On Friend Ships

January 2025

Gloucester Cathedral

I was feeling particularly grateful for life, after attending the wake of Rich friend's dad Alan, in Cheltenham in England.

Death makes you appreciate the importance of life, doesn't it.

After the celebration, Rich, keen to show me some sights in his region, took me to the nearby city of Gloucester, to visit the absolutely magnificent Gloucester Cathedral.

I was so glad he did.

Ahhh, now that's comforting

First glimpse of the cathedral

St Mary's Gate, leading to the St Peter's Abbey precinct.

The cathedral is an absolutely stunning example of Gothic architecture. I was totally blown away by the scale of the place, and by the exquisite artwork, which spans many centuries, and is still being added.

But of course by far the most important thing about the cathedral is that it was used as a set for the Harry Potter films.

The cathedral was originally founded as an abbey in 689, and became a very important church in the Catholic empire in the UK. It even hosted the coronation of Henry III, which is a big deal, and was chosen as the burial place for King Edward II.

But the Reformation in the UK completely changed its fortunes.

In the early 1500s the Tudor King Henry VIII, and his wife Catherine of Aragon, had failed to produce a male heir to the throne. It was all Catherine's fault, of course.

Yeah yeah.

So Henry asked Pope Clement for an anullment so he could marry someone else, as he was desperate to preserve his lineage, and give legitimacy to his family's right to produce the next monarch. If he didn't, his appointed successor could easily be overthrown, and then Henry would probably end up on the chopping block, like many of them did in those days.

But the Pope refused to annul Henry's marriage, partly because the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, was Catherine's nephew, and wouldn't be very happy with that idea.

King Henry, who wasn't used to being refused a request, didn't take no for an answer, and secretly married Anne Boleyn anyway, whom he knew was actually already pregnant. (She ended up having a girl. Bad luck Henry. I mean, not really bad luck, but you know what I mean. It was actually bad luck for Anne).

As a result of his marriage to Anne, Henry was ex-communicated from the Catholic Church, which means he was kicked out and left to rot in hell.

So what did he do? Well, he immediately shouted "hell no!" and in 1534 passed a law, the Act of Supremacy, which stated that from now on he, and he alone, was the head of the church in England. So there.

Not only did this new power give his second (and subsequent) marriages legitimacy, but it was also a financial boon for him of course, as all the Catholic church's massive land ownings, buildings, and riches suddenly became his.

Henry's forces ransacked many monasteries, and he stole all the loot, suddenly becaming a hugely richer man than he already was.

But luckily he spared St Peter's Abbey, mainly because it had the remains of a king under it. It was renamed Gloucester Cathedral, and Henry granted it a huge boost in its Royal patronage. The cathedral, in fact, was given substantial amounts of cash both from Royal funds, and also from all the donations of people who went there from all over the place to pay respects to the dead king.

These cash injections allowed it to undergo major and ambitious building programs.

One of the countless wings flapping around the building

There's thousands of panels of stained glass within the complex. All that glass blew me away.

The Gloucester Candlestick is one of the most significant pieces of medieval art still surviving in Europe. Apparently. This is a replica.

The ceiling and other bits and bobs aren't bad either.

So great to be able to actually read the script for a change.

Not sure if this is an actual depiction of a true story or just a crucifiction.

The door to the crypt. It was locked, but we tried to get in. Unfortunately we couldn't understand how the lock worked, it was too cryptic.

This is William the Conqueror's eldest son Edward, who led the First Crusade, which seized Jerusalem in 1099. This effigy was carved from Irish bog oak in around 1240. It was probably quite hard to get the wood out of there.

One of the incredibly beautiful modern windows, this one was created by famous UK artist Thomas Denny. It really looked 3D.

Altar boys: What are you doing Father?

Bishop: It's called masturbation laddies, it's very pleasurable. You'll be doing this soon.

Altar boys: But why Father?

Bishop: Because my arm's getting tired.

Sorry for blaspheming all over the place, but unfortunately it's true.

There were loads of horizontal statues in there.

Stunning modern art

Random old tombstone. There were lots.

Check out the crocheted dolls

So random

I can imagine a Hogwarts assembly or two in here.

Now that's what I call an organ

The Cloisters. Magic schoolkids wizarded and witched up and down here regularly when Hogwarts was open. The Gryffindor Common Room was also filmed in here somewhere.

Actually, we were minding our own business in there when Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington (also known as Nearly Headless Nick) flew past on his horse, and knocked Rich and I off our feet. He looked remarkably like John Cleese. I tried to take a pic of him while I was falling but all I got was this.

