I couldn't believe what I was watching! Unarmed civilians had brought down the hard line government of Egypt after just a few weeks of peaceful protests. Amid the wild revelry and the women, trilling their ululations in celebration of their victory, the television camera then focused on an unforgettable image of a women protester, sweeping up the rubble and debris left behind in a Cairo street. When an incredulous reporter asked her why, she answered proudly,'we clear up ourselves, this is our country; these are our streets now!' And with that dignified statement, the ordinary citizens of Cairo had brushed away thirty years of autocratic rule in Egypt.
But the speed, relative ease and success of both the Tunisian and Egyptian protests has set an example of what can be achieved and has encouraged others in the Arab world, toward a precarious opportunity for a more free and democratic lifestyle, with popular uprisings taking place in Yemen,Iran and now Libya, but sadly this time with hundreds of innocent lives lost. These despotic leaders may not be so easy to overthrow. Either way, changes are taking place on a daily basis in this already unstable part of the world, so I will have to keep my eye on changing events as they occur, as I intend to cross parts of the Middle East during my forthcoming trip.
My plan is to make (non-cycling) 'holiday' detours to Egypt, Syria and Jordan and then travel back up to Iran. But due to the sheer expanse of Iran and with the Foreign Office advising against travel in the east of the country (due to historical events rather than recent uprisings) I will probably take a bus along the popular and well used tourist route from Tehran to Isfahan and then on to Shiraz, returning to Tehran or Turkey and then flying to Karachi in Pakistan to resume my cycling. That way I get to explore Iran, one of the most artistic and historically interesting countries, in a more comfortable time scale. But what develops in the Middle East is beyond my control. All we can hope for is an end to the violence by their brutal leaders and for the region to become a more stable part of the world. What I have to worry about, is getting myself around the globe and to look after my health as best I can.
This month my arm was punctured with the second of my three rabies injections and I still have two Japanese Encephalitis and one more Hepatitis B jab to suffer. Stray dogs are a problem for a cyclist abroad, so these rabies jabs are important because as we all know, only mad English cyclists and dogs go out in the midday sun!
Biting mosquitoes can also be a real menace, especially to a cyclist who is exposed to the elements for most of the day. What's hard to swallow is that I'm not actually cycling through any malarial infected countries; I'm only travelling close to the frontiers of countries where malaria may occur, but because mosquitoes don't recognise boundaries, I've had to add to my mobile pharmacy by stocking up with the recommended dosage of tablets. But I need three different brands of tablet for the three countries that I will need protection from and the programme is complicated beyond belief. Instructions tell me that I have to start taking the first brand four weeks before entering my first malarial country and starting off with two tablets for the first two days then going onto taking one a day of the first brand then taking two a day, two days before my second country and again going onto one a day of the second brand but remembering that I have to keep taking one a day of the first tablets, four weeks after leaving that first country but still carrying on with one tablet a day of the second brand which overlaps with the first dosage in the first country. I don't even want to think about the third brand I will have to factor in, yet! I am just grateful that it's all been written down!
But this past month has seen me crossing the border into the definitely non malarial county of Oxfordshire, where I was running a week's photography course at the Women's Institutes's educational centre, Denman College, just outside Oxford. After the calamities that dampened my mood last month, spending a week there raised my spirits once again. I always enjoy teaching at Denman and on my return, I will be adding an extra course - travel photography - a theme I shall have more than enough experience of by then!
But before that I have a journey to complete. And with only eight weeks to go before departure, I am just about ready for the off. One important task I had to get done though was to get my bike serviced. I changed my mind about taking it up to Preston where the bike was made. I decided that it was too far and too expensive a journey, so I took the bike into the engagingly named, Mud Docks Cycleworks in Bristol, where the staff were very helpful and were easily able to replace the original components. My thanks go to Steve the workshop manager, who on hearing of my travels, kindly waived the cost of the labour and only charged me for the parts.
No doubt this will be one of many acts of kindness on my journey and I hope the recent uprisings in the Middle East will settle to a positive outcome, so that all peoples of that region can live in a more peaceful and equal society. But amidst the turmoil, I am sure that the only revolutions that will affect me during this trip, will be the turning of my bicycle wheels.
Deborah
(All postings on paintsandpedalsworldbybike.blogspot.com are the copyright of Deborah Anne Brady)
Sunday, 27 February 2011
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
"After the rain, comes fair weather" (Aesop)
Financing my round-the-world trip has had to be based around a finely measured and calculated agenda, as well as forecasting a weekly budget and factoring in contingency money for any possible emergencies, as well as for those hidden extras that inevitably creep up on us. It should get me around the globe but I still have to be careful. I will have to rely on cheap accommodation and constantly watch my pennies throughout the trip.
I knew it would take the best part of a year to plan and research the journey, but I also worried that the longer I spent in the UK before travelling, the more it would eat into my savings. I had planned to leave in May this year because I didn't want to cross Europe in winter. But the length of time before departure meant that I would inevitably be open to the possibility of things going wrong.
And everything was going so well. The planning and research for the trip was on schedule and as we turned the corner into the New Year, things were ticking along nicely. I have been managing to live, modestly, off the fees from my talks and photographic courses, along with the kindness and hospitality from my friends and family. In fact I can't believe how fortunate I've been. But life has a nasty habit of breaking a spoke in the wheels of our dreams. With only four months to go and everything going to plan, fortune abandoned me. The cost of travel essentials, such as my inoculations, travel insurance and all the expenditure that goes with planning such a trip, has left me keeping a very strict and wary eye on my ever decreasing bank account. Things were ok, but I was starting to feel a little uneasy:my finances were beginning to get a little stretched.
Then, one of my worst nightmares happened!My trusted and faithful workhorse, my car,which hasn't let me down once in the past ten years, had to be garaged, twice, in the space of ten days, culminating in two rather hefty garage bills. I am planning to take it off the road at the end of March but the car is essential for my work and as I wind up my talks and courses in these remaining months, it's important to keep the car going. It seemed this extra expenditure, at this particular point in time, was a cruel twist. I couldn't believe the timing of it! To make matters worse, I had just booked and paid for the first of my 'holidays'; a few days in Paris, where one of my friends is planning to come out and join me. I wasn't best pleased. The garage bill, along with a few other hidden extras that I hadn't anticipated, had bitten a bit too deeply into the finances and my spirits were low; so low, I seriously considered cancelling the whole trip. I'm not usually one for giving up and I nearly always go all out for something I've set my mind to, but this did make me feel that the wheels were coming off the bike.
