On the road

Have been travelling around Italy for the last week - saw a great open air night time showing of 'The General' starring Buster Keaton in Bologna,

Wondered at the statues under balconies in Mantova

Sampled excellent Venetian doughnuts for breakfast,

Were tempted by this unusual barber shop frontage in Bologna -a massive Tarzan poster,

And found the best coffee shop in Italy - using the ultimate Faema E61

machine and served by Amanda Holden's twin sister ...

Now settled in a Villa in Lucca for the next two weeks - aqueduct in the garden.

And views of the City from one of Lucca's towers.

Water off a duck's back

Now on holiday in Italy - far too hot to run so have been swimming alot. Swam today in Lake Garda and was a bit concerned about my lack of pace when overtaken by a mallard duck.

We are currently staying for a few days in Villa Feltrinelli and learning much about Mussolini - he was "imprisoned" here between 1943 to 1945. It doesn't seem to have been much of a discomfort as he had his wife with him and his mistress down the road.

I have also been having great fun playing with the panoramic setting on my digital camera .

Picked up by a stylish Italian speedboat to get to lunch on the other side of the lake - my youngest looks as if he could get used to this.

Lunch was delicious and ended with tiny fruits stuffed with similarly flavoured ice cream - my favourite was the apricot , or perhaps the chestnut, or was it the banana ...

Cold War trawlers

This old Scottish trawler has been moored at Chiswick Pier for the past two months - today the owner had moved it to the side of the river to check some damage sustained when a dutch tug crashed into it. Whilst the trawler was designed to catch fish in the North Sea, this one never has - instead it sailed the North Sea during the Cold War spying on the Russians and collecting and analysing submarine signals.

Its called St Ebbes of Blyth - apparently St Ebbes had supernatural powers and used them to control the tides to repel the Vikings who were invading Northumbria. The word ebb, as in the tide ebbs and flows, is derived from this.

As its holiday season and just in case you are short of things to do here is a project for you when visiting old cites - repairing with Lego.



http://www.janvormann.com/dispatchwork.php

Walkjogroglog

Walked our running route today with Roger who was up visiting this weekend . Lots of building activity around Tate Modern at the moment - one crane seemed to be attracting an unusual cloud formation.

Passed a busy sand castle competition on the Thames - this one looked the favourite to win.

Not sure about the new trend at London tourist sites to have strange people in random costumes standing on small plinths but this Japanese gentlemen seemed to be enjoying himself.