Grace Under Pressure 2

Sometimes it's all about the shoes. On Monday night I traded in the delights of Barcelona for the sights of the former pit at Annesley as I joined the eager beavers for our regular Monday night run. Meeting at the gates of Newstead Abbey I assumed that we would be followign our 'usual' route along trails and through the woods and so sported my trail running shoes. As well as a striking pink running top and shorts featuring pink flamingos but thats more a fashion statement rather than an aid to running.  Unfortunately our route didn't turn left where we normally do but carried on running along the Abbey Drive, past the actual Abbey itself and then out for another mile or so on 'a road'. A pretty flat road I have to admit but a hard, concrete road for which my trail shoes offered minimal comfort.  Meanwhile the gazelles, including one who had run the London Marathon a week ago and one who was running the Geneva marathon on Sunday bounded ahead. Bounded ahead that ...

UK government stationery suppliers, Pulp Fiction, have today announced that they will not be producing any more personalised headed notepaper for Holyrood until they have a cast iron assurance that the new First Minister of Scotland is going to be in post for more than 13 months. Spreaking to Grace Under Pressure's very own fanatical font setter, Pulp Fiction's spokesperson Arial Sans Calibri, revealed, "We should have learned our lesson from the Liz Truss fiasco when the ink had barely set on the first batch of official notepaper for Downing Street before she managed to press the self destruct button and it all had to be pulped quicked that you can say 'Rebel Wilson autobiography'. " "It was bad enough when Humzah Yousuf was elected that we had to change the official logo on the paper from a fish to something non piscine. Then he had to compromise because of the alliance with the Green Party and insist we used recyclable materials. And now he's manag...

 So after a week or more blogging about Barcelona, I thought I'd round things off with a few songs. One of them you will know, the other two, well to be honest I didn't but just loved the vibe. So here to bring to a close a fabulous time away are three tunes all about, yes you've guessed it...Barcelona. Take it away Freddie...      

Some of you will know that I am someone who whilst owning a very basic mobile phone in case of emergencies, doesn't actually use it. Or even know how to use it to be honest. But during this current trip perhaps for the first time I have seriously considered getting one, for a couple of reasons. First is just seeing how ubiquitous they are amongst fellow travellers for almost everything, from internet access, step by step directions and off course taking a selfie in front of everything that does or doesn't move. And judging by how poorly my 10.2 MP Sony digital camera coped with the light in the Sagrada, the photo capability on a phone looks as if it manages to take much sharper images. The second reason in simply bulk. For this trip I have travelled with a camera, four extra batteries (plus charger), my Apeman video camera (plus batteries and charger) not to mention my Amazon Fire with yes you've guessed it, a separate plug / charger. All of which could be done in a single ...

Yesterday was the day when everything caught up with us. After a not particularly good night sleep due to a tickly cough, I decided to make the most of our last day here by going for another 7am run.  This time it was along the Gran Via, the road where our Airbnb is located, which was a bit stop start due to the traffic signals; mainly on green when I wanted to stop and on red when I could have kept going on legs that felt like lead. The wind into my face along the beach didn't help neither did the Spanish pensioner who tried to engage me in conversation but having realised I was a tourist, just increased his speed and left in in his wake. I won't mention getting 'slightly' lost on the way back despite running towards one of the largest structures in Barcelona. We have both felt tired today, both physically and mentally. This has been a heads up for the cruise in the summer when we will only have 10 hours in a port as opposed to our nearly 10 days here. Perhaps the 4 bu...

Which as I type it in, is exactly the name of the iconic tune by Ocean Colour Scene that is playing in my head. Coming out here we had two possible trips out of the city, one up the coast to Monserrat, the other a 30 min jolly south to the seaside town of Sitges.  The first one has fallen by the wayside, but yesterday headed out of the city to Sitges, which was once like lots of coastal locations in this part of the world, a little sleepy fishing village, only to now find itself a popular destination for holiday makers and a home from home esp for the LGBTQ+ community. With a temperature in the high teens and the wind warming rather than chilly it was lovely just to pop into all the leather bars, disco dives and drag shows, sorry I mean stroll through the town and along the sea front with as Louis Armstrong once sang, ' All the time in the world'. An easier day, a chance for TOM to enjoy a train ride and an opportunity to see that there is more to Barcelona than just the city i...

