Mud, Mud, Glorious Glastonbury Mud

Posted on 28th June 2016 by Barefoot Bohemian

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Glastonbury 2016 has been described as the muddiest yet.  It was certainly the muddiest I’ve seen.  It’s also the longest I’ve spent in the stickiest mud I’ve ever encountered.  But with a bit of planning and care, it doesn’t mean you have to abandon a ruined tent and immediately bin all your clothes afterwards.  I simply hosed off my wellies and it was as if there had been no mud.  But that much mud over the whole five days does change the Glastonbury experience, in ways I hadn’t appreciated.

Firstly, once it’s muddy there are not enough places to sit down.  The grass is no more and unless you have your own chair, you’re standing all day.

Secondly, it’s slow, hard work trudging through heavy mud and it takes much longer to get anywhere. Glastonbury is old on a 900 acre site with an 8.5 perimeter fence, which can take 30-40 minutes to walk from one side to the other in good conditions.  In the mud that we experienced this year it took 30 minutes to get between the two main stages – The Pyramid and Other stages. This means nipping to another stage to catch part of a performance becomes impossible and so you see fewer artists and hear less music – particularly from lesser known artists.

Thirdly, getting away from the site afterwards becomes a much slower process. Many vehicles needed a push and some required towing to get them out of the mud and onto the temporary metal roadways across the fields.  I spent 2.5 hours sitting in the car park without anyone moving.  Then it was plain sailing all the way out of the site.

Glastonbury Mud 1

Choice of headliners and featured bands is a very personal issue with everyone having a different opinion.  Personally, I didn’t think this year’s selection matched previous years, and given the restrictions on quickly moving around the site, it was difficult to watch two artists on different stages at similar times.  But to question the event’s pre-eminence in the world of music festivals is ridiculous.  Glastonbury is no longer simply a music festival.  It’s a gathering of music lovers, a community, a unique gathering that no other British festival has ever managed to create despite the Isle of Wight festival starting to attract some big bands (2016 Headliners: Friday – Stereophonics and Faithless; Saturday – Richard Ashcroft and The Who; Sunday – Ocean Colour Scene and Queen).  I also felt that this year artists plugged their new albums rather than played their hits more than in previous years.

As I mentioned in my first post about Glastonbury (Click Here to read) the age range is much greater than at festivals like Reading, and overall the average age is much older – my impression is that it would be 30+. Glastonbury organisers do not collect information on demographics of their attendees, but in 2011 it was estimated that 15,000 of the 170,000 people attending the festival, were aged over 50. This could be due to a number of things – loyalty to the community, the price of tickets making it unaffordable to teenagers, or the choice of artists.  Perhaps as a result of this average age, the level of behaviour is also much better with far less obvious drunkeness than at other festivals.  However, what struck me this year was that of those who were staggeringly drunk, it seemed to me the majority of them were in the older age groups – 45+. Sad to see, particularly as I had my first alcohol-free Glastonbury (of which more in a later post).

So Glastonbury is still the Festival of Festivals in my opinion, and if you love music I thoroughly recommend it, despite the risk of mud.  It really is not as unpleasant as you’d think, and it is great fun nevertheless.  If you are thinking of going, then bear in mind the festival misses every fifth year to let the land recover, although this has been moved to 2018, so the 2017 festival will go ahead as normal.  And there is talk of moving the festival in 2018 to a different site so effectively there will be no break.  But you need to make up your mind well before June 2017.  Tickets for 2017 will go on sale in October 2016 and can sell out within 30 minutes, and more importantly, before that you need to register with a photo, or you will not be able to buy tickets anyway.  On ticket release day, it’s all tablets, laptops, phones and computers on the go at once to try to get through and order tickets.

Go on, you know you want to give it a go rather than sitting in your armchair watching TV highlights, and pretending to be there.

