tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-256525502012-01-17T19:16:30.100-08:00septuagenarian odyssies - US/Mexican border to Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego to New York, long ride round Indiasimon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.comBlogger14901100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-38214603186963602092011-12-12T13:43:00.000-08:002011-12-12T13:45:07.610-08:00

Made a mistake re Nick Clegg. He didn't turn up for the Primeminister's statement on the EU veto. An absence of political courage?

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-14794733916175943282011-12-12T02:23:00.000-08:002011-12-12T02:26:26.215-08:00

What total joy. Wonders never ceasing. The genius of our political masters. The latest GREAT IDEA: to pay members of the Taliban £100 a month for not fighting. What a splendid recruiting slogan:JOIN US AND THE FOREIGNERS WILL PAY YOU!!!!!

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-25414737789675105642011-12-12T02:18:00.000-08:002011-12-12T02:18:05.922-08:00

Bronchitis is depressing - but no where near as depressing as the celebratory baying of the Tory right wing at our isolation in Europe. What relief that Clegg has been forced finally to discover his political spheroids (small though they may be).

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-65380676407097103042011-11-18T02:43:00.002-08:002011-11-18T02:48:28.607-08:00

Banner for OLD MEN CAN'T WAIT I am off to the NEC at Birmingham tomorrow for the UK's major motorcycle show and will be there all eight days signing books on the TRAVEL-DRI stand and on TOURATECH.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-58272516401490136842011-11-18T02:43:00.000-08:002011-11-18T02:49:54.264-08:00

I have been writing books for much of my adult life; yesterday was my first birthing experience. Paddy Tyson of OVERLAND magazine drove me across the Welsh border to Pontypool where MWL Print Group was the midwife. Modern printing and binding machines produce with speed. Fascinating to watch books streaming out of the maw and into boxes... And what instinct leads me to chat to the only man on

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-33762888022347558272011-11-14T02:58:00.000-08:002011-11-14T03:00:11.499-08:00

Studying Republican contenders for the US Presidency: Universal health care is sinful. Water-boarding is moral. Brit Political leaders boast of their ability to maintain the Special Relationship. With these people? Thank you, but I'd rather give it a miss...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-31235869620693480542011-11-11T03:12:00.000-08:002011-11-11T03:15:14.442-08:00

Tata bought loss-making Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in 2008. Tata immediately invested in research and new models and a new engine plant. Losses have been transformed into a billion pound profit for 2011. Tata are recruiting 2,500 workers, all this in the midst of a recession. HOW TO PERSUADE TATA TO TAKE OVER THE UK GOVERNMENT...?

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-45459204477764159882011-11-10T06:28:00.000-08:002011-11-11T03:16:08.613-08:00

I wonder what percentage of people here in the UK believe James Murdoch is telling the truth or lying. I, of course, have no opinion....

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-33142376378261581562011-11-08T05:56:00.000-08:002011-11-08T06:01:17.341-08:00

Conversation between President Sarkozy and President Obama. Sarkozy says of Israeli Premier Netanyahu: I cannot stand him. He's a liar. Obama responds: You're fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day. Press, radio, Tv report the conversation as a gaffe. My question: Why is a truthful interchange a gaffe?

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-65664221396706278762011-11-07T06:51:00.000-08:002011-11-07T06:53:56.897-08:00

I note, in rereading the last two posts, that I am in full rant mode. A little rage of a morning gets the blood circulating so blame the climate: cold, damp, depressing...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-37652176528398831872011-11-07T03:38:00.000-08:002011-11-07T14:31:26.249-08:00

Ah, Milliband, Milliband... So tardy in preaching the immorality prevalent in today's financial sector. Thirteen years in Government, now leader of the Labour Party. Thirteen years overseeing a massive widening of the chasm between rich and poor. Thirteen years overseeing a culture of grotesque bonuses and executive salaries. And now, at last, brave Milliband declares that politicians should

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-31949202140846116992011-11-03T09:12:00.000-07:002011-11-03T12:56:48.418-07:00

Blair, Cameron, Milliband, seedlings reared in the same walled garden; such is modern politics: perhaps a short stint in PR, then special adviser to a Government minister of similar background and similar lack in experience or knowledge beyond the garden's walls. These are the leaders who dictate our foreign policy and order our military into war.My elder brother, Antony Hornyold,is not a

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-51337874118213683102011-10-24T08:58:00.000-07:002011-10-24T09:15:00.306-07:00

Finished checking proofs for Old Men Can't Wait. Goes to the printer next week. Copies will be available in time for the Motorcycle show at the NEC, Birmingham, next month.I will be signing copies.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-37857983433099095702011-10-09T03:28:00.000-07:002011-10-09T03:59:20.809-07:00

OVERLAND is a quarterly travel magazine publishing articles by experienced travelers of all ages and of how ever many sexes there are. Ted Simon is, in heart, an adolescent; Bridi, writing on Iran, is a barely post-teenage student reading Classics at UCL; I am a nearly octogenarian granddad. OVERLAND is a magazine to collect, to show to friends who have never experienced the freedom offered those

