Speedy Christmas Letter 2013
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Transcript of Speedy Christmas Letter 2013
Once again, the year rolls round and thoughts turn to Santa Claus, Bing Crosby, the Queen, turkey, brandy butter and old friends (not necessarily in that order).
I always think that the year cannot have been as eventful as the last one but it’s not true! Three years after retirement, it seems that it has been a pretty busy 12 months. I have to look through my photos to remind me of everything. I took 4,706 photos this year!
We have been travelling madly all year and grateful thanks are due to Peter and Ivy, and to Jean-‐Claude and Marie-‐Colombe who take it in turns to drive us to the airport. We try to reciprocate as much as possible!
Our journeys began on 1st January when we flew to India to visit Roopa’s Dad. Just 87 years young, he made us welcome as ever. We enjoyed good company and ate good food. The pictures show us visiting temples around Trichy where there are many beautiful examples. I also developed a fad for photographing Indian houses, which are frequently brightly
coloured and decorated. We made a trip to see the merchant houses in the Chettinad area, even bigger and more ornate buildings but falling a bit into disrepair. And we visited the new house of driver Kanan and his family. That and meeting with Roopa’s brother, sister-‐in-‐law and niece to complete a good holiday. We even stopped off in Sri Lanka and visited Shamila’s family on the way back.
At the end of February, we made a short visit to UK to check on the flat and get the car MOT’d and taxed for another year. Phil Stamp always keeps things right when we are not there and, as usual, everything was in order. This time, we managed to see Tom and meet with his friend Sarah for the first time over dinner somewhere near Baldock. We had some time with friends in the Royal Ag College: Paul, Richard, Sally and others.
We actually published a paper in the journal Rural Matters as Speedy, Speedy and Ham (that’s Roopa, me and Dr Le Huy Ham) on biotechnology in World agriculture.
We went to London where we attended a British Council Roundtable on Vietnam -‐ UK Science and Innovation Collaboration. We met some new people and took part in an interesting discussion followed by a pleasant lunch. This also gave us a chance to stay overnight with Ben, Helen, Carla and Jacob and attend Jacob’s christening on the Sunday.
riends, Romans, Relatives,
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My old mate Fred Mundle came down to Cirencester for the day. I hadn’t seen Fred for several years. We meet every now and again but we both look just as we did in our teens, to us anyway! We also briefly saw James, Ximena and Luke in Oxford before returning to Rome. Pictures of Spring in Rome show the display of flowers in the garden in early April. Roopa has been working hard and the
garden is looking well, with a few tips from Monty Don (and Nigel) on the BBC. But we had to leave it for the Big Trip in mid April….
The 17th April saw us on BA551 to London then BA067 to Philadelphia…. We were met at the airport by Harsha, the son of Roopa’s friends Sree and Kumar where we stayed for the first part. The only problem staying with Sree is the food, which is delicious and copious in quantity. It was a pleasure to be with the family, including second son Vishwa who is studying to be a doctor in Philly. Kumar took us to
New York with a small party of friends and we had some lovely Spring weather to see the cherry blossoms and the city lights. We also had some time to look around New Hope where we have some idea to settle in the future. We looked at some houses… More blossoms including spectacular magnolias at the Morris Arboretum where we went for a drive.
Then we visited Roopa’s other friends Purna and Srini in Collegeville. We had interesting discussions with Purna’s Dad, another jovial octogenarian. It was good to see them again and their little daughter Sumana, although we didn’t meet Suguna, who is now about to be another medical student!
Then on to Monica and Sid’s house in Hatfield. Monica and Roopa bought matching t-‐shirts for a photo. Daughter Priya entertained us getting ready for her high school dance with young man. (She subsequently settled for a dog, which is probably a wise choice!) Monica and Sid took us once again to Longwood Gardens where we had been several times before. But the display of spring flowers was quite spectacular in late April. Among my 4700 pictures are at least a million tulips! Quite incredible.
