Hamilton Saint

For a long weekend, it is hard to beat Rome: lots to see, but it's a compact city that is much more manageable to stroll around. Paris and London also have loads of places and things to see, but require at least four or five days to experience properly: they are much more spread out and it can be exhausting to walk about the streets. Of couse, if you just want to visit the main sites, and are not the flâneur type, and are skilled at using public transportation, most of that is irrelevant. We're going to Paris next April, and London is high on our list of probable destinations in the not-too-distant future.

Yes, no shame at all. They did the country proud. Canada played with a lot of effort and initiative, and pressed their opponents continually. None of this endless sideways and backwards passing nonsense, and low block defending!

Canada outplayed Morroco in that first half. The Morrocans look bewildered at the constant Canadian press that denies them the chance to settle on the ball for any length of time. Canada needs a finisher in the box. Guess who?

That was a horrendous thing to do--breaking the solidarity of the team in the last few minutes of extra time. Beach had an excellent game and was in the zone. Popovic should have stayed with the goalie who got the team to the verge of victory. Terrible decision.

It's a key travel hub: you can fly to Athens and then get a quick connecting flight to the airport in Naxos. It's also on the ferry route through the Cyclades from Piraeus to Santorini (and on to Crete). After flying to Naxos, you can also get ferries west to Paros, or south and east through the Small Cyclades (Iraklia, Koufonisia, and Donousa) to Amorgos. As far as Naxos itself, it depends what you're looking for, of course. If you want to spend a lot of time at the beach, it would be ideal: a string of beautiful sand beaches running along the west coast, south of Naxos Town. If you like to explore small rural villages, you can rent a car. We did that--rented a car and did a clockwise loop drive through the high hills, which have some spectacular scenery, stopping at Apollonas, Koronida, Apeiranthos, and Filoti. You could also stop once or twice and then go for an extended hike, if you enjoy trail walking. The main town of Naxos is quite attractive, with a beautiful walk out to the picturesque Temple of Apollo (Portara) on the north end of the harbour. Naxos is one of the largest islands in the Cyclades. It can be very crowded in the high season--too busy for my liking. But the size of the island allows you to rent a place away from the main town, where you could enjoy quiet trails and beaches. And it's Greece, FFS, what is not to like?!

... and it's an opportunity for the TV spectacle to help raise the profile of football in Canada and the U.S.

Why? There are three different nations expending large amounts of time, effort, and money to host a huge and complicated tournament. Having only one of the three nations open the tournament would be like singing only one of the national anthems before each match.

Well, yes. But this is what real camping is like: canoeing on large lakes, burning a log fire at night, separated by long distances from the nearest neighbour, nestled in among tall, stately pine trees. This is Algonquin Park--an hour's drive from where we live.

Greaves played all three games in the round-robin group stage. But he was badly injured in the third game against France--a deep cut to his shin required 14 stitches. He was replaced by Geoff Hurst in the quarter final against Argentina, who kept his place in the semi-final and final. I watched the 1966 World Cup on TV at boarding school in Shropshire. It was a magical time. We organised our own tournament--played on one of the large lawns next to the Hall that was our school, next to a giant Copper Beech tree.

We were there twice in April--using it as a travel hub between Athens and Patmos. Because it has an airport, it works as a good connecting point for ferries (Blue Star and Dodekanisos Seaways) travelling north and south between the Dodecanese islands. Kos is nothing special as far as we are concerned, although Kos Town is starting to grow on us, after our fourth visit. Our favourite destinations in the Dodecanese are Patmos and Tilos. You need to get to them by ferry, so that already makes them quieter than most popular islands. We look for quiet, secluded islands with picturesque and interesting main towns, good hiking trails, some hilly terrain (unlike many rather flat Cycladic isdlands), and photogenic landscapes (I'm an amateur photographer). The other Dodecanese island that serves as a travel hub is Rhodes. It provides ferry connections to islands in the southern end of the chain, like Symi and Tilos.

Schadenfreude at its most exquisite!

Best wishes to you! Hope all goes well.

Yes, we have a propane gas BBQ like the one illustrated below. Outside on the back deck. It has three independent burners, so you can grill things with direct heat or indirect heat (by turning one or more burners off). I just set up this BBQ last weekend (after a thorough clean). We have to store the thing in the garage over the winter and early spring because of the cold tempreatures here outside. Our first meal this year was grilled Italian sausages, with grilled vegetables: sweet peppers, onion, and mushrooms. I usually grill hamburgers (beef), strip-loin beef steak, chicken breasts (bone in), pork chops (bone in), pork tenderloin, and sausages. An important tool is a meat thermometer, so you can measure the internal temperature. It's important that the meat is neither undercooked, nor overcooked.

But sleep won't come, the whole night through; Our cheating scout will tell on you. When jeers come down like falling rain, You'll whine and moan, and lose this game; You can't play the way we do, Our cheating scout will tell on you.

I'm partial to German-style rye bread. There are quite a variety of types. Pumpernickel Rye is particularly good. My wife bakes her own bread--using the no-knead method. Very tasty! I also like a good Parisian-styled baguette with stews like bouef bourguignon. And any type of bread toasted with butter and Marmite is the best!