But in life, as Emerson once wrote, 'difficulties exist to be surmounted'. After my initial dejection, came calm reason. Instead of getting depressed about it, I just had to change my thinking. I changed my perspective and instead of cancelling the trip, I convinced myself it wasn't that bad. It was just a case of adjusting and realigning my plans. I worked out that I could still afford to get around the world but I would have to cut a bit here and nip a bit there. I may even have to cut a few days off those 'holidays' I had planned and possibly leave out one or two of the countries I was hoping to cycle through. But with the reduced finances I wasn't feeling so at ease with the trip as I was before and the worries and the 'what ifs'
were beginning to set in.
So, to lift my spirits, I went cycling. It was one of those rare, blue-sky winter days. After only a few miles in that soporific, afternoon golden sunshine, that treads on the heel of a bright, winters day - where you breathe the heady, crisp, hoary air, and the weak sun warms your back, and while the only sounds are the humming rhythmic motion of wheels on tarmac that lulls you into that hypnotic, stress busting lightness of mind, that only cycling can do - my spirits were beginning to lift again; my reverie suddenly shattered by the realisation that I couldn't stop! The rear brake cable had snapped!I managed to get back without incident but rather than get it repaired there and then, I thought it better to wait until the beginning of March, when the bike is due for a full service and everything can be done at once by the same mechanics. Meantime, I have borrowed an old Raleigh mountain bike, which will do fine for the interim month.
Apart from these minor calamities, preparation wise, it has been a quiet month. But that has given me the chance to catch up with my reading. My journey will follow ancient routes; the theme being the art and artists(ancient and modern)of the countries that I am travelling through and I've found time to re-read some of my favourite ancient poets.
One of those is the Roman poet, Quintus Horatius Flaccus, more familiarly known as Horace. I really like Horace with his lyrical style and positive thinking. And he loved his wine! There's a person after my own heart! In nearly every one of his Odes, he is forever lauding Bacchus -(the Roman adopted name for the original Greek Dionysus - God of the grape harvest, wine making and wine) -The God of Wine. Forever the optimist, his answer to the pits and troughs of life was to tell us, not only to relax but also to enjoy the moment and not to trouble our minds with things we can't control, but also to indulge in the odd tipple or two! As he writes in his Ode, 'Enjoy the Hour', "why, with planning for the future, weary thy soul?
Why not rather quaff the wine, while yet we may, reclining under this lofty plane or pine, in careless ease....Bacchus dispels carking cares'. (Horace: Ode X1)
He even titled one of his Odes, "In Praise of Wine". And in another,.."take delight on holidays in some choice vintage Falernian wine".
Cheers! Horace, I shall do just that!
Deborah
(all postings on paintsandpedalsworldbybike.blogspot.com are copyright of Deborah Anne Brady)
I knew it would take the best part of a year to plan and research the journey, but I also worried that the longer I spent in the UK before travelling, the more it would eat into my savings. I had planned to leave in May this year because I didn't want to cross Europe in winter. But the length of time before departure meant that I would inevitably be open to the possibility of things going wrong.
And everything was going so well. The planning and research for the trip was on schedule and as we turned the corner into the New Year, things were ticking along nicely. I have been managing to live, modestly, off the fees from my talks and photographic courses, along with the kindness and hospitality from my friends and family. In fact I can't believe how fortunate I've been. But life has a nasty habit of breaking a spoke in the wheels of our dreams. With only four months to go and everything going to plan, fortune abandoned me. The cost of travel essentials, such as my inoculations, travel insurance and all the expenditure that goes with planning such a trip, has left me keeping a very strict and wary eye on my ever decreasing bank account. Things were ok, but I was starting to feel a little uneasy:my finances were beginning to get a little stretched.
Then, one of my worst nightmares happened!My trusted and faithful workhorse, my car,which hasn't let me down once in the past ten years, had to be garaged, twice, in the space of ten days, culminating in two rather hefty garage bills. I am planning to take it off the road at the end of March but the car is essential for my work and as I wind up my talks and courses in these remaining months, it's important to keep the car going. It seemed this extra expenditure, at this particular point in time, was a cruel twist. I couldn't believe the timing of it! To make matters worse, I had just booked and paid for the first of my 'holidays'; a few days in Paris, where one of my friends is planning to come out and join me. I wasn't best pleased. The garage bill, along with a few other hidden extras that I hadn't anticipated, had bitten a bit too deeply into the finances and my spirits were low; so low, I seriously considered cancelling the whole trip. I'm not usually one for giving up and I nearly always go all out for something I've set my mind to, but this did make me feel that the wheels were coming off the bike.
But in life, as Emerson once wrote, 'difficulties exist to be surmounted'. After my initial dejection, came calm reason. Instead of getting depressed about it, I just had to change my thinking. I changed my perspective and instead of cancelling the trip, I convinced myself it wasn't that bad. It was just a case of adjusting and realigning my plans. I worked out that I could still afford to get around the world but I would have to cut a bit here and nip a bit there. I may even have to cut a few days off those 'holidays' I had planned and possibly leave out one or two of the countries I was hoping to cycle through. But with the reduced finances I wasn't feeling so at ease with the trip as I was before and the worries and the 'what ifs'
were beginning to set in.
So, to lift my spirits, I went cycling. It was one of those rare, blue-sky winter days. After only a few miles in that soporific, afternoon golden sunshine, that treads on the heel of a bright, winters day - where you breathe the heady, crisp, hoary air, and the weak sun warms your back, and while the only sounds are the humming rhythmic motion of wheels on tarmac that lulls you into that hypnotic, stress busting lightness of mind, that only cycling can do - my spirits were beginning to lift again; my reverie suddenly shattered by the realisation that I couldn't stop! The rear brake cable had snapped!I managed to get back without incident but rather than get it repaired there and then, I thought it better to wait until the beginning of March, when the bike is due for a full service and everything can be done at once by the same mechanics. Meantime, I have borrowed an old Raleigh mountain bike, which will do fine for the interim month.
Apart from these minor calamities, preparation wise, it has been a quiet month. But that has given me the chance to catch up with my reading. My journey will follow ancient routes; the theme being the art and artists(ancient and modern)of the countries that I am travelling through and I've found time to re-read some of my favourite ancient poets.
