Tokyo to London (HND to LHR)
Blog
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Saturday, 3rd May
Tokyo: early lap of Ueno lake, Taito Game Station, Ueno park, Tokyo National Museum
Spot-billed 
Little Grebe 
Taiko no tatsujin: found a great arcade almost next door to the hotel with an English version of the game and in a slightly less thunderous corner …
Fish stick Woodcut exhibition
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Friday, 2 May 2025
Hokusai museum
Sumida Hokusai museum 
Downpour 
Downpour 
Giant gyoza! -
Thursday, 1st May
Kyoto to Tokyo
Nozomi
Street food in Ueno Park
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Wednesday, 30th April
Bus to Takao and Gingoji temple
Back in Kyoto
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Tuesday, 29th April
Early walk by river, Daikakuji temple complex, cactus garden, kaiseki lunch, jazz café
Teal 
Great White Egret 
Black Kite 
Large-billed Crow 
Widgeon Daikakuji temple
Turtle Dove 
Bonsai garden (for JB)
Bonsai heaven (for JB) Kaiseki lunch
Vegetarian Kaiseki Jazz café
The menu cover 
Vitavox Klipschorn speaker 
Garrard 401s Jazz café Yamatoya -
Monday, 28th April
Osaka Expo 2025
Unfinished! 
Osaka speciality – takoyaki 
Konbini okomiyaki 
Who knew Jeremy Corbyn smokes a pipe? -
Sunday, 27th April
Nijo castle and Nishiki market
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Saturday, 26th April
Nansen-ji temple complex
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Friday, 25th April
Ryoanji temple and stone garden
Large-billed Crow -
Thursday, 24th April
Hike from Kurama to Kibune
Monkey! 
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Wednesday, 23rd April
Kyoto National Museum 
Walking to the exhibition 
Second trip to the arcade. Found an English-language cabinet … 
Kyoto-style okonomiyaki 
Shrimp and veg -
Tuesday, 22nd April
The lovely AirBnB host family 
Prawn and veg tempura from the local seafood shop 
The vast Kyoto station 
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Monday, 21st April
Sanjusangen-do 
1,001 statues es of The Buddha 
Coke a Temple sponsor? 
White-cheeked Starling -
Kyoto, Friday, 18th April
?? 
Okinomiyaki preparation 
Shrine / Samurai helmet in my living room 
Japanese Wagtail 
Japanese White-eye -
17th April, Kyoto
Kenninen-hi 
Taiko No Tatsujin 
Managed a Clear at Expert level! 
Traditional and modern combining 
Kamo river 
A new meaning to ‘moving house’. -
Japan 2025
15-16 April: London to Kyoto
Mighty Shinkansen 
Even mightier Fuji-San 
Digs 
Mattress and tatami mats 
Noodles and Kirin -
River ride with Michael
Along the river (Avon) towpath, under the suspension bridge, through Pill, over the motorway bridge and back along the other side. Lovely bright morning.
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Weekend chilling at Elaine’s
No sign of the sun for days then this treat:
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Brighton with Anne
We boldly set out to join the local Park Run only to find that it was cancelled due to the wild weather. It was blowing a serious gale so we instead did our own shorter version up and down the sea front. A modest 3.1km on Strava …
Bright blue sky on Sunday, though a cold wind still blowing at over 30km/h. Along the front, past the Upside-down house. Eggs Benedict for brunch then searched for pebbles with holes and watched some acrobatic kite surfers.
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Grigory Sokolov, piano
By great good luck, this concert by one of the major Russian pianists coincided with my stay here. According to the programme notes, Sokolov gives an annual performance in Valencia and, judging by the reaction of the audience at the end, he has an enthusiastic following, in spite of the fact that his only concession to applause was a short, stiff bow, reminding me somewhat of Dylan’s detached stage presence. Of average height, portly and rather stiff, as it his suit was too tight under the arms, with perfectly permed, shoulder-length white hair to back and sides, bald on top, he reminded me of Carl, the aimiable maître d’ in Rick café in Casablanca, but without the charm.
