good things

Art and Architecture in Kaunas, Lithuania

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European Capital of Culture 2022 and UNESCO World Heritage City, Kaunas is full of beautiful architecture and artwork. It’s the second biggest city in Lithuania with a population of just under 400,000 people; the whole country has around 2.8 million people. My spouse and I visited last weekend and had a lovely time, despite the unusually cold weather (it snowed!). It may seem to be a bit of a random choice to some, but we got a great deal on flights through Wizz Air, and I always love exploring new and different places.

After a 7am flight, we arrived at our hotel around lunchtime and were lucky enough to be able to check in straight away. Dagirdas Old City Hotel is in the heart of the Old Town, just a stone’s throw from the Old Town Square and numerous historic buildings.

We left our bags (we’d only brought a small backpack each to keep the flights cheap!) and went straight out for lunch. On the square were a few restuarants and we found a lovely one called Soul with traditional dishes on the menu. We shared a goat’s cheese salad, cheese doughnut duo and potato pancakes with cheese-spinach cream – all delicious.

After lunch, we began exploring the old part of the city and headed towards the castle. Kaunas Castle was originally built in the 14th century and is the city’s oldest landmark. It was destroyed and rebuilt more than once, with a major restoration in 2010, although parts of the original castle still remain. It is now a small museum as well, and there are great views of the city and nearby Neris River from the viewing platform at the top of the tower.

As the castle was full of students on a school trip when we got there, we decided to go for a walk through Santakos Park down to the confluence of the Neris and Nemunas Rivers. The views across the rivers and around the park were lovely. Although the sun was out intermittently, it hailed for a few minutes and we were very glad we’d worn our big winter coats!

We then headed back to the castle, by which time the students had all gone, and explored the museum inside the castle tower.

After that, it was time for some refreshments. Nearby was a chocolate cafe, CH Chocolaterie, so of course we had to go there. The cake (caramel for me and chocolate for my other half) and hot chocolate were delicious, and we bought a few handmade chocolates to take home with us as well.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the old town, finding random works of art and admiring the historic buildings, before finding a traditional Lithuania restaurant for dinner, Bernelių Užeiga.

We weren’t very hungry as we were still full of chocolate and cake, so we ordered smaller dishes to try – beetroot soup and baked Lithuanian cheese, which were, once again, delicious.

The next day, we set off for Laisvés Avenue, one of the longest pedstrian streets in Europe at just over a mile long. On the way, we had some traditional Lithuanian dumplings at a wonderful little café and bakery called Dviratis Ir Gitara. We had one portion filled with vegetables and the other filled with curd cheese and spinach, both of which were served with sour cream and really tasty. They had a huge selection of cakes, cookies and pastries, which we couldn’t resist trying as well. We shared one of their traditional varškės spurgos (curd cheese doughnuts), freshly baked, followed by a different kind of ring doughnut filled with pistachio cream.

Full of delicious food, we set off along the pedestrian street, and came across the longest market I’ve ever been to. We didn’t buy anything, but it was fascinating to look at all the different stalls selling everything from fish smoked right in front of you to pastries, cakes, cheese, and meat, as well as all kinds of clothes, hats, candles, gifts, and more, interspersed with murals, sculptures, other works of art, and more historic buildings. At the far end of the street was St. Michael the Archangel (Garrison) Church, which was built in 1895; a very impressive building you could see from a long way down the street.

After a quick stop for hot chocolate and to warm up (there was the occasional flurry of snow in amongst the rain!), we headed for Unity Square where there are several statues and sculptures, including the Freedom Monument and War Memorial with its eternal fire.

Our final stop before dinner was the Yard Gallery – a once derelict courtyard surrounded by apartments, which has been turned into an open air gallery by artist Vytenis Jakas with help from other artists and neigbours.

Dinner was at Avilys, another restaurant with traditional dishes on the menu. We had hoped to try the cepelinai, traditional potato dumplings, but they only had ones stuffed with meat, not cheese as we were hoping. Instead, we had cheese doughnuts and fried bread with cheese sauce as starters, then I had ravioli with mascarpone, walnuts and sage sauce and my spouse had risotto with boletus (mushroom) and spinach, all of which was really good.

In the morning, we had a final walk across the Old Town square and along the pedestrian street to grab a quick breakfast at one of the cafés before our taxi to the airport.

