Lostman's Star
Not all those who wander are lost, but I certainly am!
The Gatwick Drone Debacle: Part 1
A week before Christmas in 2018, Gatwick Airport was shut down by drones. The police interviewed suspects but the culprit never apprehended. You likely heard about it on the news; a story about panicked police searching for the drones while airline passengers grew red in the face at the thought of their Christmas plans being ruined.
I happened to be one of the people flying out that day.
As with any disaster, my day started with a well laid out plan.
Any dusting of snow is enough to debilitate England’s transportation industry, so I had given myself an extra two hours for things to go wrong. I figured two hours being sat in Gatwick, listening to podcasts, and sipping tea was preferable to missing my flight. By six in the morning I was speeding down the highway for my noon flight. Plenty of time!
The weeks leading up to Christmas had been quite stressful for me, and so despite the early hour I considered this part of my vacation. I napped in the car and had arrived at Gatwick well in time to have a hot breakfast and a pot of tea at the restaurant opposite the security entrance. It’s not often that I want breakfast, but when I do I want it to be good!
I was blissfully unaware that Gatwick had been having problems with drones all night long.
My first hint was an announcement; some flights would be delayed for a few hours. Did I care? Absolutely not.
It was early, I had breakfast, I was finally stress free, and I had chalked the delays up to bad weather at the destination. Clear weather at the departure airport doesn’t guarantee the same at your destination. I had also planned for just such an occasion by scheduling my connecting flight several hours after my arrival time. I remember thinking that as far as I was concerned they could cancel and delay a few more times if they wanted to.
They did.
About an hour later came the announcement that flights had resumed. I was just finishing up my meal, and was ready to pull out my book and have another cup of tea. Fifteen minutes later they were delayed again.
It’s to be expected, I thought. Clearly there’s something going on with the weather.
Time passed, more announcements came resuming flights only to delay them again. At ten I checked my bags, expecting that even if my flight was delayed it wasn’t a big deal Missing it would be worse. I returned to security only to find that they weren’t letting anyone through, so I took my seat at the restaurant once more and waited. I had my book, I had my phone, I had my seat, I was unperturbed!
The restaurant was filling up around me, and so when I saw a couple of retirees scanning for seats I offered them a place at my table. We chatted as they ate, they asked me if I had any news. I pulled up what I could on my phone and read it to them.
It turned out that a drone had been spotted around midnight, and so they’d been forced to shut down the runway and delay flights. For the same reason that they have dogs and falcons to chase away birds, it’s unsafe for drones to be flying around planes. Can you imagine if one got caught up in the engines? After an hour of search procedures which turned up nothing the airport would open again, only for the drone to reappear. The eerie part was that the pattern kept repeating.
The couple theorised that it was a teenager playing a prank. It didn’t square with me, and it still doesn’t. The drone didn’t reappear after the search for it had stopped. It only came back after Gatwick had announced that flights would be resuming, as if the controller was listening to the announcements from inside the airport.
Teenagers or no, Gatwick took it very seriously. Shortly after the couple left I watched as several armed men disappeared through security. The weapons they carried looked as though they would be more at home in a warzone.
When my own flight was delayed I called my parents. It seems by that time the incident hadn’t made international news, but my parents weren’t worried and neither was I. If I had to go back to my flat and reschedule my flight, so be it. I could always fight Air Transat for the costs later.
Then came the announcement that security was opening, and everyone jumped at the chance. Looking back I think the announcement was meant to gather everyone within earshot, because it was announced that several providers were cancelling their flights.
Most of the crowd that had lined up for security were customers from another airline, and they were livid when their flights were cancelled. I can understand why, I don’t think they were ever paid any damages or refunds.
Air Transat customers were told to please wait in line at the check ins and so I plunked myself down in what would turn out to be a rather advantageous spot.
Why you ask? Check back next week to find out! To be continued …
Craig Phadrig
Found way up in the highlands of Scotland, Craig Phadrig is hidden in the northern outskirts of Inverness, and it’s hidden exceedingly well.
