After taking a quick dip at the Weston-super-Mare beach (which is huge and windy), we stopped at a Candy Royale shop on the way back to our hotel. The sign outside offered something called “waffle balls”, which caught our attention because they looked similar to poffertjes, which I loved eating in Amsterdam decades ago. The proprietor, a friendly man, worked the counter with his daughter. He was not familiar with poffertjes, but recognized the similarity when I showed them the Wikipedia page. Here he is putting the batter in the griddle:

A difference between the way he makes them and the way that I remember them being made in Amsterdam is that his griddle has a top, and so the poffertjes do not need to be turned. In Amsterdam, they were flipped very quickly and dexterously by a guy with a long fork. Another difference is the batter. The batter used by Candy Royale was waffle batter. In Amsterdam, I think it was pancake batter. Another difference is the toppings. In Amsterdam, it was butter and powdered sugar. In Weston-super-Mare at the Candy Royale, it was powdered sugar with Nutella, your choice of syrup, and other toppings, and it was served with ice cream. here’s a photo of what we got:

I got the impression that the Candy Royale shop is only open during the summer months. Similarly, the poffertjes vendor in Amsterdam was in a trailer that I suspect was towed south for the winter months.

The “waffle balls“ were good, but Ellen and I look forward to having genuine, authentic poffertjes in Amsterdam sometime soon.

My friend Taylor, who climbed Mt Snowdon with me in April, just finished a boat race in Puget Sound called Seventy48. You have 48 hours to go 70 miles, and your boat must be muscle powered. He entered last year in a rowboat named the Caird (after the boat used by Shackleton in his epic voyage in the Antarctic) by himself but did not finish before the 48-hour deadline. This year he entered in the Caird again, and he finished!

Here are some videos:

Just before the start

At the start You can see some of the other boats - there's quite a variety! Taylor said there were some pretty wild watercraft, such as a 4-person bike-powered catamaran named Boogie Barge came in 3rd. (Nice rearview mirror Taylor!)

Shortly after the start

Taylor saw some amazing things: rowing with a full moon reflecting off the water, bioluminescence from the oars, seals, porpoises, herons, and beautiful scenery. He might have gotten them on camera if he hadn't had power problems.

He said he might do it again, but in different boat. The Caird was too slow and too subject to the wind. A better boat would be a Cambridge Rowing Shell.

!cycling group
On May 18 I participated in the Hampshire Hilly Hundred. Ellen and I drove down the night before and stayed in Wendy's AirBnb, which was perfect for us.

The HHH was well organized and run. The pre-event communications -- which included a safety video -- were informative and to the point. The route was well marked, on (mostly) country roads with very little traffic, and yellow-vested monitors were at the busiest and most crucial intersections to point out the way. The 100-mile route stopped at the feed station twice, which was perfect for me. There was a bike mechanic at the start and at the feed station. The hills were mostly of the rolling variety, though there were one or two that were steep enough to force some to walk. Here's how Ride with GPS recorded my ride:

I participated in the HHH as preparation for Chase the Sun, and Olly, one of the founders of CTS, was there to promote it. I was hoping to talk to him, but didn't get a chance.

While I biked, Ellen enjoyed seeing Winchester on foot - our AirBnB was close enough to make that possible. For more about what she did and saw, see "Jane Austen II" below.

As seems to be common with sportives, a photographer had been hired and cameras were stationed along the route to take photos of the riders, to be offered for sale. Ellen wanted some, so here they are:

This one was at the very end.

At the time, Ellen didn't have a driver's license. I didn't want to make the 90-minute drive home all sweaty and tired, so, as planned, we spent another night in Winchester and drove home the next day. We went to a pub for dinner, and I appreciated the chance to see more of the town. Ellen really fell in love with it, and it's easy to see why. If we're still here next year, I expect we'll follow the same plan. 😁

Dirk

2025-05-20 11:54:18

Jane Austen II

Of course we had to exit through the gift shop at the Jane Austen house in Chawton. Here's Ellen with a couple of things we bought:

The mug says "Obstinate, headstrong girl!" which, of course, describes Ellen is from Pride & Prejudice.

Actually, the tea towel was purchased at Winchester Cathedral, which Ellen visited while I was biking the Hampshire Hilly Hundred. Austen is buried in the cathedral, and here are some photos that Ellen took: