A Year in Paarl
A I Perold's
A Treatise
on Viticulture
A I Perold (1880-1941) was South Africa's first Professor of Viticulture and Oenology. He dedicated himself to improving the quality of grapes for wine, brandy and the table. He studied wine and brandy production in Europe, imported more than 60 varieties to the Cape and bred new ones. Perold said this book “is intended to serve both the student and the practical grape-grower. There are in it technical passages that will appeal more to the student, e.g. the chapters dealing with the biology of the vine, its external and internal morphology, the theory of grafting. My remarks on the practice of viticulture, such as those dealing with the propagation, manuring and pruning of the vine, the production of table grapes for export, will, it is hoped, assist the practical grape-grower as well as the student.” This is a newly typeset reprint, not a photocopy. Text on the 712 pages have been aligned to match the original pagination so any external references to pages in the Treatise will be valid in this edition
Available in paperback and hardback editions. 712 pages
with
A I Perold
Dr Perolds report on his Paarl experiments 1915 - 1916 reprinted with glossary, introduction and brief biography. Fascinating historical document on viticulture for wine and table grapes, wine and brandy making.
Dan and Krisie came to stay Friday and Saturday night then on Sunday we all went to Aylesbury
to see Finley and his cousin Madeline christened by the same priest who had christened Jack.
Courtesy of Brionnie
Courtesy Dan Courtesy Krisie
Jack sat quietly through the ceremony.
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| Courtesy Krisie |
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| Courtesy Mick |
We all enjoyed seeing Brionnie & Mick.
The first daffodil bloomed today, it would have been the third but the first two blooms were killed by frost and can be seen lying on the ground.
In eight years the earliest has been 1 Feb (2020) and the latest 21 Feb (2025)
To Criccieth on Friday 2 January for The Starlight Players Pantomime Cinderella in Blunderland.
We stayed in Min y Traeth, a modern detached house in a close, but it was lacking champagne glasses, anywhere to hang towels in the en-suite bathroom, and a cutlery basket in the dishwasher. And it was cold, the wooden window fittings had warped.
We saw Cinderella in Blunderland on Saturday night, after dinner at the Prince of Wales. It's a blast, so fast, with none of the standard tired pantomime tropes and with a huge energetic cast.
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| picture courtesy Dan |
I loved it; it was the best Panto the Starlighters have delivered. So new, lovely costumes and a confident cast. The jive-talking high-fiving White Rabbit (Paula Carr) with his lighted shoes and bow tie dominated the stage, Awen Pritchard played a feisty Cinderella who wouldn't accept any sexist crap from anyone, her bearded Ugly Sisters (Paul Dunn & Dave Roberts) had jaw dropping dresses and I particularly enjoyed the King and Queen of Hearts, (Bryony Green & Swyn Williams), he with his jaunty curled moustache and roving eye and her with a haughty gaze and a penchant for chopping off heads. And then there's the Dormouse (Shon Williams) whose thunderous snores probably were heard in Porthmadog.
How will the Starlighters top this in 2027? I suspect they have a cunning plan.
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| picture courtesy Krisie |
Sunday we had a roast with Dan & Krisie after they had cleared the Memorial Hall of stage props after the final show that afternoon.
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| picture courtesy Krisie |
Then home on Tuesday 27 Jan to a Deliverood Nando's
To Lanzarote and the Costa Calero hotel again, this time for 4 weeks from 15 December 2025 to 12 January 2026 with the intention of missing Christmas and New Year at home.
Lovely sun and very hot out of the shore wind.
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| View from our sheltered balcony |
Established customs had to be maintained, such as the pre-dinner Cava-time.
And watching the Yellow Submarine submerge and surface at the entrance to the marina.
Scenery to admire
Food to eat
plus this model of Notre Dame made out of sugar and chocolate by the hotel's pastry chef to look at.
Goodbye 2025
Hello
Finley George Robert May - born 19 May 2025
to Emma and Toby
Vaccinations:
31 January - RSV Vaccine
04 April - Spring Covid Vaccine
11 October - Flu & Covid Vaccine
Travel:
Criccieth - 23-27 January
Lanzarote, Puerto Calera - 24 February - 9 March
Great Yarmouth - Tales of a Sommelier 21 - 24 March
Cannes- 25 - 28 April
Great Yarmouth - Museum of the Broads 14 May
Viking Kadlin - Capitals of Eastern Europe (Vienna>Bucharest) 22 June - 8 July
Criccieth - 24-29 August
Viking Skaga - Paris & Heart of Normandy (Paris>Paris) 5-12 Sep
Riviera Thomas Hardy - Burgundy, the River Rhône & Provence (Avignon>Lyon) - 11- 18 Sept
Viking Osfrid - Portugal's River of Gold (Lisbon>Porto) 17-26 Nov
Lanzarote, Puerto Calera - 15 December - 12 January 2026
Goodbye
François Naudé - 10 Sep 1945 - 12 Aug 2025
We'd made the mistake of booking a Monday flight for our four weeks in Lanzarote. It left at 11:20 in the morning and to get to the airport at 09:20 on a Monday morning would have meant leaving much earlier then we were comfortable with.
So we stayed the night in the Sofitel at Gatwick North. Wrong terminal, but only a short shuttle ride to the South Terminal.
We scoped out the journey to South Terminal check-in and decided to eat at Giraffe restaurant in the terminal. Their burger was excellent.
The hotel room was quiet, well equipped and comfortable.
Next morning, the check-in hall was in chaos with huge queues. It took ages, but surprisingly the lounge wasn't busy.
Day 10 – Wednesday 25 November 2025
– Cruise Day 8
Last day. Time to vacate the cabin was a reasonable 09:00, but we had depart the boat at 08:30 for a 12:25 flight. As usual, Viking wants to get you to the airport way too early. It’s normally a 20 minute drive to the airport, but that morning it took twice as long, though of course we had to wait for check-in to open.
And so we arrived home, but without my case which was delivered the following day with the Port bottles safely inside.
Summary
This cruise wasn’t planned; we took up a promotion of huge discounts on November and December Douro Cruises, thinking that while it might be November, it wouldn’t be too cold in the south of Europe. We were wrong, it was very cold.
We tried sitting out on our veranda one bright sunny day wrapped up in our cold weather gear, but lasted about 45 minutes and that was the first and last time we used the veranda.
We've been to Lisbon many times and have both worked there. But if you want to see Lisbon – and it’s worth seeing – then the two nights of this cruise is not enough. There’s one full day there of which half is the included excursion. To maximise sightseeing don’t return from the morning excursion. Leave at the Maritime Museum. Enjoy a custard tart at the nearby Pastéis de Belém café, stroll down to the Monument to the Discoverers on the waterfront then stroll with the river on your right to the city square and enjoy Lisbon. You can get back to the hotel on the Metro.
We didn’t have the Silver Spirits package. The cruise was so discounted it wasn’t offered. We would drink Portuguese wine with meals and I am not familiar with the names, so correctly calculated that the included wines would be local and would be good. And they were.
I bought a bottle of Port for €9 locally for an after-dinner drink and a pre-dinner glass of Champagne from the bar each night.
But we enjoyed the trip overall.