What an incredibly grand masterpiece.

Eventually it was dark, and we left. We stopped to shop on the way home.

Coming out of our car I was stopped by a teenage girl who looked very rough, and very homeless. She asked me, in the most polite English accent ever, "excuse me, I really don't want to bother you, but could I ask if you by any chance have a few spare coins for me, as I have no money?"

It was gut wrenching to see the situation she was in, all alone there, in the freezing dark night.

She's one of hundreds of thousands of people who've been hugely affected by over a decade of the Tory-led government's policy of austerity - which basically slashed welfare services for those most in need, and has led to a huge increase in poverty and destitution in the country.

The number of children in food poverty in the country is now at 4 million, and has doubled in the past year. In a recent survey, one in five households recently reported family members going hungry, skipping meals, or not having food for a whole day.

And meanwhile, the skewing of wealth distribution in the country is going ballistic, in the wrong direction of course, with the 3 richest individuals now owning as much as the bottom 50%.

Work that one out.

Of course in the carpark I gave the poor homeless girl money, but it was with a heavy heart that I left her there, in the cold.

Surprisingly there was a Polish section in this mainstream supermarket, testament to the huge number of Poles living in the UK. At least we had the money to buy some of it - unlike some.

I told you I could easily get a job working in marketing. These types of puns could be my bread and butter, I'd really love to spread them all over the place.

I had one more day and night to enjoy Rich's amazing company.

We slowly took Astrid up Swifty's Hill, a great spot located up the Slad Valley, one of the collection of valleys near Stroud. Great names aren't they.

Rich trying hard to pretend that he found one of my jokes funny. Spot Astrid. She's on the path ahead.

The well known English author Laurie Lee wrote a couple of famous novels about growing up in this area, Cider With Rosie, and As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning.

A local mansion. Some famous royals owned it not so long ago, apparently.

One piece of Rich's extensive art collection. This is actually by a NZ artist, and is titled "I'm Not Shearin' With Anyone!"

One day I went on a lovely walk along the canal to town.

Wow! You'll never believe it! I was walking along here towards the bridge minding my own business when a long-haired youth on a bicycle suddenly appeared, racing as fast as he could towards me. As he approached I quickly thought to myself "wow, if he snatched something from me now I'd never ever catch him," and instinctively clutched my bag tightly. My day bag that is.

But luckily he just sped straight past, looking very very stressed, and he didn't snatch a thing.

But then suddenly a female police officer came around the bend sprinting like a demon, trying to catch him!

It was a real live police chase! Just like in all those detective series on Netflix! So exciting!

Before I knew it there were a number of police cars in hot pursuit as well, doing sudden screechy u-turns on the road and screaming off, lights blazing and sirens blaring.

I was lovin' it!

I looked around to see if there were any movie cameras, to make sure I wasn't actually inside a film set, and was being exploited as an unpaid extra.

But no, there weren't any cameras, it was actually real.

Unfortunately I can't tell you whether or not they actually caught the guy, and I can't even tell you why they were chasing him, but I can say that over ten minutes later, further up the road, there were still police cars zipping around, and they seemed to me to be looking for him.

So he probably got away, which, weirdly, I was secretly happy about, don't ask me why.

I bet that chase got the poor boy's adrenaline pumping though, because my own was certainly pretty activated, as he'd just about knocked me down as he whizzed past, and I could watch the whole drama from way up close, and was able to look right into all their stressed and straining eyes.

Life's so fun sometimes.

Later that night Rich and I went out to the Stroud Brewery, to try a couple of local drops. The stout was the bomb.

Rich's friend Imo painted these amazing pics.

The innovative men's loo. As part of their recycling program the brewery just refills the kegs like this.

Smart Eddy, with his budding beard, actually invented the world's first ever lawnmower, right here in Stroud. I bet you never knew that. I bet pretty much everyone never knew that.

London Calling

Well, great things can't last forever.

Eventually it was time for me to leave Rich's riches, and, of course, he's dripping in riches, most especially the important, non-material ones. Way too early the next morning he dropped back at the Cam and Dursley station, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and I sprinted to the train, which was still at the station. No time to get a ticket.

It had been such a beautiful stay at Rich's place, and I hope we can hang out again soon.

Pretending I'm a commuter in Bristol.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel is one of the most famous Bristolians of all time, up there with Banksy, Cary Grant and Hugo Weaving, and Isambard is not only famous because of his weird name. (Not that I can talk, as far as weird names is concerned). Isambard was an engineer, and was the dude who designed the Bristol Clifton Suspension Bridge, which had the longest bridge span in the world at the time of its construction.