Back to New Hope and Kumar kindly lent us his brand new car for the next stage of our adventure…
We drove south on I-‐95, turning off to I-‐13 to cross the famous Chesapeake Bay bridge (6.9 km), the world's longest continuous over-‐water steel structure, to overnight in Norfolk Virginia. Then on eventually to Ashville, North Carolina.
Our good friend Donna had booked us a log cabin where we were to stay for four days with Donna, Fred, Lynn and Steve. Well, log cabin scarcely describes it! It could actually
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sleep 21 people but we needed plenty of space for Fred to throw things like fireguards and other objects around with impunity…
Steve was the family chauffeur and safely and expertly drove us around the beautiful North
Carolina hills. Surprisingly (given the bad forecast) the weather was good and we enjoyed driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway (taking pictures, of course) and to the Biltmore Mansion and its gardens. We also found plenty to do indoors, mainly involving bottles of Merlot….
Back up the BRP and then I-‐81 to New Hope again. Some lovely times with Sree and Kumar (more wonderful food!) including a visit from Lopa on Mother’s Day, and finally back to Rome. It was May and the roses were in full bloom. We went to the Aventino rose garden (near FAO) again which is spectacular on a sunny day. But our garden was also good! Roopa had another exhibition of her paintings in the FAO casa bar. A new theme of birds and flowers: if you haven’t seen them, you should!
One of my other jobs has been as adviser and judge for a student competition ‘Farming by Satellite’ for the GSA (European Global Navigational Satellite System). In June, the management team and sponsors met in Prague and I went on my own (without Roopa, which is rare). It was mainly business but I managed to slip out early in the morning for some photos of that beautiful city. It had been flooded a week or so before but, luckily, the water had subsided.
We were in UK again in late June to attend a ceremony and party for the inauguration of the Royal Agricultural University, renamed from ‘the College’ where I enjoy being a visiting Prof. We had time to see the family and grandchildren again. The abbey grounds in Cirencester were looking good with yellow irises along the river and
the newborn cygnets parading with their mum and dad. Daddy swan was doing some amazing battleship tactics on the ducks to keep them away! More photos! Sadly, they started as 6 little ones, then there were 5. At our last visit (in December), they were down to 3 but now fully-‐grown and almost white….
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The weather was rather English but we did get a good day when we went to an outdoor exhibition called Fresh Air at Quenington Old Rectory, near Cirencester. I even entered a photo exhibition with one of my pics of a modern sculpture: Peter Moorehouse's “Congregation 2013”.
This was also a chance to meet with my old school mate Tony Mackie and his wife Liz, who also came to Cirencester for the day. Also both just as we were at school, except for the hair or rather lack of it! July and August were spent in Rome where the weather was hot but not unbearable. We have adopted a new café where we take our morning cappuccino: Café 12 it is called. Some young guys do the best coffee around and amazingly fresh cornetti. Balmy days in the sun!
Tom came with Sarah in early July and invested in two sun-‐loungers. They spent a relaxing holiday on our front lawn, occasionally venturing out for coffee in the morning and pizza at night. We enjoyed their company.
We also had a visit from Lopa (our Indian friend from Columbus OH who did a short internship at FAO some years ago). We had a night in Rome to see the sights, eat a pizza at Aqua e Farina in Testaccio and some gelati. Culminating in the night view from Piazza Garibaldi at the top of the Gianicolo….
September saw a visit from James, Ximena and Luke. It was still a good time for the beach at Ostia and Luke enjoyed the sea even more as he is now 5 and growing rapidly. Trips to Ostia Antica (always a hit) and the Villa d’Este at Tivoli with its waterworks and fountains…. Luke said we shouldn’t have roses in September but of course in Rome they keep flowering, even into December.
Roopa worked quite hard in the garden to make it look good with roses, lavender, dahlias, gladioli, etc. She also did a lot of pruning. Some will have seen our Christmas tree, which is now bare up to 4 feet from the ground….