The setting was the extraordinary Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències which looks like a giant concrete version of Darth Vader’s helmet, looming up as you approach. The auditorium is large, but not enormous, and somewhat austere. The acoustics are excellent, especially as several numbers went from fff to ppp, with the quietest notes clearly audible.
The programme consisted of pieces by Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann. The first two were new to me. The Beethoven is a set of variations with a Mozart feel and struck me as a minor work. It was not clear where each variation started and ended, so the overall structure was confusing, at least, to me. After a brief pause he launched into the Brahms with lots of light and shade, power and gentleness, and with some beautiful, singing melodies.
However, for me, the recital really came alive in the last work, Schumann’s Kreisleriana, one of the most challenging in the classical repertoire. The programme notes say he wrote the 8 movements in 4 days! and later called it his favourite work. However, when he proudly presented a copy to Chopin, the latter was apparently uninterested, merely making a casual comment about the design of the cover …
The movements are strongly contrasted, going from volcanic to gentle and back, the final touch being a very quiet, perfectly placed bass note. The massive technical demands were taken easily, of course, with minimum show and maximum expression.
After a couple of curtain calls he returned for 6 separate encores! I didn’t recognise all of them, though I think there was one by Scriabin – the only outlier in a heavily Romantic set. Two, in particular, a Brahms Intermezzo and a short Chopin Prelude, showed his range of emotion, power and control to perfection.
However, although I had a good seat, in an auditorium of that size the piano is rather distant. Add to that Sokolov’s aloofness, and the result was an impressive performance but not an outstanding occasion.
I should add that, in contrast to mine, the local paper gave an ecstatic review
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Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
Stage results
Race resultsShort (92km) last stage of the 5-day Tour of Valencia, ending in Valencia city. Second win of the week for Fabio Jakobsen, the Dutch rider who suffered appalling injuries to his face when fellow-countryman, Dylan Groenewegen, blatantly ran him into the barriers during a mass sprint finish in the Tour of Poland in 2020. He’s clearly making an impressive comeback, beating some top sprinters like Viviani, Kristoff and Trentin to the line. Coincidentally, Groenewegen also won two stages in the almost concurrent Saudi Tour. Some day soon they will presumably meet again …
Footnote: these photos were grabbed from TV coverage and procyclingstats.com as my own shots of the finish are – annoyingly – still stuck in the camera, but I thought it worth posting a rather thin first version, if only for the positive Jakobsen story.
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Valencia 2022: 7 February to …
When walking through the park and checking out some of the dramatic trees, like this gigantic Australian Fig, I picked up the distant sound of African drumming coming from a small group, led by a seriously strong djembé player:
Just moved to new digs: third floor, quite smart, plenty of light, fully tooled up (even with a jacuzzi!), decor a sort of ethnic/Ikea fusion, on a wide avenue on the edge of the area called Russafa, 5 minutes from where Catherine, Satch and girls will be st`aying from Sunday. Bar/restaurant on the ground flour with plenty of tapas and a €9.95 3-course lunch menu ….
Top left …
Front view
Back view
Changing the subject completely, I learned (with a little help from Google) the knack of drawing the famous Penrose triangle, the intriguing and impossible shape inspired by MC Escher and drawn by Roger Penrose, the Nobel Laureate. A couple that I made earlier:
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Parliamentary uproar: 3 February
It may not compare with the continuing Westminster circus but there has been uproar in the Spanish parliament. The ruling coalition was trying to get it’s labour reform bill through but was faced with very tight numbers. On the day of the vote, 2 members of the UPN party switched at the last moment – in defiance of the whip – to voting no instead of yes. On top of which, an opposition party (PP) member, by mistake, voted yes instead of no! The net result was that the bill passed by a single vote. The unfortunate PP deputy first claimed there was a computer error (he voted remotely, not in the chamber), then that he has been suffering from gastroenteritis. Both of which alibis were seen to be as convincing as the famous “I didn’t know it was a party …” And the rogue UPN members were accused of having been bought …
Context: the reforms are necessary conditions for Spain to receive €12 billions of pandemic recovery funds from the EU.