That's St George to those of you not in the know, because he just happens to be the patron saint of Catalonia as well as England. And today was his celebration day, one that is marked by women buying books for the men in their lives, whilst men splash the cash on roses for the women in theirs. So yesterday, yet another one that the weather forecasters seem to have got wrong, not that either of us were complaining, the centre of Barcelona was turned into a huge pedestrianised area full of pop up book stalls and flower sellers. Apparently David Walliams is due to deliver the key note address later on, probably about how to cash in on writing books for kids. We mouched and meandered, took some pictures outside something to do with Gaudi that was too expensive to actually go inside, had a coffee in the market, then went in search of a cable car which was not as easy to find or get too (lots of steps) as you might imagine. The view (and beer) from the terrace bar of the Torre del Mirama...

Yesterday we woke up to an ominous grey sky and the sight of a wet pavement. The forecast had predicted the next two days were going to be rather inclement and so we hadn't really made any plans, in fact we had made even less than we usually do. So after breakfast we pondered what to do, finally deciding on a local flea market, a stones throw away from the AirBnB. The best thing about it was the angled mirrored interior of the roof which gave some quirky reflections of the stalls below.  Our venture also gave TOM a chance to get a close up look at one of the city's trams, and for the sky to begin to show enough blue to make if not quite a pair of trousers then certainly enough for a pair of sailor's budgie smugglers. Seizing the break in the weather, we whizzed across the city and reached for the sky, first by way of the Monjuic funicular and then the short 5 min cable car ride that offered stunning views of the whole of Barcelona, which lay beneath what was now a brilliant...

 With TOM out for the count, I was up, out of bed and running around the streets of a Barcelona just as the sun was appearing at 7am. 5 miles later following a route that took me down through Park de Cuitronelle, along the beach front across the Ramblas del Mar bridge (the sliding 50 metre connection opened early to let me across!!!), up La Rambla to Universidad and a Metro back to the AirBnB, it was another in the '60@60' chalked off.  And I even managed a reasonable pace, not easy in a city built in blocks where there are traffic lights / pedestrian crossings every 200 yards or so, which can create a very stop start run as people wait ever so patiently to cross. By the time I got back to the AirBnB, where a hot cup of coffee and breakfast was not waiting for me, the sun had well and truly disappeared and with both of us in need of a leisurely day we simply headed for a stroll along Barcelona's beachfront. And what a lovely day it turned out to be. The sun came out just as...

  Sometimes thing a can fail to live up to the hype surrounding it. And sometimes things just exceed expectations. The Sagrada Familia definitely falls into the latter category.  And that had nothing to do with the fact that we managed to get in for nowt, having wrangled free guided tour tickets on account of TOM being disabled (well having a disabled parking permit) and me being a member of a religious order i.e. very holy indeed. Known as the church that Gaudi started but is still not finished after decades of construction, it can have the reputation of being a bit of a Disney like amalgamation of the garishly weird and wonderful. And from the outside it can seem like that until you look closer and see that all the figures are in fact biblical. But inside was just stunning both in terms of the amazing architecture but also the breath taking stained glass windows illuminated by the afternoon sun that sent shafts of multicoloured light across the marble floor, up the ston...

  Yesterday was our first day of actually having a plan. Well as much of a plan as it is ever possible to have with TOM, one that promised to be a feast of Gaudi inspired delights. First stop was Parc Guell on the north of the city, a place that is featured in the top 10 things to do in Barcelona.  And having been there and done it our overall impression was that it was very much a poor man's Port Merrion in north Wales. Poorly signposted and with hardly any information about the various 'sights', well to the non mobile phone crew at least, yes it provided fantastic views of the city but the famous Gaudi balcony featured in all the guide books was just a mass of humanity all trying to take the perfect selfie(s). Whether or not I managed to snap anything that would grace a coffee table book is anyone's guess at this moment in time.   A liquid lunch later and it was time for our second helping of Gaudi for the day and a trip to the Sagrada Familia, situated under 500 yard...

 As Mink De Ville once sang. Barcelona, despite the throngs of tourists, is a remarkably easy city to weak around, with broad pavements, pedestrianised areas and parks.  Provided you can remember not to step out into the the designated cycle lanes where a mix of electric bikes, scooters and the occasional Segway rush by at breakneck speeds. Even the narrow alleys of the old city, where we headed today were easy to negotiate even for a holy man accompanied by a disabled. Having decided to try to organize our days out around certain sections of the city, to avoid too much retracing our steps, yesterday we hit the area around the cathedral and old city. We didn't have a plan as such as TOM just likes to wander, so that's what we did.  The sun was out and so despite the wind that occasionally caught us unaware, it was lovely to just follow our instincts. One of which told us we didn't really need to pay 28 Euros to go inside Barcelona Cathedral, or pay the clowns and white fa...

