KENDRIVE

One way to avoid those exorbitant charges of the gondoliers

This 'UFO' spotted over Wales earlier this year came not from the other side of the Cosmos, but the other side of the Irish Sea.

Read all about it at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4289418/UFO-cloud-spotted-over-Wales.html

It is a "lenticular" cloud and here is another over Mt Rainier in Washington State, US:

There are many pictures of weird and wonderful cloud formations at:

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

No - not an unwashed ecclesiastical person . . .

But a very pungent English cheese.

It smells like a 'rugby club changing room' and has now been named Britain's stinkiest cheese.

It is produced by Charles Martell of Martell and Son in Gloucestershire, and triumphed at the first' Smelliest Cheese Championship', held at The Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet, Somerset.

The cheese is washed in a Gloucestershire perry made from a pear variety called Stinking Bishop which was named after a reprobate farmer with an appalling reputation as a drunkard, who famously shot his kettle when it took too long to boil.

The cheese was brought to international attention by a brief but important role in the Oscar-winning 2005 animated film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, in which it was used to revive Wallace from the dead. Demand for the cheese subsequently rose by 500%

I remember a few years ago buying some 'Pont-l'Évêque 'cheese in France.

It was wrapped in foil and several plastic bags - but there were still some very funny looks on the train home.

MUM USES GPS TO KEEP EYE ON SON'S GAP YEAR TRIP

Harry Wilder might be spending his gap year on the other side of the world, but his mum is with him every step of the way.

Thanks to a satellite tracking device, Rachel Wilder can keep tabs on her 19-year-old son at any time of the day or night.

That means she can avoid most of the worry parents face when their son or daughter heads off into the unknown with a backpack.

It is fantastic to be able to keep an eye on Harry and track his journey,' said 53-year-old Mrs Wilder at the family home in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.

'I feel like I am sort of with him on his travels, which gives me peace of mind and means he doesn't have to check in with a phone call.'

Harry, who is currently with friends in Australia, agreed to carry the 2in-thick, credit-card-sized Traakit device when he left home.

By visiting a website, his mother can track him to within 15ft of his exact location and the global positioning system can even send her a text message alert if he goes anywhere he shouldn't.

'I can tell which street he is in so I can make sure he doesn't wander into any dangerous areas,' added Mrs Wilder, an inventory clerk.

'The point of a gap year is to go away and not be hounded by your parents but equally as parents, it's quite nice to know where they are without constantly ringing up.'

The Traakit device was developed by Harry's uncle David Clayton, 65, who launched it on the internet two weeks ago. It costs £279 plus £11 a month service charge or can be rented for £50 a month.

It triangulates its position by taking co-ordinate readings from four satellites. It feeds the information back to a computer, which then maps out where it is in the world.

The technology means it updates instantly so Mrs Wilder can keep tabs on Harry in real time.

Surprisingly Harry says he is happy to carry the tracker as protection against the dangers of backpacking.

Harry Wilder (right) holds the device in Australia.

(From the Daily Mail)

More about TRAAKIT at: http://www.traakit.co.uk/index.php

I am not sure it is a good to keep surveillance on youngsters in this way, but the device could be useful to track Alzheimer's sufferers who may stray away from home.

BEDS IN EUROPE FOR FIVE PENCE A NIGHT

A leading accommodtion specialist is offering cut-price beds in Barcelona, Valencia, Corfu, Alghero and Santorini during the economic downturn.

HostelBookers, which offers rooms in over 100 countries, is offering 250 stays at popular hostels in Barcelona, Valencia, Corfu, Alghero (Sardinia) and Santorini for this price for travel between from July 6 and 10 this year.

The cut-price beds, which are being offered as part of the company’s fifth birthday celebrations, can be booked from June 1 to 5, with 50 beds going on sale from 2pm each day.

Here is some information about their Santorini property:

http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/greece/santorini-island/10235/?

Or how about a cruise?

In December last MSC Cruises offered holidays for £1.

"For each passenger who makes a booking next week (December 1-7) for a cruise in 2009, a second passenger will pay just £1."

Or perhaps you would prefer to stay in the UK?

In April Travelodge announced that they were cutting the price of 50,000 rooms across the country to £9 per night, with a further 100,000 rooms on sale for £19.

(Details from the Daily Telegraph)

John Pugh is an American artist who makes remarkable 3D effects by painting on flat surfaces.

