a bit of culture on a sunday afternoon

walking the dome

What to do on a Sunday afternoon after the dog has had her muddy walk in the country?

That was the dilemma facing other half and I on the sunniest day of the week thus far. Over lunch I pored over the options for exhibitions and galleries in London. Manet? Tate Modern? White cube?

Each had good reasons for rejection ...........too busy.............exhibition that I wanted to see not yet open..............not something OH would enjoy................... I was not getting enthusiastic vibes for a trip to London. Going by train to London at the weekend has less appeal to those who do it every day in the working week.

Then I remembered.........we haven't taken the sky-ride over the Thames. I half heartedly mentioned it to OH and before I knew it we were off on a mission to ride in the air on a sunny afternoon. No trains required; we would go by car. We checked it was open and within half an hour were parking the car underneath the dome on the Greenwich peninsula. We mused over the NCP parking meters that need £13 in pound coins on a weekday. Who ever has that many pound coins handy?

I am ashamed to say that I have never been to the dome before. Not liking loud music I can't do pop concerts, and have never had good reason to visit. But here it was, right in front of me, with a group of tiny people battling the wind, climbing over the roof for the 'millennium dome experience'.

On we walked past buildings that looked like they have popped up from somewhere on the continent.

Peninsula architecture

We arrived at the cable car station.

Just one thing missing. The cable cars.

Nice birch trees though.

In the half hour since we left home the rides had been cancelled due to high winds.

So we took a stroll down to the river bank and admired the view. OH remarked that the view looked quite rural. I can only assume that he was referring to the reeds on the river bank. Or that possibly he needs new glasses. But we did get to see a bit of art in the form of a giant metal sculpture.

sculpture 

On from there to take a stroll through the dome. What a soul-less experience that is in daylight. One chain restaurant after another. Tex-mex versus pizza versus steak. Or if you really can't decide go to Jimmy's, where they have everything.

covering all options for the indecisive diner

We explored Nissan world with interactive badges. Almost cultural if you are under 10 years old.

not quite in control.....

OH drove and spectacularly crashed a car into the safety barrier ( at 30 mph) , and we didn't book a test drive in an electric car.

After all those new and exciting experiences it was time for a cup of tea. And home for a quiet Sunday evening reading the papers. Next time I shall go straight for a London gallery, train or not. But at least I can now say that I have been to the millennium dome, even if it is 13 years later than most people.

A book about Burma - Myanmar

The snow has had some benefits; stuck in for 2 days I have had nothing better to do than make a book about my recent trip to Burma in order to keep my other half happy. I am very behind with holiday books, mainly because I don't really enjoy making them. Too much effort remembering names of places and editing images to the right colour space for print. Japan has been top of my list for 2 years now, but the information I needed to make the book wasn't available in my snowy abode, so I got stuck in with Myanmar.

These are the holiday snaps. Next I can work on the offerings project, which I shall enjoy much more.

So here is a link to the book. But don't get excited and think you will see me or other half in action......... you won't!

Burma by Caroline Fraser | Make Your Own Book

for anonymous

unbearable lightness © Caroline Fraser 2013

I have been struggling all week with the news from Delhi about the rape of the un-named girl who has now died.

I have been at a loss to work out why this particular event, of all the bad things going on in the world, has haunted me and created a feeling of complete powerlessness to do anything about it.

Thank you then, to Nilanjana Roy, a Delhi journalist, for her blog article 'for anonymous' , also published in today's Sunday paper. She eloquently describes why we might be feeling this way....... because the girl involved was not trying to be brave or following a cause.............she was simply going about her daily life.

May she rest in peace.