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-49625337021275682302011-09-28T02:48:00.000-07:002011-09-28T17:02:07.475-07:00

Lt. Colonel Ian Kinnear died last week and was cremated today. He was a fine loyal vital man possessed of an extraordinary enthusiasm for life and with a great laugh always near the surface however inhospitable the place or threatening the situation. Life was for living; time was for doing; negativity and pessimism were the enemy; as for naysayers for ever pleading difficulties, Ian rammed them

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-11433522636863626122011-06-30T02:38:00.000-07:002011-06-30T03:05:15.003-07:00

HU MEET AT RIPLEYThe Wehrmacht invaded Ripley last week. Old ladies and children trembled as BMWs thundered down the lanes. Serried ranks of khaki tents enveloped Lumb Farm pasture. Leather-uniformed storm troopers searched for prey. Wild men and women in war paint pranced before midnight flames. Beer got drunk in vast vatfulls.Bedding in the rear of a Toyota Corolla is not for the faint-hearted

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-75100983810031040442011-06-03T02:41:00.000-07:002011-06-03T02:52:31.334-07:00

PHOTO HOLDEN BENTLEYA near neighbour, Bill Holden, has contacted me after reading OLD MAN ON A BIKE. He owns a Bentley identical in body and paintwork to the car my stepfather campaigned - see the Rabagliati Bentley on the web.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-62590773188580283372011-06-03T02:40:00.000-07:002011-06-03T02:41:21.842-07:00

Gorgeous day. Am cooking lamb kidneys and mushrooms in a cream and Jerez sauce together with a risotto of baby broad beans and chives. My offal chum, Roger Gill, is coming to lunch. We shall eat in the garden.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-45992810189654115242011-05-25T03:12:00.000-07:002011-05-25T03:17:08.378-07:00

My study opens off the corridor by the front door. Both the door and my windows are open. I sit at my desk and breathe the scent of roses. Shade and sunlight on the trees continually shifts in the breeze. Herefordshire is heaven on such a day...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-14581369530905941472011-05-24T06:41:00.000-07:002011-05-24T06:50:02.034-07:00

Clematis and roses surrounding my study window are a temptation to sit outside with a mug of coffee. A cold wind chases me back indoors.Received my royalty statement from Harper Collins last week. Sold 1094 copies of Old Man On A Bike over the past six months - good considering the book has been out three years. Bad is a royalty of £0.50 per copy. Have decided to self publish the following two

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-38849629260582210072011-05-18T02:13:00.000-07:002011-05-18T02:15:25.318-07:00

Wanted a translator for Old Man On A Bike. Must have sense of humour.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-33717527393905380072011-05-18T01:46:00.000-07:002011-05-18T02:03:34.198-07:00

Carin has turned the old tramp into a vaguely respectable grandpa...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-65761909700107110152011-05-17T04:43:00.000-07:002011-05-18T01:46:28.587-07:00

B threatened me: get my hair cut or exile to the garden shed.I bought a dozen red roses this morning and knelt in the doorway of Carin's salon on the Market Square in Ledbury, face hidden behind the flowers.Carin has forgiven me.I have an appointment this afternoon.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-58434737506700597922011-05-12T11:51:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:47:43.061-07:00

Seven years ago I went to the multi-sex hairdressing salon in Barnards Green. A trainee, Carin, cut my hair brilliantly. Two years later she moved to Ledbury. I followed. Now she has set up her own salon. I was to be her second client. She telephoned three days before opening to remind me. My short term memory is nil. I forgot.That was in December.I keep meaning to buy her a huge box of

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-40544691494977486422011-05-12T11:46:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:47:40.703-07:00

Snowboard season is over. Jed has been home a week from the French Alps. He seems to grow each time that he is away.Or am I shrinking in old age?Maybe in height. Not in girth. Ah, well...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-42947669332937212422011-05-12T11:40:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:47:43.164-07:00

Sun shines. Roses break out of bud, Clematis in flower, scent of freshly mown lawn. B has a stand at the Spring Garden Show. She will have been standing all day, sore feet, sore back. She will probably head straight for the Malvern Spa before coming home, swim, have a sauna, chill in the meditation room.I am so immensely fortunate to be so in love...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-35690292843719046152011-05-02T10:18:00.000-07:002011-05-02T15:10:13.001-07:00

I find particular pleasure in this commemoration of a mission planned by my stepfather, Colonel Euan Rabagliati (see web), given a scurrilous attack on his character in a recent "biography" of a Danish agent/adventurer.Libeling the dead is risk-free and despicable.Dear Mr Gandolfi,I am organizing an event to commemorate the daring operation Contact Holland, which took place in 1941. This

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-20981856825587889362011-04-08T14:51:00.000-07:002011-04-09T02:34:46.931-07:00

