Blog – Fergy's Rambles.

Lock-down Diaries #6.

Hello again to all my lovely readers and welcome to anyone who may have stumbled here by accident, I hope it won’t prove to be too harrowing an experience for you. I see that I have 70 followers now and that is certainly not something I was expecting when I rather rashly took the decision a couple of years ago to buy a domain name and start my own website. I really do the stupidest things sometimes but I must admit I do rather enjoy it.

On then to Lockdown Diaries #6 in a series that has the potential to run as long as the Archers (look them up if you are not British) and it seems to be getting no better despite the positive noises being made by the authorities. Nothing has changed and until some pharmaceutical company becomes even more obscenely rich by creating a vaccine which is widely administered, nothing will change. After that it will mutate and we’ll start all over again. Welcome to the 21st century (and you are welcome to it!).
There is a good reason why there has been such a hiatus since the last episode here, so if you want to know what it is, please click the “read more” button.
Continue reading “Lock-down Diaries #6.”

Vincent, half a breakfast, two gigs and back to bed.

I woke up well rested again early on the morning of Thursday 15th August and due to my late arrival from London it was already the penultimate day of the Festival and I felt as if I had barely started. I had a bit of time to spare so I decided to go for a look round Spencer Square where the hotel was as someone had told me that Vincent van Gogh once lived there. It did not take me long to find the appropriate blue plaque commemorating the fact on the wall of number 11 on the opposite side of the square. I love blue plaques as I find them are endlessly interesting. Continue reading “Vincent, half a breakfast, two gigs and back to bed.”

First full day at Folk Week.

Wednesday 14th August arrived with reasonable weather but look at the skies told me that it was very possibly not going to remain that way, which indeed proved to be the case later on. Continue reading “First full day at Folk Week.”

Broadstairs Folk Week at last.

Well, Broadstairs Folk Week has been and gone again and I am actually writing this as the dust settles in the aftermath. I know I have mentioned it many times before on various pages on this site but for newcomers a) welcome and b) a quick word of explanation. This is undoubtedly my favourite festival in the world and I have been playing it in one guise or another for 30 of the last 31 years. Continue reading “Broadstairs Folk Week at last.”

Have you met Darth Vader?

Apparently nothing happened on the 8th as I do not have a single image but on the morning of the 9th my kid brother turned up on yet another one of his hugely powered motorcycles (he has a fleet of them) and I asked him to take an image. This one is his comfy BMW tourer that he uses to go away on with his missus. He also has a CBX which he loves and is about 40 years of age but still pristine and a VFR which is a bit rapid to say the least. Continue reading “Have you met Darth Vader?”

A strange day back in the old hometown.

Nothing to report for the next couple of days but on the 7th I knew I had to get to Belfast. As I have explained before it is ludicrously the only way I can buy a sailrail ticket back to London by travelling to the rail Travel Centre there. Still, I hadn’t managed to get to the city of my birth since I had been home so it was no great hardship.

A pleasant enough journey on the train deposited me at the station and straight to the Travel Centre where a friendly guy dealt with me quickly and efficiently (look, I have my travel writing head back on now) so the rest of the day was mine. What to do? Well, obviously a drink or two would be called for but I fancied a bit of a wander round, just for the old times. Damn, I grew up here when it was a lot different. Continue reading “A strange day back in the old hometown.”

Same old, same old.

There are going to be a few days rolled into one here, as appears to be turning into a habit on my little site as, barring a day out in Belfast, mot much of note happened before I returned “home” to London on 10th August and which begged the question was I leaving “home” or going “home”. The facts of the matter are that I lived in Northern Ireland for the first 28 years of my life and have now lived in London (when I am not on my seemingly endless travels) in London for 30 now. As always, any comments would be most welcome on the subject of what you define as home? Continue reading “Same old, same old.”

Last throw of the dice.

The very fact that you are reading this, if indeed anyone is, should be regarded as nothing short of a miracle.

The very fact that you are reading this, if indeed anyone is, should be regarded as nothing short of a miracle. Allow me to explain briefly as I am well aware that verbosity is one of my many failings, most of which I have only recognised relatively recently. Isn’t it funny how the passage of time gives you a much clearer picture of yourself? Continue reading “Last throw of the dice.”

Time to check the mail, it’s finally over.

My final day in Rome arrived and so I packed up my meagre possessions, left the appalling hostel I had been staying in and headed straight for Mauro’s bar to say my goodbyes. Continue reading “Time to check the mail, it’s finally over.”

A new discovery and an ambition fulfilled.

After my somewhat epic trek of the 16th of July (see previous entry for full details) the 17th and 18th were spent in my usual pursuit of hanging out in Mauro’s wonderful little cafe and there are only a couple of things of note to record here. Having booked my flight home for the 19th I was effectively kicking my heels and trying to make the most of my last few days in the wonderful atmosphere of Rome amongst new found friends without the hassle of trudging round endless tourist attractions in the increasingly oppressive heat. Continue reading “A new discovery and an ambition fulfilled.”