Thursday 28 July 2011

Wandering Aengus...es...Aengi...?

...as from the poem by WB Yeats: The Song of Wandering Aengus...

Though I am old with wandering

Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
...And walk among long dappled grass,

And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

Often quoted, and much loved. Well Yeats is one of our 'locals', and in typical Irish fashion, is still spoken of as though he'll saunter through the door at any moment!


Anyhow, the Aengi in this instance are Youngest and a friend.

Youngest had a great time in Charleston, South Carolina, and environs, and met some amazing people. Apparently the determining factor in a good holiday is how many friends you get to add to 'facebook' afterwards, and she has 'about a million'. Therefore, definition of a good holiday!!

They did loads of things including quite a lot of Community work, which I thought was good. They did get to see a few historical places, but it was much more about the people. She's decided that she has to go back, and she's hardly home! I think she will probably read 'Gone with the Wind' and 'Celia Garth' over the next weeks too!


The friend who went in search of Santa made it to the North Pole and back! Her photos are amazing, I had a tour last weekend and nearly needed to wear a jacket whilst looking at them...all that ice, and the descriptions of travelling in an icebreaker...polar bears...island landings...extreme weather and northerly conditions...I know NASA just brought back the Space Shuttle for the last time but I'm telling you folks, there's a lot to see and do on this old Earth of ours yet!

Anyhow, if you want an idea of her experience, here's the link to a blogger who was on board with her. Hopefully your Russian is a bit better than mine...or not!! but you don't need to read the text to appreciate the amazing awesomeness of the farthest North...and this was in July...Summer!!

( I can't get the Cyrillic script to display, but if you scroll down to this photo of the icebreaker, its one of several posts. Also if you click on the text in bold near the end of each post, the link will take you to more photos. Sorry its the best I can do...)


'Sergey (apparently very famous in Russia as a travel blogger) was also on our ship, and took the most amazing photos. There are only a very small selection here – the hour or so with the polar bear mother and 6 month old cub he took about 1,500!



The video is great for giving an idea of what it was like going through the ice, though it may be a bit dizzifying and nausea inducing for some of you as some of the views are looking straight down the sides of the ship.


Also some great photos, with a few polar bear ones further down, after other random ones. Obviously I haven’t a clue what the text says, but the pictures say enough.'

And watch the video of the wineglass taken at a meal- the camera is as level as he could keep it in comparison to the movement of the ship, I think it gives a perfect example of being on board!


Anyhow, there's your eye-candy for the day...week...year? You can see why a) people become addicted to travelling, and b) why they return home with a different perspective. It would be better for our poor beleaguered planet if we all managed to achieve this perspective and take the broad/ long/ wide view I believe.

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