LOOKING OUT 2012!

Occasional Comments on the Passing Scene in 2012

Barry and Margaret Williamson

See also: Looking Out 2018,  Looking Out 2017,  Looking Out 2016, 
                    Looking Out 2013,  Looking Out 2011

December 2012 (France, Spain)

Motorhome vs Caravan: The more time we have spent in our caravan and Sprinter van this winter in France and Spain, the more we like what we experience. So far, in 2 months we have travelled 2,600 miles but only 1,000 miles towing the caravan. This is about the right balance between travel and exploration! The overall average of about 43 miles a day is also about right for a long-distance bike ride (although not for 'Le Tour'!) We've highlighted the differences from our perspective in Motorhome vs Caravan.

Spain Away: It's 13 years since we were last in Spain when we circumnavigated the Iberian Peninsula, escaping at its southern end to travel for 2 months in Morocco.

For years we have been discouraged by stories of Spain's crowded campsites: bingo, quiz nights, line dancing, queues at the gate to get in, ranks of so-called 'wild campers', scams and muggings, all practised against a background of camper apartheid (Germans here, Brits over there, Dutch somewhere else).

Now we have discovered that other Spain, the real Spain, away from the coastal strip. In Navarre, Aragon and Catalunya, in the high country south of the Pyrenees, there is a different world. Incredibly quiet roads, free empty highways, splendid scenery, castles, traditional towns and villages, indigenous languages, friendly helpful people and good food.

November 2012 (England, France)

Kindling: Like many another, we resisted Kindling for quite a long time. We clung to the idea of 'real books' - the feel of paper; the turning of the page; the joy of finding good English-language books in a foreign bookshop, a UK charity shop, an exchange with a fellow traveller or expatriate; the row of books on the shelf, some old friends, some waiting to be opened for the first time. All that. But then we bought a Kindle, once it could be seen in a store rather than purchased from Amazon's virtual shop, and we have never looked back. We still have a full bookshelf in the motorhome but now we also have potentially hundreds of other books to hand and to take cycling, many of them free or at sub-charity shop prices. The Kindle also provides two excellent full-size dictionaries; we have the Guardian/Observer newspaper delivered every morning for a small monthly subscription and there is free access to the internet to Google and check incoming emails. Enough said.

Leaving England: We felt our usual sense of relief when we boarded the DFDS ferry in Dover, bound for Dunkirk. Relief at leaving behind the crowds, the busy roads, the packed parking lots (often with height barriers), the lack of free parking on motorways, the 24/7/365 shopping culture, the people with no time to stand and stare, the invasive cameras, the bureaucracy, the exploitative campsites, the dumbed down TV and press, the inability to get away from noise, and so on. What do we miss? It used to be Radio 4, the Guardian and English cheese. Now we have the Guardian delivered every morning on our Kindle, we listen to Radio 4 via the internet (when we can get WiFi) and it's surprising how much cheese can fit in a motorhome freezer. We feel good about being English, but England has changed beyond our comprehension in the course of one generation.

October 2012 (England)

German Television: After nearly 3 weeks in Germany, staying in 5 different places, we have become familiar with the 12 channels which form the basis of widespread terrestrial digital television. There is an honesty and directness in the way programmes face the country's 20th century history of aggression, occupation, suppression and extreme crimes against humanity. This became particularly clear across the 3rd of October, a National Holiday commemorating the day of German Reunification in 1990. All the events, including the Hitler years and the war which led up to that day, are pictured and discussed with brutal frankness.

German Paradise: Germany is a paradise for cyclists. Dedicated cycle paths are everywhere: short ones around towns, longer ones between towns and long-distance ones criss-crossing the country. For the most part, rivers can be followed with signposted cycle tracks. The 25 longest rivers within Germany vary in length from 120 to 540 miles, including the Rhine (540 miles), Weser (470 miles), Elbe (455 miles), Danube (400 miles), Main (325 miles), Neckar (230 miles) and the Mosel (150 miles). For the weary, local trains have free carriage space for bicycles where you can sit by your bike for company.

German Language: The first thing to write about the German language is that many people speak English. Young people can have perfect English and the German language has allowed in many English/American words and expressions. It's a living language, unlike French. And again unlike French, German is a language that is spoken in many parts of Europe and Turkey. The vocabulary is accessible but the grammar is complex and not helped by the use of three genders (as in Latin). Fortunately, Margaret unscrambled all this many years ago and talks to the Germans in the highest form of their language: Hochdeutsch.

