They've nowhere to stay. They're all young fellas and they're away for a week. A week is a long time to be away from their parents."

Last night, Ryanair confirmed that the Aarhus flight had been delayed.The airline said there was no record of the group going to the ticket desk and asking for a flight out, and that there was availability last evening. The airline said it would try to get the group put on standby in the event that seats became available today.

The group, all soccer players with Mervue United, were attending the Allborg Youth Games in Denmark for the last week. They flew out Dublin-Stansted-Aarhus with Ryanair.

The Deputy Mayor of Galway who was with the group, Cllr Declan McDonnell, said the group arrived at Aarhus at 8.30am butthe flight was delayed.

"The group was split into two, and the first group of 20 arrived in Stansted two minutes late and were not let through.

They were told they could fly out from East Midlands on Thursday but they'd have to make their own way there and pay their own expenses in the UK until Thursday.

"In their time in Aarhus they were given a token which was enough to buy a bag of chips. They (Ryanair) didn't want to know." Aarhus Airport confirmed last night that the scheduled Ryanair flight to London Stansted had been delayed for just over five hours.

- Paul Melia

Irish Trauma

Some pictures and info on Castle Caldwell is available on:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7262&l=3d982&id=723587781

I'm moving all my social networking stuff to www.facebook.com because it works better than the others and it brings together Blogs, Photos, reminders, etc; better than other sites. It's a good way of keeping in touch and means I'll be sending less emails!

Otherwise my Blog is directly accesible on:

http://www.daithaic.blogspot.com/

My profile etc; without registration on:
http://www.bebo.com/daithaicaldwell

and my professional profile on:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcaldwell

People (i.e. 99%) who say "get a life" should consider how this is helping me cope with the three great sources of trauma in my life.

1. For 3 years in the 19th Century we had no potaoes and had to eat Cod without chips. Never mind that the rest of the World has had several wars since, this left all Irish people traumatised. Luckily this won't happen in the future as the Rape of the Oceans means we'll be eating chips without Cod.
2. I'm a member of the Irish Diaspora but Mary Robinson is no longer President and lighting a candle in the window for me each night.
3. There will be no more episodes of Father Ted. Feck!

I rest my case.

Riga.

The Team recently returned from Riga, the capital of Latvia, the Baltic Republic which regained its independence in 1991 and has grabbed its freedom with both hands – a fact emphasised by the extensive coverage of the N.A.T.O. summit meeting in Riga.

Latvia provides very interesting and fast changing scene since 1991 with enormous change and inward capital flows and expertise from Scandinavia & Germany in particular transforming the country, so there is a real buzz about the place. The Latvians are an interesting people with a distinct culture and language and are Lutheran as opposed to the Russians who are Orthodox. The country has suffered terribly in the 20th Century, being invaded and thrashed in both world wars and being occupied by the Nazis and Soviets. In its history Riga has both benefited and suffered for being a strategically located and important port only 300 miles from St. Petersburg so every invader of Russia attempting to cut off its access to the West and the Baltic has had to take Riga and for the same reason Russia saw holding Riga as important to its defence. Latvia has only been independent since 1991 and before that in their history only for 20 precious years from 1918 to 1938 so the fact they are there as a country is remarkable. Riga itself was a rich Hanseatic City and the Old Town preserves mementoes of its golden age in fine merchant buildings and the massive “Brick Gothic” churches typical of the Baltic’s.

There is a real difference between those who are doing well in the new Latvia and those who have been left behind. Housing stock for instance is generally substandard with a mixture of drab and rundown Soviet style apartment blocks and timber houses. There was a row of "derelict" timber houses behind the hotel but when I looked out at night there were lights on so they were inhabited! Surprisingly congestion is an issue in Riga and the Old Town is a congestion charging zone using ticket operated barriers to control access. There is no metro and the public transport infrastructure is clearly struggling with a mixture of trams, trolley buses and even the dreaded bendy buses!

Of 2.3M in the country 1.1M are Russian and this is a real fault line as they don't necessarily have Latvian (and therefore EC) passports and can't apply for government jobs unless they speak Latvian.

Riga airport is brand new and impressive and the team flew there on that excellent airline run by an Irish Accountant for £31 return – incidentally Ryanair’s business model is based on SouthWest Airlines which is run by an Irish-American lawyer called Herb Kelleher, who appears in their adverts clutching a glass of whiskey! We bought a package from Activitybreaks.com for £89 which included transfers, two nights B & B, a dinner with wine in a restaurant and VIP entrance to a top nightclub. As the Team did this on their own time they have identified a skills gap and will book a place on the next “Negotiating Skills” course!