The locals of Inverness have an easy way of finding it; they simply go to the Old High Church, stand in a particular spot which if I remember correctly is marked by a plaque for visitors, then use the another steeple to point the way. This second steeple is across the river and slightly to the right of the church, and has no cross on it. It points to a hill in the distance, specifically to a space where the trees seem shorter than the rest. In that space you’ll find Craig Phadrig, a vitrified fortress built by the Picts, an Iron Age people.
As far as I can tell there aren’t any tours that will take you up there, but once you’ve found it, it’s fairly easy to get to. You can either call a cab to take you most of the way up the hill, or you can take the city bus and it will bring you to the foot of the hill and you can climb from there; that’s the way I went. Bring a water bottle and some sunscreen, it’s a bit of a hike. You’ll find what you’re looking for on a road called Leachkin Brae. If you’re coming up from Inverness it looks like a little country lane. On your right will be a parking lot for Craigphadrig Forest, and if you continue past that turn off you’ll find another one that is labeled Craig Phadrig. Both will lead you to the vitrified fort. Even if you’ve taken the cab this far or driven yourself there’s still a bit of a hike, so bring a water, good hiking shoes, and sunscreen or a raincoat depending on the weather. The paths up to the fort are wide and well maintained, though there are some stairs you might want to be careful on.
Don’t go expecting to see high stone walls and cannons everywhere, this vitrified fort is much older than that, in fact it’s mostly covered in grass now, but you can see the ditch around where the fort was. There’s also a trail that runs along the walls of where the inner fort was. It can seem a bit small at first, but realise that most people didn’t have their homes within this inner fort wall. Instead the hill had roughly three larger, outer walls that people might have lived in.
What you can go expecting is a spectacular view of Inverness, and the river Ness, as well as the Beauly Firth on the other side of the hill. I deliberately went in October because I wanted to see Scotland in fall colours and I couldn’t have been happier with my choice! The crisp air, the warm hue of dying leaves, and the whispers of history all gave Inverness a supernatural, haunting air. I’m sure the other seasons are also lovely, but if you get the chance to visit Inverness in autumn, take it immediately, and head up to Craig Phadrig!
How to Keep Your Vacay Photos Safe
We’ve not all been there, but those of us who have know: it’s devastating to lose your vacation photos.
My phone was at one point badly enough damages that I’d needed it replaced, and with it went all of my photos of my trip to Ireland with Arrow. It would have been far worse had I not downloaded those I had before the trip to make room for new ones. Thankfully Arrow still has hers (and is by far the better photographer) but it would still be nice to have my own. You can tell the ones that are and aren’t mine by the lower lefthand corner, there will be a Lostman’s Star watermark if they’re mine. Now that I’ve made that mistake, I always try to make extra sure that I keep my pictures safe from deletion. How? Read on!
Lesson learned, I now take proactive measures to keep my photos safe in a few different ways.
#1. Keep a backup of your phone.
Most of us use our phones as our cameras now, unless you’re a professional photographer or are a passionate hobbyist. The key here is that most phones have a setting where you can plug it into your laptop and back it up either directly to your laptop or to the cloud. Either way, do it before you leave on your vacation. It’ll also back up your settings, apps, all that good stuff.
#2. Download your photos to as many places as you feel necessary.
I’m not a fan of putting all of my eggs in one basket, so I spread my photos out to three locations. My computer, an external hard-drive, and USB keys. I also keep what originals I love best on my phone.
#3. Consider online storage.
I haven’t gone this route myself, but I am giving it serious thought. I have a lot of photos that I would be devastated if I lost them permanently. OneDrive, the Cloud, all of these are online options that you can look at. I know that it’s a bit scary having all of your photos online, and that a breach on security is totally possible, but I try to think of it this way: the photos I’m putting on there are the ones that I love, and would be unashamed of if they ended up in someone else’s hands. They’re photos of Arrow and I smiling at The Hill of Tara, of me trying (and failing) to take a selfie at Notre Dame, of waves crashing beneath my feet at the Burren.
