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.

Plane sailing

Brilliant new art piece by Fiona Banner just opened at Tate Britain. Titled Harrier and Jaguar, it has an old Sea Harrier jump jet hanging from the ceiling ...



and a sparkling Jaguar ground attack aircraft, laying upside down on the floor...

The Jaguar was also useful for a bit of vain self portraiture ...

Father's Day Special

We had a really eventfull Father's Day run today - started off by enjoying the Olympic Airways' promotional beach on the Southbank,

What was this French tourist doing at the Changing of the Guard ceremony ?

The ceremony seemed to be attracting more than its fair share of weirdos ...

Then we spied on a very exciting Spooks filming session in Covent Garden ...

We are always hoping to be asked to join as extras ...

We ended the run on an appropriate note ...

Straw bales

On a run this week, I passed Barnes Bridge (above) and then Hammersmith Bridge just as scaffolding was being dismantled - the workmen were also taking down the three bales of straw that had been hanging underneath the bridge whilst repairs were taking place. The man in charge told me that Thames byelaw 29, dating from the 1700's, requires that a bale of straw be hung from any bridge reduced in headroom as a result of repairs. Straw is used so that there will be no damage to any boat or person hitting the bale.

River Byelaws 1978 (as amended) - Part 5

Bridges
29.
(1) When the arch or span of a bridge is closed to navigation the person in control of the bridge shall suspend from the centre of that arch or span -
(a) by day, three red discs 0.6 metres in diameter at the points of an equilateral triangle with the apex downwards and the base horizontal;
(b) by night, three red lights in similar positions to the discs displayed by day.

(2) When the headroom of an arch or span of a bridge is reduced from its usual limits but that arch or span is not closed to navigation, the person in control of the bridge shall suspend from the centre of that arch or span by day a bundle of straw large enough to be conspicious and by night a white light.

It also seems that this warning dates back to Roman times. Makes you wonder what the Romans ever did for us ...

Below is the bale destined for the Blackfriars Bridge renovation project.



I also found another great river image when researching straw bales on the Port of London site - three Port of London policemen engage in their annual life saving practice at West India Dock in 1930. Can't believe they stayed afloat or saved anyone with all of that gear on.

Its the second image under the people category - http://www.pla.co.uk/centenary_galleries.cfm