August 2012 (Scotland, England)

Mistaking Freedom for Licence: Austerity, poverty and hunger has led to a doubling of the number of fishing licences issued in Greece this year. There has also been an unkown increase in the number of people fishing without a licence.

Man's Best Friend: A man on Ben Nevis called the Mountain Rescue Team when his dog refused to move. It had had enough!

Whisky without Water? Somehow, the northermost parts of Scotland and the Hebrides have had little rain since Easter, while the rest of Britain has been awash. It's so dry up here that whisky production on the Isle of Skye is threatened by a lack of water.

The New Olympia: We really appreciate the sentiments of Barrie Youde's re-working of William Blake's 'Jerusalem':

And did those feet, in recent time, Race upon London's parklands green?
And were they largely Nike-shod, By some far Japanese machine?

And did the Countenance Divine Shine down on Harry, Kate and Wills?
And was ambition then builded here, Amongst those momentary thrills?

Bring me glory, known of old! Text me by internet or wire!
Let now my handkerchief unfold! Pay me so much I can retire!

Where sport was once for amateurs, All undertaken for panache,
Let all the funds be mine and yours! Pretending we can find the cash!

Thank you Barrie!

We think that the hype of the New Olympiad should be balanced with a visit to the ruins of Ancient Olympia, amid the ruination of modern Greece!

Memories of Madras: It's nearly 40 years since I met Murdoch and Anne MacKenzie in Madras (now Chennai). I was working in a Central Government University and Murdoch was the Minister of the city's St Andrew's Kirk. Travelling in Scotland, we have had an amazing reunion at their home near Oban. This in turn led to the development of a website for Murdoch's prose and poetry and for Anne's images.

The highlight of the website for me are the entries under 'Travels', particularly their three young children's account of the 1978 overland journey from Madras (as was) to Edinburgh.

July 2012 (England, Scotland)

The Reinvention of a Scotland that Never Was: For the first time since we started full-time travel some 18 years ago, we are returning to Scotland, a country we onceknew well when we escaped from work to cycle what were then quiet highways and byways. Of the many changes that have come in those intervening years, few are for the better from our perspective.

Scotland is deliberately and officially becoming as foreign and distant as possible, while the populace stands by, overweight and scruffy, as puzzled as we are at this drama played out with kilts, bagpipes, national flags, forced but incomprehensible Gaelic, Edinburgh Woollen Mill shops, shortbread tins with highland cattle on the lid and Highland Games (Lowland ones as well). It is fascinating in a way to observe a country re-inventing itself against a version it has seen in Hollywood films!

Almost as great a re-invention as that of the early 1800's when Walter Scott, King George IV clad in a kilt (over pink tights) and the fraudulent translation of ancient ballads triggered a romantic resurgence of the Highland Scot.

Historically, tartans were simply designed at the whim of the individual weaver: it wasn't until the early 1800's that another fraudulent publication linked a particular tartan to a particular clan or clans. This triggered a 'tartan craze' which continues to this day. Prior to the publication of the 2011 census, it was estimated that there were no more than 60,000 Gaelic speakers in Scotland (1.1% of the 5.2 million population), the number falling by about 1,000 a year. And yet signposts, tourist leaflets, government papers, etc are all being printed in a bilingual form.

May 2012 (France, Ireland, England)

Ireland was a very pleasant surprise from the moment we arrived on the ferry from Cherbourg to Rosslare. Just as it used to be, but with a rapidly fading flush of affluence. The people are unchanged in our memory – welcoming, warm and wonderful (unlike the weather!) We will return - with a vehicle suitable for its narrow country roads.

April 2012 (Greece, Italy, France)

Le Tour: The bicycle is for us the best way to travel: slowly and independently. Secondly, it is transport for the masses – cheap, non-polluting, healthy, requiring little infrastructure, etc. This is seen and respected throughout the developing world and in the countries of northern Europe. Not yet in the UK by any means, despite Sustrans turning old railway lines into short rides for tourists on holiday!

We are not competitive and do not compete, so the resources and attention that are given to bicycle races are to be regretted. How green is the Tour de France? It's just part of a culture that needs heroes and 'celebrities' to distract people from the real issues in life. Bread and Circuses! We have cycled many of the Alpine and Pyrenean mountain cols used in the Tour, but one at a time, at our own speed and carrying everything that we needed.