#4. Make a scrapbook or photo album.
If you have the patience and talent for it, organise your photos the old fashioned way, in an album or a scrapbook! No chance of a hack, no dependence on the internet, and it can bring back cherished memories as you work on putting them together. I recommend getting your loved ones to help you arrange your photos, especially if they were on the trip with you!
Whether or not you choose to keep multiple copies of your photos in separate places or store them all on an online backup, or all boils down to this: don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Keep them separate, and you’ll be able to enjoy your vacation photos for years to come!
The Hill of Tara
If you’ve never heard of the Hill of Tara before, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, if it wasn’t for Arrow, I would probably still not know what it was. I have a feeling that unless you’re Irish or from the British Isles, you might not know about this vital part of Ireland’s history
The Hill of Tara has been a sacred place for the Irish for a very long time. It was where their ancient kings were both crowned, where the arc of the covenant was once hidden, and it also serves as a memorial for some 400 Irish troops which were ambushed there by British soldiers in 1798. It was one of many violent conflicts in which Ireland was hashing out its identity, culminating in what you probably know as The Troubles.
Everywhere you look you can find evidence of it’s rich history, and each mound has a story to tell. There’s the banqueting hall, the Mound of Hostages, the Mound of Women Mercenaries, and several Bronze Age burial mounds that I must say, please don’t climb or stand on top of them! Many tourists do this and it is slowly degrading and destroying them. Remember too that that is a place of burial. There were, and likely still are human bones in there, they deserves your respect.
You’ll also find a stone on one of the mounds called the Stone of Destiny. It’s been moved from its original location but it still stands as an important feature for the hill. The rulers of Ireland would have to drive a chariot past the stone and legend has it that if they were the true monarch, the stone would roar three times. This story is likely true, according to the guide Arrow and I had when we visited the hill. He put it the following way:
If you’re driving your chariot, and your wheel knocks the stone, the stone should ring out. You’ll hear it hit. You don’t want a ruler who avoids it like it’s going to jump out at them, or an idiot who crashes into it. You want someone steady and confident.
Makes pretty good sense to me!
If that sort of ancient history isn’t your thing there is a little church nearby, though I’m not sure if you can go in, or if you’ll have time. The guides Arrow and I went with are very thorough and informative, so you’ll likely want to stick with them. Down the road there’s also a little spring called St. Patrick’s well, which is also worth a peek at!
If you do go with this tour group, which I highly recommend, make sure you use your “free time” at the Hill of Tara stop to use the bathroom, as the next stop is New Grange and it can take a bit to get there.
If you’re on your own, take your time and wander the hill. There’s something deeply sentimental about Tara, and even if you’re not much of a history buff it’s a lovely place for a picnic, and the view always spectacular.
Either way, bring boots (it can get muddy), sunscreen (ain’t much shade) and your imagination (all the better to see the halls with)!
WordPress Growth Summit
Happy Tuesday everyone! Today I’m shifting away from the usual travel stuff to write a bit bout the recent Growth Summit held by WordPress.
If you follow me on Twitter @lostmansstar or have your own WordPress account you might have seen that there was a Growth Summit scheduled for August 11th to the 13th. The advertisement had been hanging around for a while and I’ll admit I probably took way too long to consider it.
My major concern? The ticket cost was $79 USD ($106 CAD) for a first of it’s kind conference. What if it wasn’t worth it?
In the end the thought that won out was that you need to spend money to make money, and I do want Lostman’s Star to eventually be able to support itself. That, and even if the conference was a complete failure I might still learn something in the process: mainly don’t drop a hundred bucks on a first time con.
I went into WordPress to do some writing and found that the early bird special price had been extended, and can honestly say that had that not been the case I wouldn’t have bought my ticket.
So, how did it go, you ask? Was it worth it, you ask?
Yes and no.
Positives first, there are a lot of things that I really enjoyed about the con and thought WordPress did really well at.
