I used to think
Eurostar was the travel method of choice only for business types, rich folk and blokes trying to impress their ladies with a weekend in Paris. I now know differently having found it cheaper to travel to another country than it is to get to the other end of my own – girls, don’t be fooled into thinking Blackpool isn’t a statement of true love!
Arriving in Brussels in a journey time equal to that it would take to reach Leeds, I was amused at the vast number of kebab shops seen on route to the hotel, Sultans of Kebab seem to have cornered the post pub hunger craving market. They didn’t however win the best sign award, this going to the shop whose name I forget, but which could be identified by the picture of a chip having a piss.
Now, if you had to list famous Belgians, I imagine you might struggle; probably the best known of them all is a cartoon character. The Tintin Museum,
The Belgium Comic Strip Centre to give it its proper title, does do this Belgian icon justice and is well worth a visit.
Housing a wealth of information, pictures and 3D models charting the development of The Adventures of Tintin, plus other cartoon favourites such as
The Smurfs and
Lucky Luke, whether you’re a big kid or art enthusiast, an hour spent here will not be wasted.
There is much wall space given over to the evolution of
Tintin,
Snowy (who nearly always saves the day of course),
Captain Haddock and
Professor Calculus. Beginning as simple line drawings published in a children’s supplement of a Belgian newspaper in early 1929, these world famous characters expanded into albums, magazines, TV, radio, film and theatre.
For those interested in the art form, replica studios such as
Herge would have used are there to be explored. I know computer generated animation is a great skill of a totally different kind, but you can’t fail to be impressed when you imagine the painstaking process drawing everything by hand would have been.
In the same way as I believe people are missing out on so much when they come to London and only do the obvious things, I am actually trying to write a book inspired by that thought but that’s for another blog, I’m sure I’m doing Brussels a disservice in only remembering Tintin, chocolate and beer, but that’s what a two night tourist trip is for, right? I even found it a struggle to track down an
Anderlecht scarf, having to pick one up at the home of major rivals Club Bruges instead.
On the subject of beer, I strongly recommend
Kwak, disappointingly not spelt quack. As for chocolate, one particular shop had limited additions from every conceivable cocoa exporting country and, with Cuba being one of my favourite places in the world, I naturally chose that.
If Brussels left me a little underwhelmed, then Bruges was the exact opposite. One hour’s train ride from the countries capital, it’s like entering a city stuck in a time warp. The centre is full of ancient, unspoilt buildings separated by cobbled streets rarely used by traffic, the most likely thing to run you over when crossing the road is actually a horse and cart.
My next recommendation is
Martin’s Hotel, not least as it’s the first place I’ve stayed in that has a teddy bear in each room. I couldn’t help but imagine, were you to visit the bar of a daytime, you might find them all gathered round the fire discussing who’d been staying in their room last night, the sort of thing
Alan Bennett might have written a play about. Maybe when I get bored with the London book I might write that one instead.
Just as in every other Christmas loving location, Bruges was very much gearing up for the festive period. One week later the place would have been heaving with folk come to enjoy the famous Christmas market. I confess I’m still not sure why half way through Sunday afternoon we happened upon Santa riding a white horse accompanied by a brass band, perhaps he was arriving in style for the
Club Verses
Cercle Bruges derby game that evening. Equally confusing was the musicians choice of tune,
‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’ doesn’t appear on ‘Now That’s What I Call Christmas’ to my knowledge. You can’t argue that it’s not factually correct though.
Having highlighted Belgium’s chocolate and beer producing reputation, their love of the chip is also worth mentioning, even if only to then tell you that Bruges has a
chip museum. It was shut on this Sunday, like most of Bruges with the exception of pubs and a few shops, so the history of the potato will have to wait for another time.
At the risk of emphasising the Brit abroad reputation, I shall close on two beer related points. Londoners who have enjoyed the wonders of the
Porterhouse in Covent Garden will confirm that an extensive beer menu is an excellent sight. Being confronted by one the size of one of those giant catalogues you’d find in Argos as we were in our pub of choice in Bruges is most agreeable. As was
Corsendonk Brown, an abbey beer with a sweet after taste.
Back in the bar at Martin’s, Huyghe Brewery were encouraging sales of
Delirium with an interesting collection of merchandise.
“Buy five beers and you could be the proud owner of your very own pink elephant!”
Whether I can now claim to be a member of the Conferie van da Olifant (brotherhood of the elephant) I can’t say. I did return home with my cuddly toy, Club Bruges and Anderlecht scarves to hang on the bedroom wall with the Hertha Berlin one bought earlier in the year and some new favourite beers to hunt out in specialist shops.