Kaunas is a lovely, quiet city with lots to see and do. I’d definitely recommend a visit if you get the chance.

Iceland: The Land of Ice and Fire 2

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Part 2: Southern Iceland

The first few days of our trip to Iceland were spent in and around Reykjavik. The second part of our trip to Iceland began by hiring a car so we could drive to the hotel we had booked in the south of Iceland.

Driving on the icy roads was a little daunting at first, especially when the windscreen wipers didn’t clear the windscreen and we had to pull into a garage to clear it by hand! Wipers adjusted, we set off on the 90 minute drive to Hotel Rangá. The roads were fairly clear until we drove through a couple of small towns, and then we just drove slowly and carefully, and it was all fine. One thing to remember if you hire a car in Iceland is that you must have your headlights on at all times – it’s a legal requirement.

We stopped in the tiny town of Hella, the nearest town to the hotel, to pick up a few supplies and snacks. There was a tiny bakery next to the supermarket, with rows of delicious-looking cakes, so we had to get a few to try them! Especially the traditional snudur with caramel glaze – a bit like a giant cinnamon bun.

We had booked dinner, bed and breakfast for three nights as the hotel is fairly remote and we wanted to make the most of the facilities while we were there.

We chose Hote Rangá for a few reasons. 1. It’s remote, so there’s very little light pollution, which makes it much better for seeing stars and the Northern Lights. 2. The hotel has it’s own observatory with two high powered telescopes and a local astronomer gives a talk every evening that the sky is clear. 3. They do a wake up call when the Northern Lights appear. 4. They have natural hot spring water hot tubs for guests to use anytime. 5. The restaurant had good choices on the menu – important when I’m pescatarian and my spouse is vegetarian and gluten intolerant.

The hotel also had a pool table, board games you could borrow, a bar, and various areas around the hotel where you could sit, relax, and enjoy the views and quiet.

The first evening we just explored the hotel and enjoyed dinner in the restaurant. The food was fantastic, definitely a gourmet experience and, as three courses were included, we had to make the most of it!

That evening, the skies were clear which meant the astronomy talk was going ahead. We wrapped up warm in as many layers as we could and headed outside to the hotel’s observatory. The astronomer was extremely knowledgeable and told us details about everything he showed us in the night sky, from the nebula in Orion’s belt and the Andromeda galaxy to Uranus, Jupiter and four of its moons. The amount of stars we could see just by looking up was astounding. It was really hard to take good photos as I didn’t have a tripod and it was so cold my hands were shaking. These photos show the same view of the Orion constellation, but the left image is with professional camera settings and the right one is without. Not the clearest, but they give you an idea of how many stars we could see.

The next day we visited the Caves of Hella, a historical site which is Iceland’s oldest still standing archaeological remains. Some believe the caves date even further back than the settlement of the Nordic Vikings. You have to visit the caves on one of their tours, which are in English every day at 10am, 12pm and 2pm, and it’s best to pre-book. The tour guide was fantastic, combining humour with historical facts, and again, he was very knowledgeable about the history of the area. It was really interesting to find out that the Vikings may not have been the first settlers in Iceland – there may have been Irish monks there first, but they’ve been written out of history.

That evening, after another delicious dinner, we went to the astronomy talk again and gazed at more stars and planets. We’d requested the Northern Lights wake up call each night and had set out our warm clothes ready to throw on, and on the second night we got the call at around 1am. There was a definite reen glow in the sky, this time with more defined lines that you could see directly. Once again, it was difficult to take clear photos – I resorted to putting my phone in a mug with the camera on a timer to try and get it as still as possible without a tripod! That’s why there’s so much snow at the bottom of each photo – the mug was on the ground as it was the most stable place to put it with the wind blowing. Even then, my photos are a bit blurry, but it gives you an idea of what we saw. There’s even a hint of reddish purple lights above the green. The first image is without the professional camera settings, so it’s more like what we could see with our eyes.

We were very lucky to see the Aurora Borealis not just once, but twice during the week we were in Iceland.

For the rest of our time at Hotel Rangá, we played pool, tried out the hot tubs, played board games, ate more delicious food, and generally had a very relaxing time. On our final day, we decided to leave a bit earlier so we could drive via a black sand beach on our way to the airport. We went to Eyrarbakki Beach and found a very interesting sign there.

