Tag: Beach

Another Place

I do like my art (especially sculptures; as proved here and here!), however I tend to get a bit freaked out by large statues (this post has some rather terrifying examples) – apparently it’s a thing (lots of people experience it – I promise!!). In particular, statues of people in / near water scare the shit out of me. I don’t know why. I’ve tried quizzing my parents but none of them seem to recall anything from my childhood that might have contributed to this fear – I’m not entirely sure I believe them, but so far they are sticking to their story!

With this in mind, I was a little apprehensive to visit Crosby Beach near Liverpool. Home to 100 ‘Iron Men’ as part of Antony Gormley’s public art work ‘Another Place’.

Spread over 2 miles of coastline, the statues stand at random points across the sand and water, submerged to different degrees depending on the tide.

Feeling brave, I wandered over to look at two of the closest figures. Close up, as they were proportionate to a ‘normal’ person, they didn’t feel so scary and it was actually interesting to see how the weather and water had affected each statue differently. Some were covered in barnacles, some were more mossy and others relatively untouched.

It was a sunny, bright day, packed with hundreds of people enjoying the uncharacteristically warm bank holiday weather. The shouts and sounds of people playing in the sand made the statues seem less freaky and more interesting.

That being said, the statues were actually more creepy from a distance, where the impact of so many still and silent figures could trigger the imagination into thinking they looked slightly closer than before……

I can imagine that if I was to visit on on a cold early morning, when the sounds are limited to the bird cries and sea, I would have a very different experience of the Iron Men.

A Caravan Trip Down Memory Lane

When we were little, we used to take trips to Cornwall, Devon, Wales – basically somewhere with a beach. Inevitably, as a lot of people did in the 80s and 90s, we stayed in a caravan. There was none of the ‘glamping’ or ‘yurt’ style accommodation that you find today, instead it was a good, old fashioned caravan.

My memories of staying in a caravan mostly extend to sleeping in strange 3/4 sized twin beds, feeling never quite warm enough and contending with bugs in the bathroom (apart from one trip which had an outside toilet – I think that this is where my fear of spiders might have originated!). Despite caravan holidays giving me the shudders, they are also a  source of lots of warm memories – spotting rabbits through a pair of binoculars (‘binos’ to me and my dad), long walks along beautiful beaches, some dodgy club house nights (usually Haven Holidays style – other holiday clubs are available!) and lots of laughter.

Whilst a caravan holiday isn’t something I’d choose, I was invited along to join my mum and dad for an evening in Cresswell Towers, Northumberland. In a caravan. With Wandering Beeb.

Whilst it was a long drive there and turning into the campground brought back a rush of nostalgia – caravans and kids running around – I was longing for the rabbits to be honest! The caravan was the archetype of all caravans, not quite warm enough, not quite big enough but at least there were no bugs that I saw!

Once we had settled in, we set off on a long walk down the beach. It was there that I remembered why I loved those trips to the beach as a child. The empty stretch of sand, the sound and smell of the sea and the lack of distractions to focus on anything but each other’s conversations. Me and my parents reminisced about the trips we’d taken when I was younger, telling Wandering Beeb stories of what we’d done and what we’d found. A pirate ship climbing frame where we were pirates off to Neverland, a giant jellyfish called Max (it looked a little like the shape of the ship from Flight of the Navigator), stories of giant pasties in Cornwall and the best fudge in the world from St Ives.

Whilst I’m not a fan of caravan holidays (I’d rather camp in a tent!), that trip reminded me of a whole host of experiences that have made me who I am today. I don’t think that I’ll be booking a caravan any time soon, but I might just think about a few trips around the UK to visit some of those places from my childhood.

Sunset Boat Trip

One of the best ways to get a sense of a place is to have a view of the shoreline. That way, you get to see the whole of the city, wrapped up, postcard perfect, containing everyone as they go about their lives. Split was no different and sailing away from the shore slowly removed the bustle of the city. The sounds faded. Our boat was quiet, and the sound of the sea soon took over.

The outline of towers and buildings set against the silhouette of the mountains in the distance was captivating. We had been promised incredible sunsets and Croatia delivered. I’m a bit of a sunset/ sunrise collector (see here for more pictures from our travels) and this was definitely one of the more memorable.

The further out to sea we traveled, the more the light faded, creating beautiful patterns on the waves. Lights glimmered from the houses on the shore and beach stragglers waved to the boat as we passed.

As the temperature dropped and we sat in near total darkness, the trip back to the city brought burning lights – creating a snapshot of a city brought to life.

A Little LA Madness

LA is one of those places that I have never quite gotten. I know that lots of people rave about it, but I’ve always struggled to find the appeal. That’s not to say that I don’t like LA – I do, but I find it hard to say why.

Maybe we are staying in the wrong places or maybe we are just missing the coolest places to go (this is very likely) but I’ve never managed to pick up the groove of the place.

In my head, LA is all rockstars and Whisky-A-Go-Go whereas in real life, it’s felt more like celebrity home tours and closed down clubs. Again – we might just be staying in the wrong places!!

That being said, LA has given us some stories. The funnest of which was the time we met a spaceman outside of one of the cafes. We were sitting eating breakfast outside a cafe, nursing pretty dire hangovers from the night before spent in the Viper Lounge, watching a band place something that was a brilliant cross between hip-hop and reggae.

Out of nowhere, a dude joins our table, telling us about the epic adventures of spaceman. Not ‘a spaceman’ but ‘the spaceman’. I don’t remember the details but the story included a self-made movie, a car and a guy in a space suit. Only in LA right?

We have only ever spent a day or so in LA each time we have been (often just passing through to other places) and each time, we have done a little more of the tourist thing.

The Chinese Theatre and the Walk Of Fame are two of the most iconic tourist locations in LA and it’s always fun to wander up the pavements looking out for your favourite celebrity’s stars.

LA has some beautiful stretches of beaches and we made sure we had time to take a stroll down the pier.

One of the main attractions for us was a visit to Universal Studios. You can read about our visit here.

We also took a celebrity homes tour – a full day spent in a small minivan with around 6 other people. In hind-sight, I wouldn’t recommend this; most of the sites you see are tall gates and walls rather than the houses and really, if I was a celebrity, I’m sure I’d be highly unexpressed that a van full of people had turned up to gawk at my house for the third time that morning. The up side of the celebrity homes tour was that our guide told us he was the dad of the dude from Wheezer. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case (unless anyone can tell us different) but it made for an interesting discussion!

What are we missing in LA – where should we be visiting? How do we make the most out of our next visit?