So in 2010 it was Berlin, Brussels and Bruges: any suggestions of places beginning with C to visit in 2011?
Wait, next season’s
rugby league fixtures have just been announced and Castleford away is one trip I’m yet to make.
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
How Does Being Disabled Impact on Wellbeing?
"How do you get up from an all time low?"
A status update I recently read on Facebook, the poster was taking a line from a
song by the boy band The Wanted, which they felt was especially relevant to their own life. The comments which followed developed into a frank and open discussion on the challenges disabled people face when trying to interact with the world outside their front door, and the reality that barriers in achieving this can result in a feeling of isolation, depression and or low self esteem.
As a disabled person myself, writing this article has been a significant challenge. My mindset, as is the case with so many people with disabilities, is to highlight things we can do, rather than focusing on what we can’t. However, reality means that for everyone with a physical, sensory or mental impairment there is something about the cards we’ve been dealt which presents extra challenges. For the most part these are just aspects of our lives which make us who we are, everyone has something which makes them different and a disabled person will confront these as a matter of personal routine. However, when the going gets tough, sometimes the reality of an impairment presents one too many hurdles to get going.
Allow me to illustrate by way of a scenario which I hope many can relate to, even if only because it sounds like a nice thing to be doing.
Imagine you’ve had a rubbish day at work and, in order to feel better you walk home via a local park,. The fresh air and late afternoon sunshine will do you good. On the way you happen to see a poster for a film you read about in the paper on the bus that morning and decide to make going to see it at the weekend the thing you’ll look forward to. You call a couple of friends up to sound them out, but they’re not interested. Although it would have been nice to have company it’s not the end of the world, you always did have superior taste when it came to cinema and you’d only have to explain the plot to them in the pub afterwards so you’re quite happy to go by yourself. You agree to meet them on Friday night anyway. Weekend plans fixed up, and the combination of drinks with your mates plus a bit of ‘you’ time doing something you love and suddenly, even though you’re not looking forward to work in the morning, you have something to look forward to at the end of the week.
Now imagine how different that series of events might be if you had a disability of some kind. Maybe you’re in a wheelchair and, much as you’d love to lift your spirits by taking the park route home, steps on the way in and uneven paths make it too tiring an option to tackle by yourself.
Alternatively, you’re registered blind and you miss your local cinema’s one audio described screening of the film you wanted to see. Although normally you’re quite happy to go to the cinema on your own, with this being a particularly visual film, you wouldn't get the full experience.
Incidents such as these as one offs can quite easily be put down as just one of those things, every life has it’s frustrations. It’s when a series of unsatisfactory events happen where an impairment is a major part, that someone is vulnerable to wellbeing issues.
I used the example of a bad day at work as it is something most of us have experienced at some stage. I accept that unemployment in all sections of society is rising, however disabled people are presented with extra challenges in finding employment than able bodied. A smaller pool of practical vacancies, and perception on the part of potential employers of how a disabled person might fit into their workplace, are unarguable factors.
Then there are access issues with regard to entertainment, something which is vastly improving, you only need to see how someone in a wheel chair tackles the
music festivals in the mud to know what can be achieved with a bit of help and determination. But it only takes a wheelchair bound person’s favourite band to play upstairs in a pub which has seen better days, no captions at a deaf person’s local theatre or cinema, or people with any number of impairments not having friends who share the same quirky interests as them and it’s another night in watching crap TV.
These, and other such issues mean people with a disability of some kind can very easily develop feelings of isolation from the general day-to-day world, and, depending on how they feel about this, can quite easily lead to a drop in self-worth/esteem. Just as with non-disabled people, there are many reasons for why loneliness or depression might take its hold. However, for the disabled person, coming to terms with their impairment, or the life situation it has put them in, can present challenges to positive wellbeing.
Many in this situation will head for the computer. Although not the same as face to face socialization, the Internet does present a way of connecting with people and that can lead to possibilities outside of the house.
When my regular running partner moved away, I searched for running clubs in my local area on Google and two years later am fitter than ever. Then there are the opportunities social networking presents, (OK, so it’s not much fun if you’re feeling down and you log in to Facebook to be confronted by a list of status updates where other people seem to be having more fun,; or invitations to events have to be rejected for no other reason than you can’t go alone) but as millions can confirm, old friends can be found, and new ones made – they don’t even need to know about a disability until a connection has been made over a shared interest.
The Internet also provides those that want it with the chance to express how they feel about life, either via a semi-public platform like Facebook, or as anonymously as they want on forums and blogs.
