Qatar - maybe the last time?

Back to Doha again for the final customer meeting in this phase of our project.  All went well and they are very pleased with what we have delivered over the past 6 months.  Probably no need for me to visit again for quite a while, if at all.  I can't honestly say that I will miss the place.

Damien Hirst, Tate Modern

Love him or loathe him, its hard to deny that Damien Hirst is one of this country's most successful artists.  Now, the chance for us all to see most of this better known works together in one show, at the Tate Modern.  It was all there, from his signature spot paintings, pharmaceutical and medial collages, bisected sharks and sheep, via musings on the meaning of life and death in the form of cases of flies and rooms full of butterflies, to the totally OTT 'For the Love of God' - his infamous diamond encrusted platinum skull.
Although this was the first time I had ever seen Hirst's work up close (apart from the now defunct Pharmacy restaurant in Notting Hill), I felt that his pickled animal carcasses had lost some of their shock value because we have all become desensitised to these works via constant media exposure.  On the other hand, his spot paintings were much more accessible as works of art in their gallery setting than they ever were in a glossy magazine, and his butterfly collages were simply stunning, looking more like elaborate stained glass windows.
Exiting though the gift shop, we resisted the temptation to splash out £36,800 on a Damien Hurst hand painted plastic skull (hand painted by one of his many assistants no doubt).  Not even the £9.95 fridge magnet set could tempt me.  But go see for yourself. The exhibition is open unto 9th September 2012.

Gandalf Murphy, The Borderline

It was great to see these guys again on their 2012 UK tour, thanks to the efforts of Jim Driver of Rhythm Events fame.  Although they had slimmed down to a four piece, they were still more than capable of delivering an expansive sound as they took the audience through some of the material from their new Grand Slambovians, interspersed with various classics from their back catalogue.  The first track from the new album, Trans Slambovian BiPolar Express, with its slinky slide guitar playing, proved an instant sing-along hit with the audience, whilst Talking With The Buddha was probably the most requested number from way back.  A fine night out, to the extent that Alison was easily persuaded to buy the Grand Slambovian CD!

Pretty Things, Eel Pie Club, Twickenham

I have to confess that I was not really into the Pretty Things first time around - too young I think!  However, when I saw that they were on just down the road at the renowned Eel Pie Club, I thought it would be too good an opportunity to miss seeing a band that could be said to be one of the forerunners of punk. Turned out to be a great gig, with some excellent blues guitar and harmonica playing. Sounding a lot like early Rolling Stones, which is not too surprising since Dick Tayor was one of the original Stones, along with Jagger and Richards.  An excellent evenings entertainment.

Lake Constance, Germany

The plan was to be unpatriotic by making use of the four day Jubilee weekend to take a short break to the shores of Lake Constance in Germany, thus avoiding all the street partying and pageantry associated the royal event, to say nothing of getting away from our wonderful UK spring weather.

Alison and I flew out to Zurich, with Tim and Clare, and took the train to Konstanz on the Swiss-German border, before boarding the ferry across the lake to Meersburg, where we were staying for the long weekend. On the Saturday we meet up with Suzi and Ben and headed over to visit Clare's friends Krista and Hans Jurgen, who were kindly loading us some bikes for our expeditions, as well as providing some great hospitality.

From Lake Constance

Day one highlights included swimming in Lake Constance and dinner in a restaurant situated on the island of Mainau, which contained a monastery and a botanical garden. The meal included what was to be the first of many asparagus dishes, which is a local seasonal speciality.

Day two included a visit to a hilltop fort followed by a view of the Rhine Falls.  On the way home we stopped off for a short a walk around the very picturesque Swiss village of Stein am Rhein.  Once back in Meersburg, we dined on yet more asparagus in our hotel restaurant.

The highlight of day three was a visit to one of the many thermal spas that surround the lake and are enormously popular with the Germans. I tied out most of what was on offer, including the water slide, thermal baths, and saunas, but drew the line at swimming naked in the lake, unlike some of the braver members of our party.

Our final day included a visit to the Zeppelin museum at Friedrichshaven, where the famous Hindenberg and Graf Zeppelin were built. Then to end, a ferry trip back across Lake Constance into Germany, and a train back to the airport and our flight home.

Switzerland

More snow on Thursday, which was good news, but it did mean that we could not do the full Portes du Soleil tour via Switzerland. Nevertheless, an excellent days skiing led by our guide, Ed.

Today was our final outing, and with a clear blue sky and perfect snow conditions we decided to go for the grand tour to Switzerland, via Avoriaz. The scenery was if anything even more stunning than in Morzine/Les Gets, and the pistes on the Swiss side were so well groomed that we skiied down what we thought was a blue run for some way before we realized that it was actually a black. After a long morning's ski, with a brief coffee stop at the top of a long run through the trees, we eventually returned back into France, via the notorious Swiss Wall mogul field run. Fortunately we were going up on the chairlift rather than skiing down, and were well placed to see other brave (crazy?) skiers attempting the descent of the fourth most difficult run in the world, with varying degrees of success.

Eventually we got back to Avoriaz for a late lunch in the sun, followed by the last runs of the holiday, including an interesting diversion down some skicross terrain. We ended the day with a large and well deserved vin chaud, before heading down in the cable car to Morzine and to our hotel.

It has been an excellent week and has certainly justified trying out the Portes do Soleil ski area.

 

 

Morzine

I would not normally have opted for Morzine for a ski holiday as it is fairly low and does not have a reputation for good snow coverage later in the season. However, this year the whole of the Alps has experienced an abundance of snow, and Morzine was no exception. So a good opportunity for a skiing holiday in the heart of the Portes du Soleil ski area, supposedly the largest interconnected ski domain in the world, stretching from Les Gets via Morzine and Avoriaz all the way to Switzerland.

Our first three days have been superb, with a great snow base topped up by some fresh falls on Monday. Our first two days were spent in the Morzine area and today we headed up to Avoriaz for an excellent day's skiing on some perfect pistes.