Speaking about Team Building, your Riga correspondent was taken with the range of events offered by the local handling agents, Baltic Events (www.eventstravel.net) which range from bobsleighing to flying MIG 21 fighters. The verbatim “Borat” style flyer for his personal favourite, “The KGB Experience” will give a flavour of these unique team events. Next year?
“You are invited to simple city excursion, but suddenly you will be arrested by KGB soldiers. Shooting or just "welcome schnaps". If welcome event, then tourist will be transported into some ugly place and there interrogation - why here? Spies? We will execute you and give to special secret forces....... And then group leader will come to rescue them and pay ransom......don't kill us, we'll pay.
If group has ordered shooting as well, then activity continues, on the way to shooting ground and somewhere on road James Bond or Charley Angels will free tourists and see ........KGB still alive and you all must be ready to defend yourself.”

Lübeck, Queen of the Hansa.

Xmas Market


Buddenbrookhaus

Lübeck, The Queen of the Hanseatic League, was founded in 1143 as the "first German city on the Baltic coast". Surrounded by water on all sides, the old town has a historic centre dominated by seven church steeples. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list because of its superb brick Gothic architecture. The remarkable Holstentor Gate is the defining feature of the Lübeck skyline. Built between 1464 and 1478 with walls which are 3.5m thick in places, it is one of the best-known and best-preserved town gates from the late Middle Ages and featured on the old German 5 Dm. banknote. The archaeological riches found beneath Lübeck old town have provided researchers with an important insight into medieval town life.

The UNESCO inscription reads;

"Lübeck – the former capital and Queen City of the Hanseatic League – was founded in the 12th century and prospered until the 16th century as the major trading centre for northern Europe. It has remained a centre for maritime commerce to this day, particularly with the Nordic countries. Despite the damage it suffered during the Second World War, the basic structure of the old city, consisting mainly of 15th- and 16th-century patrician residences, public monuments (the famous Holstentor brick gate), churches and salt storehouses, remains unaltered."



Holstentor Gate

Lübeck lies 41 miles (66km) north east of Hamburg, close to the Baltic coast. Not only is this historic town the home of three noted Nobel Prize winners, but as a living monument to the wealthy Hanseatic merchants of the 13th century, it sports some architectural treasures that have ensured its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town's famous sons were Willy Brandt, the West German chancellor who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971, and Thomas Mann, whose novel Buddenbrooks won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929. Günter Grass, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1999, is German author who made Lübeck his home www.guenter-grass-haus.de/



He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) of mixed Kushabian-Polish parentage. Since 1945 he has lived in (the now former) West Germany, but in his fiction he frequently returns to the Danzig of his childhood. He is best known for his first novel, The Tin Drum, a key text in European magic realism.

As far as the architecture goes, the town is known for its steeples and spires, high-gabled houses, strong towers and massive gates. Lübeck has a medieval atmosphere and many sites of cultural and historical interest: the Holsten Gate, St. Mary's Church, the town hall and historic administration building (Kanzleigebäude), alleyways and courtyards, the four-mast barque "Passat" that has become the symbol of Travemünde, the Hospital of the Holy Ghost and St. Peter's Church, whose tower offers awe-inspiring views over the town. The town is also billed as the world capital of marzipan, having been the spot where this delightful confection was first devised (there is a legend attached, of course). Samples of marzipan are freely available in Lübeck.


Travemünde with the barque "Passat"


Niederreger Marzipan Museum

Lübeck’s site was extremely promising - surrounded by the protective waters of the Wakenitz and Trave rivers, sailors were free to put off to the Baltic Sea from its shore. The city’s ruler sent his men to recruit merchants from Westphalia, from the Rhine, from Friesland and Saxony in order to help the newly-founded town blossom and flourish. But the town’s growth remained stunted in the wake of attacks, fires and conflicts between the city’s founder, Adolphus of Schauenburg and his lord, Henry the Lion. It was not until Henry the Lion refounded the city in 1159 that the project bore its first fruits.