There are now videos of the mud at Glastonbury, England fans in Marseilles for Euro 2016 and a French day of protest at the Barefoot Bohemian YouTube channel – https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCFswARTZPfWqJZ8-uQQ0JHw

Good Luck
The Barefoot Bohemian

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Tickets & Trouble at Euro 2016

Posted on 28th June 2016 by Barefoot Bohemian

England fans in Marseilles

So we’ve managed to leave Europe twice in four days – both in humiliating circumstances – but I’m not going to comment on either embarrassment in this post.  I would like to expand and correct a couple of things from the last article Plan To Succeed, based on my experience in Marseilles for Euro 2016.

Firstly, I was right and also very very wrong in my assumptions about tickets.  I was right in that it was remarkably easy to buy tickets, for any game you wanted.  But I was wrong about how easy it would be to sell our surplus England tickets.  We had four spare tickets for England’s opening game against Russia in Marseilles.  The face value ranged from 100E to 140E each.  On the evening before the game, we idly chatted about how we should look for three or four times face value – and we hadn’t been drinking at that point.  We were extremely lucky to sell one for 150E but the others went to waste.  When we got to the ground tickets were being sold for half face value, and there were dozens of touts with handfuls of tickets to sell.  Doubtless many of those would remain unsold.

Not only did I want to set the record straight on that but that point also raises an interesting perspective on the activities surrounding the games – particularly the behaviour of England fans.  There is clearly an issue with ticketing and the allocation of tickets.  With so many tickets available to buy it makes a nonsense of any attempt to segregate fans according to nationality.  It would appear Russia did not take its full allocation of tickets and so a quarter of one end of the ground was given to England fans, with only a line of stewards in hi-vis jackets to separate what transpired to be warring factions. Clearly that proved woeful insufficient when Russian Ultras decided to breach the line to attack the England fans after the game.

So what of the violent disturbances and who was to blame?  Well, I can only speak from what I saw and from what I was told by those who were at the trouble spots at times when I was elsewhere, but we did spend many hours at the ‘flashpoint’ location of the old port and got a good feel for the mood of the fans.

Firstly, there was blame placed on the pubs.  I think this is totally unfair.  They all had security on the door, were asking people to leave if they felt they had drunk too much or were being unruly and served everything, inside and out, in plastic ‘glasses’.  The problem was beer sold in supermarkets which conveniently comes in bottles and because so much was being drunk there were bottles everywhere, providing ready ammunition.

Secondly, there were suggestions that the England fans were looking for trouble.  Again I think this is unfair.  I’m not whitewashing their behaviour, nor am I pretending there weren’t some idiots who were very quick to respond to aggression. Yes, they were drinking too much; yes, many of their songs were not politically correct; and yes, there were hundreds of them making a lot of noise which can feel intimidating.  But I never saw any aggression from any England fans – admittedly I was heading towards the ground when things erupted in the old port on match day having left there about 10 minutes earlier.

To give an example, at one point in the afternoon a man arrived with lots of cans.  He began shaking them, opening them and throwing them over the cars driving down the road at England fans gathered outside the pub.  He threw about ten and was gesturing towards the fans.  At no point did anyone approach him or retaliate despite cans falling down on us.  Instead, when the police finally made it the ten yards from where they were parked and removed him, there were cheers. Admittedly very different from the stories of Russian Ultras with gum shields, balaclavas, and martial arts gloves.  When they arrived some of the England did respond.  But from what we saw I genuinely don’t think there would have been any fan trouble in the port without provocation – either from the Russians or to my next point, the riot squads.

Every location was full of police, mainly smoking, eating takeaways in their vans and chatting to each other while trying to look menacingly cool in sunglasses. There were hundreds of them with riots shields, helmets, body armour and water cannons parked down the street.  The problem seems to be they only have an on-off switch.  They either did nothing or charged as if the world was ending.  There was no middle ground.  We saw many incidents – like fans up trees and bending them until they nearly broke – which could have easily been dealt with by a firm warning.  Instead, the police did nothing.  Alternatively they charged down a street of drinking fans where nothing was happening, hitting out at people who got in the way.  In Germany during the World Cup, we saw British police walking side by side with their German colleagues, talking to the fans and it worked perfectly.  In France, we saw no British police presence, although they were there, presumably in plain clothes and acting as spotters rather than calming down situations that need never have got out of hand.

