Walking Commentary
Manchester to Rome 2022
I had lunch in Samy’s Curry Restaurant in Singapore on March 1st, 1993. I know because I found an old diary that records how I was entertained to a meal in the legendary curry house. A former boss decided to mark a work anniversary with a celebratory meal. He was a serious cheapskate at the best of times but his masterly choice of venue meant I had an unforgettable experience.
One of my school teachers used to tell a cautionary tale about a pedestrian who was killed when caught on a road at the bottom of a hill. He’d stepped between the lights of two oncoming bicycles. We were twelve or thirteen years old and not everyone in the class understood the silly joke.
Back when we were free to travel, the simplest of reasons might have been sufficient for us to set out. Leinster Rugby off to play in Castres? Let’s visit Albi, the Toulouse Lautrec Museum and see the game in Castres. We’ll make a proper weekend of it. Such was the opportunity we took this date four years ago.
I made some notes this morning as I was having my coffee and granola. I’d been thinking about today’s perihelion before I was diverted. The sun, if you see it, is five million kilometres closer than it will be in July though it’s not much closer than it was yesterday or will be tomorrow. So don’t expect it look any bigger.
I’ve selected twenty five images from among the many that I took this year. And I’ve chosen one as my favourite. I told its story here on Christmas Day and the picture makes me smile every time I see it. And it’s not even a proper photo, four months after the initial idea, it’s a cropped snap from an iPhone. That’s surely reason enough to make it my favourite from the 305 days of this journal.
The European Parliament has announced that the 2020 Sakharov Prize is going to the Belarusian opposition Coordination Council, a predominantly female group who are holding out for dignity and democracy. It’s surely a mark of the 26 year reign of the podpolkovnik (supreme commander) Alexander Lukashenko that this is the third time the prize has made its way to the troubled Belarus.