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Valencia 2022: 25 January to 6 February
Tuesday, 25 January: Luz to Alcocebre
It’s a long way round to get into Spain, considering that the border is only some 20km south of Luz, but it’s always a thrill to emerge from the Bielsa tunnel onto the long sweeping Spanish roads.
Got to Alcocebre around 18:00 to stay with my long-time friends, Ángel and Elsa, and their son, Javiér. We haven’t seen each other since they came through Luz in August 2019, so it’s a pleasure to get together again. We met in 1990 in Holland when Ángel and I were working at the EPO. They stayed there longer than I did and are now in the process of moving to Valencia, living temporarily in their beach flat 2 hours north on the coast in Alcocebre while the new flat, in a superb location on the bank of the old river, is being renovated.
Wednesday, 26 January: Alcocebre
Los velociclistas
View from the flatÁngel and I went for a local bike ride through the country lanes: fields of artichokes, and oranges and mandarines everywhere on the ground.
Thursday, 27th
With Jávi
Alcocebre beach
CarajilloStarted off with a short run along the beach path with Javiér, enjoying the rhythm of having the same stride. Then Ángel and I put the bikes in the back of his car and drove to Bencássim, where we left the car and rode back to Alcocebre along the former railway track. It’s a popular route, complete with several tunnels and plenty of views of the sea. Also virtually flat all the way. This is the (partial) Strava report. We then changed and drove with Elsa in my car back to Benicássim for lunch. The Covid pass protocol was strictly applied in the restaurant, so it took 20 minutes for us all to get seated. Absolutely had to try the artichoke and squid paella! They also introduced me to Carajillo – rum heated with cinnamon, orange peel and sugar on the bottom, topped off with espresso in a shot glass. Rocket fuel!
Friday, 28th, Valencia
Fourth floor
Moving day to Valencia where my AirBnb rental starts. Again, we used 2 cars and Ángel guided me through the manic city traffic. First stop was the new flat to see the architect and project manager. It’s a major piece of work but which will give space, lilght and views over the city.
First floor
View from first floor
Maria, Elsa, RB, ÁngelMet the owner and got the keys for my flat – all straightforward. It is just inside the old city centre, which is a maze of narrow and short streets. The photos on AirBnB give a reasonable impression, apart from the fact that, although there are windows on 2 sides, it is a lot darker inside than it looks. Well renovated (including central heating) and fully equiped. For lunch we met up with their daughter, Maria, a physiotherapist working and living in Valencia. She also helped me sort out how to work the rental bikes that you can hire for short trips. More on this later …
Saturday 29th
Angel and Elsa left in the morning and very generously gave me the key to their secure underground parking. The closest café/restaurant is literally downstairs and they do a lunch menu for €7.50 – a tapa, like tortilla, to start, chicken paella for main dish, fruit/ flan/ice cream for desert. A definite winner!
Monday 31st
Jamón, jamón …
Dried fruit and nuts
Jamón, cheese, quince
Headed to the Central Market, justly famous for its spectacular glass-domed building and the huge range of food stalls. Found Marcona almonds and Malaga raisins (elsewhere called Moscatel), jamón and cheese …
Tuesday 1 February
Trip to La Albufera nature reserve, a major birding spot, 40km round trip. The route is almost entirely on separate bike paths, heading down the Turia gardens past the dramatically modernistic City of Arts and Sciences buildings and turning south along the coast. It turned out that the reserve was disappointing – not a great variety and the more interesting birds were a long way away. However, always good to see and hear Mediterranean species again, like Serin and Sardinian Warbler in trees and bushes, and Black-winged Stilts on the lagoons. The number of hunting Marsh Harriers was impressive, too. But … although the rental bikes are practical and easy to use they are very heavy, with solid tyres, no suspension and hard saddles, meaning that they are a bad choice for a longer ride.
