From West Ealing to Acton via Ravenscourt Park

What a day it's been: an intimate tour of West Ealing, a successful business meetup by Carlene Bender with our MP Dr Rupa Huq and renowned social activist, Eric Huntley, attending among so many commited local business and council people, then a cycle ride to POSK in Ravenscourt Park and a thought-provoking play about the life of G.B.  Show at the cosy Acton Trade Union Club! I wish I had the time and energy to add pictures!
(If you were me, Dear Reader, would you be able to resist boasting about a quick lunch with the above mentioned MP?) 

Good night!

Green Man and Woman in West Ealing

Let's see who will join me this Friday morning to meet The Green Man and Woman of West Ealing.

Who will guess where I went?

 Look for clues...

Four men at a table at The Acton Trade Union Club

I was cycling home past The Trade Union Club in Acton High last Wednesday (Sept 21, 2016) evening. Being curious as I am, I couldn’t help stopping by to find out what the poster in the window was about.
 
Then I walked in and saw another poster saying there was a play on at 8pm (very soon) that night so I climbed the stairs and entered the room.

 Had I walked directly onto the stage?
 
 The interior was empty but for a busy table in the middle with four not exactly young men by it. They were debating on the proposed changes to the public transport in Ealing, but welcomed me keenly. About the performance they knew nothing. Bus schedules, train timetables and changes to routes are an important matter to everyone so the men were happy to involve  members of the public in the consultation. I was given a website address: http://www.eptug.org/  to share in the Contactus EALING magazine so more people could have a say in what is being planned for us.

Lured into The Original Maids of Honour or The law of attraction

I was cycling peacefully home along the Kew Gardens' wall after a post-theatre drink in Richmond when I stopped to take an undisturbed (by the day-time traffic) picture of these splendid tea rooms with a royal court twist. Passing by I had never had a chance to photograph this Old England - style building.  Suddenly a group of four emerged by the entrance across the street and...  invited me in for a coffee. Well, I couldn't believe my ears and eyes. Were they the robbers who were luring me in to then blame me? Or maybe some terrible murderers in need of a victim? Something was telling me they weren't. They were far too noisy entering the dark and quiet establishment.  Well, it must have been around 10pm I should say. Then I saw the lady's headgear, looked at my broaches and knew: it was the law of attraction. This is how one of my surprising evenings started! Thank you, Kimberley, and my other new friends for this fun icing on the cake of tonight! I am home safe! :-)

Each and every day busy

There is no way I can keep up with the blog now. So many things happen all the time, so many people's paths cross with mine. Sometimes we walk together a bit and then go our separate ways.
I came back home today eager to tell you about the nice morning conversation class with four mothers attending, two of them with little boys. The Lebanese lady brought me a biscuit. I took it home and  I had it with some black tea at my desk in the sun. The sun had come out as I was nearing home after some tasty |African street food at Acton Market. The downpour came when I was having the fish with some veggie stew, fried plantain slices and rice. The couple who run the stall come from two different African countries and work really hard to get this new business going. Respect, Mama Consuelo and Mike! :-)Actually, they told me they are looking for someone to help them at the stall. They cannot pay much at the moment, but it's still paid work plus breakfast and lunch on them.

The pace of life is so different in places like Jamaica. My friend has come back from there after a fortnight holiday in his home country. It was so nice to listen to him telling him about his visit. He was brought up by his grandparents untill his teens when he joined his parents in London. Only then did he meet his younger siblings.

I must dash, Dear Reader, as I'm heading for the Ealing Central Library to attend a talk by Mr Grzegorz Szlachetko who wrote a book about his mother's life. The lady, born in Poland, fought in the Warsaw Uprisng, was taken prisoner by the Nazi Germans and met the love of her life when the Polish soldiers came to free camp. Then they lost touch, but he found her in England, they got married and built their life here not being able to go back to Poland.

PISM

The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum is one of these places that a Pole and everyone interested in the WW2 history should visit.Again, no time to tell you more about my visit, but please have a look at the institute website here.

