johngayton's VirtualTourist Home Page

Hi Guys!

I'm John and welcome to my ramblings: some of these have been written up whilst the old vin rouge was in control, others are caffeine-fuelled. Many of my tips and comments are pure self-indulgence, others are hopefully quite useful, but enough of that - time to get started:

Aye, "Time, Time, Time"...that unsatisfiable lover, simultaneously fiend and friend - without you there is no existence and with you no satisfaction. Ach, I use the word "satisfaction" in its truest sense - to say that you are "satisfied" implies that you are finished with something: I'll NEVER be satisfied then...

Hmmm...digressions! But before I stop digressing tho': remember that the word "satisfactory" merely means OK-ish. Ach, never be satisfied with being satisfactory ;-0 As an old drinking mate of mine once said: "If you can't be good, be brilliant!!"

OK, putting aside the digressions,: here I am in Bulgaria just having a chill out where the beer is cheap and the women pretty ;-)) - watch this space for links as the pages are written - the first now ready for viewing is my Vidin Page which I found a pleasantly surprising little town (with a few minor rough edges).

Canada was cold but certainly not inhospitable and my last visit took in Ottawa, though I was actually based in its next door neighbour over the river The City of Hull, which is an entirely different place altogether (even to the extent of speaking a differrent language!)! Then of course I wasn't actually in Hull as such since Hull doesn't really exist anymore, having been subsumed (or should it be "consumed"??) by the Ville de Gatineau. Ottawa is, as everyone knows, the capital city of Canada, but not the provincial capital of Ontario which is Toronto, but then Ottawa isn't actually the whole of the Canadian National Capital Region, but merely the Ontario half with Gatineau being the Quebec half (whose capital is actually Quebec) - it does all get very confusing and so perhaps a visit to these pages may unmuddy the waters a tad - Ach, come back Greece, all is forgiven!!

Back to the normal chaos:

Santorini (Euromeet 2007) was simply amazing - The boat trip was great too and I've finally gotten round to putting a few Island pages together: starting off with Kea and a haircut!, then onto Serifos and a cold beer! Next on the itinerary was Sifnos for the lobster spaghetti before our penultimate port of call prior to Santorini: Ios for Allan and Gala's delish dinner:) - BIG THANKS to Gala, Janet, Gilly, Hansi et al who all made the whole thing happen and also everyone else, travellers well met, some of whom will be friends for life, wherever and whenever, so long as a beer is involved - HIC!

So I've kinda lost the plot to the next bit - so let me fill you in: 3 months in the US, including a tiny bit of Canada and Mexico, the year before last and definitely has to be done again - It's a problem isn't it? Everywhere you go you want to revisit, to cement relationships, to see what's new. Ach, to quote Edward Thomas - "...had I an infinite great store..."

Of all the places visited in my last US visit my favourite is still Montana where hospitality abounds and "the deer and the antelope play"! Hi to Ellen, Joe and especially the daft dog Guido.

.............then don't come to Devon! We do green, big-time, sometimes with a bit of russet thrown in - (I'm not sure what "RUSSET" actually means but it seemed to fit...........a very minor digression...............)

Also White, 'cos it has snowed over the last few days: Widecombe page again!!!

This is a pic taken from halfway (yes i do mean HALFway!) up Widecombe Hill and shows the village pretty much in its entirety. The church in the centre (St Pancras) is known as The Cathedral in the Moor and was built in the 14th century from local granite with the tower being added a couple of hundred years later. Considering there are only about 50 people living in the village itself we are privileged to have such a magnificent structure.

I used to live quite literally over the road from the church - if you enlarge the pic and look very very closely you can see me walking past it on my way to the pub!

The church plays a major role in village life, as well from the Sunday services, it is also used for local weddings (in good weather the bride, groom and guests usually assemble on the village green for photographs) and funerals. The church bell ringers are very good and practice regularly - it must be thirsty work because they all troop down to The Ruggle afterwards.

The photo that used to beat the top of this page (but is now at the bottom
!!) is a scan of the postcard from my ex local pub, if you like pubs this is a real pub, the beer is excellent - straight from the barrels behind the bar, the food is all home-cooked, by either Di (see Ruggle Ladies) , the landlady, or one of the excellent local cooks and everything is sourced locally - Just had Chicken and Leek Pie, but only half a portion of mash. Ach - and am now in red wine heaven!!!

The rabbit pie is only on the menu when the local lads have been out shooting or ferreting and is well worth waiting for.

The pub was a private house until about a hundred years ago. The original pub used to be on top of the hill on the drovers road across the moor. Legend has it that the old pub was owned by the guy who also owned the local granite quarry but he got fed up with the fact that his cart drivers would stop off en route for longer than the average tea break and so he burned the place down - having been advised by a team of "time and motion" consultants!

Another legend is that the old pub was burned down by a consortium of local wives, pretty much for the same reason (but without having the consultants!).

Until about 10 or so years ago the pub did not even have a bar and sold only beer and cider fetched directly from the cellar, the sherry bottle was only brought out at Christmas because that was the only time that ladies were expected.

I personally used to cook at the other pub in the village - The Old Inn and we were also well worth a visit - my tip was to eat what is on the blackboards because that is what had been freshly cooked for the day - don't bother any more unless you like the freshly microwaved variety.

This is The Rugglestone Inn - other pics elsewhere...........can't remember where I put them, but will bring you up-to-date later.

Update - Found Some!!!

And where would they be? Ans: Down below and on my Widecombe Page, knew I'd put them somewhere!

This was taken from the top of the road coming into Widecombe from the South, it was actually taken through the front window of the taxi on the evening as I was coming home from Lynton, and my blues started to lift......just have to drop my bag off and then down to the Ruggle for a swift half of shandy (as the barstaff know...plenty of lemonade in mine!). And then life will be sorted, simple pleasures are the best!

Ach, I might as well stick this bit here seeing as I seem to have run out of space on Chapter #1 (and the numbers match!!):

Useless piece of information #1: Did you realise that Ellis Island is actually more New Jersey than New York, but Liberty Island is all NY? See my "to do" tips on my: New York page.

I love this pic! It was taken from the train coming out of Yeovil, and like above sunset pic was pure chance, must have had camera on correct setting.

This homepage is becoming(???) a bit of a rambling mess - perhaps this is how my brain actually functions? Ach, well, such is life.........I'll just let it ramble (both my brain and my HP!) LOL ALL!

Steed says - "Yep, he's on the sauce again, rambling away, he'll end up in a straitjacket eventually, you mark my words!"

Here I was sitting at computer, typing away, glanced up and here's my view: grabbed camera and here's the pic -

Rambling!

Devon

Serious Big Hugs To All Who Visit - give me a shout and I'll buy the beers (but only if you buy 2 first!) wherever I may be.

PS - I have since discovered what "Russet" means and not only that but what it is in French too!!

One thing about Widecombe I definitely miss is The Ruggle, my little sanctuary, where the day's pressures and hassles dissolve into pint glasses of amber fluid to be temporarily set aside and replaced with genial conversation, general merry-making, an odd song, a joke told in context and just general chill-out.

Hey - Update 17th July 2007 - revisited and nothing changes:) Always "Au Revoir" or "A Bientot", which works just as well - it will never be "Goodbye"!!