But having said all that I stand by my earlier post recommending a trip and if you’re thinking of going to a similar event I believe our system is worth applying.  Unfortunately, Russia’s involvement in the violence at Euro 2016 makes the next World Cup less attractive and as for Qatar, well perhaps a different sport?

Good Luck
The Barefoot Bohemian

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Plan To Succeed

Posted on 9th June 2016 by Barefoot Bohemian

Euro 2016 kicks off in France tomorrow (Friday June 10), and despite a warning against travel from the UK Foreign Office, I’ll be on plane to Marseilles at the same time France take on Romania in the opening game – how rufty-tufty, devil-may-care is that of me and my mates?  OK not very, Marseilles is hardly Aleppo but I haven’t been anywhere truly exciting for a while so I’ll go along with the risk assessment of this trip to try to stimulate some adrenaline.

In reality, I’m sure it will all go off along the same lines as when a similar group travelled to Germany for the World Cup, or to Majorca to watch the South Africa World Cup in the sun, or when I travelled alone to the Brazil World Cup.

In essence, a bit of watching football in stadia, a lot of watching football on TV in bars, and some soaking up the atmosphere of one of the world’s greatest sporting events.  Oh and sightseeing of museums and stuff.  Did I mention that?  No?  That’s because I won’t be doing it.  I’ll happily take in the sights of Marseilles if I happen to pass them as we wend our way around the city, but I won’t be looking at old pots and paintings.  I’d rather see life in Marseilles as it is now – living history in the open, not behind glass.

I also intend to spend the trip doing some filming – mobile journalism as it’s now called.  A strange name implying the journalism we used to do was static.  I can assure you it wasn’t.  Anyway I’ll be filming bits and pieces, talking to people, posting some video to YouTube and possibly some live broadcasts on Periscope or Facebook Live.  Get me, aren’t I the hip virtual  pensioner!  If you’re interested in following our trip on video the Barefoot Bohemian YouTube channel can be found here – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFswARTZPfWqJZ8-uQQ0JHw

It would be great if you subscribed but I suppose that depends on whether you like what you see and want to see any more.

But for now, I thought I should drag this blog, kicking and screaming, back from the assorted ramblings I’ve ended up posting to a post more in line with the intended theme of the blog.  In truth, I probably need to do this if I’m ever going to encourage more than a small group of followers to sign up for email notifications and to read the blog regularly.  (If you know anyone who might appreciate either my earlier ramblings or the more considered location-neutral lifestyle scribblings then please pass this on and encourage them to sign up for the email alerts so they don’t miss a post. Please promote this all you can.  Thanks).

I am going to share with you the system we have used to travel to the World Cup in Germany in 2006 and to the Euros this year.  It’s tried and tested, works well, is relatively inexpensive and, while requiring a little luck, it does provide some flexibility if your luck does not hold.  So far, our’s has held pretty well.

So having decided you would like to attend an event like the World Cup or the Euros, then the first piece of advice is to decide that a couple of years before the event. Tickets go on sale 12-18 months before, and while there are ticket deals right up to the start of the tournament, in reality, these are very limited, either for games nobody wants to see; in remote stadia; for seats which might as well be facing away from the pitch; or for corporate deals which will bleed you dry.

Next, try to gather together a small group – a maximum of about six otherwise getting tables in restaurants without reserving becomes a pain.  This also increases the enjoyment, provides constant companionship, on-hand punditry, and greatly increases the chances of getting tickets.

Then decide how long you want to spend there and at what stage of the competition.  This affects your choice of venues, the number of available games, the cost of tickets – and possibly the chances of seeing England!  I would recommend going for about a week during the group stages because the games are cheaper, there are more of them – three a day, every day – and there are more venues to chose from.

