'Holiday reading on another wet and muddy Easter trip to the Peak District. This time we stayed in the SE near Matlock in a village called Birchover. We dragged the kids over Stanton Moor to see the Nine Ladies stone circle, which was at least livened up by the presence of an orienteering competition happening at the same time, so puffing, frantic athletes kept popping up from all over trying to work out where on earth they were. Very entertaining, but I felt a bit sorry for the guy who got caught on a barbed wire fence, then saw us and had to go back over to avoid disqualification. We were also thrilled to find out that buttercup's Farm from 'The Princess Bride' was filmed in Birchover so we went to the dilapidated old cattle shed to take a look. the set designers and cinematographers did an incredible job. The cottage was really lovely and even had a secret room which the kids loved. Fred only got to cross off two more places on his scratch-off map of the Peaks, so we'll have to go back. I didn't really understand 'Daughters and sons' which was all clipped dialogue and very difficult to follow - every voice sounded the same. 'the rings of Saturn' is the sort of psychogeography I would have run a mile from 20 years ago, but now the vague ramblings and non-sequitirs and flights of fancy rather appeal. 'People of the Black Mountains' was local colour for my planned cycling trip to Hay in a few weeks, 'Italy's Paradise' was a straightforward chronological history of Tuscany (as it said on the tin) when what I really wanted was a travelogue full of stories about good wine, good food and beautiful landscapes and art. 'Second Best' was a very funny novel about a fictional boy who just loses out to Daniel Ratcliffe for the role of Harry Potter and how it affects and influences his life from then on. It's the second book I've read in translation by Foenkinos and I'm keen to read more
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