One of those is the Roman poet, Quintus Horatius Flaccus, more familiarly known as Horace. I really like Horace with his lyrical style and positive thinking. And he loved his wine! There's a person after my own heart! In nearly every one of his Odes, he is forever lauding Bacchus -(the Roman adopted name for the original Greek Dionysus - God of the grape harvest, wine making and wine) -The God of Wine. Forever the optimist, his answer to the pits and troughs of life was to tell us, not only to relax but also to enjoy the moment and not to trouble our minds with things we can't control, but also to indulge in the odd tipple or two! As he writes in his Ode, 'Enjoy the Hour', "why, with planning for the future, weary thy soul?
Why not rather quaff the wine, while yet we may, reclining under this lofty plane or pine, in careless ease....Bacchus dispels carking cares'. (Horace: Ode X1)
He even titled one of his Odes, "In Praise of Wine". And in another,.."take delight on holidays in some choice vintage Falernian wine".
Cheers! Horace, I shall do just that!
Deborah
(all postings on paintsandpedalsworldbybike.blogspot.com are copyright of Deborah Anne Brady)
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Three weddings and a flannel
This New Year is going to be big for television weddings. Coronation Street has just had a dramatic one over a hospital bedside. A Royal engagement was announced, between an Olympic show jumper and an international rugby player, and to the joy of many, one handsome young man finally popped the question to his beautiful fiance. The wedding will be watched my millions. After a turkey dinner, several cans of John Smiths and wearing a silly Christmas hat, the young man from the Royale Family, is finally going to marry his pregnant girlfriend.We are all so excited for Anthony.
The other Royal wedding this year is taking place in the slightly more sober surroundings of Westminster Abbey. Our future king, William, is finally going to marry his Kate. There will be wall to wall television coverage with flag-waving and cheering crowds lining the streets. There will be bunting and banners. There will be foreign dignitaries from all over the world pouring into London. Every single hotel and B&B in the capital will be booked up, along with much pomp and circumstance that accompanies these occasions. But on that same weekend, somewhere in a quiet corner of Piccadilly, another event is taking place. I will be silently pedaling out of London on the start of my round the world cycle ride: the only noticable pageantry being a small group of family and friends waving me goodbye.
I have chosen to leave London on a Sunday, as it is usually quieter than other days and at first I was disappointed that the Royal wedding date fell on the same weekend I was going to leave. I was following the proposed dates for the wedding very closely on the news. "Phew!" I thought, as it was first suggested it was to be in summer. "It won't clash with my trip" Then it changed to Spring; then they honed it down to March and then the final date was confirmed as, Friday 29th April! I couldn't believe it! It was going to be the same weekend that I would be setting off on my journey! Luckily the wedding takes place on the Friday before the Sunday I leave, and the chaos should have died down by then. Besides, my chosen route out of the city, means I shall be cycling through Cannon Street, on route to London Bridge, which on any weekend, let alone a Bank Holiday, augers well for a quiet ride.
Tourists are not interested in visiting the financial area of London and any lingering, celebratory crowds should be sardined into the West End. So it looks like myself and my fellow cyclist, Astrid, shall still manage a stress free ride out of the capital after all.
After my initial resentment at the possibility of having to cycle through the madding crowds, I now think The Wedding, will be a bit of a fillip to my round the world bike ride. In my dotage when people ask that timeless question, "Where were you the day that King William got married?" It will be refreshing to give a different answer than the more prosaic,'doing the washing up'. It will be so much more interesting to say that I had just started out on my round the world adventure: although,I hardly need a Royal wedding to remind me what I was doing on that particular weekend!
So, while William and Kate are busy with their preparations, I too, am putting the finishing touches to mine. With only four months before departure, the monthly checklist is being steadily reduced, with only a few things left to do now; most of which are things ongoing; such as the completion of my jabs, the medicines that I will need, and all those last minute items. And now the snow and ice has gone,it will be good to get out on my bike again and cycle off a few of those festive mince pies!
Apart from watching Top Gear and the joy of seeing England retaining the Ashes in Australia (by a thrashing, I have to add!)surely one of the great experiences of Christmas is coming down on Christmas morning and seeing all the brightly coloured boxes of presents underneath the tree. This Christmas, I had to look very hard for mine! For obvious reasons, I asked for small presents this year. And they were small: very small: small packages;little soaps;tiny bags.But size is everything! Of all my wonderful presents this year, I became very excited about - two flannels! Ah! but before you start thinking, sad person or even, sad, unwashed person,these are special flannels! They are bought, vacuum packed to the size of a fifty pence piece. Only when soaked in water do they 'unravel'to normal size. So while I am hauling my worldly goods around the globe, these coin sized flannels will be saving valuable space in my bike panniers (until I use them of course, but even then, they still use up very little space in the wash bag) On reflection, sad person, may just be a correct description.
But I couldn't be more pleased with all my tiny presents this year. Lilliput is not on my world intinerary, but should I come across it, I will be well prepared!
Happy New Year
The other Royal wedding this year is taking place in the slightly more sober surroundings of Westminster Abbey. Our future king, William, is finally going to marry his Kate. There will be wall to wall television coverage with flag-waving and cheering crowds lining the streets. There will be bunting and banners. There will be foreign dignitaries from all over the world pouring into London. Every single hotel and B&B in the capital will be booked up, along with much pomp and circumstance that accompanies these occasions. But on that same weekend, somewhere in a quiet corner of Piccadilly, another event is taking place. I will be silently pedaling out of London on the start of my round the world cycle ride: the only noticable pageantry being a small group of family and friends waving me goodbye.
I have chosen to leave London on a Sunday, as it is usually quieter than other days and at first I was disappointed that the Royal wedding date fell on the same weekend I was going to leave. I was following the proposed dates for the wedding very closely on the news. "Phew!" I thought, as it was first suggested it was to be in summer. "It won't clash with my trip" Then it changed to Spring; then they honed it down to March and then the final date was confirmed as, Friday 29th April! I couldn't believe it! It was going to be the same weekend that I would be setting off on my journey! Luckily the wedding takes place on the Friday before the Sunday I leave, and the chaos should have died down by then. Besides, my chosen route out of the city, means I shall be cycling through Cannon Street, on route to London Bridge, which on any weekend, let alone a Bank Holiday, augers well for a quiet ride.
