Day: 11 May 2025

Weeknotes #120: Sunshine on The Island and a new Pope

Sunny long weekend with good food, travel, and relaxation.

Week commencing Monday, 5 May 2025

This image shows a coastal scene at Ryde on the Isle of Wight, featuring a sandy beach with calm blue waters under a partly cloudy sky. Two colourful kites - one teal and one with red, white and blue stripes - are flying above the water, suggesting kitesurfing activity. Several small sailing boats can be seen dotting the horizon, whilst the foreground shows the sandy shoreline. The scene captures a typical day of water sports and leisure activities along this popular stretch of the Solent.
Kites on the beach at Ryde

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 5/7; Exercise 2/7 and Move 4/7. (52%). Morning walks: 0/4 (days in the office don’t count). Office days 1/5. Total steps: 38,784

Life

  • A quiet week. White smoke was rising.
  • A lazy bank holiday. We walked into Wimbledon, picked up steaks, and not much else.
  • My local Co-op still has empty shelves after the cyberattack. It’s odd.
  • I skipped our Cinco de Mayo social and spent the evening on a train to Portsmouth Harbour. Glad it ran to time.
  • The ferry to the Island was busy, but fine.
  • We spent most of Saturday in the sunshine with drinks, watching the kite surfers. A proper sunny day.
  • Sunday breakfast at RT Café Grill was delicious. We sat outside and soaked up the weather.

Media

  • Conclave is a Vatican thriller directed by Edward Berger. Ralph Fiennes plays Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, overseeing a secretive 72-hour papal election. Timely, and very enjoyable.
  • The best transport for cities: trams?
  • Doctor Who: The Story and the Engine mixed African folklore with classic Who mythology. I really liked this one.
  • Still loving Race Across the World, this time from Sanya to Shangri-La. As always, beautifully shot.

Tate’s Anniversary

The Tate Modern is celebrating four years this year.

turbine hall at the tate modern

I’ve mentioned before that the South Bank is one of my favourite areas of London. Although I am not a big gallery goer (can I say that?) I do like the Tate Modern – basically because you can wander in and out as you wish and, for the most part, it’s free. I have always been a big fan of the exhibitions/installations in the turbine hall. There’s something about the sheer size of the art that is appealing. The turbine hall allows for some huge installations or just a lot of space in which to interact (or lie on the floor as we did for the weather project). They are celebrating their fourth anniversary this year and BBC News has some great pictures from some of those bigger exhibitions.