Rivalry and a saint

It is a well known fact that Augustus Pugin helped Charles Barry design the Palace of Westminster after the fire damaged it in 1934, but did you know that Barry tried to minimalise Pugin's contribution in the public eye?  The same architect, I mean Pugin, designed many houses and churches not only in Britain, but also in Ireland and even in Australia. The one I remember seeing is St. Aidan's Roman Catholic Cathedral for the diocese of Ferns in an Irish town of Enniscorthy. You may like to read about St Aidan's miracles and tell me what you think of them:
'Many miracles are recorded of his during his sojourn in Wales.^[2] He was said to have broken a jug while fetching ale for his fellow monks; making the sign of the cross over the shards, however, it was repaired and he continued on his errand.^[8] A yoke given to him by David's steward purposefully too small to fit the necks of his oxen miraculously accommodated them and permitted him to bring the necessary materials for Llandewi Velfrey.^[1] Following his return to Ireland, a local begged him for some meal as he was grinding flour and, after receiving some, disguised himself as a blind man to come back and beg for more. Annoyed, the saint cursed him that the generations of his descendants would never lack for a blind member.^[1] Another time, wolves devoured a calf at one of his monasteries; its mother being inconsolable, Aedan blessed the head of his cook and told him to offer it to the heifer, which licked him and thenceforth "loved him like a calf".^[1] When asked by Saint Fintan Munnu to heal monks suffering under an epidemic, Aedan was said to have indulged him: first by curing the monks and then by permitting the sickness to resume when Saint Fintan changed his mind, considering the sickness to be good for their souls.^[1] His hagiographers credited Aidan's curses with Brandubh's defeat of the Uí Néill; they further state that, when Sarán slew his father-in-law, he attempted to accommodate the saint only for Aidan to curse him that his right hand would wither to the stump. When Sarán begged for a penance, Aidan directed him to pray for forgiveness at Brandubh's tomb in Ferns; when Sarán did so, a voice from the crypt forgave him. He lost his hand regardless.^'

How to be a bird or Max Ernst in Krakow

 There was an artist who apparently believed that he was a bird...

 You need to have a bird surname to see the exhibition for free.

Hungarian artists at MS1, Lodz

When in Lodz earlier this week we visited one of the three museums of contemporary art, called ms1. After a renovation it didn't at all resemble the museum I used to visit in the past. EXERCISES IN AUTONOMY, a temporary exhibition of works by a Hungarian artist Tamas Kaszas in cooperation with Aniko Lorant was really worth seeing, I think.

A woman-painter from Lvov in Sandomierz

 Walking around the Old Town in Sandomierz I stopped to look at a picture of a cat among others for sale resting against the wall. They were all works of Swietlana Nazarenko, a self-taught artist from Lwow (a beautiful city which is now in Ukraine, but used to be part of Poland until WW2). She showed me many more of her paintings and drawings. Her favourite is the one depicting the Lvov Angel. She posed for me holding it. Of course, my two friends didn't notice that I stopped and so I had to dash to catch up with them. They were far beyond the Opatow Gate when I joined them.

No pepper in The Pepper Mountains

A view of The Vistula River valley and the town of Sandomierz on the horizon from The Pepper Mountains greeted us after a walk in the sun on the first Sunday afternoon in September. These mountains are not at all high or steep as they are very old. However, they are a nice place for a hike. You will not find any pepper there, mind you. The name Pepper Mountains refers to their colour and the fact that the rocks forming them crumble resembling grains of pepper because of erosion. We met a few other tourists there. As we were leaving a group of bikers arrived and filled the place. I didn't miss my bicycle there and then, that would be too much for me. Walking back to the car we couldn't resist picking an apple from the orchard lining the road. The fruit was refreshingly crisp and juicy, sweet and sour at the same time. It was such a pleasant walk.

This place has been on my 'MUST VISIT' list for years. It was the best time to do so and the company was fantastic! :-) Owing to 'Nerijusk' another of my dreams come true!

To visit Poland is great!

Back from Poland after a fantastic stay! So many things happened, nice people met. No time to tell you about it though. Sorry!