WHERE WAS I?
Friend is so blue that you’d almost say he’s in mourning. He spent silly money on this trip, including flights and hotel accommodation in a 16th-century castle, and he hasn’t found what he came to see. It’s a type of dove, which has flown a long way from home — at least 2,072 miles by his estimation.
We were supposed to have a good chance of spotting it in a small and very separate settlement, nearly two miles southwest of the castle. But now here we are, checking out of the hotel before our return flight, and Friend hasn’t been able to tick it off his list.
“Cheer up,” I tell him. “At least you saw that other one, with the fancy crest. What was it called, a hoppy?”
Friend rolls his eyes at my ignorance. But I don’t care. My day is blue for different reasons — clear skies, turquoise water, far horizons; no wonder a politician (wife: Mary) was a frequent visitor to this place. We’re off to see the happy house in which he holidayed, and in his honour I’m wearing a pair of shorts. Friend glances down at my knees and rolls his eyes again.
The house is in fact very modest. “And that was probably not an accident,” I tell Friend. Then we head off to see the politician’s grave, which carries a pithy aphorism. It’s nearly a mile southeast of the castle as the misplaced dove flies.
Speaking of which, Friend suddenly thinks that he’s seen something dove-like in the trees. But I bundle him into our taxi nevertheless.
“Tempus imperator rerum,” I remind him. “We have our own flight to catch.”
THE QUESTIONS
1. What is the name of the hotel?
2. What was the surname of the politician?
LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS – QUIZ 32
The answers are Lichfield and Darwin.