Sign reading: Next stop South Pole 10,632 miles

There was a viewpoint which gave great views over the tiny town as well as the seafront. The beach itself was covered in huge lumps of ice, which we thought were rocks at first due to the black sand caught up inside the ice. It was stunning to see.

Overall, our trip to Iceland was absolutely fantastic. It had been on my bucket list for a long time, along with seeing the Northern Lights, and it definitely delivered. If you get the chance to go, definitely do it!

Iceland: The Land of Ice and Fire 1

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Part 1: Reykjavik

Iceland certainly lived up to its reputation as the land of ice and fire while I was there at the beginning of February. Our flight landed during a short gap in a blizzard and was then stuck on the runway for four hours as it was too windy to de-ice the planes waiting to leave, which meant there was no free stand for our plane to pull up to. Eventually, we were able to taxi to a slightly more sheltered area and turned into the wind so the door could be opened and steps pulled up for us to disembark.

After getting the Flybus from Keflavik Airport to the Reykjavik Bus Terminal and a smaller bus into the centre of the city, followed by a short walk, we finally arrived at our hotel in the centre of the city around midnight, which was about five hours later than we had originally expected.

Although it was still snowing the following day, it wasn’t too heavy, so we decided to explore Reykjavik using a self-guided walk we found online. We walked through the centre of the tiny city in the snow, admiring the coloured buildings and looking at all the food options. Several restaurants had Icelandic tasting manus, with dishes such as puffin, horse and whale. Needless to say (as we’re both vegetarian) we didn’t try them! Instead, we found a vegan restaruant for lunch called Vegan World Peace which had an excellent menu with a variety of Asian dishes. We did more exploring in the afternoon, popping in and out of shops whenever the snow picked up, and saw most of the key places: the harbour, Cathedral of Christ the King, Tjörnin Lake, City Hall, Austurvöllur Square, Rainbow Street, and Hallgrimskirkja church (from a distance). We even found Dillon (my family name) whisky and wine bar!

In the evening, we had decided to check out the only gay bar in town: Kiki Queer Bar. When we got there, just after it opened at 8pm, we were told there was a performance on so could only go in if we got tickets. Of course, we couldn’t resist a random show and we were very glad we stayed as the Heart Attack Drag Show was fantastic.

Luckily, the weather started to clear up the next day. We were very fortunate the rest of the week as it was mostly clear but cold (it got down to minus 9 degrees one day, but with wind chill it felt like minus 17!).

Sunday afternoon, we went to the Lava Show – a unique show where they pour lava at 1,100°C into the showroom and tell you all about it. There was also a video explaining about all the volcanic activity in Iceland, and the host was extremely knowledgeable about the geology of the island. We booked the premium tickets, which meant we got a behind the scenes tour after the show, where they showed us the furnace the lava was melted in and told us all about the process they go through. We also got a piece of lava as a memento.

Our Northern Lights tour with Grey Line Iceland had been cancelled on Saturday due to the weather, but we rebooked for free on Sunday. The coach picked us up from outside the City Hall at 8pm and took us to Thingvellir National Park, where there was very little light pollution. We were very lucky that we actually the Aurora Borealis appeared not long after we arrived at the park – it looked very grey with just a hint of green to the naked eye, but on camera it was much brighter.

It was really difficult to take decent photos – you needed to do a long exposure for the Northern Lights to show up clearly, and I hadn’t even thought of bringing a tripod with me. It’s pretty much impossible to hold your camera or phone completely still, even for four or eight seconds, and especially when the temperature is -11°C and feels like -17°C. You also had to change your settings for low light levels in order to capture the lights, which the tour guide talked us through on the way there. My photos aren’t great, but they give you an idea of what we saw. On the left are photos taken with the pro settings, on the right are the same photos with regular night settings, and these are more like what we could see ourselves. They’re a bit fuzzy, but it gives you an idea of what the Aurora Borealis looked like.