First of all, they were responsive. Any trouble at all with payments, questions, tech solutions, the WordPress team were on it. I was told that there were two different teams that were working, one for the website itself and the other who were focused on the conference. Both were amazing.
Second, they implemented what they could of their feedback real time. One thing that stands out for me is that to join the next class we had to get out of the video chat we were currently in, scroll down a monumental list of classes that were already over, and then join the next class which had usually already started by the time I got to it. On the second day they had it so that the live classes were at the top of the list.
Third, they only required one ticket to attend ‘both’ events. There were essentially two time zones, one for the Americas and one for Asia, so you could do what I did and just stay up at night if you wanted and attend the Asian time zone classes as well.
Fourth, it was made clear that all the classes were recorded and would be available for the next 30 days. I didn’t have to stay up all night if I didn’t want to, I could easily watch the recordings later. I decided to because I wanted to attend the social networking events and also watch the presentations and be able to ask questions real time.
Now for the less positive stuff, and it all boils down to one thing.
I think WordPress expected this guy:
Someone rich, and successful, but not necessarily tech savy.
There were a lot of talks focused on the very basic uses of WordPress; things like how to make a text post or add pictures to your website. I attended a few of them to make sure I wasn’t missing anything obvious but it was the advanced block classes that were the best for me. I’ll actually be integrating what I learned into Lostman’s Star soon!
There were also some classes that had a really practical approach to information. They told you very plainly that to get more followers you should connect your social media, but only focus on one or two platforms. Instagram and Twitter, for example. These classes were fabulous, and my notebook is filled with these valuable pieces of information.
Unfortunately these two types of classes were in the minority, and the type of class it was going to be was not made clear by either the title or the description. With the exception of the social networking, block demos, and the Question and Answer periods, it became a guessing game as to what sort of information you were going to get.
In the Social Networking sessions I found that I wasn’t the only one who thought the sessions were a bit ‘nuggety’ as one person so aptly described them. There were useful ‘nuggets’ of information strewn in, but you had to sift through everything else to get them. The major culprit of these were the ‘keynote’ speaker sessions.
These keynote sessions happened at the beginning of the day and were 45 minutes long. For comparison, most of the other sessions were 30 or 15 minutes. They were mainly focused on the stories of successful bloggers, how they got to where they were, and how times had changed for them since they began, covid-times included.
There was just one thing bothered me. With the exception of one, the keynote speakers were all successful before they started their blog.
They were either already well known and their followers had engaged with their new blog and podcasts, or they already had successful careers and used that base to form a following and bring their personal work onto the internet. One worked as a spokesperson for Xbox, one was already a popular media producer before they started their own podcast, another was an executive for a large, well known company who knew Oprah before they started their blog!
So … where does that leave the rest of us?
This divide also showed in later sessions when one of the speakers mentioned the development of a new plugin.
Plugins, for those of you who don’t know, are little invisible helpers for your website. They help you gain a wider following, help you do better and easier business, make your website look nicer and more professional, all that good stuff.
This plugin looked SO cool, and I was so excited!
It was a free, open beta, so anyone could download it, use it, and give feedback to help it grow. It essentially functioned like stories on Snapchat, but it looked so much more professional. It allowed for text, editing, and even though it was built for the mobile edition of the web I think it would have looked fabulous on the computer version and I was so eager to have it as a perfect addition to Lostman’s Star.
To access plugins (any, not just this one) I would have to pay over $300 every year.
That’s not really a ‘free, open beta’ is it? That’s pay to play, and it fed into the idea that you already had to be successful or rich in order for your blog to grow.
That’s quite the nugget.
So, was it worth it?
Immediately? No.
For what I learned and got I would have expected the price to be much lower. I would value it at around $50 CAD, maximum. If there were more sessions like the straight forward, informative, and helpful ones I mentioned above, then I wouldn’t hesitate to pay a hundred dollars for a ticket.
Long term? We’ll have to wait and see.