Prime Minister Cameron recently named Ed Balls the most irritating man in British politics. Rude, yes. Boorish, yes. Conceited, certainly. But surely unpleasant rather than irritating.My vote goes to Professor Doctor Lord Winston. Professor of Science and Society at Imperial College, Chairman of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Trust, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Honorary

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-33289018854765561802011-04-06T03:47:00.000-07:002011-04-06T11:28:02.521-07:00

A Spanish biker, Alejandro Menendez-Chacon, has posted on Facebook a pic of the Bridge Of The Americas. It is a railway bridge built by United Fruit to connect their banana plantations on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica with the banana port of Almirante in Panama. Loose planks either side of the rails enable the bridge to be used by road traffic. Alejandro's pic shows the safety netting is new.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-29148876014775983142011-04-04T06:05:00.002-07:002011-04-04T06:26:28.380-07:00

Germaine Greer is Professor Emeritus of English Literature and Comparative Studies at Warwick University. She gives me the impression of being both unpleasantly arrogant and conceited. I may be wrong.She is often on the BBC TV Friday night art show. She seldom has anything pleasant to say concerning the reviewed works of writer, actor, composer or painter. Last week she panned a film of war time

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-59596168816952264812011-04-04T06:04:00.001-07:002011-04-04T06:04:55.522-07:00

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-27212271722091323212011-03-30T10:32:00.000-07:002011-04-01T12:35:49.905-07:00

This is a Thank You to N Green of Austin, Texas for posting the following on Amazon last week: Love bikes? Love travel? then you will love this book. Simon Gandolfi has a humble, gentle writing style that captures your interest and your heart on the first page. This is the best motorcycle journey I have read since ' Jupiter's Travels'. He paints such beautiful images of the people and places he

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-87691168238605918612011-03-25T06:33:00.000-07:002011-05-14T01:58:38.055-07:00

For lunch on Wednesday cooked squid and cHorizo with chickpeas in a tomato and basil sauce - lots of chili, lots of garlic. Washed down with a bottle of Rioja Alto. YUM!Today glorious Spring, trees in blossom, daffodils and primroses in our woodland garden. Ate outside in the sunshine, cold trout, cheese, baby tomatoes. On such a day England is heaven.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-76764368889978169382011-03-25T06:27:00.000-07:002011-03-25T06:46:27.760-07:00

Our eldest son, Josh, is down from Leeds for a week. He has ripped up the vile carpet in the back sitting room, disassembled and removed an equally vile sofa bed. Today he is out in the garden cutting the lawn, pruning. I wish he and Jen were here for the summer. What joy it would be to watch Josh play cricket again and have his friends dropping by of a summer evening, cold beer, good

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-38920677868583490882011-03-15T02:54:00.000-07:002011-03-15T02:59:05.887-07:00

Visit a bike show, witness evidence of a future diabetes epidemic, invest in manufacturers of Insulin...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-81501721613057487132011-03-15T02:45:00.000-07:002011-03-15T02:54:35.387-07:00

Thank you to all those fearless Scottish bikers who donned their snow shoes and, braving blizzard and avalanche, ploughed their way to the bike show. A special thanks to readers who sought me out and to those who bought books and contributed the extra £1 to my Round The World Petrol Fund!

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-62890005210917289722011-03-04T02:31:00.000-08:002011-03-04T02:50:24.258-08:00

I am off again next week - to Edinburgh and the Scottish Bike Show (12/13 March). Find me on the Travel-dri stand, standard dress of denim overalls and battered straw hat Big pile of books ready to be signed...!

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-89277418094307833472011-03-04T02:25:00.002-08:002011-03-04T02:30:56.361-08:00

February was a good month in the kitchen First the gnocchi were a success. I feared that the Gravlax was too salty - however I washed off the salt and the result was perfect. Tuesday I cooked a coli and prawn pie, definitely yum!

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-36806745975544022942011-02-24T04:11:00.000-08:002011-02-24T04:25:59.036-08:00

Number Two son + julia and divine granddaughter, Anna, are arriving this afternoon to stay the night. They don't eat meat. They do eat fish. Hopefully they will enjoy my first attempt at Gravlax. The salmon has been marinading in a press in the icebox for the past five days: rock salt, Demerara sugar, orange and lemon juice, English mustard and lots of dill. I unwrapped and skinned the salmon

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-11530178892044945862011-02-21T06:48:00.000-08:002011-02-21T07:14:41.322-08:00

In these days of turmoil, let us be proud when our European and American leaders warn Arab Governments that they earn reprobation for their treatment of the innocent. For Arabs, sanctity of human life is an outlandish concept. Torture is commonplace. Police shoot unarmed protesters in Bahrain, in Lybia, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt. Arabs may counter by protesting the innocent hundreds and thousands

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-11988096665416728632011-02-18T09:50:00.000-08:002011-02-18T09:56:50.596-08:00

