flanerie.org

My site got suspended yesterday after something weird happens in my blog software and took down the server. That in turn took down 200 other sites. Oops.

The techies don't know what caused it, and I certainly don't, so it might happen again.

I guess it's my own fault for not posting for a couple of weeks.

I saw this in the Daily Telegraph, which is reason enough to doubt its veracity. However, with a house full of rabbits, most of them called pickles, I can't be taking any risks.

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Police are investigating a spate of gruesome rabbit killings which has left more than 40 pets dead.

The victims have been attacked in their cages and many have been decapitated and bled dry.

One theory is that the animals, which all lived in Germany's Ruhr district, were targeted by Satanists.

Sabine Riede, head of a group which monitors religious cults, said: "The fact that blood appears to have been deliberately drained from the dead rabbits could indicate that Satanists were gathering material for a deadly ritual."

The killing spree is thought to have started last summer and gathered pace in the spring.

In the latest case in Witten near Dortmund the owner of two rabbits went to their cages on Monday morning to find that one had disappeared and the other was headless.

The local police have set up a special task force in an attempt to track down the assassin.

Five officers are working on the case full time and have interviewed more than 300 people so far.

"We have a number of officers working on the case and we are carrying out exhaustive investigations," said Oliver Peiler, a task force spokesman.

But he admitted they had little to go on.

"We have no idea who is doing this. We are still in the dark."

Animal rights groups have put up a reward of EU2,500 (£2,000) for information leading to the killer.

Last weekend was Marlow Regatta weekend, which is generally a time to steer well clear of Marlow. However, on the Sunday morning they have dragon boat racing, so we headed over to the river, armed with champagne and pastries to take a look.

Verity enjoyed it greatly, cheering on all the red boats, which were apparently all called Puff.

Pascal came too and has one of those fancy cameras that take a good picture even when the subject matter is traditionally nonphotogenic...

This weekend we will be in Venice. There was a cheap flight promotion last September (September!) and I figured that Venice during the winter months would be grim, so I booked as far out as I could. It was £70 return each, all in.

I visited Venice as a child, on a day trip from a beach resort we were holidaying in. It rained and I was of an age where Venice would have been boring whatever the weather. I do remember being told that the city was sinking by 3cm a year and was figuring that it wouldn't be a bad thing if it sank faster.

This time around I am slightly more cultured and, travelling independently, I can avoid the worst of the tourist trail and try to find the real Venice. If such a thing still exists.

Back Monday.

...was very nice. Stinking hot, mind, at 29C or mucho mucho fareinheit.

The guide books all say that Venice has bad food. But, hey, how bad can it be? This is Italty after all. Well, it can be very bad. I did a bunch of research to make sure we only went to traveller recommended restaurants, and the food still blowed. So it you are planning to visit Venice, take enough food with you to last the duration.

Apart from that it was a great experience. Imagine the most Londonny parts of London all merged together - a Beefeater, red buses, the royal family and some knife crime. Put them altogether and you have an intense tourist experience.

Venice is like that, not just in one street, but in every square inch. It is a theme park that wasn't created by a marketing weasel. I am not sure whether that is good or bad.

Anyway,it is well worth a visit, but don't do more than 2 days. And take your own food.

Photos to follow.