He also designed the Great Western Railway, which did some impressive tunneling things, and more bridging. And he built the massive Bristol Temple Gate railway station, as well as a number of steamships, which were the most innovative in the world at the time.

He must have been really driven. Maybe he got bullied at school because of his name and was determined to prove himself.

Steepled in mistery

I had a couple of hours to kill before my coach left, so I found a really nice cafe with cool hipster staff and cool hipster clientele. And then there was me.

I did boring, I mean, hugely exciting, things like writing this blog.

Then I headed off to the coach station.

Lion drinking spot

The steeple looks like something munched its top off.

Oh, it's supposed to be like that. Notice the guy wearing shorts. He must be a local, or a visitor from Iceland.

I did another dumb thing. I didn't really check online to make sure I was headed to the correct coach station, and I wasn't. I got to nowhere just in time to realise that I was gonna miss my coach, unless I sprinted for about 20 minutes to the right coach station.

Luckily I just made it, sweating like a wild English boar.

It had turned out to be a very sprinting morning.

And it's not even sprintime yet.

Yeah I'm pretty sure Jesus is in London somewhere, so I guess I'm following him.

On the Underground, from Victoria to East Putney.

As usual it was cold, dark and wet in London. I strolled over to my dear friend Lizza's place.

I was so excited to see her! I hadn't seen her for over a decade, from when she was living in Byron for a couple of years around that time. I was teaching her guitar back then, and we quickly became friends, and spent a lot of time together, including with my family.

But she's been back living in London since she left Oz, and we've only managed to catch up once over here, at least 10 years ago. Until now!

Lizza and her two amazing kids, Delilah and Arlo. Delilah, in fact, is holding an Ovation Guitar I'd played for years, and gave to Lizza way back when she lived in Oz. And now Delilah's playing it! And singing amazingly well too, I might add. It makes me so happy.

In fact, after I gave Lizza my Ovation guitar back then, she told me to go and buy any guitar I wanted. What a gal! So I bought myself a beautiful Australian made Maton acoustic, which, by coincidence, my beautiful niece Ruby is now playing down in Sydney, and using to write the most amazing songs.

It all goes around doesn't it. Ruby and the Maton.

Lizza's beautiful porch.

Perfect jamming space

Strolling the streets of Chelsea.

I had one of these. Oh yeah, actually three. It was really messy.

Elephants in the rooms.

In some places the UK looks a little like it's sorta falling apart these days. I hate to say it, but that's how it appears sometimes. Rundown, unkempt, lacking in government services, with clearly visible poverty and homelessness.

I mean, it looks the same in parts of Paris and Hamburg too, for example, but the UK generally looks a bit like Western Europe's poorer cousin these days. That's what a decade and a half of austerity and the resultant cutting back on government services actually looks like.

And, well, Brexit is another sad sad story.

Of course, the country is well off and absolutely beautiful in places, and the people amazingly warm and hospitable.

But many are doing it tough.

Like this guy sleeping on the cold pavement.

I had a lovely 24 hours with Lizza, and some beautiful times with Delilah and Arlo. But alas, it was too short, I would've stayed longer, but needed to head back to Germany, because my friends in Erlangen, near Nuremberg, only had one weekend free for me to visit them.

So off I went again, on the tube back to the city, and then to the coach station, this time heading to the ferry at Dover.

There were some interesting creatures at the ferry terminal.

This has been my route in the UK in the past few weeks

The ferry to Calais in France was pretty empty, as it was the middle of the night.

My coach took me to Paris Bercy bus station, where I had to wait for 4 long hours, in the absolutely freezing cold. It wasn't fun.

I was pretty amazed at the people around though. 90% of them, both the homeless people living there, and the bus passengers, were black.

That's the result of the French colonising huge swathes of Africa, including the countries of Senegal, Algeria, Chad, Mali, Cameroon, Niger, Ivory Coast, Gabon and a whole pile of others.

Finally my coach arrived, and I could warm up.

Zipping along the Seine.

Is it always foggy around Paris in winter? Every time I've been there around that time it is.

We crossed into Germany, and again there was a border police tent set up, and the police checked all our passports, despite the European Union theoretically being borderless.

Driving through the German city of Saarbrücken.

What every hairdressing salon needs. A grand piano. Come on Frankie, get one.

And Mannheim.

Nurembergers

My dear friends Anna Lena and Julien were there when I arrived.

It was so great to see them again. We first met in Almaty, in Kazakhstan, in May of last year, and cycled together into Kyrgyzstan, along an amazing route through the steppe to Karakol, and then along the southern shore of the huge Lake Issyk Kul.