Definition of youth = that you can pull your socks on while standing unsupported.Adolesence = capable of hauling your trousers on while standing.Maturity = having to raise your foot on a step to tie your shoe laces.Old age? I'll inform readers when I get there.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-55613017634216589482011-02-17T06:08:00.000-08:002011-02-17T06:27:52.719-08:00

B isn't a picky eater. However she does have her dislikes (as does Jed). Though misguided, disliking offal is understandable - however why would B dislike gnocchi? Roger Gill's partner is both picky and a vegetarian. He and I cook each other lunch week and week about, dishes unwelcome on the family menuThus yesterday was my first attempt at preparing gnocchi - mixing Stilton cheese into the

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-41103369442679048532011-02-17T05:56:00.000-08:002011-02-17T06:29:09.093-08:00

Writing is OK when it goes well. I have been rewriting the opening to the second book in the biker travel trilogy, OLD MEN CAN'T WAIT. The first chapters didn't work. The tone was too flippant. Flippancy is suitable when giving a talk to bikers who've been on the beer. They are on holiday. They want humour. Readers expect more. They deserve the truth. Digging out the truth from one's experiences

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-22999602376649351672011-02-14T10:54:00.000-08:002011-02-14T11:08:10.997-08:00

British Charities are in uproar over Government cuts. In my youth charities were funded by charitable gifts. Financed by Government is financed by taxpayers without option or choice. Therefor no longer charities. Better call them NGOs. NGOs are a plague. Too many of them with overlapping and competing remits and hierarchies. Career structures are the norm. Waste is standard as is moral arrogance.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-15969457996430640582011-02-11T05:38:00.000-08:002011-02-15T03:05:05.896-08:00

The police investigate pedophilia. First act to confiscate the suspect's computer.Four years of the Metropolitan police investigating telephone hacking by News of the World journalists and the Met hasn't yet confiscated News of the World hard discs.Odd?Or does Murdoch frighten them?Or do they fear that the hard discs will provide evidence of police collusion? Why does this concern me today of all

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-39449694123559398602011-02-11T05:05:00.000-08:002011-02-11T05:37:33.123-08:00

Thoughts when in bed this morning whilst Bernadette wrapped my birthday gifts - each gift a romantic treasure: firstly how blessed I am in Bernadette and in my four sons, my daughter, my daughters-in-law and out-of-law, my son-in-law. And how truly blessed I am in my divine grandchildren (of whom Shane is baking a chocolate birthday cake which he will eat as I am home in Herefordshire UK, and he

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-63241048495451144322011-02-10T04:05:00.000-08:002011-02-10T04:18:34.759-08:00

Normally I would ignore the prurient Top Gear team and their attention seeking. However I have described in the past visiting high schools here and asking students for their image of a Mexican. The reply: Fat, sweaty, big hat, droopy mustache, comic accent.Top Gear presenters pander to this conception born of Hollywood. The result?A Brit failure to recognise or develop markets in Mexico for

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-30271444425753157512011-02-10T03:50:00.000-08:002011-02-10T04:27:59.642-08:00

Joy and sadness to meet a Bolivian woman and her daughter at the Excel. The mother is married to a Brit on the Yamaha stand. The daughter is newly arrived in England. The daughter speaks no English. My speaking Spanish somehow emphasises to her her linguistic isolation and loss of friends. She lays her cheek against my chest. I fear that she will cry. I fear that I will cry. Unfitting behaviour

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-78542699099224332042011-02-10T03:40:00.000-08:002011-02-10T03:50:31.477-08:00

A charming young Colombian woman served at a coffee shop at the entrance to the Excel. I greeted her each morning with, "Buenas dias, La Linda."She replied, "Buenas dias, Avuelito." She treated me to breakfast on the last day. I remarked, "Oh that I was younger."She laid a delicate hand on my arm, smiled sweetly and said, "Much, much, much younger."Ah, well...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-75925880241350623442011-02-10T03:34:00.000-08:002011-02-10T03:39:49.534-08:00

Small bikes suited me for long distance travel. The Honda I rode round India averaged 160 miles to the gallon. However something bigger might be more suitable for a final journey. Consider this Triumph...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-56511710770145546482011-02-10T02:25:00.000-08:002011-02-10T03:28:02.905-08:00

Home from the London Bike Show. Fun to meet new people, good to meet old friends. Best is to be made welcome in a community and to discover that my travels encourage others.However why must a section of the biker community revel in ugliness? Tattoos on shaven scalps and across rolls of fat that pass for a neck - and those massive wobbly beer bellies, especially amongst the Sunday crowd - gross.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-50319313239422079712011-01-31T07:46:00.000-08:002011-01-31T07:56:58.217-08:00

I leave for London Wednesday morning. Bernadette flies in to Heathrow from NYC Wednesday morning. She has been away a month. Her absence has left our cottage sad and empty and I have been miserable - particularly with Hamish off to fresh pastures. Happiness is being in love with your wife. I will be seventy eight this February and I am besotted by Bernadette...What am I doing? Cleaning house! And