 So here I am sat on the balcony of our 12th floor AirBnB, enjoying a ham, cheese and coffee breakfast, (which one of us had to both buy and make), watching aeroplanes drop out a leaden cloud filled sky across a panoramic view of Barcelona rooftops. It's a hard life but someone has to do it. A 10 trip Metro ticket in our pockets and we were off, travelling on a very sparsely decorated underground to explore the city. First stop Placa de Universidad, where we disembarked from the airport bus yesterday, for the short walk to Placa de Catalunya, Barcelona's equivalent of Trafalgar Square or Piccadilly Circus. Still overcast, whilst we both found the temperature quite pleasant, the locals were wrapped up as it were a Siberian winter. Taking out time we wandered and pondered before rumbling on down the main pedestrian thoroughfare of the city, La Rambla. Full of the usual tourist tat on the ground level, casting our eyes upwards revealed some gorgeous architecture. Being an infamous...

 So here I / we are having swapped good old Blighty for  week in Barcelona. After the rollercoaster that is always Easter, it was good to have this little sojourn in the diary, even if it is actually taking place some six months after it was originally scheduled. Thanks to Mrs O we were able to deposit the car with her and take the super saver economy route via the 199 bus to the airport, arriving in plenty of time to negotiate dropping off our bags and negotiating security. In fact TOM's new status as 'crutch user' actually saw us whisked to the front of the queues, with me in the role of his 'devoted' carer. The flight was 30 mins late but we managed to escape the eyes of the super vigilante Ryanair baggage checkers who appeared to be making loads of people pay for oversized hand luggage. Maybe having my disabled special needs companion made them take sympathy, who know. Or maybe like us they were too busy wondering why the feral children belonging to two families...

In a bid to win the votes of the next generation, the Reform UK party has promised to give every 15 year old a pack of 20 cigarettes or some Rizzlas and a pouch of rough Shag on their 15th birthday, if they win the next general election. Leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, spoke exclusively to Grace Under Pressure and revealed his wish that “future generations deserve the same opportunites as their parents and grandparents, to develop crippling lung dieases that will reduce life expectancy by upto a decade." Under a Reform UK government, whatever your background, whatever your opportunities, providing you are white and would have voted for Brexit, on your 15th birthday you will wake up to celebrate this milestone with a packet of fags and a zippo lighter. Imagine their faces lighting up almost as quick as that first ciggy." “A bit like street corner drug dealers, tobacco manufacturers have generously offered to provide the first packet of fags for free, knowing that once h...

 

Chaotic scenes were seen at Aintree on Saturday afternoon after the entire field of 34 horses all claimed to be first past the post in a scene that would have made fans of a certain 1960 film come over all nostalgic.  Just as Clare Balding or some other horsey women was about to place the winning sash around the neck of what was thought to be the winning horse, all the other entrants in the race bust into the paddock claiming to be the winner.  With the sash almost in situ, the sweating stallion (thats the horse not jockey Paul Townend) looked as if it were about to say something profound into the micophone, well either that or eat it. The suddenly one by one the other 33 entrants rose high onto their hind legs and proclaimed one after the other 'I am Maximus'. At the time of going to press Grace Under Pressure isn't able to confirm whether all 34 horses were subsequently carted off to make glue but It was a scene that would have brought a tear to Kirk Douglas' eye, to ...

Having heard this on the Dermott O'Leary show on Saturday morning as I was driving to Worksop and then waking up this morning to a cloudless blue sky, I thought I should upload this little gem today. Listening to it you can almost feel the warmth on your back. Enjoy.

If I had been asked when did I last run the Gerald Story Memorial fun run I would have said two maybe three years ago. It certainly feels that long ago. So imagine my surprise when checking this blog and the date on my Garmin watch to discover that it was in fact only last year!. I think what has thrown my chronological recall is the fact that last years run was right at the start of Jan whereas this years little jolly has taken place, well today in April. This 5.6 mile run takes place from Worksop College and consists of a triangular route along trails through Clumber Park. Even though I couldn't quite recall how long agao it was that I last ran the route I do recall that we ran on a beautifully clear winters day and that the trail itself was actually a proper trail run. I also remember that it was relatively flat which is always a bonus, esp as I had tweaked a hamstring in the build up from a burst of over enthusiastic gardening !!! This year we were not so lucky weather wise wi...