Welcome to my Blog. My name is Neil and I have been living in Buckinghan, UK since the 11th September 2020.
I lived in the Armenia, Latvia and China.
I am a teacher of Geography, Global Perspectives and English.
I am married to Lena who is my soulmate and best friend.We also have a little boy, Robert.
As you can tell from the Blog's name I am Scottish although I was born in London.
My Blog will be for sharing my thoughts on anything that takes my fancy. Please feel free to comment.
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was a great American and some might say a great human being. He wrote a great many wonderful things and even today 110 years after his death, his wisdom still has weight.
I was looking at some of his quotes and actually find they could be written about the incumbent POTUS.
The Donald is not exactly well read but maybe someone could explain what these quotes actually mean.
Enjoy
"Politicians and diapers need to be changed often, and for the same reason.'
'To succeed in life you need 2 things: ignirance and confidence.'
'Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, its time to think and reflect.'
'Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with their experience'
'God created War so Americans could learn Geography.'
'The only rational patriotism is liyalty to ones country. Governmenrs need to earn it.'
'Get your facts first, then distort them as you please.'
'Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest '
'Virtue has never been as respectable as money.'
'Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.'
For the last couple of days, Robert, Lena and I decided to spend some time away from home. We booked ourselves into Yerevan's Best Western Congress hotel for a few days 4* relaxation.
The hotel has an outdoor pool so in order to escape the heat (high 30s everyday) we booked ourselves 2 nights.
The pool area was exceptional. It was clean and tidy and well staffed. Social distancing was carefully planned and sunbeds spaced accordingly.
There was a nice pool bar and a grill that served food to the patrons. The atmosphere was pleasent and happy.
On Sunday it was very busy with many families spending time at the pool. You don't need to be a guest at the hotel to use it. On Monday it was less busy but still lively...maybe a little bit too lively.
When we arrived at the pool we sat ourselves quickly in the shade with a lounger each. A few minutes after our arrival, a couple maybe in their early 30s sat on the loungers in front of us. Waiters kept appearing with increasing quantities of beer and Pringles and they smoked copious cigarettes. They didn't seem interested in swimming at all, just soaking up the rays.
Lena, Robert and I spent a lot if time in the pool but it was strange that this couple kept drinking. She looked very sleepy and he looked boozy. Eventually they took to the pool and they became very interested in hugging. Not just 'Hey lets hug and kiss' for a few seconds but they basically were making out in the pool. At one point her bikini top became 'disentangled' maybe its a potential hazard of 'pool lovin' for over an hour
At one point they were sitting in the spa pool and she was sitting on him. Now I am not going to say they were definitely having sex but heavy petting was certainly being had. The fact that this couple were doing it in a pool full of children is disgusting.
The management of the Best Western Yerevan Congress Hotel should be aware that their staff are not properly watching what is going on. Families will stay away if you continue to turn a blind eye to this kind of thing.
UPDATE
Since I wrote this post, I have been in contact with the Congress Hotel and they assured me that this situation will not be repeated. They even spoke to the couple involved and told them that if there was a repeat of the incident they would be banned.
The hotel has offered us a 15% discount off lunch or dinner at their Accent restaurant and a bottle of wine. Although as there wss nothing on the Accent menu we would want to eat I am not sure we will use it.
The hotel actually asked me to remove the post but I refused. The compromise is that I have agreed to write this update.
The hotel and Best Western are not responsible for the couples behaviour but setting and displaying clear pool rules is their responsibility.
Robert decided to emulate his Mama and Papa and write his own dream list. Here it is.
1. To see a volcano erupt.
2. To design and build the tallest building in the world.
3. To find a complete dinosaur skeleton.
4. To have a great future.
5. To have his own business.
6. To go around the world.
7. To have a good wife and 2 kids.
8. To have a house in a volcano.
9. That my parents will live forever.
10. To have a very good job.
11. To have $100,000 when I am 14.
12. To be famous.
13. To be good at football.
14. To have a very good friend.
15. To have a dog or a cat.
16. To have a sister.
17. To have a car.
18. To have never-ending lemons.
19. To be healthy.
20. To be strong.
21. To have an X-Box.
22. To have a kids motorbike.
23. To have police station or fire station Lego.
24. To have a drawing I-pad.
25. To have an electric scooter.
26. To meet Gordon Ramsay.
27. To have a radio controlled boat.
28. To have an electric dragon.
29. To have remote control for everything in the house.
30. To be good at spelling.
31. To be good at mathematics
32. To improve my writing.
33. To have a garden.
34. To have some Action figures.
35. To have a trampolene.
36. To get some more games on my i-pad.
37. To be a good reader.
38. To have a really cool train set.
39. To have a nice long sleep.
40. To build a house out of bedding materials.
41. To have a bike
42. To have a Pilot's licence.
43. To have 100 animals.
44. To be a better swimmer.
45. To make Covid-19 go away.
46. To have a girlfriend.
47. To visit a museum of planes.
48. To go to university.
49. To be a good runner.
50. To be smart.
Robert came up with these dreams all by himself with no help from us. Please comment and give him all the encouragement you can to help him make his dreams come true.
Here is Robert's latest piece of writing. Its about his Summer Camp adventures. Enjoy!
My Summer camp
On the first day I went to the camp. When we arrived in the village we played a name game and a guessing game. I enjoyed the activities and enjoyed meeting new people.
On the second day, we went to a church and meditated. There was a puppy near the church and it came with us as we climbed a beautiful mountain.
We also looked at bee hives in the forest and I got stung by a bee. OUCH!!
On the third day we meditated again and we were shown how to make Armenian pasta. We played football with some children from the village. The puppy saw us and ran away. Later for dinner we ate the pasta we had made.
On the fourth day we visited an old church that had fallen down and we had to imagine what it would have looked like before it fell down.
Later we milked some cows and made Matsun (yogurt). It was cool milking the cows.
On the fifth day we made our own baskets from sticks we found in the forest. Later we had a barbeque with a camp fire. We stayed up late and the stars in the sky were very bright.
On the last day we came home after making bow and arrows. I was happy to come home. I would like to go again. I made sime good friends.
Today we went to Lake Sevan to see the natural beauty of our adopted homeland.
The weather was beautiful and the beach we wanted to go to was closed. In fact it was so closed they had dug a huge hole in the road to stop cars from getting there.
The alternate beach was hardly the white sandy paradise we had imagined but Robert at least got a bit of a swim.
We visited another Armenian Monastary and admired the amazing views of the lake.
We also visited a graveyard near Sevan where there were thousands of Armenian Kachkar's. There were also gravestones which traditionally tell people a bit about the person buried below. This includes carved pictures of their job, hobbies (wine seemed a common hobby) and in some cases how the person died.
To round off the events we visited a Sevan cheese farm and tried some amazing cheese and wine.
On the way back to Yerevan there was heavy traffic. The police were testing drivers to see if they had been drinking. Our driver wasn't tested and he told us they only test the drivers of expensive cars because only they can afford to pay the fine.