Money: Written in part as a response to receiving a circular email comparing the relative costs of many material objects. For example, petrol at (say) £7. 50 per gallon with printer ink at £5,200.

What is the purpose of money except to pass on to the next person? It has no meaning in isolation and only takes its meaning when it becomes a means of exchange. What we term 'value' is purely subjective and must ultimately relate to the labour required to produce the object and all the exchanges involved in that.

Think of the great majority of the earth's human inhabitants who have nothing to exchange except the pain of labouring in all its forms: and often that goes unwanted and unneeded. Everyone in the over-affluent west should spend at least several months in a developing country (there are plenty to choose from), living at the level of the average peasant or worker. And then they may complain less on their return. And waste less time attempting to generate sympathy for their hard lives and all the choices of consumption they have to make!

While we await the collapse of capitalism, let's just be happy to be alive with enough affluence to live a good life, even if we don't really deserve it and we are robbing many other people in order to have it.

(Reference: Marx, Karl (1867) Capital: Critique of Political Economy)

March 2012 (Greece)

Greece from the Inside: We have been asked a number of questions during our winter in Greece. What's it like? Is it safe? What are the effects of the crisis? Has it affected motorhomers and other travellers? Etc. Here is a summary of what we have actually observed and experienced over the last months. It is different here and none of that difference is an advantage to us as visitors, to the British who live here or to the Greeks themselves. Indeed, far too many Greeks are really suffering and they don't know why. If they blame anyone, it is the Germans and the corrupt ruling elites in Athens. These are the sort of things we have noticed and experienced:

A steep rise in retail prices including petrol, although diesel is still about the European average. Overall, Greek supermarket prices are nearly 20% above the European average.

A sadness among the people and a greater willingness to talk and discuss what they call the 'crisis'.

An increase in anti-German feeling in the media, particularly the newspapers and their cartoons. Parodies on the television recall images from the 1930's and 1940's. MP Panos Kammenos, launching a new political party (see below) with a policy very much against all the recent German-imposed austerity measures, gave his inaugural speech in Distomo, a town where 200 Greeks were murdered by Germans in 1944.

A smile and a warm welcome when Greeks learn that we are from England. They identify with us from our mutual history, from geography (they see themselves as a maritime nation living on an island) and because we are no part of the current Eurozone debacle.

More immigrants wandering about (many of them illegal), even in remote villages and on quiet country roads. The Greeks are increasingly worried about them and security has become an issue for the first time in modern history. The campsite gates are now locked at night following an increase in reported crime, mainly by economic migrants whose hope of work fades by the day.

Soup kitchens, once set up for immigrants, are increasingly used by unemployed Greeks. Sleeping in the street is increasingly necessary for homeless Greeks, especially in the capital. The distribution of free food, including potatoes direct from farmers, once provided for immigrants, is increasingly necessary for Greeks whose income no longer covers basic needs.

Many fewer motorhomes and caravans were seen here throughout the winter. Good campsites in the Peloponnese, such as Thines, Koroni, Ionion Beach and Aginara Beach, have been empty all winter. The one we use (Finikes) has averaged about 9 outfits through the winter; now there are 5 outfits – 4 English, 1 German – making 8 adults in total.

Fewer cars on the road. Indeed many country roads are spookily empty: this is fine for cycling but not for Greeks who can no longer afford the petrol or indeed the car itself. Cars that are no longer in use, not taxed and not insured, no longer have their number plates which have to be handed in to Government offices.

Overall tourist numbers are down, particularly those from Germany, normally the major customer for Greek holidays. Bookings for 2012 are also well down, causing a reduction in flights, etc.

The media (TV, the 'Athens News' and other online sources) have their coverage dominated by the 'Crisis' as Greeks call it.

More and more existing and former corrupt practices, fraud, swindles, scams, embezzlement and financial malpractice (including massive tax avoidance, smuggling, bribery, etc) are being exposed. See our Greek Tragicomedy! However, the legal system and the police are also politicised and corrupted so it is uncertain what is or can be done to bring the perpetrators to 'justice'.

Strikes are frequent, including a current one of all seamen, including ferries. Even professionals are striking – lawyers, doctors, pharmacists – all in protest at reduced pay, reduced pensions and reduced resources.