Tourists are not interested in visiting the financial area of London and any lingering, celebratory crowds should be sardined into the West End. So it looks like myself and my fellow cyclist, Astrid, shall still manage a stress free ride out of the capital after all.
After my initial resentment at the possibility of having to cycle through the madding crowds, I now think The Wedding, will be a bit of a fillip to my round the world bike ride. In my dotage when people ask that timeless question, "Where were you the day that King William got married?" It will be refreshing to give a different answer than the more prosaic,'doing the washing up'. It will be so much more interesting to say that I had just started out on my round the world adventure: although,I hardly need a Royal wedding to remind me what I was doing on that particular weekend!
So, while William and Kate are busy with their preparations, I too, am putting the finishing touches to mine. With only four months before departure, the monthly checklist is being steadily reduced, with only a few things left to do now; most of which are things ongoing; such as the completion of my jabs, the medicines that I will need, and all those last minute items. And now the snow and ice has gone,it will be good to get out on my bike again and cycle off a few of those festive mince pies!
Apart from watching Top Gear and the joy of seeing England retaining the Ashes in Australia (by a thrashing, I have to add!)surely one of the great experiences of Christmas is coming down on Christmas morning and seeing all the brightly coloured boxes of presents underneath the tree. This Christmas, I had to look very hard for mine! For obvious reasons, I asked for small presents this year. And they were small: very small: small packages;little soaps;tiny bags.But size is everything! Of all my wonderful presents this year, I became very excited about - two flannels! Ah! but before you start thinking, sad person or even, sad, unwashed person,these are special flannels! They are bought, vacuum packed to the size of a fifty pence piece. Only when soaked in water do they 'unravel'to normal size. So while I am hauling my worldly goods around the globe, these coin sized flannels will be saving valuable space in my bike panniers (until I use them of course, but even then, they still use up very little space in the wash bag) On reflection, sad person, may just be a correct description.
But I couldn't be more pleased with all my tiny presents this year. Lilliput is not on my world intinerary, but should I come across it, I will be well prepared!
Happy New Year
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Remember
'The Poetry is in the Pity' (Wilfed Owen)
I was watching a DVD recently of the glorious Blackadder Fourth series and the final
scene was for me, one of the best comedy sketches ever written. As Captain Blackadder's many hilarious attempts to get out of the war by faking madness fails, the realisation finally dawns on him and his men that there is no way of getting out of the trenches. The whistle blows and as they go over the top in a barrage of gunfire, they morph into fields of blood-red poppies.
This most moving of scenes and using comedy to depict the senseless slaughter can be an effective way to bring home the madness of war. The war artists and poets at that time also used different and ground breaking methods to interpret the futile carnage.
My theme for this trip is art and artists of each country that I travel through and my first stop after leaving England will be the small town of Ypres in Belgium. A place of significance in World War One, as this was where the war became industrialised with the first use of gas. The invasion was stopped in its tracks in Ypres, culminating in slaughter on an unprecendented scale. Thousands died for a few hundred yards of ground, only to lose it again a few days later.
As with all wars, the government created official war artists to portray the propoganda. In earlier times, painting had depicted the glory, nationalism and heroics of the battlefield but a small band of exciting, influential artists from the legendary , London Slade School of Art, such as Paul Nash, Mark Gertler, Richard Nevinson and Stanley Spenser, used innovative techniques to interpret the war in a different way. They wanted to show us the human face of war, its pain: its waste. Here was, 'a crisis of brilliance' as the title of David Haycock's book states and they became the Futurists and Bohemians of the twentieth century.
Atmospheric landscape paintings of 'No-Mans Land' by Paul Nash for example, used his talent as a former landscape artist to develop his painting into a futuristic and mono-toned style. Not for him the blood and guts of trench warfare, instead rendering the destruction and desolation of the moonlight, cratered battlefield, using the new vortice style of painting, then fashionable with a new breed of more abstract and expressionist French artists of the time, and just as powerful. The 'Merry-Go-Round' painting by Mark Gertler was another.
In contrast to Nash, Gertler's 'The Merry-Go-Round' used, flat, bold colours in the surrealistic style. The uniformed soldiers, sailors and civilians are posed sitting stiffly upright in regimented rows, astride identical wooden horses of the merry-go-round. No horror or gory scenes here but with mouths agape in silent screams, the endless revolving door effect, 'this blaze of violent mechanical rotation'as D.H. Lawrence lauded it, illustrates the futility of trench warfare. It is one of the most potent anti war paintings of modern times.
That was the brilliance of this small band of influential and innovative group of artists, who brought home the horrors to those who wanted to glorify the war.
And none more so than one of my favourite war artists, Stanley Spenser.
I recently visited the Spenser Memorial Chapel at Burghclere near Newbury. Here is where Spenser painted one of the most iconic war memorials. Due to his religious and sensitive personality, as well as his pastoral upbringing, his war paintings, using his unique aerial viewpoint, and his familiar, distorted, cartoon-like figures, were based on the dual themes of redemption and hope by depicting the mundane, everyday life of the soldier.
I was surprised how modest and insignificant this single storey building was and being set back from the road, I nearly missed it as I drove by. Three walls in the tiny, square chapel (or the 'Holy Box'as Spenser affectionately called it) painted from floor to ceiling (Hampshire's own Sistine Chapel - Spenser)reflect his life as an orderly in the war, often painting scenes of bed changing, or collecting empty tea urns to scrubbing hospital floors. But the dominant scene is the 'Redemption' painting covering the end wall of the chapel. Strewn with piles of white, wooden crosses and with soldiers of opposing sides emerging from their graves to greet their dead comrades and laying their crossess at the feet of a diminutive Christ figure at the top of the painting, is an awe inspiring sight and absolutely breath taking. This more reflective theme for me, is more powerful than seeing images of horrific carnage. It is a truly magnificant painting.
In the way that Spenser used more innocent scenes to interpret the war, Wilfred Owen was the opposite. One of the foremost poets of WW1, he used vivid words and phrases to illustrate the horrors of the trenches. In is acclaimed poem,'Dulce et Decorum Est'he describes in graphic detail the effects of gas on a soldier who, with hands numb with cold and shaking with fear, fumbles to put on his gas mask... phrases such as....'obscene as cancer'......'if you could hear the blood come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs'...'he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning'. And then ending the poem with those immortal lines;
'My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desporate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et Decorum Est Pro patria mori' (it is sweet and right to die for one's country)
Wilfred Owen died aged just twenty five, one week before the end of the war. According to historians, his mother received the telegram while the neighbours were partying in the street outside, celebrating the armistice.
