Confusion Reigns Supreme

I’ve just posted on another blog over on BCUK my five favourite places and the reasons why.  This is only five of them as I had to be selective.  I could have added one or two pubs, London, Cairo, Worthing or actually just my bed…

Anyway, here goes my top five:

1. Horsell Common. Famous as the landing site of the first Martian cylinder in H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds”, consisting over 800 hectares of mixed woodland and heath and home to many and varied species of flora and fauna, including a surprising amount of endangered species. It is literally right on my doorstep and it has been a pleasure to me and my dogs over the years, both for recreation and occasionally research both in the fields of Science Fiction and Science Fact.

2. Broadoaks, West Byfleet. Formerly the home of the Charrington family, it was commandeered by the War Office and was the home of the Defence Operational Analysis Establishment up until their move and amalgamation with the Quinetiq group now based in Farnborough. I was a member of staff in a lodger unit until that move, and It broke my heart to see it being sold off by the MoD to a private company. Having said that, the outside of the buildings and the grounds may have looked fantastic, but the inside was shabby and rather neglected, which is unfortunately quite typical of government owned historic buildings…

3. Canal du Midi, Southern France. Spent two wonderful family holidays on this gorgeous waterway back in ’79 and ’81. So many sights and insights over those two brief periods helped me appreciate that the French aren’t all as arrogant as they can be in Paris. From the white horses and flamingos of the Carmargue to the bloke with his python in the main square in Carcasonne, even for a sprog of 8 and 10 years old it was fascinating. I’d love to go back sometime, especially to Aigues Mortes. Thinking about it, that’s possibly where I had my first taste of French Cidre. Hmm…

4. Luxembourg, Luxembourg. So good they named it twice! Until I visited my brother there in 1996 I had never felt like I fitted in anywhere. Then I found The White Rose pub, Rue Dix 6. What can I say? An English pub run by a Dane and frequented by Italians. If I couldn’t fit in with such a cosmopolitan mix I’d stand no chance of fitting in anywhere. For some reason I felt like I was a misfit among misfits.

5. You know what’s coming next, don’t you? Yup. Woking Berlin. For similar reasons to Lu’bourg, but with a hell of a lot more freedom – I don’t have family ties in Berlin. I also now know an Irish pub frequented by… well anybody and everybody, it seems. After the first visit to the city to meet up with 15 on-line friends (some of whom I’ve now sadly lost contact with) I decided to see what it was like to visit the city as a lone traveller, and I loved it! I have loved it every time I’ve been back (seven times in four years now!) even despite the curve ball that was thrown my way on the first day of my last visit when I had my phone and wallet stolen from right under my nose. The main thing is that I’ve found somewhere where I feel I can be free to be me without feeling as though everyone’s looking at every single thing I do.

Still finding the language thing a bit of a problem, though.