Then take a look at where the games are being held and match them against airports used by the budget airlines.  So for Euro 2016 we considered the sunnier locations of Nice and Marseilles, eventually opting for Marseilles because the accommodation was likely to be cheaper – although Nice is a relatively short train journey away if necessary (this relates to my earlier comment about luck – of which more later). Also, select a place which will have plenty of bars with TVs showing the games, good restaurants and some things to do when there’s no football.  In France, this means in the mornings because the games are at 1500, 1800 and 2100 during the group stages.

I should add that for the Germany World Cup we drove and selected three venues, moving between them as the week progressed.  This meant we saw more places but less football due to the travelling.  Your choice.

Then select your travel dates to maximise the number of available games at your chosen stadium and get your flights booked before any tickets are made available – and this will also mean, before your chosen team has even qualified.  This keeps down the cost because most people will be waiting to see where their team is playing.  Our flights were about £150 return.

Next, book some accommodation of your choice – we have two apartments in Marseilles for five people, although they sleep 8, at a cost of £30 a night each. Booking early should mean you have a decent selection and range of places to stay.

Then when the tickets are made available everyone applies for multiple tickets for the games at your chosen venue at the time you will be there.

At the Germany World Cup the organisers insisted on passport numbers for each ticket application which meant you could only apply for one ticket per person per game as the tickets were issued with your name and passport number.  This is a pain but does not stop ticket touts and it’s relatively easy to pick up tickets for most games – although high-profile teams mean higher prices.  Nobody ever checks the passport against the ticket.  Can you imagine the delays at the turnstiles?  I imagine it would only become relevant if two people were claiming the same seat because someone had a fake ticket.  At the Euros we could apply for four tickets per game, so we did.

At this stage, you are entering a ballot for tickets for games that are still only identified as A2 v A4, or G1 v G3 because not all the teams have qualified and the draw has therefore not yet taken place.  This is where luck plays a part because it’s a ballot and so there is no guarantee of success but with five or six people each applying for four tickets for two or three games, the chances of getting some tickets are increased.  There is usually a later release after the draw if you don’t get any first time round.   We all applied for two games and ended up with 10 tickets for one game and four for the other.  Therefore, we had 5 spare tickets for one game and were a ticket short for the other.

The next event is you will know who has qualified and the draw will take place.  At this stage A2 v A4 becomes France v Albania, or whatever.  This is the next element of luck.  It turns out our two games in Marseilles are England v Russia on Saturday (June 11) and France v Albania on Wednesday (June 15).  Stroke of luck eh?  Better still, the game for which we have five spare tickets …. is the England game!  How hard will it be to sell those? In fact, we have already swapped one for our ‘missing’ France v Albania ticket so all five of us will see both games.

If there were better games in nearby Nice we could easily have applied for those in the second ballot, or used our Marseilles tickets to swap. That’s why the choice of venue matters.

So what if you don’t get a ticket, in either ballot or from someone selling off surplus tickets,  I hear you ask, and should you travel without a ticket?  Well there is always the chance of getting a ticket from someone on the day but you will probably pay more than face value, risk buying a fake ticket and may fall foul of the law – but it’s undeniably possible and relatively easy.  I’d also make a distinction between travelling for a one-off match or travelling for a tournament. I would probably not travel without a ticket just for a single game but this post is about travelling to a tournament. The chances of getting tickets are higher, there are more games to choose from, there are more games to watch on TV and you still get to experience the atmosphere with other football fans.

But this whole approach is predicated on how much you enjoy watching the particular sport involved. I have previously travelled to Majorca to watch the World Cup in South Africa, clearly with no chance of getting a ticket. Why?  Because I had a week with nothing else to do but watch three games of football a day, without work or anything else getting in the way. And I did it with friends, in the sunshine,  in a location with plenty of restaurants and bars which would definitely be showing the games given the Spanish love of football. So if you have that mindset the worst case scenario becomes a week away in the sun, with your friends, watching football, and enjoying the fan zones and general atmosphere of a city hosting a major sporting event, which believe me, beats the hell out of watching the games at home.  How bad can that be?

Good Luck
The Barefoot Bohemian

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Do You Talk To Yourself?

Posted on 16th May 2016 by Barefoot Bohemian

“Hi. How are you?  Good to see you. Come in.”

