The homepage for Stephen on the www http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk 2008-08-29T06:02:00+01:00 http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png text/html 2007-09-17T22:45:20+01:00 http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk/content/view/133/36/ It's a bit later than I envisaged being online, and I'm acutely aware that recently I only seem to have blogged when something bad has happened. Hey, guess what... text/html 2007-03-27T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk/content/view/63/36/ It's now about 24 hours since I set off for Croatia. I still wonder quite whether I am awake or not, or in some super surreal dream.It all started normal enough, I checked in my bags, and went to the lounge to relax before boarding, I boarded, actually had a lovely meal and service on the plane (thanks Lauda Air!). I changed flights in Vienna, and landed in Zagreb at 1445. I got through passport control, all normal enough, and then to the luggage belt where 3 bags went round, and no more. No more! No more! shouted the man at me, and ushered me out of the arrivals hall. I found the baggage handlers office, and said my bags had gone missing. They were nice enough, and asked for descriptions, baggage tags, etc, and checked the computer. Apparently they had gone to another airport beginning with Z . Unfortunately they were not more specific than that, and I just hoped it wasn't Zimbabwe or Zambia as it would then be quite a wait for the bags to arrive... text/html 2007-02-16T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk/content/view/55/36/ This morning was the time I had been waiting for all week. The late nights, early mornings and weekend travel were made worthwhile by the chance to have Friday for myself. Friday was the day I could finally get to see Cairo and Giza for myself. text/html 2007-01-19T10:20:45+01:00 http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk/content/view/42/ I bought the domain on a whim in 2000, and threw up some pages.The pages got unmanageable, so they festered.Hopefully this new version of the website will work better :)The material from the old site is here, and hopefully easier to find. Stephen text/html 2006-06-16T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk/content/view/59/36/ I thought long and hard whether to write this or not. I've had quite a few trips to the Middle East in recent times, and in the main I've enjoyed them. The UAE, or rather Abu Dhabi, I have huge affection for and remember the place well and enjoy visiting it.For once I was given the opportunity to go to Dubai - notionally the second city, but likely to be the one people of heard of in the UAE. For the first time, also, I flew with Emirates. If you ever plan to go to the UAE, do not fly with BA, go with Emirates; the service is a world of difference from BA, the seats are more comfortable, the in flight entertainment does entertain, and the food actually tastes of something and fills you up. And all this in Cattle Class . You won't regret it! text/html 2006-03-06T01:00:00+01:00 http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk http://www.kitschcamppalace.org.uk/content/view/61/36/ It's been a very long day. The training day was some 11 hours, but worthwhile, and the guys I was teaching seemed to get a lot out of it.I was picked up first thing and driven to the office. The city I hadn't seen clearly in the night was now visible in all it's raw beauty. The buildings - even the new ones - don't scream out the way the ones in Abu Dhabi do. These buildings tease you, and show their newness in far more subtle ways. What did strike was the buildings that remained unscathed - in the daylight the bullet holes and scars from mortars were clearly visible. It seems that very little of the city truly escaped the horrors. Talking to my hosts they tell me of how they were born in the early 1970s, and were barely walking and talking when Lebanon was gripped with war. That they spent the first 15 or so years of their lives in a strange world where bomb blasts and gun fire were normal, and the news of a major bomb caused them to go hurray! No school tomorrow , through to their teenage years when they'd be out drinking, hear a bomb blast, yet continue their nights, and how the cities restaurants remained full all the way through the years because they weren't going to succumb to it.