The merchants of Lübeck set sail for the herring markets in Schoonen, reaching as far as Gotland in the 12th century and penetrating further into the Baltic’s, all the way to Novgorod: the path to Eastern Europe was finally forged. Further towns sprouted up near and around Lübeck: Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund, Greifswald, Stettin, Danzig, Elbing, Königsberg, Riga

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/riga-capital-of-country-in-transition.html

Reval and Dorpat, all subject to Lübeck law. Thus Lübeck rose to head the Hanseatic League as the leader of the economic power in mediaeval times. The Hanseatic League had no navy of its own, no soldiers; it lacked an executive body and a separate budget. Nevertheless, merchants from the “Dudeschen Hense” were respected - and sometimes even feared - throughout the known world. Lübeck’s merchants maintained contacts reaching from the Orient to Venice all the way to Russia. The League set up branches in the most important cities - Peterhof in Novgorod, Stalhof in London, Deutsche Brücke in Bergen and Haus der Osterlinge in Brügge.





The merchant vessel called the cog was their preferred mode of transportation. Merchants climbed aboard these large trading vessels, braving wind, waves and pirates to bring their goods to their destination. Because the Baltic Sea was Lübeck’s lifeline, it is no surprise that the people of Lübeck, huddled safely as they are in the interior, still secured themselves a clear seaway - by purchasing Travemünde in 1329. When they acquired the hamlet for a mere 1,060 Lübeck marks, they had no inkling that it would one day become a large ferry port and a seaside resort with one of the richest traditions on the Baltic Sea.

In the 12th Century the merchants of Lübeck forged the trading links which led to formation of the Hanseatic League, at its height an entirely voluntary federation of 22 towns from Bergen in Norway to Novgorod in Russia which followed Lübeck Law and used the Lübeck Mark and the German tongue for trade. In the 13th Century this was the world’s wealthiest town at the centre of a vast trading empire of Hanseatic cities and 70 other associated towns controlling the trade in Baltic Herring, Salt, Amber, Timber, Furs, Wool, Cloth, Gold, Silver and precious stones. In the 13th Century to be a Freeman of a Town meant a great deal because you were not the Feudal vassal of a Lord and you were free to follow a trade, to live where you wanted and marry as you wished. “Town air is free air” was a saying of the time and the League took its name from the Hansestag, or Town Parliament and the towns were united by a strong sense of personal freedom and Civic duty in opposition to the aristocratic control which prevailed in the rest of Europe.


City Plan



By the 1600s the influence of the league waned having been depleted by the Black Death, the 30 Years War and the rise of the Dutch. However its influence can be seen in the dominance of the maritime nations of North East Europe in world affairs driven by trade and domination of the sea routes in the latter half of the second millennium and today in the European Union which has many echoes of the Hansa past. The persistence of the ideals of personal freedom and free association cemented by trade of the Hanseatic League can be seen in the way the cities of the newly free Baltic countries have readopted their Hanseatic titles after gaining their freedom. In the 13th Century the Holy Roman Emperor made Lübeck a personal town of the Emperor, a title and independence from the surrounding province it maintained under the Kaiser until 1905.

During World War II, Lübeck was the first German city to be attacked by the Royal Air Force. The attack on 28 March 1942, first with incendiaries and then with high explosives, created a firestorm, that caused severe damage to the historic centre and destroyed three of the main churches and greater parts of the built-up area.
Marienkirche


Dom - The aftermath of the RAF fire-bombing of Lübeck, Palm Sunday 1942

In the church of St.Jakobi you can see a plaque in German to the more than 1,100 children of Lübeck who were “martyed” on Easter Sunday 1942. In fury at this medeveal gem so important to German Culture being bombed and the deliberate targeting of civilians, Hitler ordered the so called “Baedeker Blitz” on historic British towns and soon Exeter and others felt the brunt of the Luftwaffe’s revenge. The POW camp for officers Oflag X-C was located near the city from 1940 till April 1945. At the end of the war one of the biggest disasters in naval history happened in the Bay of Lübeck when Allied bombers sank three ships which, unknown to them, were packed with concentration camp inmates being transported to an execution site. About 7,000 people were killed and to this day this remains the worst loss of life in a civilian maritime disaster. Lübeck was occupied without resistance by the British Army at the end of the war.


Dom

After the war the Iron Curtain was not an abstract term but a concrete and steel reality which ran through the suburbs of Lübeck and tore it from half its hinterland whilst the town increased in size swollen by refugees. Today you will find a confident UNESCO World Heritage site rebuilt in some style after the ravages of war, a major University and Medical centre for North Germany and a town revitalised by German reunification, a major summer resort in Travemünde and a busy port revelling in the restoration of the Baltic trade routes. www.luebeck-tourism.de/

Very few cities can lay claim to changing the course of history and the shape of the modern world. Welcome to one which can, welcome to this unique and special place, Wilkommen to The Imperial and Free Hanseatic City of Lübeck.