During this most reflective of months, it was good to reunite with my love of art once more and with this being the theme of my trip, I cannot wait to get going.
It may only be November but I feel that my journey has already begun.
As my next blog will not be out until early January, I would like to wish you all a very Merry and Peaceful Christmas.
Deborah
I was watching a DVD recently of the glorious Blackadder Fourth series and the final
scene was for me, one of the best comedy sketches ever written. As Captain Blackadder's many hilarious attempts to get out of the war by faking madness fails, the realisation finally dawns on him and his men that there is no way of getting out of the trenches. The whistle blows and as they go over the top in a barrage of gunfire, they morph into fields of blood-red poppies.
This most moving of scenes and using comedy to depict the senseless slaughter can be an effective way to bring home the madness of war. The war artists and poets at that time also used different and ground breaking methods to interpret the futile carnage.
My theme for this trip is art and artists of each country that I travel through and my first stop after leaving England will be the small town of Ypres in Belgium. A place of significance in World War One, as this was where the war became industrialised with the first use of gas. The invasion was stopped in its tracks in Ypres, culminating in slaughter on an unprecendented scale. Thousands died for a few hundred yards of ground, only to lose it again a few days later.
As with all wars, the government created official war artists to portray the propoganda. In earlier times, painting had depicted the glory, nationalism and heroics of the battlefield but a small band of exciting, influential artists from the legendary , London Slade School of Art, such as Paul Nash, Mark Gertler, Richard Nevinson and Stanley Spenser, used innovative techniques to interpret the war in a different way. They wanted to show us the human face of war, its pain: its waste. Here was, 'a crisis of brilliance' as the title of David Haycock's book states and they became the Futurists and Bohemians of the twentieth century.
Atmospheric landscape paintings of 'No-Mans Land' by Paul Nash for example, used his talent as a former landscape artist to develop his painting into a futuristic and mono-toned style. Not for him the blood and guts of trench warfare, instead rendering the destruction and desolation of the moonlight, cratered battlefield, using the new vortice style of painting, then fashionable with a new breed of more abstract and expressionist French artists of the time, and just as powerful. The 'Merry-Go-Round' painting by Mark Gertler was another.
In contrast to Nash, Gertler's 'The Merry-Go-Round' used, flat, bold colours in the surrealistic style. The uniformed soldiers, sailors and civilians are posed sitting stiffly upright in regimented rows, astride identical wooden horses of the merry-go-round. No horror or gory scenes here but with mouths agape in silent screams, the endless revolving door effect, 'this blaze of violent mechanical rotation'as D.H. Lawrence lauded it, illustrates the futility of trench warfare. It is one of the most potent anti war paintings of modern times.
That was the brilliance of this small band of influential and innovative group of artists, who brought home the horrors to those who wanted to glorify the war.
And none more so than one of my favourite war artists, Stanley Spenser.
I recently visited the Spenser Memorial Chapel at Burghclere near Newbury. Here is where Spenser painted one of the most iconic war memorials. Due to his religious and sensitive personality, as well as his pastoral upbringing, his war paintings, using his unique aerial viewpoint, and his familiar, distorted, cartoon-like figures, were based on the dual themes of redemption and hope by depicting the mundane, everyday life of the soldier.
I was surprised how modest and insignificant this single storey building was and being set back from the road, I nearly missed it as I drove by. Three walls in the tiny, square chapel (or the 'Holy Box'as Spenser affectionately called it) painted from floor to ceiling (Hampshire's own Sistine Chapel - Spenser)reflect his life as an orderly in the war, often painting scenes of bed changing, or collecting empty tea urns to scrubbing hospital floors. But the dominant scene is the 'Redemption' painting covering the end wall of the chapel. Strewn with piles of white, wooden crosses and with soldiers of opposing sides emerging from their graves to greet their dead comrades and laying their crossess at the feet of a diminutive Christ figure at the top of the painting, is an awe inspiring sight and absolutely breath taking. This more reflective theme for me, is more powerful than seeing images of horrific carnage. It is a truly magnificant painting.
In the way that Spenser used more innocent scenes to interpret the war, Wilfred Owen was the opposite. One of the foremost poets of WW1, he used vivid words and phrases to illustrate the horrors of the trenches. In is acclaimed poem,'Dulce et Decorum Est'he describes in graphic detail the effects of gas on a soldier who, with hands numb with cold and shaking with fear, fumbles to put on his gas mask... phrases such as....'obscene as cancer'......'if you could hear the blood come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs'...'he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning'. And then ending the poem with those immortal lines;
'My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desporate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et Decorum Est Pro patria mori' (it is sweet and right to die for one's country)
Wilfred Owen died aged just twenty five, one week before the end of the war. According to historians, his mother received the telegram while the neighbours were partying in the street outside, celebrating the armistice.
During this most reflective of months, it was good to reunite with my love of art once more and with this being the theme of my trip, I cannot wait to get going.
It may only be November but I feel that my journey has already begun.
As my next blog will not be out until early January, I would like to wish you all a very Merry and Peaceful Christmas.
Deborah
Sunday, 31 October 2010
'the times, they are a changing' (Bob Dylan)
'..You will not meet,
the Cyclops or fierce Poseidon
Unless you carry them in your soul,
Unless your soul sets them in your path.'(C.P.Cavafy)
Hurling pieces of old furniture,pots and pans and other assorted rubbish into an ever filling skip while clearing out my father's garden shed and garage recently, gave me a huge sense of satisfaction. This de-cluttering of our lives is something we have all done from time to time, especially when we move house or flat. And aren't we amazed at what has been stored up over the years!
But this de-cluttering can also apply to ourselves as people. The reasons I chose to do this trip were many:for adventure, a challenge,the joy of travel and seeing exciting new places, meeting different people and understanding different cultures;all those things, but also to change as a person. There is simply no point in doing this trip if I am not prepared to allow it to change me in some way. A trip like this should do just that. But you have to allow it to and sometimes it means breaking down some of the old barriers, built up from years of working, living and other influences, as we go about our daily lives. And already, even in preparing for this trip, I am aware of subtle changes in myself.
