Uncertain times

The UK looks like it is entering phase two of the banking crisis this weekend, and judging by the announcements that are expected tonight or in the morning I could end up being a government employee for the second time in my life tomorrow!



Not a great deal I can say, but please think of me tomorrow, I don't know whether it will be queues out the door, explaining the same things over and over, or just an eerie quiet day! If you do have a branch of the "beleaguered" bank near you then do pop in with some chocolate or something nice for the branch staff who will likely be stressed and fearful over the future.

Trying not to be too worried, it is all totally out of my control and I just need to get on with whatever needs doing and hopefully things will return to some sort of normality soon.

SPCK Bookshop Exeter - R.I.P.

It looks like the shop that I spent many years working in, and was much loved by its staff and customers over the years has finally closed closed down.



Of course it was only a shell of a business in the last few years anyway, with no new stock and terrible mismanagement and sporadic opening hours (and weeks on end of being closed), but still, it is a sad sight to see it stripped bare of stock. I hope my former colleague won't mind me quoting from an email she sent me yesterday (edited to take some names and local context out).

"I saw a notice declaring a Closing Down Sale with an offer of 40% off all stock.
However, whatever staff they had employed were told this morning that the shop was closing today... later there were two men there and cartons (presumably of books) stacked waiting to be loaded. They said they had had instructions to clear everything... the entire stock was being transferred to York."

She goes on to say how upsetting she found the sight, and I have to agree (as I sure you can from the pictures) that seeing the shop looking this way, when it was once a thriving hub of activity in the Cathedral area and wider community in Exeter is very sad.







Of course for many the saga continues, the Brewers (the American brothers who took over the shop from SPCK) have found themselves in court for various reasosn in the UK and in the states, and many former employees lives have been ruined by the actions of their management. You can follow the saga on this blog http://spckssg.wordpress.com/



"...this really looks like the end of the shop."

Rome - Part Six - Ancient and Modern

Wow, Rome seems such a long time ago now, been back to work 3 days and already the sun is forgotten!

To cheer me here are a few random places in Rome that I loved, This is Hadrian's temple, which we just stumbled across, but is a lovely peaceful piazza near the centre of Rome. The columns are now part of the stock exchange building, but I am sure they will last longer than the temporal nature of the financial markets!







And in another conflict of ancient versus modern here is a very old building reflected in a modern bank building, one of the very few glass fronted buildings in the city.



And this is the modern art gallery I spent a happy few hours wandering around

Rome - Part Five - Colosseum & Roman Forum

In many ways the Colosseum IS Rome, and it is certainly an imposing and amazing building. We did not go in, but I had a good wander around the edge of it and the surrounding area. Actually for me the Forum is more interesting than the Colosseum, a wide area of fragments of building and archaeological sites where interesting things are stumbled upon all the time.

First here is the Colosseum, without tacky pictures of people in gladiator uniforms,





And some of the forum,

Rome - Part Four - Trevi Fountain

One of the most famous sites in Rome, but not the most impressive! Even though it is a lively area of the centre of Rome, and is near one of the many McDonalds which actually have a public toilet...

At night it has a good atmosphere, and is surrounded by many great Ice Cream parlours, and the more you look at the fountain the more impressive it gets!

Coins flung into the fountain,

Rome - Part Three - The Pantheon

By far my favourite individual site in Rome is the Pantheon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome). This is the oldest complete building in Rome, and was built 125AD as a temple to "all the gods", but is now consecrated as a Catholic church.

The building has to be seen to be believed, I cannot describe the feeling you get when you first walk in, or the sheer size of the place. Photos give you no idea of scale or atmosphere. It is so amazing I had to revisit it again to really try and take it all in.

Here are a few attempts of photographing the inside, and more successfully the outside.

Rome - Part Two - 10 things about Rome

1. Every pizza you eat, even the worst one, will be better than any pizza you get in the UK.

2. Bus routes have no logic, but will get you from any part of the city to any other part of the city if you can crack the code.

3. Italian stamps just wont stick.

4. Roads look scary to cross, but in fact Romans reactions are so fast that you just just wander across the road anywhere.

5. White wine is light and tasty.



6. Domes dominate, fountains come a close second.

7. Italian radio is mostly either dance music, or religious.

8. Ferrari is the only F1 team worth following, but no one owns a Ferrari. (in fact a Fiat 500, old or new is the car to have, or otherwise a Panda will do.)



9. Most people speak English, and many signs are in English, despite what other people may tell you.

10. Rome is always warm, even when it rains.

Rome - Part One - Vatican

We are back from Rome now, as expected we had a wonderful time, the weather was glorious (unlike the awful weather here in Exeter), the food was great and Ivonne's conference and presentation seemed to go well too.

I could write lots, but I think pictures say a lot more in Rome than words, so here are some pictures of Vatican City, which we visited on our first full day.


The Dome of St. Peters.

A few pictures from inside.






Standing on the steps of St. Peters looking out.

Rome

We are off to Rome for a week now, see you when I get back!

I will leave you with 2 final Greenbelt pictures.