Through a combination of society generally opening it’s mind, and a bit of a legal prod when necessary thanks to the Disability Discrimination Act, now
Equality Act, the potential for a disabled person to experience things they enjoy is far greater, but there’s still no hiding from the fact that the general public needs to be better educated about disabilities - and I include myself here as I’m no less ignorant about other impairments than anyone else.
I’m optimistic about how
Channel 4 are throwing themselves into covering the
London Paralympic Games, if they can make it as much as a TV event as cricket, then we may all have a greater understanding of what some people experience when a bit of their body doesn’t function as it should. And with understanding comes knowledge and greater
confidence both when confronted with a person that is different from what you’ve experienced before, and for that person in question, a greater chance of being integrated. You can install all the wheel chair ramps you like, but if the people at the top of it feel awkward talking to a disabled person, then they’re still going to feel isolated, just a few feet higher up.
*If any of the issues covered in this blog interest you and you would like to contribute one of your own, please send the link to off.your.rocker.campaign@gmail.com
Thank you*
A status update I recently read on Facebook, the poster was taking a line from a
song by the boy band The Wanted, which they felt was especially relevant to their own life. The comments which followed developed into a frank and open discussion on the challenges disabled people face when trying to interact with the world outside their front door, and the reality that barriers in achieving this can result in a feeling of isolation, depression and or low self esteem.
As a disabled person myself, writing this article has been a significant challenge. My mindset, as is the case with so many people with disabilities, is to highlight things we can do, rather than focusing on what we can’t. However, reality means that for everyone with a physical, sensory or mental impairment there is something about the cards we’ve been dealt which presents extra challenges. For the most part these are just aspects of our lives which make us who we are, everyone has something which makes them different and a disabled person will confront these as a matter of personal routine. However, when the going gets tough, sometimes the reality of an impairment presents one too many hurdles to get going.
Allow me to illustrate by way of a scenario which I hope many can relate to, even if only because it sounds like a nice thing to be doing.
Imagine you’ve had a rubbish day at work and, in order to feel better you walk home via a local park,. The fresh air and late afternoon sunshine will do you good. On the way you happen to see a poster for a film you read about in the paper on the bus that morning and decide to make going to see it at the weekend the thing you’ll look forward to. You call a couple of friends up to sound them out, but they’re not interested. Although it would have been nice to have company it’s not the end of the world, you always did have superior taste when it came to cinema and you’d only have to explain the plot to them in the pub afterwards so you’re quite happy to go by yourself. You agree to meet them on Friday night anyway. Weekend plans fixed up, and the combination of drinks with your mates plus a bit of ‘you’ time doing something you love and suddenly, even though you’re not looking forward to work in the morning, you have something to look forward to at the end of the week.
Now imagine how different that series of events might be if you had a disability of some kind. Maybe you’re in a wheelchair and, much as you’d love to lift your spirits by taking the park route home, steps on the way in and uneven paths make it too tiring an option to tackle by yourself.
Alternatively, you’re registered blind and you miss your local cinema’s one audio described screening of the film you wanted to see. Although normally you’re quite happy to go to the cinema on your own, with this being a particularly visual film, you wouldn't get the full experience.
Incidents such as these as one offs can quite easily be put down as just one of those things, every life has it’s frustrations. It’s when a series of unsatisfactory events happen where an impairment is a major part, that someone is vulnerable to wellbeing issues.
I used the example of a bad day at work as it is something most of us have experienced at some stage. I accept that unemployment in all sections of society is rising, however disabled people are presented with extra challenges in finding employment than able bodied. A smaller pool of practical vacancies, and perception on the part of potential employers of how a disabled person might fit into their workplace, are unarguable factors.
Then there are access issues with regard to entertainment, something which is vastly improving, you only need to see how someone in a wheel chair tackles the
music festivals in the mud to know what can be achieved with a bit of help and determination. But it only takes a wheelchair bound person’s favourite band to play upstairs in a pub which has seen better days, no captions at a deaf person’s local theatre or cinema, or people with any number of impairments not having friends who share the same quirky interests as them and it’s another night in watching crap TV.
These, and other such issues mean people with a disability of some kind can very easily develop feelings of isolation from the general day-to-day world, and, depending on how they feel about this, can quite easily lead to a drop in self-worth/esteem. Just as with non-disabled people, there are many reasons for why loneliness or depression might take its hold. However, for the disabled person, coming to terms with their impairment, or the life situation it has put them in, can present challenges to positive wellbeing.
Many in this situation will head for the computer. Although not the same as face to face socialization, the Internet does present a way of connecting with people and that can lead to possibilities outside of the house.