Being somewhat entrenched in my ways, I was going to do this journey without taking mobile phones or computers. I was intending to rely on using snail mail and internet cafes or WI FI outlets (if I could find them)in towns or cities. The rather romantic notion, where I thought the trip would perhaps be more 'real' if I didn't take any new fangled technology with me, was reinforced by telling myself that I could manage and who needs it anyway, as a convincing excuse. My love of reading also meant that I had to decide how much limited space I could give to taking any books. And if I didn't take any then how would I manage, without spending a fortune on buying books for long plane or train journeys.
Determined I was not going to give in to technology, I have just downloaded tens of free books on my recently acquired IPhone! Deciding that my Luddite ways had to go, I persuaded myself to get one. And I'm glad I did. I can now download various applications, that include, languages, directions, bookings, any internet query, email friends, send an instant photo (if I havn't got my real camera to hand)and ..Oh! the possibilities are endless!.Expensive, yes, but worth it just for my piece of mind. To be able to get all this information without the trauma of traipsing around a city or town after 50 or so miles of exhausting cycling,just to find an internet cafe or outlet, is worth every penny.
But thinking about how I may have betrayed my original ideas about how I felt with taking technology with me, I was reminded of what a good friend had said to me recently. 'It doesn't matter how you do this trip, there are no rules, it's your trip.'And she was right. I can put this journey together in any way I want to:in a way that I feel comfortable.
So already my mind is opening up to new ideas and possibilities, perhaps something that wasn't my strongest habit in the past. I have alsways been very single minded and while good in some ways, it can also make you blinkered.
What I want most out of this trip is to come home with a more open mind and different attitudes. Do we have to go around the world to do this? Probably not, but it's a great way to find out!
Bye for now
Deborah
the Cyclops or fierce Poseidon
Unless you carry them in your soul,
Unless your soul sets them in your path.'(C.P.Cavafy)
Hurling pieces of old furniture,pots and pans and other assorted rubbish into an ever filling skip while clearing out my father's garden shed and garage recently, gave me a huge sense of satisfaction. This de-cluttering of our lives is something we have all done from time to time, especially when we move house or flat. And aren't we amazed at what has been stored up over the years!
But this de-cluttering can also apply to ourselves as people. The reasons I chose to do this trip were many:for adventure, a challenge,the joy of travel and seeing exciting new places, meeting different people and understanding different cultures;all those things, but also to change as a person. There is simply no point in doing this trip if I am not prepared to allow it to change me in some way. A trip like this should do just that. But you have to allow it to and sometimes it means breaking down some of the old barriers, built up from years of working, living and other influences, as we go about our daily lives. And already, even in preparing for this trip, I am aware of subtle changes in myself.
Being somewhat entrenched in my ways, I was going to do this journey without taking mobile phones or computers. I was intending to rely on using snail mail and internet cafes or WI FI outlets (if I could find them)in towns or cities. The rather romantic notion, where I thought the trip would perhaps be more 'real' if I didn't take any new fangled technology with me, was reinforced by telling myself that I could manage and who needs it anyway, as a convincing excuse. My love of reading also meant that I had to decide how much limited space I could give to taking any books. And if I didn't take any then how would I manage, without spending a fortune on buying books for long plane or train journeys.
Determined I was not going to give in to technology, I have just downloaded tens of free books on my recently acquired IPhone! Deciding that my Luddite ways had to go, I persuaded myself to get one. And I'm glad I did. I can now download various applications, that include, languages, directions, bookings, any internet query, email friends, send an instant photo (if I havn't got my real camera to hand)and ..Oh! the possibilities are endless!.Expensive, yes, but worth it just for my piece of mind. To be able to get all this information without the trauma of traipsing around a city or town after 50 or so miles of exhausting cycling,just to find an internet cafe or outlet, is worth every penny.
But thinking about how I may have betrayed my original ideas about how I felt with taking technology with me, I was reminded of what a good friend had said to me recently. 'It doesn't matter how you do this trip, there are no rules, it's your trip.'And she was right. I can put this journey together in any way I want to:in a way that I feel comfortable.
So already my mind is opening up to new ideas and possibilities, perhaps something that wasn't my strongest habit in the past. I have alsways been very single minded and while good in some ways, it can also make you blinkered.
What I want most out of this trip is to come home with a more open mind and different attitudes. Do we have to go around the world to do this? Probably not, but it's a great way to find out!
Bye for now
Deborah
Friday, 1 October 2010
Just a Phrase I'm Going Through
Looking out the window at this claggy, October weather, where I have been stuck indoors for a few days, got me thinking about that wonderful comedy sketch of Rowan Atkinson's, where he had returned from travelling abroad to meet up with some foreign noble and his side kick, Baldrick, asks him,
'So, my Lord, were you fluent?'
To which Rowan's character replies in that familiar superior tone,
'Yes thank you Baldrick, were were both very fluent; him in his language and I in mine.'
I told myself that if I did a trip like this, I would set myself the challenge of learning some basic words and sentences of the language of each country I am travelling through, to communicate and engage with local communities. So I bought some language CD's - you know the sort - they guarentee you will be able to have a full blown, philosphical and intellectual conversation with the locals within one hour of listening to them. The sort that is built around a cheesy scenario and cringingly marketed as, 'unique, entertaining with a fun storyline.'
In this case, the storyline is about a man and a woman who meet on a plane and they get chatting. The man leans over to say hello in English and the woman suddenly decides that he needs to learn a language! And being the geeky, smarty pants that he is, he manages to chat up the air hostess in fluent Greek, or which ever country the plane happens to be going to (all the CD's follow exactly the same senario! - you just get it in a different langauge each time)as well as order three different types of wine by the glass, bottle, half bottle; ask what time it is; say he doesn't want to buy a Ferrari but does want to buy a Lamborghini (although how that would interest the air hostess, beats me) and who just happens to have sat in the seat next to a seven language, linguist who was willing to teach him all this; and all in the time it takes between fastening their seatbelts, to the plane touching down. Phew! Fast work!
Well, I'm not quite that quick, but ignoring the syrupy, holiday style backdrop, these CD's are very good. At the moment, I'm learning French, Italian, Greek and Turkish. I already know a few words of Farsi and I will spend the rest of the winter months learning one or two more holiday phrases in other languages. Phrases such as, Where are the toilets?; Where is the bus stop? Where can I park my bike? How to order a meal and most importantly for me - Where is the ATM?. I've just spent a lot of money on these CD's only to find out that the word for ATM in Greek is - ATM! Of course, it takes me far longer than the hour stated to learn all these words but I am getting there and enjoying it, and with lots of practise, my accent is improving all the time. 'A.T.M. A.T.M. A.T.M.
