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Archives for July, 2016

Wallingford

July 31st, 2016

A hot and sunny summer day meant it was definitely time to go adventuring in the Chilterns. So last Saturday I set of a not particularly adventurous adventure from Henley to Wallingford and back again.

This is a lush meadow heading out of Henley. So many flowers and bugs!

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I’ve visited Wallingford a couple of times in the past. It’s a pleasant market town just over the Thames south of Oxford. It’s most interesting features are the bridge, ruined castle, and this, the town hall. A local pub was having a “lure party”. I guess this is to do with Pokemon Go and not fishing.

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It was so hot that I completely ran out of water on the return trip to Henley. Luckily I managed to find a stranger to fill up my bottle. The dryness and the ripening crops do make the fields a nice yellow colour though.

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Nick the Art Collector

July 24th, 2016

I’ve been decorating my home recently! These two oil paintings I bought on canvases from some student art market. The framer was a bit snooty about the quality, and actually I paid more to get them framed than the paintings cost originally, but they liven up the walls and I’m no art critic…

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This one is a painting on rice paper I bought when I was in China back in April. Again I got it framed separately back in the UK. The lady in the shop didn’t speak English and my Chinese isn’t great, but I gathered it’s a painting of Suzhou in autumn by a local man who is old, famous, and blind. Hanging in my hallway now: looks really good.

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Don’t Look Down

July 12th, 2016

I had one last day in Shanghai after my holiday before flying back home. I arrived really early on the overnight train, so I had a great opportunity to beat the queue and go up the Oriental Pearl Tower which I had shunned before.

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I went to the “middle” globe (which is actually quite near the top). You can pay extra to go to the very top globe but I doubt the view is much better and it is a lot more. The view is quite good, despite the smog. On one side you can see all the old colonial buildings and on the other all the modern skyscrapers.

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Underneath the middle global is this exciting glass-floored observation gallery. It was a bit unsettling actually. Although I managed to venture onto the glass to take a few photos of my feet.

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The tower definitely looks better lit up by night. The grey-tower on grey-smog look during the day isn’t great.