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-77840568581937524292011-01-31T07:38:00.000-08:002011-01-31T07:46:03.935-08:00

MCN London Motorcycle Exhibition - 3rd-6th February. I am on Stand N94. I have prepared: books,posters,pens, LARGE cash pouch, clean clothes, polished shoes, medication. What I have forgotten? Memory will kick in midway to London...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-72580565528207867722011-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:002011-01-26T07:03:35.863-08:00

Bernadette has been in New York three weeks. The reins are off. Hence the rants! Enough - better vacuum the house, new sheets on the beds, polish shoes and silver, tidy clean laundry into drawers.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-39130519483174849972011-01-26T06:45:00.000-08:002011-01-26T06:58:22.208-08:00

MORE PAROCHIALISM? OR MERELY IGNORANCE? SURELY NOT RACISM?Our Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition opened Prime Minister's Question Time today by expressing great sympathy for the victims of the Moscow airport terrorist attack. Neither man has ever opened Question Time by expressing sympathy for those killed and injured in the frequent terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Iraq. We freed Iraq

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-82960207383369021602011-01-26T06:20:00.000-08:002011-01-26T06:59:05.540-08:00

PAROCHIALISM:In my youth, most members of Parliament (and particularly members of the Government)gained wide experience before entering active politics. Many had served Britain abroad. They had gained an understanding of foreign opinions and beliefs. Today's politicians are essentially parochial. Politics is their career. Their advance is seamless: student politics, think tank, special adviser,

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-9505070288227936282011-01-17T07:42:00.000-08:002011-01-17T08:06:32.419-08:00

My anger grows. Liberal politicians are pathetic. Incapable of defending themselves. More importantly, incapable of defending the decision of voters to vote for them. The electorate voted for a hung Parliament. The Market demanded a strong Government. Liberals had one week to help form a stable Government or Stirling would have crashed. The Conservatives were the only party with sufficient seats

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-38911343450560000632011-01-15T03:07:00.000-08:002011-01-15T09:01:41.076-08:00

The two big front bedrooms in our cottage are our two sons' territory - big so that they can entertain (although both have left home). B and I have a small bedroom at the rear with a sloping ceiling. We sleep on two extra-wide single mattresses on the floor. Old men have to get up in the night. I crawl to the wall and heave myself upright whilst pray that my legs don't cramp. If they cramp, my

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-67880807389696611212011-01-09T09:08:00.000-08:002011-01-09T12:26:05.129-08:00

Gabrielle Giffords, a fine member of the United States Congress, has been shot in the head. She was marked as in the sights of the Tea Party. Others were shot dead, amongst them a nine year old girl. Sadly the USA's reputation is formed by such tragic incidents - shootings in schools, what ever, rather than by the good works of US NGOs or US AID Projects. Americans sometimes find it difficult (

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-43448739063215254062011-01-09T09:01:00.000-08:002011-01-09T09:08:03.079-08:00

Sad empty house. Have been double glazing windows. As for food, Roger Gill came for lunch Wednesday and brought a rabbit and two pheasant. Skinned and plucked Thursday. Roasted the pheasant breasts on a bed of vine tomatoes. Made a game soup with pheasant legs and rabbit and a great stock from the carcases. Meanwhile reading with joy The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa - tender and

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-84589177780313863882011-01-08T06:58:00.000-08:002011-01-08T07:02:12.865-08:00

Hamish at his new home with his favourite toy. He is reported to be delighted at having made a sound career change. I remain weepy...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-91751123267103820742011-01-05T10:16:00.000-08:002011-01-05T10:36:29.058-08:00

Our cottage feels very empty. Bernadette left today for New York. She will be away a month. I am happy for her. She deserves a break and loves the City. I am jealous of her because she will be seeing my daughter, Anya - and my wondrous grandson, Shane. And I am sad, of course, at her being away for a month and was even a little weepy at the station. B reminded me that I go away for six months or

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-59253448134851797362011-01-04T06:04:00.000-08:002011-01-04T07:48:00.238-08:00

Great to get messages from readers, angry, disappointed, complimentary or kind.Paulcf is disappointed that I wrote little concerning Argentina and Chile. OLD MAN ON A BIKE is the first of a travel trilogy and covers my journey south. Chile was not part of this journey. Chile does feature in the second MS which takes me north from Ushuaia to the USA. The second MS also includes three chapters on

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-11592091144740421762011-01-04T05:56:00.000-08:002011-01-04T06:03:50.500-08:00

MESSAGE FROM paulcf@telus.netReview of your bookVery interesting...I have 20 years to prepare for my SA trip! I too am afraid of all the negativity the press says about SA. I suspect having your white beard and your age benefited you on your trip. I was dismayed with the latter part of your book...little to tell about Chile (and why you didn't travel in Chile except for the very end?) and nothing

