Norman Ralph

Today was a stunning day. The drive from Munich to Salzburg via the back roads and country lanes was by far the most glorious so far. We had fantastic weather, amazing sunshine the entire route, as well as some cracking German roads which meant we made fairly good time after a minor delay in Munich.

Following a proper continental breakfast in the hotel, we headed South from Munich towards the Austrian border. The road was flanked by corn fields and houses that would not have looked out of place on the set of The Sound of Music. The roads were nice and twisty, without feeling too dangerous and virtually no ravines for us to fall into.

The last hour of the drive was dominated by the looming Alps and I have decided that I would really love to spend some time living in the part of the world.

We arrived in Salzburg at around 4pm and pulled up to our Gasthof which is truly fantastic. It is so traditionally Alpine that I half expect to see Heidi walk round the corner at any second.

Salzburg is a beautiful city, the Aldstadt (old town) in particular. Very classical in its architecture, there is a stunning building everywhere you look from the domineering Schloss overlooking the main squares, the prince’s residence that stands in the main square to the many statues that are dotted about the various platzes and passage ways.

I was intially concerned about our visit here as everywhere we encountered seemed very closed. It appears that the Austrians take the sabbath very seriously. Once we made it to the very centre of the old town we found a few nice cafes and bars open for us to wander around.

We stopped at a little cafe for some home made lasagne before hitting the local Irish bar for a well earned pint of Dublin’s finest. For a beer that travelled such a long way, it tasted pretty damned good!

Tomorrow is going to be a fantastic day, we have a drive through the Alps to Venice in Italy. The weather forecast is not great, but I’m hoping it won’t spoil the views.

As always, you can follow my updates on my blog, via Twitter or live on Kieran’s website.

It was a question I asked myself numerous times in the week leading up to the start of this years MAG Farmyard Party, would big hairy bikers want to eat primarily vegetarian food at a bike festival? The answer seems to be a resounding yes. I have just returned from my second festival working for Rakesh’s vegetarian catering unit, Nomad’s and the impression I got was that he made a decent profit at the festival despite the atrocious weather and the crazy biker types that frequent these gatherings.

Sarann and I set out on Thrusday afternoon in the pouring rain to meet Rakesh at Duncombe park, Helmsley, North Yorkshire. It was a nice enough drive, despite the rain and Sutton bank is a really nice little area. The rain eased as we approached the festival site, which was a blessing as there is nothing worse than putting your tent up in the rain. We soon had the tent pitched and a full belly of chick pea chana and chips. The rain held until just gone 22.30 and with the rain we headed off to bed. My first shift was at 9am and was a great chance to meet Jeanette, another of Rakesh’s crew and someone I have not had the pleasure of working with yet. She is a lovely lady, full of life and stories ranging from her two sons to Barney (her 2yr old black German shepherd) and her life in York. The shift passed quickly, with the pair of us glad to be in the van rather than the torrential rain outside. Sarann and Lis took over at 1pm, Lis is another of the new colleagues I got to meet at this festival, really good fun and as kind a person as I have had the pleasure to meet with a mischievous streak a mile long!

The weekend revolved mainly about work, I did get out and about a bit, saw several of the custom bikes and had a wander round the stalls. We did venture out at night on the Friday, saw a few cover/tribute bands and a bit of the nightlife, but I ended up on the phone to Liz most of the evenings so didn’t spend too much time out and about.

The rain eased up as the festival progressed, I even managed a little sunburn on the Sunday before Sarann and I headed home. Only eleven days until Workhouse in Wales

Looking forward to seeing Liz this week although she was off to see Muse today, so that is about all I will hear for the next few weeks.

Today has been a glorious day! Bright sunshine all day but with a hint of chill on the air. Pretty much my ideal day seeing as I burn in winter and hate being hot.

I really have not achieved as much as I would have liked today though. I have tidied out my car and am on my way to give it a good old clean on the outside. That is about it, I had hoped to get some general tidying and sorting done today too, but the hoover still has no bag, so I can’t finish anything off.

I hope the next week is as nice as I have a few little bits and bats planned.

I have also decided that I need to start learning to use linux properly as it cannot be as bad as I remember it. Plus, with me starting some computing modules in September which are all programming modules I will have to use it so might as well acclimatise.

We have now had a few days on sunshine and relative warmth, can we suggest that Summer is coming? I hope so. It has struck me the last few days that without the massive pressures of coursework deadlines, the wind and rain and the general apathy that grows when you are poor and tired that the group of friends I spend time with are infinitely more relaxed, more outgoing and generally better to spend time with.

I have really anjoyed spending time with people that last week or so. I have written on here about really starting to get to know Kat, then visiting Sarann up in Cumbria, now I think I have found some more common ground with Matt. Sarann is being her usual lovely self and Michelle and I are getting on better than ever. The more time I spend with George the more I like the guy too.

I think that the whole depression/end-of-term-itis of the past few months waas necessary, or at least I am glad it happened. I think eveyone now realised, consciously or not, that we need to make the most of our time when we are feeling up and it.

Roll on the rest of the holidays.