I was given some very valuable information in some of those sessions. I hope that by taking them to heart and following them I can make a successful, beloved, and trusted travel website that can pay for itself and that I can continue to add to for a long time to come.
Lake Louise
Canada may not have all the castles I could ever want but it’s lacks for nothing when it comes to natural beauty. From east to west Canada is full of forest, lakes, rivers, plains, mountains, badlands, moors, anything one could want. One of the most popular though is Lake Louise, in Banff National Park, Alberta.
You’ll find Banff National Park in the mountains just west of Calgary, surrounded by other and equally as massive national parks. Banff is of course world renown for it’s famous hot springs and nearby glaciers, but Lake Louise seems to be the one quintessentially recognisable photo which people look at and say “Ah, yes. That’s in Canada!”
This crystaline body of water is set in a perfect triangle between two towering mountains and the Fairmont Chateau, a hotel perfectly situated to take in the view. Don’t let that fool you though, you needn’t stay at the hotel to experience the lake. The viewing areas and trails are open to the general public, which is good because the hotel is quite expensive.
If you are willing to spend a bit extra I remember the hotel having a very luxurious interior. You can also get a delicious high tea there if you can’t or don’t want to stay an evening. The tea rooms are situated right at the back of the hotel, with large windows facing the lake, so you can take in the view even if it happens to be raining or cold.
Other than the Chateau there are lodges, camping grounds, and bed and breakfasts for those who want a more secluded or a more close proximity to nature. Along with places to stay there are also many things to do including canoe rentals, ski trails, and hiking trails which lead up to a tea house with a view overlooking the lake. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing high tea or a mountain adventure, Lake Louise has it on offer along with an amazing view!
Overrated Cities
In my recent perusal of youtube I have come across a video consisting of a list of the most overrated cities. The list comprised of Paris, Rome, Sydney, London, New York, Shanghi, Rio De Janeiro, Barcelona, Athens, and Amsterdam, and explained why each city was ‘overrated’ in it’s own way.
All of these cities are on my list of places that I would like to visit, four of which are places that I would love to visit again. Paris, Rome, London, and Amsterdam are very near and dear to my heart, and I know from personal experience that most of what is claimed in this video does them a great disservice. Not only that, but the mission of said video seems, other than to acquire views, to be to dissuade people from visiting these ten beautiful, culturally significant hubs. I have a massive problem with that, so here are five points which the video claimed to be the source of many of these cities ‘overratedness’, and why they are fundamentally wrong.
#1. Cleanliness
Paris, Rome, and London were all called out on being dirty cities. I can attest that Rome is the worst of them, closely followed by Paris. London isn’t too bad, however the air pollution definitely is. There are even signs on the tube urging people to use bicycles and other, greener means of transport, to help ease this.
Is this a reason not to visit? Maybe if you’re highly asthmatic of have a lot of trouble breathing. Otherwise? Absolutely not. Bring hand sanitizer wherever you go, which I do irregardless of my destination, and be prepared for a bit more of a mess than you’re used to. Rome I will say does need to step up it’s sanitation game but I refuse to say that it’s overrated because of that.
#2. Friendliness
London is apparently the world’s second most unfriendly city and Parisians are known for being curt with people who don’t have perfect French. New York wasn’t mentioned but I’m told from other sources they don’t have the most welcoming demeanor. The major issue I take with these statements is that it implies that an entire city should be friendly to you because you’re a visitor. That’s absurd. Yes it’s nice to visit a friendly place but ultimately the citizens of these cities, as individuals, do not owe you anything. The second issue I take is that I’ve found it to be untrue in the places I’ve visited. Londoners are always willing to help if asked, and are often very proud that they know their city like the back of their hand. The mark of a true Londoner is to know the tube system by heart after all! Parisians being curt with less than perfect French is also understandable, especially when it’s obvious that a lot of visitors don’t make an ounce of effort to learn French, or even carry around a little pocketbook of sentences. Aunt River and I were actually yelled at in Amsterdam, a place not usually known for it’s rudeness. You will encounter unpleasant people everywhere, that should not be a deterrent to travel.