In Cirencester again in October and attended Convocation wearing my gown and hood. But not as spectacular as Phil
Stamp who carries the mace! A good photo of Phil was had this time. It was also the time of the Mop Fair on Monday in the car park opposite our flat. This is the traditional hiring fair that continues every year as a funfair. A little noisy but jolly. We also attended the funeral of my cousin Bea’s husband John. Although a sad occasion, we did meet family that we hadn’t seen
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for so many years: cousin Bea, of course, and her sister Rosemary and her children Paul and Izzy. We also met my sister Shirley and partner Alan. Shirley had not been well earlier in the year and it was good to see her so much better and looking fine again.
Then back to Italy just in time for a visit from Ben, Helen, Carla and Jacob. Even in October the sea was fine and Carla had a good time at the beach. It was Jacob’s first time at the sea and he also enjoyed it. Sand was fun but not very tasty! He tried it, nevertheless. We made another visit to Ostia Antica. Luke had found a great underground tunnel in
September and Carla was determined to find another one that we had seen in the guidebook: the Temple of Mithra. It is quite difficult to find but we did. Photos show the underground statue of the god in the tunnel.
We also went up the Vittorio Emanuele monument, a first time for me. There is an elevator to the top where there is a great view of Rome, the Forum, the Trajan market and so on. A hit with the kids, too.
About this time I got a job offer from the Asian Development Bank as the grandly titled International Coordinator for a project in Cambodia, Laos and
Vietnam. I know the people, the project and the places so, despite enjoying retirement, I accepted the idea. In November, I undertook the first mission to Phnom Penh with my new boss Ms. Lingling Ding and the team. It was all work and Roopa stayed mainly in the hotel but we met some old friends, including Dr Kieu Borin who I have know for many years and his (now grown up) son and daughter. The work is interesting and challenging, and not without some frustrations. It is about food safety, animal and plant health relating to international trade in food and agricultural products. Not easy in countries with permeable borders and animals that walk! I will go next to Philippines, Laos and Vietnam in January, and again to Cambodia.
Back to UK for a brief trip in early December. I planned to sell the car that sits there all year but I didn’t! It still goes very well and is very convenient when we are there, if somewhat of an extravagance. I did meet with Paul and others at the RAU and gave a seminar on Cambodia to the IRD students: a great bunch of Africans, Chinese, Italians, Brits and others. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do! We saw Sally Story as well and attended the carol service in the
chapel, courtesy of tickets from the secretaries to the Principal and VP, Caroline and Karen.
This time was punctuated with the sad death of Nelson Mandela.
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It was a more difficult trip than usual as the flight there was cancelled due to a silly technical fault in the ATC centre. That made us a day late and caused a long wait for the bus to Ciren. Then coming back, Roopa decided to bring a (3m x 2m) carpet that was a bit of a struggle to manage. However, we are back and the floor is covered in Rome!
Now I am sitting here booking flights for January: Rome-‐Bangkok-‐Manila-‐Vientiane-‐Hanoi-‐Phnom Penh-‐Bangkok-‐Rome. It is a good job that Roopa will come to carry my bag! We also hope to get to India early in the New Year to see Roopa’s Dad. They talk on Skype every Saturday and he is expecting us to come soon. Now I am contemplating decorating the Christmas tree. No, not the emasculated one. It has been replaced with a cheap Chinese replica, but sporting a beautiful angel: St Tesco.
Tomorrow, sister Catherine and brother-‐in-‐law Philippe arrive from Switzerland for Christmas and we are expecting a jolly time. We will go to Savita and Gianfranco’s for Christmas day again so expecting antipasta, pasta, good cooking and more (they are very good cooks!). It is always a great time to meet with friends. So that’s our story of 2013. We wish all our friends and relatives a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Here’s hoping to see you again in 2014. Cheers!
More photos as always at: http://picasaweb.google.com/awspeedy/
[Over to Roopa to check if I left anything out….]