‘Yes – welcome to my world. You can come inside but please don’t stay too long.
‘You see, I’m not really lonely but I am glad of the company. Although all of a sudden I’ll wish you weren’t here, because you’ll be stopping me doing all the things I wasn’t doing anyway, and I’ll want to be alone – until you’re no longer there when I’ll wonder why I wanted you to go.
‘So do your best to make yourself as comfortable as you can while you’re here, because you’re not staying long.’

“Please take a seat.  Can I get you a drink?”

‘You might need one if you’re going to survive your visit. You see, mine is a world of wants and don’t wants, of likes and dislikes, of caring and not caring – just like the real world, I suppose, except in mine they all apply at the same time.
‘You’re unlucky to have caught me in because all week I have been looking forward to going out tonight, but now I’m looking for an excuse not to go.
‘You could be that excuse and then I can secretly blame you for preventing me going where I’ve been looking forward to going all week.
‘In fact for weeks I had been hoping I’d be invited, and I was so pleased they asked me.  Now I don’t really want to go.  Unlucky you, because that’s your fault. Well it’s not really, but it is now.
‘Aren’t you going to ask me how I feel?  I expect that, feel cheated if I don’t get it, so I really hope you’re going to ask.
‘You are?
‘Good, that gives me a chance to tell you I’m fine.’

“I’m good thanks.”

‘See how quick I did that – almost instantaneous and automatic. Practice, you see.
‘What? You’re just going to accept that?  You can’t tell how false it was?  You can’t sense the insincerity?You’re not going to ask if I’m sure?
‘Nevermind,  I would only have got more insistent and defensive, so probably as well not to ask and to accept the OK, or is it KO for Knocked Out?
‘If you’re going to stick around perhaps we should go for a walk.  My body needs the exercise, but my mind hasn’t the energy, so let’s just stay here.
‘I’ve been here all day anyway – listening to my own voice.  I never stop talking to myself.   Sometimes I wish I’d shut up but then I’m the only person I trust, because I’m the only person who knows how I feel and what’s best for me. It’s simpler that way – safer.
‘To be honest I’m enjoying your visit more than I thought I would, but that’s when I’m most likely to want  you to leave – except I won’t actually ask you to leave because that would be rude and you’d think it odd.  So I’ll behave like I’m enjoying your company – which I am – but I’ll feel like it’s hard work because everything is.
‘You see, before I asked you to leave I’d have to decide that was the best thing to do, which is why you can be assured I won’t ask you because I’m paralysed by my inability to make a decision about myself. I can make them for you, and believe me my advice is pretty good, well it used to be, now I’m not so sure.
‘Today’s been a funny day, or do I mean sad – they can be the same thing.
‘Yesterday I had things to do and I was looking forward to doing them. But then it was so hard to drag myself out of bed to do those things that I no longer wanted to do.  That’s why I was looking forward to today because I knew I had nothing I had to do.  A whole day where I could please myself and do what I wanted, when I wanted.  But it was so hard to drag myself out of bed on a day when I didn’t have anything I wanted to do.  Which is funny – or sad – because I now feel I’ve wasted the day.  I feel guilty about all the things I could have done, all the things I should have done, all the things which have remained undone.  And I can’t do them tomorrow because I have something I have to do tomorrow.
‘They are all piling up now.  Things that have to be done.  Who’s going to do them?  It has to be me.  There’s only me but when do I have time to do them?
‘You still here?  Enjoying my company, my ready wit, my quick and sometimes sharp tongue?
‘So can you see why I’m all the company I need?  I’m the life and soul of the party.  Everyone can see that.  It’s obvious.  I’ve always been much less confident than I appear which is why I appear so confident and sociable.
‘I really think it’s time you were going now.  This is becoming hard work and I have things not to do.
‘Ah you’ve taken the hint.’

“Really? You have to go so soon?  Sure you don’t want another drink?
“No? Oh ok then.  Well thanks for coming. I really enjoyed it.  Made a change.  Call anytime.”

‘You’re always welcome for a little while.  For as long as I can cope with it.