#3. Crowding
It’s a city. If you’re visiting a city you should expect it to be crowded.
#4. Infrastructure
People seem to be disappointed by the architecture of many cities. Rome, London, Rio De Janeiro, and Athens especially. Rome’s modern infrastructure is in ruins, London’s skyline is a mix and match of old buildings and new, Rio De Janeiro and Amsterdam are both accused of having ‘bland’ architecture and Athens, the old bit of Athens mind you, the Acropolis, doesn’t have enough shade. Scaffolding around the Acropolis meant to facilitate the repairs of the ancient city is said to ‘detract from the experience’. Rome should probably do something about it’s infrastructure, it’s necessary to keep its citizens safe, but complaining about a lack of consistency in a skyline, a lack of differentiation in another, and a lack of shade in a city which was built before the time of Christ is astounding to me. These are things that some people might not enjoy, but it’s absurd to me that they would stop someone from visiting a city with so much to offer.
#5. Authenticity
Shanghi is too westernised, Paris has just too many tourists, Athens has too much scaffolding. Barcelona has too many tourist traps.
No … ?
Shanghi is westernised because it is a major port city and had to adapt during periods of colonisation. Paris has tourists because it is a cultural hub of the western world. Athens has scaffolding because they are trying to preserve their history for future generations. Barcelona having too many inauthentic experiences seems to me to be directly correlated to tourists not appreciating or engaging with the authenticity they were offered.
That brings us to the real reason I think cities get labelled as overrated. For all the calls for authenticity, people rarely appreciate truth; these cities are not perfect, they never have been. The people who claim that a city is overrated are the same people who travel for the wrong reasons; to find a magical cure all for whatever ails them, to find greener pastures if not a fantasy land, or because they think that to be well thought of they must travel and do so extravagantly. They will never travel beyond their own disappointment.
Travel because you’re a curious and wondrous person, because you are here for a limited amount of time and with what you have been given you want to explore the world around you. Travel because with every sense and every step you take you want to drink in what is new and different. Travel because any discomfort you suffer is the deeply discounted price for all the memories, knowledge, wonder, and experiences you will gain. Travel because your soul craves the nourishment that is adventure.
In the words of Robyn Young, “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
“Let’s build on soft ground! What could happen?”
The Leaning Tower of Pisa could happen, and unexpectedly give every math teacher the ultimate example of angles.
This iconic tower was begun in the 1170s and continued to be built over the span of almost two centuries, with work being halted because the tower sunk further into the ground, there was a war on, there was another war on, until it was eventually finished in 1372. To compensate for the tilt the tower’s floors are built slightly taller on one side, so it’s also curved, just like the stairs!
The spiral staircase winds right up to the top, but the steps too are curved, worn down from centuries of people climbing to the top. It’s dizzying, and terrifying especially on the way down, one slip and it would be down the rest of the stairs on your bottom, but the view from the top is one hundred percent worth it, as is the weird wonky way you’ll have to stand at the top. Seriously it’s really fun!
I have just checked the website and as of May the Tower of Pisa is open to the public with Covid safety measures, so if you’ve got 18 euro you can make your way to the top at your designated time.
If heights isn’t your thing you’ll probably not have a great time, especially at the top where you kind of feel like you’re falling off. Stay on the ground and you can take the traditional tourist selfie of yourself holding up the tower from one side, leaning on it, or any other creative photo. Personally I prefer the ones of someone blowing on it as if they’re the big bad wolf and the tower is crumbling to their mighty puffs. The tower also happens to be right next to the Pisa Cathedral a beautiful church that is itself worth a trip to the city of Pisa. You can also buy, alongside your ticket to the tower, entrance to the nearby Baptistry, Camposanto, Sinopie Museum, and the Opera Del Duomo Museum, none of which I have entered but am assured that they are well worth the money spent upon them. You can buy all of of these tickets ahead of time, as I suggest you do, at the Tower of Pisa Official Website. I give you this link because when I googled Tower of Pisa tickets to do my fact checking, I only got tour operators, not the official site. I do also have to say that I remember having a tour guide through the church, and she was so ecstatic about her job, she really enjoyed it, and it made our experience all that much better. I will endeavor to find out which tour company she was from, or if she worked for the caretakers of the tower itself, so be on the lookout for an update!
