Uncategorized – Page 2 – From Pyrenees to Pennines

Indian Friday: A ‘Free’ Day in Mysore

Time in London, time in Spain. One way or another, I’ve neglected Indian Friday for several weeks. Time to take over where I left off, reproducing verbatim the diary I kept during a month in India – rather a long time ago.

A ‘Free’ Day in Mysore

Tuesday 20th November.

Our free day. Laura and I had decided to go to the sandalwood and silk factories, but then it turned out so had Mark and Peter, and they had already engaged Snake, the driver who had brought them home the night before. Naturally, Snake soon produced his brother Kumar for our use, and we set off, insisting on the ride being metered. Once we arrived at the factory the brothers had of course come up with A Plan. Rs 500, and we were theirs for the day. Not a bad idea, considering all we wanted to do. So …after they’d warned us not to use the official shop – too expensive, they knew better places – in we went. Mark had to sign us in (Being tall, fair and a Good Sort of Chap he was obviously in charge.) with all the contact details we could think of.

BERJAYA — A busy roundabout in Mysore at rush hour

Then we were taken in by a Government Guide. He had his spiel and by gum he was going to stick to it. Questions were invariably met with ‘I will speak later’, and if we wandered away from some imaginary blue line we were instantly shepherded back: ‘Please!’

The factory was barely functioning because it’s just pre-season. Sadly, we weren’t allowed to take photos of the Dickensian scenes of clerks at desks in impossibly large dusty offices. The only real action was in a roomful of elderly men bundling up sticks of incense for marketing. Our officious guide warned us – and we believed correctly – that we shouldn’t be taken in by rickshaw drivers as anything not sold through Goverment agencies was likely to be highly diluted. So we went to the official shop. Verdict: it’s so bad it’s good.

Off to the Silk Emporium – not the factory as we had wanted: but after our last experience we didn’t care.

Then it was Chamundi Hill and the Sri Chamundeswari Temple. It’s about 12 km. from Mysore, and the theory is to walk with the faithful up the 1000 steps to the top. Kumar and Snake poo-pooed this idea and said we would do only the last 300. It turned out they were right. They dropped us off at Shiva’s bull, where like it or not you had to buy a flower garland to present, and receive a white bindi forehead marking. Laura and I declined the yellow holy oil. On the way up, we were beseiged by children, some of whom were beggars, but others just wanted to practice their English. At the top, there were massive queues for the temple, so we declined, and juggled with the usual bazaar which is an ever-present feature of tourist and holy sites. A funeral in progresss would in any case have limited our ability to sightsee.

Down we went, and Snake took Mark and Peter for lunch. Laura and I had asked to go to FabIndia. The clothes shop Kumar took us to wasn’t it, but it was excellent and we were sorry not to buy.

Lunch was at the Viceroy, which looked quite posh, much to Laura’s and my disappointment – we prefer spit and sawdust, But it was excellent, and cheap too. We only spent Rs. 250 a head on a variety of fresh and tasty chicken and veg. dishes and beer for the lads.

Then the Maharaja’s Palace. We engaged the services of yet another bossy guide, and I was fined RS. 20 (that’s about 25p) for smuggling my camera in. Peter paid it for me, but then Peter had smuggled his camera in and not been spotted. I did get to keep my camera though.

The guide regaled us with tales of past Maharajas, and the palace itself, and compared the many C-grade pictures with the Mona Lisa: ‘Look! The eyes follow you everywhere!’ Apparently the palace is the most beautiful place in the universe. Well, pretty good, but let’s not exaggerate here. He busily kept us in line, shooed away any tourists who had the temerity to listen in. Later, when allowed to use our cameras, he instructed us exactly where to stand to get the best shots.

Then the market. We found ourselves taken to a house where incense sticks were being made, and where we found Christine and Cindy too. We didn’t buy, and suddenly Mark and I had had enough, so Snake took us home, and Laura and Peter on for further shopping.

Dinner was a surprise for Simon. Cindy had booked a private upstairs room and we had a jolly evening sharing a final meal before we all went our separate ways the following morning.

PS. WP’s AI Assistant, in its wisdom, suggests the following tags for this post: photography; YouTube; diabetes; Detroit; Maldives …

A Quiet Moment Yesterday

… time for a refreshing Clara at the end of a morning in El Masnou.

For Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Last on the Card at Rebombori

A bit of a do, here in Premià this weekend. The gegants are out, lots of them. So although this single shot is Last in the Card, there may be more later, from Rebombori …

For Brian’s Last on the Card

Street lights in Spain

For this week’s Monochrome Madness, This week’s host Brian of Bushboy’s World has asked us to consider Street lights. I assembled a clutch of them, and realised that they all come from Spain.

The featured photo was taken one evening near our hotel in Seville. This next batch all come from Cádiz.

… and one of them is merely a shadow of a streetlight.

Off to Málaga now, just after Christmas.

Another one from Seville …

And the city I know best, Barcelona? Well, not a single night time shot. Instead, here are two taken in broad daylight.

I’m away for a few days, so this post, and the next few are scheduled. So – sorry – I may be slow in commenting, and even slower at reading your posts.

A Bench Among the Daffodils

After heavy rain yesterday …

For Jude’s Bench Challenge …

… and Dawn’s Spring Festival 2025

Geometry: A Nice Rectangular Box

Do you know the children’s story book My Cat likes to Hide in Boxes? My children loved it, and this morning, we learnt that the message of the story is entirely true.

Today, Reyes – in the Spanish-speaking world – the Three Kings delivered all their presents in the wee small hours (they have a magic key to get into every home), and – not a lot later – excited children were busy opening them.

And in this house, Archie proved that it’s quite true that he likes to hide in a (rectangular) box in which a present was recently contained.

GeometricJanuary

Anybody Lost a Bear?

Spotted on the bank of the Kennett and Avon Canal, near Bradford on Avon. Somebody, somewhere misses him …

Everyday Objects Enjoy Five Minutes of Fame

This week, Ritva has proposed Common Objects for this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge. I’m offering a few, such as these coffee shop cups and saucers in the feature photo, served to us by a barista who clearly thought we were Baby Bear, Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear out to enjoy a morning coffee.

Back home, here’s our washing line: featuring the underwear of a colourful guest. And then the washing line itself – or rather its shadow- on the ground below.

Here are common objects put to less common uses. Like these cutlery items re-purposed as decorative works of art in a restaurant in Premia de Mar.

Then there are pillar boxes. I do like the first one, transformed into a slightly surprised face. And the second, from Ripon, reminding us of the D Day commemorations earlier in the summer.

Then there are the everyday things that have become display items. The garden tools in a display of Edwardian gardening implements at RHS Harlow Carr; the padlocks re-purposed as love tokens in Liverpool; and the toilet bowl that’s become a planter in Saltburn.

Let’s finish off with a clutch of jolly handbags parked by the dance troupe 400 Roses as they entertained us all in Masham during the last Sheep Fair.

I am joining Becky and Brian on a mission to get rid of that subscription pop-up box that appears every time someone leaves a comment on your posts. Can you go to ‘Newsletter Settings’? You will find it listed in the main Settings menu on the Dashboard. Then unclick the one that says ‘enable subscription pop-up for commenters’. You may not even be aware that you have this feature enabled – I didn’t. But it’s an irritation we could all do with getting rid of.

Moving Forward – to Spain

You won’t get much out of me today, and those of you who read yesterday’s post will know why. I’m on my way to Spain – just me – to go and stay with Daughter and Family to do a spot of Post-Maternity Leave childcare for them.

It’s been worryingly un-snowy over the Pyrenees this last winter, so this is unlikely to be my view from the plane’s window.

For Becky’s #SquaresRenew: Burgeoning – Move Forward – Reconstruct – Renew.

In Which I Appear in ‘Reading Matters’

Mine is not a blog about books: my sole regular contribution is to the monthly discussion about books : ‘Six Degrees of Separation‘. But I’m an avid follower of some book reviewers, and one of my favourites is Kim of Reading Matters. She writes ‘Book reviews of mainly modern & contemporary fiction‘, she’s one of a select band whom I rely on to direct me towards much of what is best in recent writing.

This week, she chose me – me – to feature in her Triple Choice Tuesday. You can read all about it here.

Triple Choice Tuesday: From Pyrenees to Pennines

Thanks Kim. I had to think hard about my choices for this post. I’ve enjoyed reading about some of your other featured bloggers, and look forward to more in the weeks to come.

My featured photo is by Ciao, from Pexels.