Politics is fragmenting. Ever since 1949, with the exception of the 7 years of the military junta, politics has swung between PASOK (Socialist) and ND (Tory), rather as in the UK. But their support has dropped away since they are both blamed for causing the crisis and for agreeing to the German terms for massive austerity measures. Now there are about 10 parties, some made of defections from the two main parties. The three parties of the extreme left could hold a majority of the vote, if only they could stop fighting each other! Elections are due at the end of April/beginning of May and that should be interesting. We'll be gone by then!

It seems that yet again there is history in the making, here in Greece. Perhaps Greece is rediscovering its ancient role as the source and inspiration of European development?

Scams - to Win or to Lose? We enjoy scams and the whole process of recognising them at an early stage and watching how the game unfolds. Deciding whether to play or not to play; if playing, then deciding whether to win, lose or draw. Looking behind the game into the life and aspirations of the other player(s). For example, in the market or on the street in India, we are happy enough to bargain upwards if we know the money will give a large family a good meal. Our insignificant loss, their gain.

January 2012 (Greece)

Failed Again? Why are 'New Year Resolutions' so called? Perhaps resolves of the previous year failed to produce results and so need re-solutions. Will we ever get that weight down; get up earlier; cycle further; clean the motorhome more often; be kinder to caravanners? Let's try again, let's attempt to re-solve the problems.

Camping 40 ft above Snowdon: Hristo Simeneov has opened Eco Camping Batak at 3,600 ft (1090 m) above sea level, by a lake in Bulgaria's Rhodopi Mountains. Snowdon, the highest mountain in England and Wales, reaches only 3,560 ft (1085 m) asl.

Travel as Art: We draw analogies between oil painting and travelling; between the artist and the traveller. Each requires a start on an empty canvas; each begins with only an outline idea of what is to be achieved. Some start with a large canvas and the time and resources to achieve a great ambition; others prefer to work in miniature and perhaps in greater detail. Some artists and some travellers specialise in close ups, still life or portraits; others reach for sweeping landscapes. The time line stretches from an interest in the historical through the contemporary to a vision of the future. Eschewing photographic reality and documentary detail, both artist and traveller may trend to the illusory, the ideal, the figurative, the abstract.

Each painting, each journey proceeds with a multitude of brush strokes, working and reworking each part of the surface of the canvas or the country; in each, the picture emerges only slowly; in each, scenes, objects and characters can be added, avoided or removed; and the process has no end. The mood can be dark and sombre, or light and lively. Time defines the need to pause or stop, sometimes in a comfortable place, sometimes abruptly and in full flow, sometimes through a breakdown, sometimes through failure, a giving up; but the picture, the journey are never finished.

The images generated by the artist and the traveller may have the freshness and vigour of a first encounter with their subjects, or they may have the depth of mature reflection, the insight of experience or, indeed, the weariness or disillusionment of repetition.

The painting may be hidden away, or ornately framed and hung on a wall, privately or in a gallery. The journey may be kept in a private log or diary, or shared with friends or elaborated into a magazine or website article. Other people may seek the original of the picture or the journey and copies may also find an audience. The journey remains the unique property of those who made it, but other people want a replica of it, they may want to copy it, in whole or in part. Or just dream of it. Perhaps, above all, it is the artist who is recognised and remembered, as well as the object of the painting. And so it is that the traveller is remembered, along with his/her writing, as well as the subject of the journey. The object of the painting and the subject of the journey remain, independently of the artist and of the traveller.

A Website is an Art Gallery.
A Blog is Graffiti, easily expunged.
A Tourist Trip is a Jigsaw Puzzle with a pre-set picture and pieces just waiting to be bought, collected and put in place.
A Holiday is a Sketch, a Doodle, Art as Therapy
A Packaged Holiday is Painting by Numbers
Staying at home is a Blank Sheet.

How Much to Pay the Ferryman? The two brand-new Minoan ferries now operating between Ancona and Patras don't have facilities for 'Camping on Board', which is available on all other ferries from Italy to Greece between 1 April and 31 October. Instead, they offer 'All Inclusive Camping' - a free cabin and an evening meal for motorhome/caravan passengers, with an electrical hook-up for the vehicle. The Patras Office of Minoan Lines said this offer did not exist during the winter months; the Ancona office said it did. We chose to book at Ancona, thereby saving over 200 euros!