For your visit I definitely recommend some sunscreen and water as it can get very hot in Italy during the summer, but also an excellent pair of shoes if you plan on climbing the tower. Those stairs are no joke. Mom and I each had a good set of sneakers on and we still had a few mishaps. Poor Dad was in sandals. He thought they would be okay as they’re designed more like open shoes, but it still didn’t go well for him. Crawl up on all fours if you have to, it doesn’t matter how you climb up, only that you got to the top!
True Story Tuesday: The bridge
This story really begins when I was in England, and Forest asked when my days off of work were, because she was coming to visit me. I was elated, and I felt so cherished in that moment. It’s the best feeling in the world to know that you have friends who would cross oceans for you, and friendships that will survive years apart.
Of course when she told me she was coming I immediately thought that just seeing England wasn’t good enough, not for one of my friends. It was her first time out of the country and I wanted it to be spectacular. Forest is a huge fan of Disney, so I planned a trip for the two of us to Germany so that she could see the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty’s palace, Neuschwanstein.
We were so excited to see it, the pictures are always so gorgeous, and so when we arrived and the tour guide told us that there was a lookout from which most of those pictures were taken we knew we would have to go if time allowed. Thankfully it did, and we made our way up the hill a little ways away from the palace itself.
Although the lookout is a bridge, it’s used more as a platform. The trail continues on to the other side of the gorge but most people don’t use it as it takes you away from the palace. Just before the bridge there is a counter to let you know how many people are allowed on it, and a counter of the people currently there.
When we got to the bridge there were two, perhaps three other people. It had rained just before we got there, and mist hung grey in the air, dampening everything it touched. The waterfalls behind us thundered, and the river sang as it coursed between the mountains, ever silent and still like the castle, each rising proudly from the fog.
I could have spent ages there, listening to the water and the birds, and I will always remember the beauty of that moment, shared with my friend.
She took the most gorgeous photos, so if she’s willing to share I’ll post some here.
I had noticed though, that the bridge was not only slippery, but that the planks of wood had a lot of give. I will admit that I am not a small person, but I’m not so large that bridges should be bending under my weight. To my mind those planks were unsafe, so I stayed to the side where the iron sidings were, and put my weight on them instead.
We stood there for a good few minutes in the quiet until the rest of our tour group, along with several others, came up the hill. Forest wanted a few more pictures so I stayed with her while people passed us and took their own pause on the bridge. The more people came on, the more I wanted to put my weight onto the iron rather than the wood. When it was time to leave, I edged my way again along the side, this time a little bit more anxious because of all the extra people.
Some people had stopped on the other side of the bridge to get a photo of the falls, leaving me no choice but to go in the middle. I figured well, it can hold all of these people, maybe I’m overreacting.
That was when I felt the plank bend under me, and heard a voice shout “Well this isn’t very sturdy is it!?”
Here I must say that I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I’ve been bungee jumping, I would love to go sky diving, I do love a good thrill, but I’m not one for doing it in an unsafe manner.
This person had decided that just as the bridge was reaching it’s full capacity would be an optimal time not only to start jumping on it, but also to block my only means of egress. Who they were shouting to I don’t know, though I wanted very badly to shout something back at them. My words would not have been pleasant, so I hurried past them and made my way off the bridge.
When Forest showed up I told her what happened. Where I give people exactly zero chances, Forest is the type to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. She let me bluster and vent, and told me that while this person had acted in an inconsiderate way, they hadn’t acted with malice. She was right, of course. I just needed a minute to be angry before calming down. For the record, I don’t wish that person any ill will. They had simply done something silly, without thinking about it. We all make such mistakes.