Despite the late night of the Northern Lights tour (we got back to our hotel around 1am), we were up early the next day for our Golden Circle tour, also with Grey Line. The Golden Circle consists of three key sights: Thingvellir National Park, where you can walk between two tectonic plates; Geysir Hot Spring Area, which has boiling mud pits, exploding geysers, and is where the English word ‘geyser’ comes from; and Gullfoss Waterfall. It was fascinating to drive around part of Iceland and see just how white, mountainous and desolate the country is. The most interesting part of the tour for me was walking between two tectonic plates – the Eurasian and North American plates – as that was something I’d never done before. It was also interesting to see what the park actually looked like in daylight, after standing at the viewpoint the night before to see the Northern Lights. The geysers and waterfall were all impressive, but as it was so cold, we didn’t spend too long outside admiring them.

The following day, we left Reykjavik for a hotel in the South of Iceland, a few days of relaxing, and more Northern Lights, which I’ll post about next time.

Burma to Myanmar Exhibition

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The British Museum is a fascinating place. It has so many displays you can’t possibly see everything in one day, as well as a variety of constantly changing temporary exhibitions, with art, sculpture and artefacts from around the world. Its Burma to Myanmar exhibiton, running from 2nd November 2023 until 11th February 2024, was one I was extremely interested in seeing. This was partly because I visited Myanmar for three weeks exactly ten years ago, and partly because I had a job in Myanmar and was supposed to go and live there, but never made it due to the pandemic.

We arrived around 11am and joined the swiftly moving queue for the bag check. Entry to the museum itself is free, so once that was completed, we could enter the stately building. Tickets for the exhibition were £16 for adults, and it was recommended that they be booked online in advance so you could choose the time slot you wanted, although there is a ticket desk inside the museum as well.

Inside, I dropped my bag off in the cloakroom (£2.50 for bags under 4kg, £5 for bags 4-8kg; bags over this weight and wheeled suitcases are not allowed) before we headed into the Great Court.

Burma to Myanmar Exhibition at the British Museum - the Grand Court
Burma to Myanmar Exhibition at the British Museum - the Grand Court
Burma to Myanmar Exhibition at the British Museum - the Grand Court

The Burma to Myanmar exhibition was in Room 35, the Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery, which was up the stairs curving round the central section to the left. It explored the artistic creations of the diverse people of Myanmar over the last 1,500 years, including the impact of changes in power, annexation by the British, and military rule, up to the present time.

After presenting our tickets at the check in desk, we entered the gallery. It began with signs explaining a brief history of Myanmar, the changes in its name from Burma (the official name under British colonial rule 1826-1948) to Myanmar (Union of Myanmar was adopted in 1989 by the new military regime), and how the country today is home to peoples speaking over 100 languages and dialects as well as being one of the world’s largest exporters of rare earths which are elements needed to make electric vehicles, mobile phones and wind turbines. In the centre of the room was the first display of artefacts, such as a lacquer offering vessel, teak steering chair which would have sat at the stern of a ship, a letter written on large seashells, and a ceremonial rice offering bowl.

The gallery wove through different areas, each displaying artwork and artefacts from different time periods, usually with brief explanations of the origins of each piece where known. The displays were interspersed with signs explaining about the development of Myanmar from kingdoms and states through to the present day, and how these changes shaped the arts and culture of each diverse region.

Bordering China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos, Myanmar has had centuries of trade and cultural links across Asia, which is apparent in many of the artefacts on display. One such example of this is a gold reliquary in the form of a stupa (a ritual burial mound housing Buddhist relics) which has stylistic links to Sri Lanka, made around 1450-1530 in the kingdom of Bago, lower Myanmar. Another example is a manuscript written in the Mon language from lower Myanmar with imagery in a Thai format, produced around 1750-1820.

With around 90% of the population practising Buddhism, it wasn’t surprising to see several Buddha and bodhisattva figures on display. There were also beautiful fabrics and clothing from different periods and areas of Myanmar, with influences from Europe, China, Thailand and Laos, as well as Myanmar itself.

Silver was used to make decorative items and coins, which were in turn used to make jewellery and decorate clothing by many communities across Asia.

Paintings, photos, and advertisements were displayed along the wall towards the end of the exhibition and as the timeline moved towards the present.

The penultimate section of the exhibition focused on Myanmar during the Second World War. The country was invaded by the Japanese in 1942 and they continued to occupy Myanmar until 1945. The Burma Star medal was awarded to Allied troops who served in Burma (as it was then) between 11th December 1941 and 2nd  September 1945.

Myanmar finally gained independence in 1948, although its democratic phase was short-lived, as a military coup in 1962 began a period of successive military governments and dictatorships leading to extreme censorship and a significant impact on art and culture.

