APAPS 21.3: There are Alternatives to Walking

 

It has been a bit of a struggle to hit upon a theme for this week´s blog, so I thought I would revert to an advertisement for Uruguayan Scotch Whisky (or Whiskey) which Paul posted in response to last week´s blog which, I am sure you remember, mentioned the World Stone Balancing Championships held in Dunbar in Scotland.

Now I don´t know if Paul was recommending the stuff from personal experience, nor indeed if he was even recommending it at all. But I myself would be extremely dubious about trying it, because the following is what the advertisement said about the brew.

Whisky Dunbar

The Dunbar Rare Old Whisky honours the place of his birth, on the River Spey in the town of Dunbar, Scotland.

Rare Old Whisky Dunbar was born in Uruguay in 1981 being an ambassador for the Seagram’s Distillery, founded in 1857, with the mission to promote the core values of the Scottish distillery, based on integrity, craftsmanship and tradition.

With imported malts of Scotland, and having been aged in oak for 5 years in Uruguay is a whiskey (sic)blend with optimum purity water, alcohols and a select handpicked distilled from grain to achieve the taste and character of the brand.

Expert tasters focus on determining the right time to bottle the whiskey (sic) based on the aroma, fruity flavour and unmistakable smoky characteristic. These are predefined standards that give identity and character of the brand since its inception.

Rating:

Whisky type Blended high level nationally uruguayan, but still far from its competitors Scotchs (sic).

Direct competors (sic): Whisky Blenders.

My doubts arise partly from the dodgy spellings – is it a whisky or a whiskey? -but partly about what apart from a drop of malt goes into it.

It may have some genuine Scotch Single Malt in it but how much we don´t know. And what “handpicked distilled from grain” means, I have no idea, but it doesn´t fill me with great confidence. Seagrams is of course a Canadian distillery company from Montreal in Quebec, not a Scottish one. And their or their advertising agent´s knowledge of Scottish geography is pretty poor as can be seen from this wee map. Dunbar, the town, is nowhere near the River Spey.

Happily, about 168 miles away from the Spey, the aforementioned 2021 World Stone Balancing Championships were held very successfully on the seashore of Dunbar earlier this July, as these latest pictures show.

As for the week´s walk, numbers of walkers were reduced, to 5, Rod being on manoeuvres somewhere in Spain and Hazel being prevented from walking by some mysterious lurgi.

The Starter photos were taken in the difficult light of early morning.

But, for the record, those walking were:-

JohnH, Myriam, Antje, Yves and Maria, plus Sascha

The walk itself was very pleasant; the temperature being modest and, what with the tidal estuary being full and the shade from the trees, the walk along the canal was balm for the soul. Myriam even learned how the producers of wine in a box cleverly manage to stop the wine from leaking out of the cardboard.

We went uphill at one point but that wasn´t too strenuous.

The subsequent downhill track was a little bit too prickly for some tastes but, although some blood was drawn, it didn´t flow like it did when Mike Pease and Ian Scott were leaders.

Sascha enjoyed a paddle and we all rested in the shade at Clube Nautico.....

. 

where Myriam treated us to her renowned Dragon Empress Dowager Ci-Ci impersonation

and also instructed us on the Dragon Empress´s etiquette of shoe wearing which, as far as I could gather, consisted of putting her shoes on back to front.

Normally, that would have made walking a bit difficult but, for the Empress, that wouldn´t have caused too much difficulty because, being the Empress, she would probably be carried to most places in a palanquin or some such contraption.

And, as a post-publication insert, we have this picture provided by Myriam

The technical details are  that these are shoes for a Manchu noblewoman, China, Qing Dynasty mid-1800s AD.  Silk and wood. 

Myriam says these are the Ching "flower bowl" shoes to imitate bound feet. 

(Is Qing pronounced Ching?)

(Not recommended by AWWs, WAGs or APAPs.)

Also submitted by Myriam is this picture. It shows a concubine being taken to the Emperor's chamber. Well, that´s one alternative to walking.

But we lesser mortals had to walk and, as we did so, we saw signs that the local authorities are looking after access to the area; road bridges are being widened and measures are being taken to reinforce the canal walls.

Are they expecting an increase in traffic?

And, while on the subject of repairs, Yves managed to capture an artisan at work on the interior fittings of that cottage near Mira Rio which has been under renovation these past ten years or so.

Breakfast was ordered for 10 a.m. And we got back just in time. There were four reinforcements for the meal, Chris, Hazel, Paul and Terry.

The Track and Statistics

Distance: 8.55 kms  Time: 2 hrs 45 mins.  Ascent: 133 metres.

And to close, Funiculi Funicula, for no other reason than that Myriam sang it at the breakfast table. I could have chosen a Pavarotti version but one can have too much of him; and our regular entertainer Fats Waller, so far as I can tell, did not record it. So we will have to make do with this Japanese group.