Here are two examples - click on the images to enlarge:

Everything in this photo - the cat, the foliage, even the woman reading - has been painted on a two-dimensional surface.

Greek tragedy: But the Doric-style columns apparently exposed in this university hall are nothing but paint

See more of John Pugh's work at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1187338/Off-wall-The-astonishing-3D-murals-painted-sides-buildings-trompe-loeil-artist.html

EU law that gives consumers extended guarantee on goods is a well kept secret among retailers

Shoppers with faulty goods are being routinely denied repairs or replacements because they are not told about their rights under a guarantee scheme.

EU law creates a minimum period of two years in which a faulty product can be returned, and in England and Wales the figure is six years.

But many High Street stores are denying customers these rights, either because the staff don't know the law or because they think they can get away with it.

Generally, retailers hide behind the offer of a standard one-year guarantee and refuse to do anything when this lapses. Consumer experts say this means they are failing to abide by the law.

(Daily Mail)

Read the full article at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1187190/EU-law-gives-consumers-year-guarantee-goods-kept-secret-retailers.html

P.S. I have often bought goods at John Lewis because they advertise a two year guarantee on all computers, DVD players etc and all large electrical appliances.

NOT AMY WHITEHOUSE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVU4IkzMNIo

Captured by a teenage amateur photographer on a bright sunny day, this cloud formation drifting over Worcestershire clearly bears the distinctive outline of Great Britain.

(Daily Mail)

I have been away in the Isle of Wight for 4 days - staying in the village of Rookley.

See if you can spot it on the map below. (Clue: it is near the centre of the Island)

Normal blog postings will resume tomorrow.

Read the full review at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotels/ukhotels/5157842/Crazy-Bear-Buckinghamshire-Hotel-Guru.html

The Crazy Bear in Beaconsfield is an island of gaudy excess in the heart of the comfortable, conservative Home Counties.

"The bedrooms are each built around a wildly ornate bed, with copper baths filled from the ceiling."

"One expects to see bowls of cocaine and sofas draped with half-naked women."

(From the Daily Telegraph)

A visitor to the Goldener Sternen Resraurant in Freiburg, Germany, uses one of three baritone horns installed as urinals.

"At a hotel in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, a guest complained bitterly for a week that they had requested a seaview, and could not understand why we could not provide this."

Kenilworth castle was built in the 12th century by the Clinton family and the massive square keep still bears their name.

After the intense bombardment failed the besiegers realised the virtual impossibility of storming the castle. They tried instead to negotiate a surrender. However It was not until deprivation and disease and realisation that there would be no outside relief that the garrison finally surrendered.

"I had an old chap from Canada when I worked at the Grand Hotel in Brighton complaining furiously that it was absolutely disgusting for us not to give out steak knives with the steak.

I had to remain professional as possible, but finally had to point out to him that he was having duck..."

I NEVER EAT THE LOCAL FOOD

"We had taken a two-day coach trip from Sousse (in Tunisia) to the Sahara with stops off in various places en route.

At Matmarta we pulled into a small hotel for lunch. We were served couscous and were just about to start our meal when a lady sitting at the next table proclaimed in a loud voice "What's this foreign rubbish? I'm not eating this stuff. What do you think you are doing? Bring me some real food, I'll have an omelette, now, and hurry up".

I didn't know where to look as I folded up with laughter. By the way the couscous was wonderful."

I read in a Norwegian newspaper that an American couple had travelled to the north of Norway to see the midnight sun, but as they stood there they complained that it was the same sun as at home in America and they wanted their money back!

An American lady tourist visiting the amphitheatre at Epheseus, Turkey, said: “If this had been built in America they would have put an elevator in.”

An angry guest came down to the front desk of a Holland America Line cruise ship demanding a different room.

The attendant tried to calm him down and find out why he disliked his cabin so much.

He responded: "I paid a lot of money for this cruise and was promised a sea view, the only thing I can see through my window is the damned parking lot!"

We’d not yet left the dock!

Ridiculous holiday complaints: Telegraph readers' suggestions.

Take your pick from the following, which are all genuine:

"The disappointment telling the children that the reindeer could not fly was incredible…you must state this clearly in your brochure in future"

"I realise that there is no electricity in the Wilderness Cabins, but there should have been somewhere to recharge my phone"

"I think that it is appalling that you cannot go white water rafting in a stretch of river with no rocks"

Police are trying to develop bullet-proof turbans for Sikh officers to wear instead of helmets.

The headwear would allow those who insist on always wearing turbans to join gun or riot squads for the first time.