The last section of the gallery brought Myanmar’s art and culture up to date, with more politically focused works of art, often protesting corruption, persecution, censorship, and military rule, some subtly, some more overtly. This included a video of images made by artist-activists that were projected onto buildings when the military seized control of the country again in 2021. Visitors were requested not to take photographs in order to protect the identity and safety of the artists who made it and the people featured.

A small shop was at the end of the gallery where you could buy jewellery and souvenirs made in Myanmar as well as books and other items based on the works on display.

After leaving the exhibition, we had a short break with tea and cake (such a British thing to do!) in the first-floor Coffee Lounge café. We completed our visit to the British Museum by watching a Japanese tea ceremony and looking around the Japan galleries on the fifth floor.

Burma to Myanmar was a fascinating exhibition which I’d thoroughly recommend, especially if you have an interest in the country, Asian art and culture, or world history. I’d also recommend visiting the British Museum; it has so much to see, there’s something for everyone.

Bowled Away at Tenpin, Milton Keynes

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As a wedding gift, we got A Year of Dates set – a box of 52 sealed cards with an idea for a date on each one. The most recent one was all about going bowling, so we decided to give the new Tenpin bowling alley in Milton Keynes a try.

Inside was bright and colourful, full of the lights of arcade games as well as the bowling alleys. The reception desk is on the far side of the room, next to the bar; as we had booked and paid online, check-in was quick and easy, and our lane was ready for us.

We really liked the layout of the lanes – each one had its own booth which, although you could still see the people either side of you when going up to bowl, gave an element of privacy. There was a display on the side wall of the booth which showed the scores (again, this could only be seen by the people in your booth), and an interactive screen where you could enter names and take a selfie. Although it was quite busy, with people playing on either side of us, it wasn’t too noisy due to the walls of the booth.

It was the first time we’d been bowling in ages and we had both great fun, even though I lost both games (one by only 2 points!).

It was still quite early when we finished our two games, so we had a wander around the place to see what else was on offer. As well as a bar and seating area for food and drinks, there were also pool tables, table tennis, air hockey, and a section packed with arcade games. At the back of the room there are other activities, all of which have to be prebooked: laser tag, karaoke, and escape rooms. Although we weren’t able to do any of those that evening, we’ve already booked an adventure in the Escape From Alcatraz room – stay tuned to find out what it’s like!

As we only had £4 on us and all the arcade games only take cash, we had to choose carefully. We decided to go for a game of air hockey first. Unfortunately, the machine ate our coin without giving us the hockey puck, but the staff were very helpful and gave us a pound back to use in a different air hockey machine.

Our final game of the night was an alien shooting game which cost £1 each. It was great fun, but I have no idea what either of our final scores were!

Overall, our date night at Tenpin, Milton Keynes, was really enjoyable and I would thoroughly recommend a visit. You can book all their activities online here; they have some great deals on different days, with and without food and drink included.

Shen Yun 2024

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Shen Yun is a non-profit performing arts company with the mission of reviving traditional Chinese culture. Founded in 2006 in New York by a group of Chinese artists, Shen Yun now travels the world, performing classical Chinese dances and music against an innovative digital backdrop which transports the audience through time and to different – often mystical – places.

When I saw Shen Yun was coming to Milton Keynes Theatre, I booked tickets immediately. I’d heard of the show but never seen it and, having lived in China, was really interested in what the performance would be like.

Let me start by saying, it was spectacular.

The traditional costumes were bright and colourful, catching the eye as the dancers twirled and lept around the stage. It was difficult to know where to look as I didn’t want to miss anything. The music – a full Western orchestra with traditional Chinese instruments such as the erhu and pipa – was emotive and helped tell the stories the dancers were portraying.

What brought it all together was the unique digital background, which not only sets the scene but also allows performers to travel between the stage and the world in the animated backdrop.

The show was split into two halves, with nine dances and a song performed in the first half, and seven dances, a song, and a performance on the erhu in the second half. Each dance either had a theme, such as Yellow Blossoms, or told a story, from a day in a restaurant to an act of kindness being rewarded. A mixture of ethinic, folk, and Chinese classical dances were performed, each with diverse costumes and impressive moves such as backflips and somersaults.