I have been visiting hole in the wall's a lot lately, mainly for shopping sprees for all the bits and pieces I will need. Especially for my bike. On a long ride such as this one, it's important to keep my bike up to scratch and tweaked to its optimum performance level. So I am taking 'Hughie' (the nickname for my Paul Hewitt Cheviot SE tourer) in for a complete overhaul this month to get him in shape. A visit to Paul Hewitt's shop in Preston, where I originally had the bike made for me, is a long way and quite expensive, but worth it as I know Paul's mechanics will do a good job.
Not far away from Preston, is Wigan. I have a talk to give at Wigan Photographic Society the same day, so I can take the bike in and deliver the talk all in one journey. The talks and courses are keeping me very busy and I'm travelling from one side of the country to the other but, as always, I'm enjoying every minute. So the work is going very well but my thoughts are dominated by the trip.
As Hughie is going to have an overhaul, I thought I'd better get myself sorted with a vaccination programme. I paid a visit to the doctors to get some information about the, what, when, where and how my vaccination schedule would take shape and was seen by the nurse who sat me down to discuss the details. After listing all the countries I would be going through, she then told me in that reassuring voice that only nurses have, that, yes, I would in fact need one or two.
Fourteen actually! The list reads like an inventory of ancient Greek philosophers!
Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B (x3) Rabies (x3) Tetanus, Malaria, Diphtheria, Typhoid,
Poliosomethingorother and Japanese Encephalitis.
And worse still - not a sugar lump in site! All needles. So after picking me up off the floor, she assured me that I shouldn't worry as the side effects were only, 'an aching arm, dizziness and a high temperature!'
My first vaccination starts in a weeks time, after which I will then have to go to the doctor complaining of an aching arm, dizziness and a high temperature and can I have something for it please.
Well, this October, it will be more shopping for the trip, sorting out the bike bits, more reading and research and more planning. For now though, it's back to the Greek.
Adio
'So, my Lord, were you fluent?'
To which Rowan's character replies in that familiar superior tone,
'Yes thank you Baldrick, were were both very fluent; him in his language and I in mine.'
I told myself that if I did a trip like this, I would set myself the challenge of learning some basic words and sentences of the language of each country I am travelling through, to communicate and engage with local communities. So I bought some language CD's - you know the sort - they guarentee you will be able to have a full blown, philosphical and intellectual conversation with the locals within one hour of listening to them. The sort that is built around a cheesy scenario and cringingly marketed as, 'unique, entertaining with a fun storyline.'
In this case, the storyline is about a man and a woman who meet on a plane and they get chatting. The man leans over to say hello in English and the woman suddenly decides that he needs to learn a language! And being the geeky, smarty pants that he is, he manages to chat up the air hostess in fluent Greek, or which ever country the plane happens to be going to (all the CD's follow exactly the same senario! - you just get it in a different langauge each time)as well as order three different types of wine by the glass, bottle, half bottle; ask what time it is; say he doesn't want to buy a Ferrari but does want to buy a Lamborghini (although how that would interest the air hostess, beats me) and who just happens to have sat in the seat next to a seven language, linguist who was willing to teach him all this; and all in the time it takes between fastening their seatbelts, to the plane touching down. Phew! Fast work!
Well, I'm not quite that quick, but ignoring the syrupy, holiday style backdrop, these CD's are very good. At the moment, I'm learning French, Italian, Greek and Turkish. I already know a few words of Farsi and I will spend the rest of the winter months learning one or two more holiday phrases in other languages. Phrases such as, Where are the toilets?; Where is the bus stop? Where can I park my bike? How to order a meal and most importantly for me - Where is the ATM?. I've just spent a lot of money on these CD's only to find out that the word for ATM in Greek is - ATM! Of course, it takes me far longer than the hour stated to learn all these words but I am getting there and enjoying it, and with lots of practise, my accent is improving all the time. 'A.T.M. A.T.M. A.T.M.
I have been visiting hole in the wall's a lot lately, mainly for shopping sprees for all the bits and pieces I will need. Especially for my bike. On a long ride such as this one, it's important to keep my bike up to scratch and tweaked to its optimum performance level. So I am taking 'Hughie' (the nickname for my Paul Hewitt Cheviot SE tourer) in for a complete overhaul this month to get him in shape. A visit to Paul Hewitt's shop in Preston, where I originally had the bike made for me, is a long way and quite expensive, but worth it as I know Paul's mechanics will do a good job.
Not far away from Preston, is Wigan. I have a talk to give at Wigan Photographic Society the same day, so I can take the bike in and deliver the talk all in one journey. The talks and courses are keeping me very busy and I'm travelling from one side of the country to the other but, as always, I'm enjoying every minute. So the work is going very well but my thoughts are dominated by the trip.
As Hughie is going to have an overhaul, I thought I'd better get myself sorted with a vaccination programme. I paid a visit to the doctors to get some information about the, what, when, where and how my vaccination schedule would take shape and was seen by the nurse who sat me down to discuss the details. After listing all the countries I would be going through, she then told me in that reassuring voice that only nurses have, that, yes, I would in fact need one or two.
Fourteen actually! The list reads like an inventory of ancient Greek philosophers!
Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B (x3) Rabies (x3) Tetanus, Malaria, Diphtheria, Typhoid,
Poliosomethingorother and Japanese Encephalitis.
And worse still - not a sugar lump in site! All needles. So after picking me up off the floor, she assured me that I shouldn't worry as the side effects were only, 'an aching arm, dizziness and a high temperature!'
My first vaccination starts in a weeks time, after which I will then have to go to the doctor complaining of an aching arm, dizziness and a high temperature and can I have something for it please.
Well, this October, it will be more shopping for the trip, sorting out the bike bits, more reading and research and more planning. For now though, it's back to the Greek.
Adio
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Serendipity
Happy September
I want to mention serendipity. As with the three princes in Horace Walpole's 'The Three Princes of Serendip', I, too, have had my fair share recently, of making fortunate discoveries by accident. Since deciding to do this trip, my emotions had flipped between sheer joy and excitement, to moments of sheer terror (usually in the small hours just before dawn). When that happens, or if I come across difficult times, I fall back on a comforting thought - something will always turn up!