“Cheers.  Bye. Take care.  See you soon.”

‘Thank God that’s over. What am I not going to do now?  I should really have gone to that event I’ve been looking forward to all week.
‘But I just can’t face it now.’

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week.   https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week

Please seek help if you need it and listen properly to others if you don’t.

The Barefoot Bohemian

 
  
 
 
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Second Best Is Good Enough

Posted on 21st April 2016 by Barefoot Bohemian

The other day I received a flyer through my door.  It was from a local estate agent telling me they had sold a house.  “Well look at you, cupcake, aren’t you doing well for yourself.”  Isn’t that your entire reason for existing?  What next?  An email from the chippy when they sell a particularly well battered cod, or a text from the barber when another shaved head hits the streets?

It seems we are living in an age where we are all expected to broadcast our achievements from the nearest rooftop – and the louder the better.  We have an abundance of self-publicity tools at our disposal.  Social media and mobile technology have added to the good old fashioned leaflet, to make self publicity so much easier to deliver.  Once the province of stars with agents, now anyone with access to the internet can promote their achievements – however trivial or inconsequential.  And not only can we do it, we’re encouraged to do it, and thanks to our American cousins who seem to take to this much more easily and comfortably than us more restrained Brits, we’re expected to do it in the most strident terms possible.  The more superlatives we can get in there the better – the best, the fastest, the cheapest, the most successful etc.   I’m reminded of a visit to Dubai many years ago when a colleague and I were talking about the Emirate’s obsession with everything having to be the tallest, biggest, most expensive etc. and I swear we looked out of the taxi window and saw a supermarket called SafestWay.  You can’t beat that – or can you?  So as a result, we’re all awesome and we should tell everyone as often as possible until we all start believing it.

Well guess what?  I’ve never been awesome and I very much doubt I’m going to find something now that would merit that description of my achievements.  I’ve never been the best at anything – even when I’m on my own I often struggle to even be the best that I can be.  However good I am at something I know there are anywhere from thousands to millions of people who are better.  And I’m fine with that.  You hear people say how unfortunate a particular sportsman or woman was to be born in the era of another more successful sports star.  What?  To be born at a time when someone else was better?  Welcome to our world.  I’m reminded of how Jackie Charlton (an old footballer to our younger readers) must have felt to have won the old first division and a couple of European trophies with Leeds United, to have been capped more than 30 times for England and to have been part of the World Cup winning side we just will not stop going on about however long ago it was.  And yet Jackie wasn’t even the best footballer in his family.

Another common dismissive comment is ’First is first and second is nowhere’ or ’Nobody ever remembers who was second’.  It may be true that most people can not remember who were runners up in the Champions League Final in 2000, but I bet the Valencia fans can, especially as they were beaten on penalties in the final again the following year – and at that stage they had no idea Gary Neville was on his way to oversee their demise.

If you are the one who is second, third or even 300th in a big enough event, you’ll remember it because it matters to you and so it should, but feeling pressured into declaring the result somehow diminishes it a little.  Just completing a marathon is tough enough without feeling obliged to divulge your time – mainly to people who have little idea of what constitutes a good time for a below average plodder who’s getting on in years.  They may have an idea of the World Record time or the expected time for the winner but believe me that’s about as useful as getting concerned about your child who seems to be falling behind in achievements when compared to Mozart who wrote his first symphony at eight.

The London Marathon is a good example with only one winner but thousands of people who will remember the experience and will take pride in doing their best, however poor that is in comparison to thousands of others.  And I’d have no problem with them taking to social media to announce their achievement if they want to – although I’d think a leaflet through my door would be a little odd and somewhat excessive.  They just shouldn’t feel they are obliged to do so.  Their achievement is no less because they don’t tell as many people as possible.  After all, who is listening to all this self promotion?  Does anyone notice any more? Or does the attention only go to those who shout loudest and longest?  Perhaps noting has really changed other than the quantity of the shouting.  Good Luck to all runners – whatever your time – but I did it in …….

The Barefoot Bohemian

 
 
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