When my regular running partner moved away, I searched for running clubs in my local area on Google and two years later am fitter than ever. Then there are the opportunities social networking presents, (OK, so it’s not much fun if you’re feeling down and you log in to Facebook to be confronted by a list of status updates where other people seem to be having more fun,; or invitations to events have to be rejected for no other reason than you can’t go alone) but as millions can confirm, old friends can be found, and new ones made – they don’t even need to know about a disability until a connection has been made over a shared interest.
The Internet also provides those that want it with the chance to express how they feel about life, either via a semi-public platform like Facebook, or as anonymously as they want on forums and blogs.
Through a combination of society generally opening it’s mind, and a bit of a legal prod when necessary thanks to the Disability Discrimination Act, now
Equality Act, the potential for a disabled person to experience things they enjoy is far greater, but there’s still no hiding from the fact that the general public needs to be better educated about disabilities - and I include myself here as I’m no less ignorant about other impairments than anyone else.
I’m optimistic about how
Channel 4 are throwing themselves into covering the
London Paralympic Games, if they can make it as much as a TV event as cricket, then we may all have a greater understanding of what some people experience when a bit of their body doesn’t function as it should. And with understanding comes knowledge and greater
confidence both when confronted with a person that is different from what you’ve experienced before, and for that person in question, a greater chance of being integrated. You can install all the wheel chair ramps you like, but if the people at the top of it feel awkward talking to a disabled person, then they’re still going to feel isolated, just a few feet higher up.
*If any of the issues covered in this blog interest you and you would like to contribute one of your own, please send the link to off.your.rocker.campaign@gmail.com
Thank you*
Diabetic Walks Australia: Article For Gapyear.com
This particular tale should give you the idea that 'anything is possible'. Some of the best challenges undertaken are the completely outlandish, where you have to be a certain type of idiot to A; think of it and then B; follow your dream through to the bitter end.
In 1998, David Parker was young, free and single and able to quite frankly do what he wanted, when he wanted. However, there is a slight twist to the tale. David is a
type one insulin diabetic, which essentially means his blood sugar levels can become dangerously low. This strand of diabetes is predominantly found in younger people and is often as a result of a genetic link. It can be controlled, in David’s case, by two injections per day and keeping track of his diet.
A challenge which is a little out of the ordinary, is made a tad more risky when having to juggle with your own basic energy level. But David's motto is 'Live your dreams, don’t dream your life' - something this tale illustrates
rather well
David walked from Perth to Sydney, which just for the record is 2,612 miles (and don’t you forget the 12), a challenge which took all of 69 days and set a new world record which still stood - or should that be rather delicately leant up against a camper van - when I interviewed him in 2005 for http://www.gapyear.com/Gapyear.com. More on that camper van later by the way.
You’d be forgiven at this point for asking that simple one-word question: why?
The blame can largely be laid at the clay-like feet of one Ffyona Campbell, the first woman to walk round the world and whose book
Feet of Clay told of how she did the Australian leg in 95 days. Inspired by this, and the fact that another bod had done it in 77 days, David and his mate Rod found themselves in Perth with a mission, an awful lot of food and just like
Sooty and Sweep, a camper van to sleep in.
If you're doing a challenge like this with diabetes, a support vehicle and a willing driver or team of drivers is absolutely vital. The way this trip was planned was that Rob would drive on ten miles and wait with the coffee. David would duly turn up two hours later and drink some of it and the cycle would start all over again.
On paper - sorry, screen – it looks relatively simple. That is until you add the snakes that would lazily sun themselves across the road. Australia has the ten most venomous snakes in the world in case you're interested, and then there’s the hazard of the road train that occasionally comes flying past at 60 plus mph. They have a stopping distance of about a mile, so it’s no use waving at them to swerve.
Alright let’s cut to the chase, how does one plan for such an ordeal? The food issue, which is key for someone with diabetes, has already been touched on but the simple answer is to cram as much into your camper van as you can. Imagine you’re walking from London to Moscow only seeing a town once every few days. This is not the time or the place to realize that somebody has forgotten the butter. We’re talking plenty of pasta, rice and the like that will store for days and doesn’t take up much room, alongside the sugar kick foods such as chocolate and cake for the anticipated emergency.
This walk was done during the Australian winter, which is the temperature equivalent of a good day in summer for us Brits, around the mid twenties which gives an idea of the sort of clothing required. David walked his way through three pairs of trainers during the two and a bit months on the road.
Ninety-five per cent of the Australian population lives within three miles of the coast and so walking through the middle is bound to be remote. Given the loneliness of this whole area, the landmarks and highlights are few and far between, however the sunset is something that needs to be seen to be believed and the feeling of freedom is something that you will struggle to find in many other parts of the world. In terms of the limited points of interest, there is one part where the road runs alongside a railway line, straight for 90 miles, something that would have made the Romans proud.