Day 1

Take the airline run by an Irish Accountant www.ryanair.com and land at Lübeck Blankensee Airport www.flughafen-luebeck.de/

which is 8km from the town. When the writer first came here (On a day trip!) in 2000 the schedule was Ryanair in the morning, Ryanair in the evening. Today Ryanair operate from Blankensee to 6 locations and the Hungarian airline Wizz operates to a further 5. One of the reasons the airport is still here is that the former airbase was bought and is still personally owned by the Tui family who live nearby and who own Thomson Tours and the leading travel operators in most European countries. Take a taxi directly to the Ibis Hotel on Fackenburger Allee.

After you have settled in to your hotel take a gentle stroll downtown to orientate yourself and soak up the atmosphere of the Weihnachtsmarkt, the Christmas Market. Turn left down Fackenburger Alle towards the centre, Der Centrum, and soon you will come to a roundabout at Linden (Lime tree) Plaz merrily lit up with Xmas lights. Head past the Holstentor Gate across the bridge on the River Trave and straight up Holstenstor Allee. At the top you will come to Der Markt in front of the Town Hall (Der Rathaus) and the massive church of St. Marien. Here and along Breite Strasse (High Street) there will be all the fun of the Xmas Markets and don’t worry about eating as many of the stalls are food stalls where you can enjoy a real hot dog and much more! Cold? Try a hot Glühwein and if you want it stiffened with schnapps or rum ask for it “mitt strob” or made with non alcoholic wine ask for it “Spiritus frei”. Behind St. Marien you will find the enchanted forest in the Churchyard and at the end of Breite Strasse you will find the square called Koberg with the Big Wheel in front of the Heilegen-Geist-Hospital. Now, having got your bearings and soaked up the atmospherics take a cab back to the hotel and get an early night, tomorrow is a busy day! Gute Nacht!


Koberg Big Wheel


Weinachtsmarkt

Day 2 – Herzlich willkommen auf dem Lübecker Weihnachtsmarkt - Five Christmas and Arts & Crafts fairs invite you into the Old Town of Lübeck. Now for the serious Christmas Market stuff! Thousands of fairy lights and Christmas decoration in the streets and shop windows create a festive atmosphere all over the city. More than 200 stands in the Old Town of Lübeck offer toys, Christmas tree decoration, craftwork and a lot of other things. The historic fairs, the fairytale forest at the churchyard of St. Marien and the big wheel at Koberg are a special attraction.

www.luebecker-weihnachtsmarkt.de





Pick your sausage!

After breakfast, frühstück, retrace your path of the night before into town. As you come close to the Holstentor Gate you can contemplate the view of Lübeck, the spires of the churches of St. Petri, St. Marien, St. Jakobi, the sailor’s church, The Dom (fr. latin, Domus Dei, House of God), St. Katharien and St. Aegidien, the guild church, and Herz-Jesu, the catholic cathederal. By the Holstentor Gate you will find the tourist office and in the gate the town museum. To the on this side of the river by the Willy Brandt Alle you will find the site of “Ice World” for tomorrow. As you cross over the Trave river on the Holstenstorbrucke turn right on to the Obertrave quay. Here opposite the Salzspeicher, the salt warehouses, if the port is not frozen take a boat trip to get a unique perspective of this island town, its port and the back waters of the Wallhafen and Hansahafen. (about 1 hour). Tour of the city, port and canal: City-Schifffahrt - Departure: at An der Obertrave (Musik- und Kongresshalle events center) and 2 piers at An der Untertrave, every half hour.



www.cityschifffahrt.de




Triumphkreuz, St. Jakobi

Near St. Petri you will also find the Museum für Figurentheter, a wonderful puppet museum and theatre. Frau. Saraswati Fey, the proprietor’s wife is a lovely Indian lady who told me on my first visit that her daughter worked in London at Harvey Nichols and then asked “is it respectable?” What could I say? As well as the wonderful collection it gives an excellent inside view of typical Lübeck merchant’s houses.

http://www.figurentheater-luebeck.de

After the boat trip head up from Obertrave to the nearby St. Petri Church along Petersgrube. St. Petri, 800 years old, opens its doors to the more than 50 craftsmen and women offering a wide variety of traditional and contemporary gift ideas, created by artists from Northern Germany. Stroll through the festively decorated church and admire toys, leather, soap-stone, pewter, ceramics, wood, clothing made from natural fibres, woollen accessories, felt, jewellery, glass and amber, and water-colour paintings. Refreshments are served in the medieval courtyard. There is nominal entry fees which goes to charity and afterwards go up the 50m high tower by lift for a spectacular bird’s eye view of Lübeck.


