I have played sport in some form or other from the age of, well I can't remember. Tennis is now the only one I play regularly and I don't intend giving up anytime soon.
There are certain things in life that you just can't put a date to. When I had my first kick around, when I hit my first cricket ball, when I played my first game of tennis. Others I can put a date on like my first game of rugby or hockey which would have been when I went to grammar school in 1963.
So I pondered on how many sports I have either played or tried my hand at and it's quite a list - football, cricket, bowls, golf, badminton, hockey, tennis, squash, rugby, athletics (including tug of war, javelin, shot putt, long jump), croquet, table tennis, ten pin bowling, darts, snooker, billiards, pool and probably others that I cannot recall. Some might consider the last five of these pastimes rather than sports.
You note from that list that there is nothing animal based although we used to bring racing pigeons home to Norfolk from Yorkshire and let them out when we got home. Two of my brother in law's were champion racing pigeon owners. Me well I've never raced a pigeon in my life as I fear I would lose by some way, not being able to fly. I have never ridden a horse and never really had the urge to do so. I did hold a snail race once for charity.
I did try ice skating once but kept falling over. I don't do dancing, although that's not a sport. There's also nothing water based either as, to risk a pun, that really doesn't float my boat.
I am very competitive irrespective of whether it's sport or a quiz or doing Wordle or Suduko. I always want to be the first to finish or get the most correct answers. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being fiercely competitive as long as you are a good loser. I think I'm a good loser but I would rather be a good winner.
Yesterday we were invited along to lunch at the local sheltered housing complex by the Hethersett Hearts charity. They were doing a coronation special. They even had a lifesize model of the King. I had to chuckle when he was folded into three at the end and popped into a box. Thanks to everyone from us for all their hard work.
Oh and I forgot to mention we won the quiz on Kings and Queens. We didn't cover ourselves with glory though, getting 12 out of 20.
I have received a couple of articles for the next Hethersett Herald that take a slightly different look at the coronation and coronations in general. More about this when the publication is online at the end of the month.
And so to the next leg of the travelogue.
Oh the ignominy of it all. It's happened before and in the words of Queen Victoria "we are not amused."
I refer to a young lady on the Lisbon Metro who insisted on standing up for me. I was probably less than appreciative but she wouldn't take no for an answer. I probably mumbled a thank you whilst I really wanted to say
"0ver the past three days I have walked 30 miles. I still work out at the gym and can play two hours of tennis without turning a hair." But I didn't because she probably wouldn't have understood me and I don't have enough hair to turn anyway.
I still want to be the person that gives up their seat, not the one who has a seat given up for them.
But to our day in Lisbon or Lisboa as it's written over here.
Well I was in a strange parallel universe for much of the day. In Seville very few people seemed to speak English. In Lisbon most people seem to. But at lunch, the waiter speaking to me seemed to alternate between English and French or should I say bad English and bad French. I know it was bad French because the couple next to us were French and seemed fluid in that language (yes I did say fluid). The waiter's French was so bad that they answered him in English. The restaurant did a mean burger with caramelised onions. Everything else featured cod fish. It wasn't advertised as cod but always cod fish similar to the other threequarters who never speaks about Pandas but always calls them Panda Beers.
I broke a rule by going to this restaurant. That rule is never to go to a restaurant that has waiters/waitresses outside trying to get you to eat there. You will usually find that these are almost empty. We always go the the ones that have plenty of people without staff trying to entice you in. It always suggests the food in these is better.
This restaurant was a pretty friendly enticement however.
"Inglise? He enquired.
"Oui" we replied. No idea why we responded in French but that set him off mixing the two languages
"Mr and Madame. Food supreme. Like you cod fish. Nous Avon's cod fish complet. Nous Avon le good fishy."
This went on for a while until we gave in and the other threequarters went for a dish involving Pander Bear (sorry cod fish). I got to try some and it was very good
I know I have been in a parallel universe because when the other threequarters went to the loo I started reading the adverts on the side of the buses. Well it helped pass the time. Most of them were advertising European football. Then one went past advertising Great Yarmouth. Yes you read that correctly. I was so surprised I didn't get round to reading more before the bus disappeared.
"There's a bus just gone past advertising Great Yarmouth," I said to the other threequarters when she returned from the loo "
"Finish your beer, it's time to go, " was all she said in reply.
I spent some time Googling to see if there was any obvious link between Belem which was the area of Lisbon we were in and Great Yarmouth. I found very little apart from a lockdown piece advocating Great Yarmouth as the new Algarve. It mentioned Belem Palace as not being worthy of Great Yarmouth despite the fact the building would take up most of the front at GY but certainly Lisbon doesn't have a Victorian Waterway like Great Yarmouth.
I'm not sure whether I like Lisbon or not. It's not exactly as I imagined it. For a start it's much bigger. You can't see a great deal of it in one day, although we did take the advice of a very good website and spent the best part of two hours rattling around the streets on one of the historic yellow trams. Number 25 goes around all the historic streets. The problem is it gets very busy with tourists. I would point out here that we aren't tourists. We are Global adventurers. The trams are uncomfortable, crowded and claustrophobic but riding them is something that has to be done and the price is included in an all day travel ticket which costs around £6 and covers all the buses and trams and the Metro which is pretty easy to negotiate albeit a bit crowded.
Down by the River things are much more pleasant as you look back on all the houses built on hills. I hate the graffiti which seems to be everywhere and is very unsightly and that's one of the drawbacks of the city.
More about Lisbon tomorrow but that's quite enough for one day. I will try to find out whether that bus did indeed say Great Yarmouth.