Each performance was introduced by the Masters of Ceremonies in both English and Chinese. It was lovely to hear Mandarin being spoken again and added to the overall feel of being immersed in Chinese culture. The whole show was fascinating; it reminded me a great deal of China and some of the traditional shows I saw when I lived there, although there were some of the dance stories they performed that would never be shown in China – those about Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice that is banned in China.

Every year Shen Yun creates a new performance, so even if you have seen one of their shows, it’s worth going again a different year.

Photography and video recording were strictly prohibited, so the only photo I have is of the programme. You’ll have to go and see it for yourself to admire the dramatic costumes, watch the impressive dance moves, and hear the beautiful music. You can find tickets and watch trailers on their website: shenyun.com.

Bletchley Park, Home of the Codebreakers

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When I tell people I live in Milton Keynes, England, they usually say one of three things. If they’re not from the UK, they will usually say they have never heard of it; if they are from the UK they’ll either say, “The place with concrete cows and all the roundabouts!” or “Oh, Milton Keynes, the new city. There’s no history there, right?”

I always take great pleasure in correcting them on the last point. Although Milton Keynes itself is a relatively new city, founded as recently as 1967 and only officially declared a city by the Queen in 2022, the towns and villages that are encompassed within its boundaries have thousands of years of history. There have been findings such as woolly mammoth tusks and flint hand axes in the area dating back to Palaeolithic times, 500,000 years ago, a Bronze Age society lived here 4,500 years ago and there was an Iron age settlement around 2,500 years ago. The Romans lived here around 2,000 years ago, building towns, villas, and roads, some of which are still used today – Watling Street/the old A5 and what is now the A421 to Buckingham. There is so much more history to share, and if you want to find out more visit the MK Insight website for a brief history of Milton Keynes.

Tickford Bridge, Newport Pagnell

My favourite historical facts to share with people are: the oldest iron bridge in the world that is still in constant use, which was built in 1810, is in Newport Pagnell, a town next to Milton Keynes and the one I grew up in; and that Milton Keynes is the home of Bletchley Park where the Enigma code was cracked during the Second World War, shortening it by at least two years and savings thousands, if not millions, of lives.

I last visited Bletchley Park about 20 years ago when I was a Year 5 teacher in a local primary school and took our students there on a school trip. It is very different to how I remember it, with more buildings restored, updated displays and video presentations throughout. One of my friends from when I lived in Shenzhen, China, and who I hadn’t seen for more than five years stayed for the weekend and was interested in visiting Bletchley Park, so we made a day of it.

One great offer the Park has is that if you are a local resident you can get half price admission, simply by filling in a short form (available to download from their website) and bringing proof of address and ID. Every ticket gives you entry for a whole year, so you can visit time and time again. There is so much to see and do that it is impossible to do it all in one day, so it is fantastic that you can visit as many times as you want for a single admission fee.

We decided to follow the suggested route that would let us explore the story of Bletchley Park through time, beginning with Block C which houses the Visitors Centre and introduction to the Park. The displays were comprehensive and informative, with a combination of text, quotes, photos and video, which you followed around a one-way route through the building. There was also a coffee shop, where we picked up a hot drink, and a shop full of WW2 and Bletchley Park souvenirs, books, resources, and gifts, which we looked at on the way out.

Bletchley Park Mansion

Next stop was the Mansion, the most recognisable building on site. Built as a family home in the 1870s, the Mansion was the first part of Bletchley Park to house the Codebreakers from 1938. Inside, there are first-hand accounts, maps of the Park, photos, and examples of the codes they deciphered, and some of the rooms have been recreated to look how they would have at the time. Another room housed a collection of stories from people who worked at the Park about what life was like here at the time.

After lunch in the Hut 4 Café, the garages and stableyard were next on the tour, with a wartime transport exhibition as well as something a little more up-to-date – a unit used by the military in conflict abroad.

The Huts were built when it became obvious that there wasn’t enough space in the Mansion for everyone to work efficiently, and more staff were needed for the task at hand – breaking the German Enigma code. Bletchley Park grew from a staff of 150 in 1938 to almost 9,000 people by 1945. For me, the Huts were were the most interesting part of our visit. This is where the majority of people working at the Park spent most of their time, segregated into small rooms where they worked solidly on individual tasks without ever knowing the whole picture. Again, many of these rooms have been recreated with the addition of audio and video footage to emulate the sounds and experience the staff would have had. Huts 11 and 11A were the home of the Bombe machines developed by Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman to increase the speed at which the Enigma cipher keys could be worked out, and Hut 8 is where Alan Turing’s office was.