Petrikirche Nave






Rathaus Cellars

Its lunch time! For a special treat and an atmospheric introduction to the cuisine of Schleswig-Holstein got through the Markt and underneath the 13th Century Rathaus you will find the Rathaus Cellars. Follow the locals and go down the stairs and you will find a wonderfully warm restaurant with flag floors, brass chandeliers and huge beer barrels – enjoy a hearty and good value lunch! Afterwards go into the Rathaus and view this fine civic building, a secular palace representing both the independence and civic pride of the Hanseatic merchants and townspeople of Lübeck. Now for a special treat. Double back along the front of the Markt to Café Niederegger. Lübeck's reputation as the "marzipan capital" stretches back to 1800. In truth, no one really knows whether marzipan was the brainchild of a particularly talented and clever confectioner or the product of a contest among the then-famed confectioners of Lübeck. The quality of the confection depends on how and in what proportions the individual ingredients are mixed together. There are quality regulations that define the quality of the almonds and limit the amount of sugar that can be added - by tradition very low in Lübeck. Upstairs at Café´Niederegger is the marzipan salon (free entry), where visitors can learn all about marzipan. The twelve life-size marzipan figures are particularly impressive. In the café at the back of the always busy shop selling a vast array of marzipan products on the ground floor enjoy a marzipan nut cake or traditional stolen with a delicious marzipan cappuccino.

More information at www.niederegger.de

Head back down towards Koberg and on the north side of the square you will find the Heilegen-Geist-Hospital.




Heilegen-Geist-Hospital.



Now on Koberg find the Arts & Crafts Fair in the Hospital of the Holy Spirit. In the unique setting of this former abbey and almshouse for senior citizens more than 150 artisans from throughout Germany, Scandinavia, and the Baltic States, exhibit their arts and crafts under one vaulted roof. Here you will find ceramics, wood, textiles, silk-design, felt, glass & crystal, jewellery, amber, watercolour paintings and cards, etc. Fresh homemade waffles, delicious cakes and beverages, wine and cheese, hot-spiced punch, soup and open-faced sandwiches invite you to linger whilst seasonal music performances create a yuletide feel. On December 10th pastor Baltrock will give readings at 6pm at the cloister. This unparalled Christmas fair is, hosted by the members of "Frau & Kultur, eV. “ group Lübeck, and the net proceeds are donated to various social and cultural charities in Lübeck. Afterwards wander back through the stalls and take a ride on the Big Wheel in Koberg for a view of the port and the Xmas fairs all around you.

Day 3

On this the Second Sunday of Advent at 10.00 am you must be at the church of St. Mary’s (St. Marien) www.st-marien-luebeck.de to experience a Lutheran Advent service in a great Baltic Brick Gothic Cathedral.


Alfred Mahlau (1955-56) - Dance of Death window, Marienkirche


Altar



St. Mary’s is the church of the council of Lübeck and the 3rd biggest church in Germany. She is the archetype for many gothic churches in the whole Baltic area. St. Mary’s houses much artwork, for example the "Triumphkreuz" of Gerhard Marcks (1945), as well as the biggest mechanical organ in the world. From 1667 till 1707 Dietrich Buxtehude, the famous church musician and composer, was the organist in St. Marien. The teachings of Martin Luther and the Reformation were enthusiastically embraced by the burghers of Lübeck who were attracted the freedom of thought and lack of outside interference it offered which resonated with their civic values. Former catholic churches like St. Marien were stripped of their decoration and today their interiors give a unique resonance to the music of the Organ and the Chorale. The Pulpit is always in the middle of these churches so all can hear the word.