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-1397698401794102622011-01-03T10:15:00.000-08:002011-01-03T10:29:20.236-08:00

TED SIEROCINSKI HAS SMOKED ME OUT. Though not a rabid "Red", I must confess to being something of a Pinko.....Pics are SUNDAY TIMES COLOUR SUPLEMENT from the Spencer Tunik Instalation at THE BIG CHILL FESTIVAL, 2010

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-7608671483316997132011-01-03T09:41:00.001-08:002011-01-03T09:43:55.869-08:00

Subject:blog 1/2/2011 Ted SierocinskiNM 87505 letter Message:Hello, Simon I was born and currently live in TEXAS, USA. My fellow countryman's myopic letter is too often the norm. Of course it's everyone's right to his/her own opinion, but the letter is so typical of folks here in the USA. Yes, we each try to do good (or perhaps the best we can) but we don't do as much "good" here in the USA as

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-3282192201642953202011-01-03T08:02:00.000-08:002011-01-03T08:03:38.594-08:00

Susan Switzer writes:WOW.....

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-27885284038307216492011-01-03T08:01:00.000-08:002011-01-03T08:02:31.302-08:00

Ged Asbery writes:Good ol' Ted must be more clever than me. I obviously missed the hidden message that "Old Man on a bike" portrayed US citizens as"selfish and disgusting people".

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-44211162843221077892011-01-03T08:00:00.000-08:002011-01-03T08:01:25.006-08:00

Joe Berk writes:Odd, I read the book, and I did not take any of Simon's comments as US bashing. Mostly he was reporting what other people said or felt.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-47448001046745663872011-01-03T07:54:00.000-08:002011-01-03T08:04:29.365-08:00

Re criticism of OLD MAN ON A BIKEEUGENIO writes:As much as I would rather be under the boot of the USA instead of say Hitler's Germany, Russia or Torrquemada's Spain, I like your comments (USA bashing) because I hate the hypocrisy. Spain never pretended to be exporting "democracy" well until now that is, neither did Hitler nor Stalin. It is precisely because USA citizens are supposed to be

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-30521354729553917392011-01-02T03:40:00.000-08:002011-01-03T08:18:37.022-08:00

Letters from readers mostly fall into two catagories: thanks for enjoyment or anger.The angry usually come from readers in the US.The following is an example:Subject:How I enjoyed your book Message:Ted Sierocinski NM 87505Simon,I was looking forward to reading your book as I was traveling from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Guatemala on my Kawasaki KLR 650. I have been in Spanish language school here

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-54601143366218872652011-01-01T06:35:00.001-08:002011-01-02T03:16:27.305-08:00

A few family pics, top to bottom: Bernadette's brother, MichaelMy granddaughter, EmilyEmily with mother, SarahEmily's brother,Charlie

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-73424966010194724522011-01-01T06:08:00.000-08:002011-01-01T06:34:35.419-08:00

A New Year's resolution: to Blog at least once a week.What have I been doing?Loving my wife and enjoying home life in Herefordshire, England;drooling over my Brit grandchildren and loving their parents;missing my US grandson and my US daughter and son-in-law;signing books at the NEC motorcycle show;preparing new book for publication.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-52355223218602751472010-10-24T06:07:00.001-07:002010-10-24T06:12:34.261-07:00

I have been Time Travelling while sitting on the bench outside the Mountain Cow cafe. The owner comes out to check my health. I photograph him. What are his feelings toward Pine Plains? He prefers the mountains and given a free choice would live in his home State of Colorado. However his wife has deep roots in Pine Plains...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-90031027952179361922010-10-23T10:47:00.000-07:002010-10-24T06:07:17.129-07:00

Pine Plains in Dutchess County, New York, is much the same size as Colwall in Herefordhsire, though houses are more widely spread and on big lots. Trees shade the streets. Architecture is white clapboard with porches to rock on in summer twilight. A few small buildings rub shoulders on Main Street each side of the sole intersection regulated by traffic lights. The Stissing Bank occupies one

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-32162923649485014562010-10-23T10:44:00.000-07:002010-10-24T05:43:00.645-07:00

My home is a three hundred year old cottage facing across two cricket fields to the orchards and hills of my beloved Herefordshire. The fields are home to Colwall Cricket Club. In summer I walk to the far boundary to sit on an oak-shaded bench and watch paragliders ride the up-draughts above the Malvern Hills. A pair of buzzards often circle amongst the paragliders and a white owl lives in one

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-40844551349111837932010-10-20T15:45:00.000-07:002010-10-20T15:52:39.564-07:00

ROAD SIGN IN LYON, FRANCEI had to put this up!