Scientists are investigating whether bullet-proof Kevlar could be used for the 15ft strip of cloth a turban requires.

British Police Sikh Association vice-chairman Gian Singh Chahal said: 'Sikh officers have been prohibited from becoming firearms officers because our religion does not allow us to remove the turban.

'Nor can we wear the NATO helmet for public order policing.'

He said research had already begun into finding the perfect material to create a ballistic turban, but that the high-tech headgear would need to pass Home Office tests before being used by officers.

'We need to approach the Home Office and police forces and to gain their acceptance so that Sikh officers could become firearms and public order officers whilst wearing turbans.

One Sikh PC, who didn't want to be named, said: 'It would be incredible if they developed a bulletproof turban.

'It would make life a lot easier for us and would mean we could go for jobs as firearms and public order officers - which a lot of Sikh officers would like to do, but are currently not allowed to go for.'

Last year West Midlands Police spent tens of thousands of pounds trying to find protective headgear to fit over a turban after a Sikh officer applied to join the counter-terrorist Operational Support Unit.

The force spent 18 months looking for a solution, but failed to find any suitable equipment.

The officer was rejected from the job because he couldn't fit a helmet and respirator over his turban, and instead returned to his job on the beat.

The unnamed officer reportedly claimed to have been discriminated against and was on long-term sick leave suffering from stress.

A Sikh police officer wears a traditional turban - which is not bulletproof

(From an article in the Daily Mail)

Here is another ancient tradition:

The 'Dunmow Flitch Trials' award a flitch (a side) of bacon to married couples from anywhere in the world, if they can satisfy the Judge and Jury of 6 maidens and 6 bachelors that in ' twelvemonth and a day' they have 'not wisht themselves unmarried again'.

Every four years couples gather in the Essex village of Great Dunmow, to convince a jury of complete strangers that their marriage is not on the rocks.

The lucky winners (5 couples) are paraded through the streets and a "flitch" of bacon awaits as a prize.

"The flitch of bacon is half a pig that's been cured. It was deemed to be a fantastic prize in the days when meat was known to be very expensive."

It is the kind of quirky event that captures the spirit of the English summer, particularly with visitors from abroad.

A reference to The Dunmow Flitch is made in The Wife of Bath's Tale in Chaucer's 14th century Canterbury Tales.

Hear the Flitch Song at:

http://www.dunmowflitchtrials.co.uk/images/Dunmow%20Flitch.mp3

("You wont get the 'Seven Year Itch', if you win the Dunmow Flitch")

The last "Flitch Tials" were held in July 2008, when the winners were:

Michael & Janet Denny (Rayleigh, Essex)
Jeff Dotts & Erin Albers (Nashville, Tennessee, USA)
Graeme Fearon & Amanda Horner (Ramsbury, Wilts.)
Des & Claire Rayner (Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middx.)

The next will be in 2012, the year of our Olympic Games.

The 'Flitch' being carried through the streets

The World Beard and Moustache Championships is a biennial competition in which men with beards and moustaches display lengthy, highly-styled facial hair.

The first Championship took place in Höfen-Enz, Germany, in 1990.

On September 1, 2007, competitors of the world's most hirsute faces from the UK, America, Germany and other countries convened for the championships in Brighton UK

The 2009 Championships will be held from May 20th to May 24th in Anchorage, Alaska.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F800WEVFHp0&feature=channel

This painting of the Duchess of Cornwall is going on public display for the first time this week.

Prince Charles has lent the portrait, which normally hangs in Clarence House, to the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

It seems particularly flattering, unless it is meant to represent her at a much younger age.

This is how we are more used to seeing Camilla:

World Bog Snorkelling Championships
August 31, 2009
Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales

Competitors, many in fancy dress, battle to be the fastest to snorkel through 60ft of bog. Well over a hundred people compete each year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAh7e9d45_Y

Wife Carrying World Championships
July 4, 2009
Sonkajärvi, Finland

Participants in the seventeenth world wife carrying championships aim to win a relay race while carrying their wives. The winner receives their wife's weight in beer. Similar events have now sprung up around the world.

CAMEL WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

January, 2010 - Selcuk, Turkey

Cheese Rolling
May 25, 2009
Coopers Hill, Gloucestershire

This popular festival involves hundreds of contestants chasing a roll of cheese down the steep, muddy Coopers Hill in Gloucestershire.

http://www.cheese-rolling.co.uk/