leonardcohenforum.com

Diane
Sally and Ian send there thanks for posting some excellent photograghs of them and Sally would like to say how much she enjoyed everyones company . The warmth and friendship they expressed towards her was wonderful and although Ian has yet to convert her to Leonards music she says she is definitely a convert to the meet ups
Phil
This by coincidence is my ninty ninth post so I can now celebrate the one hundred by wishing Leonard a happy birthday in the appropriate thread

I have loved seeing everyone else's photos, but have not been able to upload mine as I couldn't work out how to reduce them. (My computer and I have a love/hate relationship at the best of times.) I had to wait for John to get back from his week in Sweden so he could show me how to do it. I think I have the hang of it now, so here goes with a few pictures of the non-walkers' walk on Friday.

Well, that seems to have worked, though for some reason it has loaded them in reverse order, so here are a couple more.

And a few on the train. I have no idea who the handsome young man sitting next to Judith was. He looked a lot like Pete, but apparently Pete walked up

Phil, Sally and Ian were a pleasure to have along. I like Tinders' pic of them in the carpark. Nice pics Linda. I like the atmospheric mountain shot. Judith you want to be careful, cosying up to strange men on trains.

Here's Anne from the only angle I could get her because she was taking pics of hydrangas (sp?) every time I saw her, and a pic of Barmouth bridge (almost half a mile long, it be) with the Cadair Idris range behind.
So, continuing my "report", some memories that stick in my mind from the hike up Snowdon are:

1.The person who preferred a slower pace but who made it to the top with admirable determination.

2. Little acts of sacrifice by certain people, for others in the group's benefit.

3. The knackered, pissed-off expression on a certain person's face.

We didn't quite make it back in time for the ladies' choir that night;-) At least it wasn't a male voice choir that we missed. Close to where I live here in South Wales, one of the local male voice choirs meets informally once a week and you get treated to spontaneous renditions of songs in Welsh and English. The power and resonance of the men's voices in a small pub together with the informality of the evening, is excellent. I'd have loved for something like that to be part of our weekend, but there is a crack in everything. It's not the type of thing I listen to, other than live, but when I do hear these men singing, I can in some way sense the Welshness that gives rise to hiraeth, a Welsh word meaning 'longing for the homeland', that Welsh people suffer when away from home. Those of us who saw the Robeson tribute did hear one popular Welsh song, Ar Hyd y Nos (All Through the Night). Very nice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEGgoi6zawg.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar_Hyd_y_Nos

On Sunday we went to Portmeirion and had a less active day than the previous two. It was a pleasant setting to wander around in, and we had lunch in the castle with a pianist tinkling some Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan numbers. As I was enjoying my strawberries and cream, Jean was starting to make a bit of progress on her crab with the nutcracker.

The last night in The Royal will go down in history. Pete Henning and Joe gave some wonderful performances. Joe, what was the name of that Woody Guthrie tune you did? There was a great vibe in the pub that night. It's not surprising Elvis resurrected himself for the occassion.

My own favourite memories of the weekend were more solitudinous though, being the lone wolf that I am (as Tchoc would say):

1. Before you lot arrived, driving around in all that spectacular scenery. My little ipod thingy had run out of power on the drive up (Dave later kindly recharged it for me on his computer). All I could find was an old tape of The Stone Roses but it worked very well. Immerse me in your splendour.

2. Sunday morning when I went for a long walk along the beach and watched the sun rise over the mountains as I was paddling in the sea. It's the weird sort of thing I do quite often. I am as content as I know how to be at such times. I never meet anyone there.

3. The views from the top of Cadair Idris. Whatever else can touch that, I want it.

4. The Indian takeaway I found when I had a sudden attack of hunger and there seemed to be nothing to eat anywhere on Sunday night.

linmag wrote:And a few on the train. I have no idea who the handsome young man sitting next to Judith was. He looked a lot like Pete, but apparently Pete walked up

Yep, I definitely walked up...the man in this photo is an imposter. It's not the first time...he walks in my shadow (but in this case he took the train)

Yours, still trustingly

Pete

Another pic of the Buddha statue at Portmeirion that was used in 1958 film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness with Ingrid Bergman who played the part of Gladys Aylward, a pre-WW2 missionary in China. The film was shot in Snowdonia with Chinese children from Liverpool.

Diane - two things I have to thank you for. I did not know that was used in the Inn of the Sixth Happiness and I was trying to think of the name of the house at school I was in and it was Gladys Aylward. For some reason that was a conundrum I had when in Wales serendipity

Gladys Aylward came to our school to give a talk. Anyway veering off the subject

Paula, now I know you didn't read any of the info I put up about the trip beforehand. Tut. So you did have some vague knowledge of a link with the statue and Gladys Aylward and your school or you wouldn't have had the conundrum:-) I actually spent ages trying to take a pic of that Buddha holding a copy of our itinerary, but it didn't work!

Diane wrote: Judith you want to be careful, cosying up to strange men on trains.

Oh please- I don't get much chance for that sort of thing nowadays- got to make the most of the opportunity.

Wonderful photos everyone- I'm glad some of you were a bit better at getting out the camera than I was.

Diane - You put up information I didn't read any of it!

Pete is just being modest he did come in the train with us but at various places he did an Indiania Jones and threw himself off the train down the mountainside and captured a picture of the train for our delectation he then caught up with the train and launched himself back into the carriage.

And wearing such cool footwear too!