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-12870155866315392762010-10-20T11:32:00.000-07:002010-10-20T11:36:06.572-07:00

A loosebox door grinds open and steel shod hooves tap concrete. My room is above the stables. I am in bed at my son-in-law’s horse farm in Dutchess County, New York. I have bronchitis. The medic in Pine Plains has prescribed antibiotics for ten days, two pills a day to be taken with meals. I took a pill yesterday with dinner at 7.15. Now I get up and make breakfast so I can take the next. I

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-60489991673846943532010-10-10T11:49:00.000-07:002010-10-12T06:23:17.086-07:00

9 OCTOBERPINE PLAINS, NYI intended writing a travel article on New York's horse country. I meet two Argentinians in the Mountain Cafe, Pine Plains. Polo players, they compete in tournaments at Mashomack Polo Club through the Summer season. The season is over. They have shipped the ponies south. The older of the two, Juan Olivera, will fly to Palm Beach on Sunday. He is a small, compact man with a

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-90992508558606508872010-10-10T11:47:00.000-07:002010-10-12T06:20:23.708-07:00

My grandson, Shane, will have his third birthday in January. He says Good morning to me this morning and only then yells to his mother (my daughter) that there is a monster in the house. I comb my hair at the bathroom mirror above the hand basin. Shane decides that I look less of a monster and demands that I play piggy with his toes: This big piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed at

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-88208252608100467042010-10-10T11:42:00.000-07:002010-10-10T11:46:22.135-07:00

This is my last day on antibiotics. I take one pill in the morning and one in the evening. Having to take the pills with meals is an excuse for a cooked breakfast - this morning a mushroom omelet with two slices of toast. I feel comfortably full and totally spoiled...

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-10633304814475518352010-10-10T10:34:00.000-07:002010-10-10T10:35:43.359-07:00

I uploaded a few pics today onto the Baja Run Blogs

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-75778401724631949272010-10-08T10:06:00.000-07:002010-10-08T13:55:08.321-07:00

8 OCTOBERDUTCHESS COUNTY, NYA stallion snorts close by in a paddock to the rear of the house. Horses are messy eaters. Rats and mice would thrive but for the cats. A striped grey cat sits on a small grey plastic children's slide. A black cat preens itself beneath a bigger yellow slide. A marmalade cat washes its self on a chair. A fourth cat eats at the feeder on the table. I sip excellent coffee

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-74092399635315263852010-10-08T10:01:00.000-07:002010-10-08T13:56:24.132-07:00

8 OCTOBERDUTCHESS COUNTY, NYFriday and a crisp clear Autumn morning on the horse farm in Dutchess County, New York. I count seventeen pigeons sunning themselves on the barn roof. Why count? Why not?

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-81325193021632027382010-10-07T18:04:00.000-07:002010-10-08T13:52:10.489-07:00

17/18 SEPTEMBERLA VERNEA stiff head wind along the coast slows us. Turn inland and we ride through a splendid hill country of vast commercial vineyards and acre upon acre of plastic tunnel. Big John is expert in navigating the border with the US. Joe and I follow as he weaves and squeezes between long lines of waiting cars and trucks. The US immigration officer examines my passport. Mexico

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-11345261769363962382010-10-07T14:39:00.000-07:002010-10-10T10:39:46.537-07:00

j indiana jonesing17 SEPTEMBERTO TIJUANAHere are a few musings from the road. J's modern Power Wagon is a powerful and effective off-road vehicle and delightfully comfortable. My opinion, it is not a vehicle for what I think of as an expedition. It is too complicated. The rule for an expedition vehicle: Something breaks, can you fix it? In my early twenties, I spent three months at a time in the

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-33366741841339304422010-10-07T14:36:00.000-07:002010-10-07T14:39:48.224-07:00

17 SEPTEMBERTO TIJUANA6 a.m. and we breakfast at a restaurant next door to the hotel. A half day will bring us to the border. We pile our gear into the PowerWagon. Luxury creates its own problems: the PowerWagon's battery is dead. Someone must have forgotten to switch off the microwave or the espresso machine or the ice maker or the water heater in the 2nd bathroom. The kindly restaurateur

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-70646387486435549662010-10-06T10:24:00.000-07:002010-10-06T10:27:24.930-07:00

SEPTEMBER 16ONWARD NORTHVisiting Mama Esperansa's restaurant in El Rosario is a right of passage for California's bikers. Biker memorabilia cover the walls and ceiling - cards, group photographs, insignia caps, sweatshirts. Joe calculates that the present owner is third generation. She is an ample woman in her fifties. We have had a great ride. In adolescent mood, I tease the waitresses and

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-9205407980240588422010-10-02T15:58:00.000-07:002010-10-02T16:06:31.713-07:00

Apologies to readers: I have been struggling with bronchitis for the past ten days, dosed with antibiotics, depressed and writing slowly. I am on the mend and will write more and faster....