Astronomical Clock, St. Marien



Afterwards head down Beckergrube to the Untertrave quayside and turn left along the quay to the Holstentor past the sailing barques & schooners and cross the river by the gate to Ice World 2006. Enjoy the frosty and fascinating atmosphere of Ice World in the “Christmas city of Northern Germany”. Together Ice World and the skating rink will turn the famous scenery of the medieval old town into glittering dreamworld made of snow and ice. This year Ice World takes place directly at the Music and Congress Centre at the Trave river, Willy-Brandt-Allee, on an area of 800 square metres in a special thermal tent with a constant temperature of 8 C below zero. This temperature is necessary to keep in shape those frosted works of art, some of them with a height of 6 metres. A combination of special lighting and the reflection from snow and ice will present the works of art in a stunning colourful splendour. The statues will be made of 150,000 kilos of ice and 200 m³ of snow by an international team of ice artists. Tip: When visiting Ice World do not forget to bring warm clothes. And after your visit to the amazing world of ice sculptures you can enjoy the cosy winter village offering hot spicy wine, coffee and hot chocolate. The large ice-skating rink with a surface of approximately 600 square metres offers fun on ice. www.iceworld.de/content/blogcategory/19/113/


Salt Warehouses

Day 4

For this your final day you should have got your feet. If you have not done so head up to the other end of town to the Dom, The Cathedral of Lübeck.

www.domzuluebeck.de

This romantic building is the oldest monument in Lübeck. After the city became diocesan town in 1160 Henry the Lion started to build this enormous church building. The Cathedral of Lübeck contains much fine artwork including the 17 metres high "Triumphkreuz" of Bernt Noke (1477). The astronomical clock still runs on its original clockworks with the original movement till today. Nearby is the must see St. Annen Museum. Enjoy a guided tour at St. Anne's and find the answer to the question: why do we set up a Christmas tree? Back into downtown and make sure behind St. Marien you find Budden-brookhaus www.buddenbrookhaus.de to both gain an insight into the world of the great writer Thomas Mann and his brother and to see the largely Victorian interior of a prosperous merchant’s house. Buddenbrooks has now been made into a major movie featuring Lübeck as a magnificent backdrop.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/12/buddenbrooks.html








Other shopping and sight seeing opportunities are:

Shopping and Dining in Lübeck

Take time to discover: Heick + Schmalz (salt loft) where the historic salt granary now displays fine clothing for the entire family. Modifications were carried out at the Town Hall Arcades which now house retail shops and a café. Strolling along the specialty shopping streets, such as the Fleischhauerstrasse or the Hüxstasse, one is charmed by the variety of buildings and facades spanning the Gothic, Baroque, and Classicism periods. Karstadt with the largest downtown restaurant also boasts Lübeck’s longest fish and cheese stand. The Linden Arcades, centrally located at the main train station, offers everything from electronics to whole foods.
Two of the myriad examples of fine dining in Lübeck are the "Schiffergesellschaft" and the "Schabbelhouse". Germany´ s oldest restaurant, "Schiffergesellschaft", across from St. Jakobi, is a favourite not just for sea farers. The Schabbelhaus at Mengstrasse, artfully restored, serves delicious lunch and dinner specialties in a relaxed and charming atmosphere



Museums in the Old Town of Lübeck

Lübeck is an important cultural centre and especially at Christmas time a visit to the Christmas fair should be combined with a visit in one or more of the town’s museums. Enjoy the quiet and reflective atmosphere and the unique combination of historic buildings and interesting exhibitions.

www.museen.luebeck.de

Discover the diverse expressive output of the author Günter Grass at the Günter Grass house
• Experience the "small MoMa" in the art hall with works by Picasso, Beckmann and others
• Discover the nativity traditions of other nations at the Völkersammlung
• Get fascinated by the topic of "biotechnology" and learn about beer, cheese and penicillin (!) at the museum of nature and environment
• Walk around the most important cloister of Northern Germany, the Burgkloster, and visit the permanent exhibition "every day life in the Middle Ages in Lübeck"
• Visit the Holstentor museum, and review the rise of Lübeck as the queen of the Hanse
• Enter one of the most beautiful merchant houses, the Behnhaus / Drägerhaus, and be fascinated by the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, Max Liebermann and others
• Experience the church museum St. Katharinen or visit the Herrenwyk to find out more about life and work in the 20’s and 30’s.


St. Annen Museum Apotcherary

HOTELS.

Budget 2* - Ibis Hotel, Altstadt in Laufweite, www.accor.com

Traditional 3* - Hotel Lindenhof, Altstadt in Laufweite, www.luebeck-tourism.de/static/onlinebuchen/index_l.html

Luxury 4* - Hotel Radisson Senator, Altstadt in Laufweite, www.senatorhotel.de/start_.asp?is=2

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