One example of this serendipity was when I recently met a fellow cyclist called Astrid.
It all started with my friend's mother! Knowing about my proposed trip, she told my friend about a woman cyclist from Bristol (she couldn't remember her name) who had just given an interview about her recent round the world cycling adventure for local radio. My friend naturally told me.
'Fantastic!', I said and completely ignored it.
Some weeks later, I went to see a talk by Alistair Humphreys, who some years ago spent four years cycling round the world on his own adventure. Afterwards, I put a few questions to him and he happened to mention Astrid, a Bristol woman who had just come back from a world trip! It was quite clear this was the same woman that my friend's mother had spoken of some weeks back. So I got in touch with Astrid and we met for lunch one Sunday a couple of weeks ago.
Meeting Astrid was one of those fortunate events. Not only was she a woman of similar age to me but because she had been on such a recent cycling trip, her information was very up to date. I have read a good number of books of travel cyclists and been to see a few talks by inspiring speakers who have done the same thing, but the problem was that their journeys took place many years ago and I really wanted more up to date information. So it was very fortunate indeed to have met up with Astrid. In fact, if she is available, she has told me she would like to cycle with me for a while when I leave from the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Serendipity! Something always turns up.
This was again evident a few weeks later at a college in Oxford, where I teach photography. One of the reasons I chose to travel by bicycle was to travel slowly, soak up the atmosphere of places and to meet local communities. In Oxford, one of my fellow tutors told me about an organisation called Servas. This volunteer run organisation promotes understanding, tolerance and peace between countries and sets up registered hosts (local people who are willing to put travellers up for a couple of nights in their homes to help them understand the true nature of the country by staying in the community). I must admit I had never heard of them before, so I have registered with them and will wait to see what happens. I must attend an informal interview with a local representative and have passport photos ready and get character reference letters . So now, let me see, who will I contact for those....?!
So, it's all been very good news but I am sitll worried about one or two countries. No, not about the 'crickets on a stick' as mentioned in my last blog, or having to cycle through one or two of the more 'slighty dodgy' landscapes. No, the country I am most worried about is Italy! I love art and I keep thinking to myself, 'am I ever going to get out of Florence'! There will be so many artistic delights round every corner that I won't know where to start. I shall be excitedly scampering around from one dazzling, awe inspiring vision to the next, like a frenzied hen! I can only imagine future correspondence with loved ones going something like this......
'Debbie, it's been three years now since you set off - where are you now, India, China, Malaysia?'
'Nope, still in Florence'
Well of course, that's just Florence. Then there is Rome, Greece, Turkey and visiting the ancient city of Pergamon and of Alexander's personal court painter, Apelles, and his court sculptor, Lysippos, who in that ancient Greek, Hellenistic age, influenced later stages of western art.. and then there is Demosthenes, another influential ancient Greek sculptor, who brought a new dimension of expressive power to Greek portraiture... and then there is......... well, you will just have to wait to read the book!
catch up with you next month
bye for now
Debbie
I want to mention serendipity. As with the three princes in Horace Walpole's 'The Three Princes of Serendip', I, too, have had my fair share recently, of making fortunate discoveries by accident. Since deciding to do this trip, my emotions had flipped between sheer joy and excitement, to moments of sheer terror (usually in the small hours just before dawn). When that happens, or if I come across difficult times, I fall back on a comforting thought - something will always turn up!
One example of this serendipity was when I recently met a fellow cyclist called Astrid.
It all started with my friend's mother! Knowing about my proposed trip, she told my friend about a woman cyclist from Bristol (she couldn't remember her name) who had just given an interview about her recent round the world cycling adventure for local radio. My friend naturally told me.
'Fantastic!', I said and completely ignored it.
Some weeks later, I went to see a talk by Alistair Humphreys, who some years ago spent four years cycling round the world on his own adventure. Afterwards, I put a few questions to him and he happened to mention Astrid, a Bristol woman who had just come back from a world trip! It was quite clear this was the same woman that my friend's mother had spoken of some weeks back. So I got in touch with Astrid and we met for lunch one Sunday a couple of weeks ago.
Meeting Astrid was one of those fortunate events. Not only was she a woman of similar age to me but because she had been on such a recent cycling trip, her information was very up to date. I have read a good number of books of travel cyclists and been to see a few talks by inspiring speakers who have done the same thing, but the problem was that their journeys took place many years ago and I really wanted more up to date information. So it was very fortunate indeed to have met up with Astrid. In fact, if she is available, she has told me she would like to cycle with me for a while when I leave from the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Serendipity! Something always turns up.
This was again evident a few weeks later at a college in Oxford, where I teach photography. One of the reasons I chose to travel by bicycle was to travel slowly, soak up the atmosphere of places and to meet local communities. In Oxford, one of my fellow tutors told me about an organisation called Servas. This volunteer run organisation promotes understanding, tolerance and peace between countries and sets up registered hosts (local people who are willing to put travellers up for a couple of nights in their homes to help them understand the true nature of the country by staying in the community). I must admit I had never heard of them before, so I have registered with them and will wait to see what happens. I must attend an informal interview with a local representative and have passport photos ready and get character reference letters . So now, let me see, who will I contact for those....?!
So, it's all been very good news but I am sitll worried about one or two countries. No, not about the 'crickets on a stick' as mentioned in my last blog, or having to cycle through one or two of the more 'slighty dodgy' landscapes. No, the country I am most worried about is Italy! I love art and I keep thinking to myself, 'am I ever going to get out of Florence'! There will be so many artistic delights round every corner that I won't know where to start. I shall be excitedly scampering around from one dazzling, awe inspiring vision to the next, like a frenzied hen! I can only imagine future correspondence with loved ones going something like this......
'Debbie, it's been three years now since you set off - where are you now, India, China, Malaysia?'
'Nope, still in Florence'
Well of course, that's just Florence. Then there is Rome, Greece, Turkey and visiting the ancient city of Pergamon and of Alexander's personal court painter, Apelles, and his court sculptor, Lysippos, who in that ancient Greek, Hellenistic age, influenced later stages of western art.. and then there is Demosthenes, another influential ancient Greek sculptor, who brought a new dimension of expressive power to Greek portraiture... and then there is......... well, you will just have to wait to read the book!
catch up with you next month
bye for now
Debbie
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