The Teleprinter Building houses an exhibition all about D-Day: Interception, Intelligence, Invasion, including an immersive cinematic experience exploring Bletchley Park’s secret role in the operation’s success. One of the many Bletchley Park volunteers introduced the show, explaining a little about the background and the people involved in it.

Block A, which only opened to the public in 2022, was once where staff translated and analysed naval Enigma messages and now has interactive exhibits demonstrating how the different processes worked and how Bletchley Park operated.

We finished our tour by visiting the Block B Museum, which has an exhibition about Alan Turing – including the formal apology for his treatment from the former Prime Minister – as well as information about the German Lorenz ciphers and how the Government Code & Cypher School developed into today’s GCHQ.

Even though we didn’t quite see everything (we missed out the National Radio Centre and a temporary exhibition on The Art of Data, as well as the National Museum of Computing, which is in a different part of the Park), there was a lot to take in and by the end of our visit, we were almost overwhelmed with all the information.

Bletchley Park is a key part of our history and I believe it is vitally important to learn about such tragic events as the World Wars partly so that we can try and make sure not to repeat them, and partly to honour the people who contributed so much to ensure we could have the lives we do today.

Bletchley Park at its peak, January 1945

New Year, New Intentions

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It has been a while since I’ve published anything on here; not since July 2021 to be exact.

So much has happened since then. I bought a house with my partner, got engaged, got married, and had lots of amazing trips to places including French Polynesia, California, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, and Tenerife. I hope to write about all of it. No, not hope – that makes it sound like it’s out of my control. I intend to write about all of these things this year.

I’m not setting a new year’s resolution this year; instead, I’m going to set intentions or goals. The difference is that these, to me anyway, seem more attainable, more achievable and can be broken down into smaller steps.

The first one is to continue going to the gym. This is a habit that I started on 2nd of January last year and managed to maintain for the whole year. I lost about 9.5 kilograms, which is about 21 pounds or a stone and a half, and I definitely increased my fitness levels. So my intention for this year is to continue going to the gym three times a week and continue to eat healthily by tracking my food and making sensible choices when it comes to eating and drinking.

My second intention for this year is to write more. Now in and of itself, that’s very vague. I need to make it more specific so that I actually do it. My intention is to write something every week. No matter how long or short, how big or small, on any topic about anything, every week I will write something. This is my first post of the year. Let’s see how this goes!

Microfiction Challenge

/ Rae / 2 Comments

This is the fourth time I’ve entered one of the NYCMidnight writing competitions, and the first time I’ve placed in the top writers of my group and so advanced to the next round (I placed 11th out of the top 15 in a group of 63 writers).

For each round, you are given prompts which must be included and a word limit of 100 words. My prompts for the first round were:

Genre: Suspense and/or Thriller

Action: Screaming

Word: Aerial

And here’s my story!

Glimpse

A silhouette flitting out of the hanger door. Beth shook her head; it couldn’t be who she thought. He was long-gone from her life. No longer her responsibility, her penance.

Pre-flight checks complete, ready for the aerial display. Why, then, this nagging feeling she’d missed something? It balanced on the edge of her mind until her debut was announced, when it disappeared like a glimpse of someone once familiar in the rear-view mirror.

The crowd roared. First with glee, then, as it became clear that the Typhoon’s dive wasn’t part of the performance, the excited cheers became screams of fear.

###

Let me know what you think!

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A Year In The Making

/ Rae / 3 Comments

A year ago today I left Shenzhen for a 3 week holiday in India, never having even an inkling that I wouldn’t be able to go back to my home of 9 years.

So many things have happened since then – some good, some bad, and pretty much all of them emotional in some way, shape or form. Right now I’m feeling too many emotions to name and I don’t quite know what to do with myself.

It’s been months since I updated this blog (April last year was my last post) and I will probably write about everything that has happened since then in more detail – just not right now. I think I just want to write out everything that’s in my head to try and make sense of it all. Although that’s probably easier said than done!