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-3081544229164099842010-10-02T14:52:00.000-07:002010-10-10T10:33:48.189-07:00

beautiful16 SEPTEMBERNORTHLanchero is border Mexican-Spanish for a diner. We pass one every forty or fifty miles. Normally the lanchero is a lone building beside the highway. There is no apparent reason why the builder chose this site. Why not a hundred yards south or north – or 500 yards in either direction?We pull in at a lanchero on the left. Intricately worked saddles and splendid chaps hang

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-43822965801495090262010-10-02T14:44:00.000-07:002010-10-03T09:34:17.467-07:00

16 SEPTEMBER NORTHI am a follower on this journey and must concentrate on the riders ahead. Riding alone, my mind is free. I chase the same thought day after day, worrying at it as a terrier does a hard rubber bone - and small details of the countryside, of fauna and flora awaken memories. Today has been better - perhaps because I have become more accustomed to the group. Temperature exceeds 100

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-42794311157634450622010-09-28T14:15:00.000-07:002010-09-28T14:18:05.555-07:00

16 SEPTEMBERONWARD NORTHFinally the sun melts the cover and paints small curls of pale red gold on the underside of small puffs of white cloud high above. Never in my travels have I seen mountains so blue. We pass three small shrines to the dead on a straight stretch of highway. A hundred yards or so separates the shrines. Surely not casualties of three separate accidents? Yet, if the same

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-78239470140487040782010-09-28T14:14:00.000-07:002010-09-28T14:19:27.718-07:00

16 SEPTEMBERNORTH FROM CONSTITUTIONDawn approaches as we ride out of the Hotel Oasis courtyard. Sea fog rises from the ocean and spreads across the desert. We ride for two hours in chill air beneath the low grey canopy to breakfast at the Desert Inn, San Ingnacio.

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-62512021200677351192010-09-27T10:25:00.000-07:002010-09-27T11:07:32.815-07:00

main highwaysikkim,india15 SEPTEMBERCOSTITUTIONJ is keen to organise joint off-road and bike trips on the Baja peninsular using California Scooter Company bikes. Joe and Big John are enthusiastic. I am an outsider and keep my thoughts to myself. However, the main highway is about the only tar road in Baja. Surely dirt bikes would be more suitable? Coco Chanel is very different from the

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-40910542180789580912010-09-27T10:21:00.000-07:002010-09-27T11:11:17.094-07:00

15 SEPTEMBERCONSTITUTION We are back at the Hotel Oasis, a modern building devoid of charm but with air-conditioning, comfortable beds and a small square of water advertised in the hotel brochures as a swimming pool. Swim two strokes and you would break your wrists or concuss yourself at the far end. We stand in the pool and talk of our journey and the beauty of the ride down to the sea and of

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-81964844577587668802010-09-25T15:20:00.000-07:002010-09-25T15:21:56.173-07:00

15 SEPTEMBERCABO SAN LUCAS NORTH The road swoops down from the plateau to the Sea of Cortez through narrow gorges of rose red stone. The descent is biker heaven. A shared joy draws us together as we lean into perfect curve after perfect curve, shed years, shed worries, become children in a playground. Then comes the sea, a shimmering sheet of lapis. Not to bathe in such beauty insults its creator

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-79098637487334334222010-09-25T15:18:00.000-07:002010-10-10T10:16:45.622-07:00

below the pool15 SEPTEMBERCABO SAN LUCAS NORTH7 a.m and we are on the road again. Goodbye Hollywood Mansion, goodbye glorious beach that we didn't visit. Goodbye Cabo San Lucas, town that remains unknown. Arlene flies home this morning - business. Wonder woman, she has leant me her bike. The bike is a production model with a custom paint job. The bike's name? Coco Chanel, naturally. We race

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-40597559323381434002010-09-23T14:32:00.000-07:002010-10-10T10:29:35.878-07:00

big john14 SEPTEMBERCABO SAN LUCASI have followed Big John for four days. John on a California Scooter Company bike is kin to a father riding his five year-old's tricycle. That the bike holds up is a fine advertisement for the bike. Big John and I in the Hollywood mansion's infinity pool is a sight for nature lovers sufficiently short sighted to mistake us for a pair of captive white whales. John

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-830935590095291942010-09-23T14:30:00.000-07:002010-10-10T10:03:06.697-07:00

joe not seeing big john in the pool14 SEPTEMBER CABO SAN LUCASThe pool is small and tiled in the obligatory blue Italian mosaic. Look down across (gated) roof tops to a wide golden beach on which Pacific rollers break in obedience to the tourist brochures. J and I are in desultory conversation. Four seagulls sit on the roof. Two pink bougainvillea blossoms drift across the surface. Such

simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-70766456152670030812010-09-23T14:28:00.000-07:002010-09-23T14:30:56.065-07:00

14 SEPTEMBERCABO SAN LUCASThe Hollywood mansion is a rental property. It could sleep a dozen with ease which would make for a moderately priced holiday if you knew twelve people with whom holidaying would be a pleasure. The twelve need to be adults. This is not a house for kids. The floors are polished marble. Fall off the outer edge of the infinity pool and the servants would scrape the scraps

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