As is often the case with such challenges, this was a charity venture as well and raised ten grand to support
diabetes research, but this was also the sort of life changing experience that most with a disability or illness probably wouldn’t think they’d be able to have. OK so we’re not suggesting you should try it for yourself, but David has certainly proved that anything can be possible if you put your mind to it.
In 1998, David Parker was young, free and single and able to quite frankly do what he wanted, when he wanted. However, there is a slight twist to the tale. David is a
type one insulin diabetic, which essentially means his blood sugar levels can become dangerously low. This strand of diabetes is predominantly found in younger people and is often as a result of a genetic link. It can be controlled, in David’s case, by two injections per day and keeping track of his diet.
A challenge which is a little out of the ordinary, is made a tad more risky when having to juggle with your own basic energy level. But David's motto is 'Live your dreams, don’t dream your life' - something this tale illustrates
rather well
David walked from Perth to Sydney, which just for the record is 2,612 miles (and don’t you forget the 12), a challenge which took all of 69 days and set a new world record which still stood - or should that be rather delicately leant up against a camper van - when I interviewed him in 2005 for http://www.gapyear.com/Gapyear.com. More on that camper van later by the way.
You’d be forgiven at this point for asking that simple one-word question: why?
The blame can largely be laid at the clay-like feet of one Ffyona Campbell, the first woman to walk round the world and whose book
Feet of Clay told of how she did the Australian leg in 95 days. Inspired by this, and the fact that another bod had done it in 77 days, David and his mate Rod found themselves in Perth with a mission, an awful lot of food and just like
Sooty and Sweep, a camper van to sleep in.
If you're doing a challenge like this with diabetes, a support vehicle and a willing driver or team of drivers is absolutely vital. The way this trip was planned was that Rob would drive on ten miles and wait with the coffee. David would duly turn up two hours later and drink some of it and the cycle would start all over again.
On paper - sorry, screen – it looks relatively simple. That is until you add the snakes that would lazily sun themselves across the road. Australia has the ten most venomous snakes in the world in case you're interested, and then there’s the hazard of the road train that occasionally comes flying past at 60 plus mph. They have a stopping distance of about a mile, so it’s no use waving at them to swerve.
Alright let’s cut to the chase, how does one plan for such an ordeal? The food issue, which is key for someone with diabetes, has already been touched on but the simple answer is to cram as much into your camper van as you can. Imagine you’re walking from London to Moscow only seeing a town once every few days. This is not the time or the place to realize that somebody has forgotten the butter. We’re talking plenty of pasta, rice and the like that will store for days and doesn’t take up much room, alongside the sugar kick foods such as chocolate and cake for the anticipated emergency.
This walk was done during the Australian winter, which is the temperature equivalent of a good day in summer for us Brits, around the mid twenties which gives an idea of the sort of clothing required. David walked his way through three pairs of trainers during the two and a bit months on the road.
Ninety-five per cent of the Australian population lives within three miles of the coast and so walking through the middle is bound to be remote. Given the loneliness of this whole area, the landmarks and highlights are few and far between, however the sunset is something that needs to be seen to be believed and the feeling of freedom is something that you will struggle to find in many other parts of the world. In terms of the limited points of interest, there is one part where the road runs alongside a railway line, straight for 90 miles, something that would have made the Romans proud.
As is often the case with such challenges, this was a charity venture as well and raised ten grand to support
diabetes research, but this was also the sort of life changing experience that most with a disability or illness probably wouldn’t think they’d be able to have. OK so we’re not suggesting you should try it for yourself, but David has certainly proved that anything can be possible if you put your mind to it.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Edinburgh Festival Diary: Roomthirteen.com August 2007
OK, so I’m using this blog to post articles I’ve written, or, if they’re long or living in other places on the Internet, links to where they can be read.
For starters, this link takes you to a page on the website Roomthirteen.com, the online music magazine which I was News Editor and Deputy Editor of for four years.
For the most part I was writing about rock music in its various forms, as well as much festival coverage too. However, in the summer of 2007 I spent a week at the Edinburgh Fringe and, since there is something for everyone at the month long cultural explosion in Scotland’s capital, I decided to write a diary for the site.
Enjoy!
For starters, this link takes you to a page on the website Roomthirteen.com, the online music magazine which I was News Editor and Deputy Editor of for four years.
For the most part I was writing about rock music in its various forms, as well as much festival coverage too. However, in the summer of 2007 I spent a week at the Edinburgh Fringe and, since there is something for everyone at the month long cultural explosion in Scotland’s capital, I decided to write a diary for the site.
Enjoy!
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