I’ve been thinking a lot about that incident lately, and I think it’s a really apt metaphor for the position we’re in while facing Covid, especially concerning masks and social distancing.
We’re all on a flimsy bridge. Some of us are staying still. Some of us are walking because we have no other choice. The bridge can handle that. Some of us though are jumping on it, and the bridge isn’t designed to be jumped on. Whether we jump because we’re bored, we think it’s our right to jump, we think that boards are indestructible or that boards breaking is a hoax, or even that because others are doing it we can do it too, the reason doesn’t really matter.
Screaming ‘this can’t happen to me!’ as the bridge collapses won’t save us.
Working together will.
Practice social distancing. Wear a mask in public. Wash your hands. Stay at home.
If you need any information follow these links to the World Health Organisation, the Center for Disease Control, the Canadian Federal Government or your own federal government, and your local health unit. You can also find information by listening to the interviews of or public addresses by Dr. Theresa Tam and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The Fountains of Versailles
We’re almost at the end of July in Versailles! It’s been fun for me to write about this, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about this fabulous palace. We’ve got one more stop, the collection of fountains that are spread out over the gardens. Let me know in the comments or on twitter what you thought of July in Versailles! I’m thinking of doing November in Nymphenberg, so if you liked a more in depth look at this palace and want more let me know!
Alright onto the fountains!
The various palaces of Versailles take up less than half the space of the estate, so to say that you’ve seen Versailles you need to see the gardens too, especially the fountains. There are eight major fountains, some within close proximity to each other, with various smaller fountains sprinkled in. Search carefully, some are in groves, little nooks of the garden which are out of view of the main palace. It is these hidden fountains which would be turned on and off as the king passed by, though the ones which were within view of the palace were always kept running.
When you enter Versailles be sure to get a map of the palace. This will not only help you find your way around the large estate but it should also tell you the names of the fountains. Most of them are based off of Greek and Roman myth, so you may wish to brush up on your Mediterranean mythology before you go; or invite along your favourite classics nerd.
Turn left as you exit Versailles and you will immediately find quite a few of these fountains. The Pyramid, the Dragon Fountain, and Neptune Fountain, can all be found in a line as you walk. There are also four other smaller fountains in groves around that area. You’ll likely know that Neptune was the Roman god of the sea, but the dragon is a bit trickier. This fountain represents the story of how the Temple of Delphi came to be one that served the Greek god Apollo, rather than Gaia, the Greek primordial earth mother and the temple’s original guardian. Apollo slew a gigantic serpent which guarded the temple, and named the site Pythia due to the stench of the rotting snake’s corpse. If you’re wondering, yes, that is exactly why we called a several species of large snakes pythons!
If you head immediately down the stairs when you exit Versailles you will come to the vast majority of the fountains, and will come across the four seasonal fountains. To the right you will encounter Ceres, Roman goddess of grains, and further along Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers. To the left you will find Bacchus, Roman god of agriculture and wine, and finally Saturn, the Roman god of cyclical renewal. Each of them represent a season, Flora for spring, Ceres for summer, Bacchus for autumn, and Saturn for winter.
You can also find fountains of fighting animals, those ones I personally find rather spectacular, and pools which were meant to help feed all the fountains when they were turned on. They aren’t by any means the only source of water however, and to this day the people who manage Versailles need to carefully manage the fountains’ water sources to make sure they don’t tap into the drinking water of the city.
If you want to have a thorough look through of the garden, I recommend researching those fountains you want to see before you depart on your voyage. That way you can head straight to them if you’re given free time on a tour, and you won’t miss out on anything!
I recommend that for every part of your trip though, thorough research is key. I hope you’ve enjoyed July in Versailles, and that these articles can help you plan your own trip to this magnificent palace! Let me know in the comments what you thought of this longer venture into this palace, and if you’d be interested in more articles like this, maybe November in Nymphenberg? We shall see!
Lostman's Star 