Wednesday 2nd
Stayed local. Spent some time in the café on the little square reading. Finished The Siberian Dilemma, Martin Cruz Smith’s terrific recent novel in the Arkady Renko series, and started a highly recommended novel by Irene Vallejo called El Silbido del Arquero (which, I think, translates literally into The Archer’s Whistle, though that sounds disticnctly clunky) which will at any rated test my Spanish chops. After which, there is more from “Jay” who is still adding to her Phoenix Enigma series. Click here to see the whole impressive library shelf – and even pick up a free download.
Thursday 3rd
Morning run along the old bed of the Túria river. This was a real treat. In 1957 the original river flooded seriously, causing 81 deaths, at which point the city took the inspired decision to re-route it south of the city and convert the now dry river bed into an extended park, 12 km long, planted with trees, laid out with walking and bike paths, plus other sport installations. Brilliant!
Lunch on the square – fried fish plate with grilled artichokes, and a carajillo to finish …
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Tour de France
The route ran from Pau round to Bagnères, up the Tourmalet via la Mongie, down through Luz, then up to the finish at Luz Ardiden. David Gaudu was leading when they came through Luz but was caught on the final climb, with Pogačar beating Vingegaard and Carapaz to the line. Cav, surrounded by his Wolfpack Pretorian Guard, made the time cut.
Ineos train
Pogacar in Yellow
Nairoman
Froome
Cav
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Troumouse on e-bikes
Last year when Richard came to stay we rode the Tourmalet on e-bikes, so this year we switched to the Cirque de Troumouse. A beautiful day, fairly quiet once we left the Gavarnie road at Gèdre. We stopped at Soas for coffee then rode up to the cirque, appreciating the fact that the final, very steep and twisting section is now car-free.
On the way down we stopped again at the charming Soas café/restaurant for a delicious mushroom omelette. Back in Luz still with plenty of juice left in the batteries, and we finished off with home-prepared steak tartare – our best ever – and chips from the local take-away.
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Jazz – Oloron then Marciac
First time at the Oloron jazz festival where we (Pete, Jude, Sam, Richard) saw the Charly Rose trio – a local band that is getting national acclaim, followed by the well-known Robert Fonseca piano trio. The first set was fast and furious, navigating original and demanding material with confidence. The second was very accomplished but for me rather formulaic, and with too much “Are you having a good time? … “I can’t hear you …” from the stage.
In spite of Covid, the Marciac festival did go ahead, – albeit on the thin side, with fewer American or European bands than normal. Masks and distancing measures and the Pass Sanitaire required, and the town was much quieter than usual. The middle of the square where bands play throughout the afternoon was caged off, somewhat detracting from the atmosphere. Still, we met up there, sat for a while enjoying, among others, a meteoric alto player, whose name we didn’t get and who even did the Roland Kirk trick of playing 2 saxophones at once, skilfully harmonising the melody in thirds.
The main act, however, was the great Brad Mehldau playing later in the Chapiteau tent in his classic trio (Larry Grenadier on bass, the ever inventive Jeff Ballard on drums). A dazzling set, combining standards, Lennon and McCartney (And I Love Her), and original material. It started raining heavily half way through, so his choice of Here’s That Rainy Day as an encore raised a laugh!
I was staying, as usual, in the very pleasant and shady Camping du Lac, using the bike to get in and out of town, and – in the absence of the van – experimenting with sleeping in the car – a bit of a squeeze but fine for the odd night. Before the concert we ate, as custom demands, at the legendary Chez Cédric pop-up restaurant. Sam and I shared the epic shoulder of lamb, charred on the outside, pink in the middle …
All in all, a really memorable festival visit.
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One (amazing) Week In June
Heading back to France in the new left-hand drive car, leaving Elaine’s with the garden in full bloom and the pool warming up nicely:
First stop was Bristol and the Lambley Family, which coincided with Nikki’s birthday, then on to the Herne Hill crew, where we also caught up with George and Julia. Then to Hove and Anne and Rich. My thanks to all, as always, for wonderfully warm hospitality. I did catch up with Michael and Laurence in Bristol, where we went to the rehearsal studio for a jam – but none of us took any photos of the occasion …
The photo album of the week is here.
RB's journal 