Perhaps I should do a summary of my year…

21 January 2020: Left Shenzhen, China, where I’d lived since 2011, and went on holiday with 4 friends to India with only hand luggage.

February 2020: Told that my school was going to online teaching and my flight back to Shenzhen was cancelled. Instead flew to Kazakhstan (via Dubai and Bahrain) to stay with my then gf as there were no cases there at the time. School reopening dates kept getting moved back as cases escalated in China. Was also applying and having interviews for jobs for the next academic year.

March 2020: Had to leave Kazakhstan as my visa was only for 30 days, decided against going back to China as cases were still rising, instead went to Thailand to stay with friends. Was offered and accepted a job in Myanmar starting in August. Booked a flight back to Shenzhen for 1st April. Flight was cancelled. Booked a new flight for 27th March. Wasn’t allowed on it as the Chinese government closed the border to foreigners at midnight on 27th March, even though my flight was due to land at 11.20pm. Got stuck in Thailand. Still teaching online.

April 2020: Told by my school that I could no longer teach remotely and they would stop paying me when the children went back to school in May. Myanmar government closed their border. Couldn’t go back to China, couldn’t go forward to Myanmar. Still staying with the same (amazing) friends in Thailand. All on lockdown.

May 2020: Thailand still mostly locked down. Chinese border still closed. Students at my school in China went back into school and I stopped working after 9 years at the same place. Myanmar border still closed and the government keeps extending the closure by two weeks at a time.

June 2020: Used all my spare time as I was no longer working (or being paid) to study towards my masters in education. Chinese border still closed. Lease on my apartment in Shenzhen ended. Spent hours on video calls to my flatmate (who I’d never lived with add she moved in in March) going through everything I own to either get rid of or pack for me to be sent to Myanmar. The Myanmar government extended the border closure again, this time until the end of July which was when my Thai visa ran out. I couldn’t go back to China, I couldn’t go forward to Myanmar and on top of that I couldn’t stay in Thailand. Booked flight back to the UK.

July 2020: Arrived in the UK on 4th July. Got dumped a few days later. Went clothes shopping as I was fed up of the week’s worth of clothes I’d been wearing for the last 6 months. Decided to make the most of my time in the UK before starting my new job in Myanmar in August, and spent the time with friends and family I hadn’t seen for a year (and went on a couple of dates!). Met someone wonderful and completely unexpectedly fell head over heels. All my belongings arrived at my new school in Myanmar. Myanmar government extended the border closure.

August 2020: Started my new job in Myanmar remotely online. Because of the time difference started work at 3.15am. Went to Myanmar embassy in London and applied for my visa. Myanmar government extended the border closure.

September 2020: Spent lots of (socially distanced) time with friends and family (and my special someone). Still teaching remotely in Myanmar. Myanmar government extended the border closure.

October 2020: Still teaching remotely in Myanmar. Celebrated my Mum’s and my birthdays in the UK for the first time in 9 years. Myanmar government extended the border closure.

November 2020: Moved in with my new partner and so have a proper home of my own for the first time since January. Still teaching remotely in Myanmar. Myanmar government extended the border closure.

December 2020: Celebrated Christmas in the UK for the first time in 7 years, not quite with family as planned due to the restrictions, but lovely nonetheless. Still teaching remotely in Myanmar. School announced that we would be continuing to teach online until April. Myanmar government extended the border closure.

January 2021: Co-hosted an awesome online New Year’s Eve party celebrating New Year in every time zone in the world (I co-hosted Myanmar, Kazakhstan, Nepal and India; for anyone interested the party is still going here: thelong.party) Set up a new home office for me to teach from as I’m still teaching remotely in Myanmar, and will be until at least April. Currently trying to arrange for my belongings to be shipped from my school in Myanmar to the UK. It’s been a year since I’ve had my stuff and I’d rather not have to re-buy all the things I already own, however, it’s proving to be difficult and expensive and so is taking much longer than I’d hoped.

So that brings us all up to date. What started off as a Facebook status has turned into a bit of a long post, but evidently I needed to write it all out.

Despite – or perhaps because of – all the ups and downs, I am really happy to be at home in the UK. I’m also eternally grateful to everyone who has been there for me over the last year, in whatever form that has taken. I love you all very dearly and I know my life would be so much poorer without you in it.

Here’s to the next year and the surprises it may bring!