We'd been camping and jamming and having a wow of a time together, and it was so great to have the chance to see them again.

They're both super busy. I mean, most people are these days. But, in between Anna Lena's work as a doctor (she's doing her prac year, straight out of her studies) and Julian's work as a tech engineer, they took a whole weekend off for me. Julian still had work on his thesis to do, but he squeezed that in in the early mornings, while the rest of us lucky ones could sleep.

We checked out some of the sites of Nuremberg in the dark.

I was stunned at how beautiful it is.

Old Fachwerk buildings, now a little marketplace for local crafts.

Nuremberg is the largest city in the German region of Franconia, and the second largest in the German state of Bavaria (the other is the capital of Munich). Because of its location, it was an important trading hub in medieval times, one of the two main trading cities between Italy and Northern Europe.

Nuremberg Castle was an important imperial residence, and the Crown Jewels and all the Imperial regalia of the Empire were held there until 1796, when those annoying French troops came too close, and they had to evacuate them to Vienna.

Nuremberg was the centre of the German Renaissance in the 15th and 16th Centuries, a cultural and artistic movement that developed from the Italian one. The most important manifestations of this were the spread of humanism to the various German states, the invention of printing presses, and the Protestant Reformation.

The city itself has many stunning medieval buildings, but, incredibly, most of them were rebuilt after World War II, as the place was absolutely bombed to smithereens by the Yanks and the British. It was one of the most damaged cities in Germany as a result of the war.

Besides its economic and military importance in Hitler's Germany, Nuremberg was also symbolically important, as it was the site of the infamous Nuremberg rallies, huge Nazi propaganda conventions that were held in the city, to project the grandeur and power of Nazi Germany to the whole world.

That made it a prime target.

It's no coincidence that after the war the Allies chose Nuremberg as the site for its Military War Crimes Trials, where a number of Nazi leaders were publicly tried and convicted of criminal aggression and crimes against humanity. Most were subsequently hanged, which is not in itself a crime against humanity, because they obviously weren't humans anymore. Nah, that's not hypocrisy is it.

And nah, the British, Yanks or Russians weren't responsible for criminal aggression or crimes against humanity were they. Just because they massacred thousands of unarmed civilians all over the place and raped tens of thousands of civilian women, many of whom were gang raped at gunpoint, doesn't mean they should have been tried and convicted too.

Come on, don't be silly now, they were the good guys. Dont you watch movies?

The city of Nuremberg is quite beautiful at night, but my photos are crap. Sorry. I'll buy a new phone one of these days, my iPhone 8 is really getting on.

There's a beautiful river and canals running through the old city.

Stunning church and tower

Local handicrafts. These little creations are nutcrackers and incense burners.

Ceramic models of the old city

A real one

Stamps and rolling pins to press patterns into pastry

The local youth hostel. Top spot.

One of the main squares

A rather interesting sculpture by a famous Nuremberger, Jürgen Goertz.

We went to eat in this beautiful traditional building, a really cool restaurant and bar.

The friendly waitress took this for us. Julien, Anna Lena, and moi. Notice my Schäufele, which has meat in it. Yeah, I wanted to try this traditional dish recommended by Anna Lena, it was delicious. I must say, since my Central Asian experience, where often my only polite option was to eat meat, I've noticed that once-in-a-blue-moon I loosen my veg only thing .

I'm definitely not a purist.

There's a huge ancient tunnel network and cellars under the city.

Yes, this is the Nuremberger Bratwurst Museum. Bratwurst is a fat fried sausage, one of the most popular in Germany.

And yeah, there's cash around too

We hung around for awhile waiting for delayed Deutsche Bahn trains (as usual), and eventually caught one to Erlangen, back to Julien and Anna Lena's apartment, and thensat around drinking tea from this cute Norwegian teapot.

I was lucky enough to have a warm piece of floor to sleep on. And I even had a mattress.

Life is so good.

On Board

I've been cruising on friend ships for weeks now.

And I'm lovin' it.

I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have such good people in my life. And not just good people. Interesting ones. Talented ones. Adventurous ones. Warm ones.

My plan is to keep moving around this winter wonderland of Europe for awhile, as it's absolutely too cold to cycle.

Black Bewdy, my trusty bicycle, can remain in her little garage in Bolu in Turkey for a while longer.

It's nothing personal.

But right now I've got other very important things to do.

I have people to meet, and places to see.

And, as we all know, if not now, when?

For death can come at any moment❤️

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