by I’ve had my latest Skype lesson with the eight-year-old girl in Germany. I needed a glass of wine after that. Next time I might have it before.
It’s the end of the long Orthodox Easter weekend here. I worked all of the four days, though less than usual. It’s been nice not being hassled by estate agents.
Yesterday (Easter Sunday) I cycled to Sânmihaiu Român. I thought nothing would be open but there was a bar which served barbecue food. I sat on a bench and read the first chapters of Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. If the beginning is anything to go by, it’ll be the best book I’ve read in a long time. I had to give up when some inconsiderate twat decided to pump out music on his boombox. I then went to the bar and waited a very Romanian length of time for my barbecued pork and wedges. It’s frustrating when you’re on your own, as I so often am.
Saturday night was the Easter vigil, a huge event here. People turned out in their hordes shortly before midnight for a service that carried on into the small hours. They seemed desperate to partake in it again, after two years when Covid put paid to the whole thing. I ventured over from outside the cathedral (there was no hope of getting inside) to the church at Iosefin, across the river, but the scenes were even more chaotic there. At that point I figured I’d rather watch the snooker instead, then later when the crowds had thinned out I entered the cathedral (with my requisite candle) to see what the fuss was all about. I now know that the reply to “Hristos a înviat!” (Christ is risen!) is “Adevărat a înviat!” (Indeed, He is risen!). Many Orthodox Christians use these greetings in place of “hello” at Easter time.
Snooker. I’m watching the World Championship, after 19 years of not following the game. I used to be glued to the screen all through late April, then I moved to New Zealand where there was no TV coverage, and that was that. If the last few days are anything to go by, I’ve missed a lot. It’s such a deep game. An innocuous cannon on a brown can have unexpected ramifications down the line. One frame can easily last forty minutes or more, then the next can be over in ten. The match between Mark Selby and Yan Bingtao, which Yan won 13-10, featured a monumental 85-minute frame, the longest ever in 46 years of the tournament and the likes of which I’d never seen before. Selby, the clear favourite, had come from 11-7 behind to close to within one, which heightened the tension even more in the 22nd frame. After Yan eked it out, he then coolly knocked in a break of 112 in the following frame to wrap up an utterly absorbing match. It’s been great to see all these new players, especially those from outside the Anglosphere like Noppon Saengkham this afternoon, whose handshake after his defeat by John Higgins was quite wonderful.
Update: Neil Robertson has just compiled a maximum 147 break in his match with Jack Lisowski. I remember Jimmy White’s one (1992 I think), then Stephen Hendry’s, then Ronnie O’Sullivan’s iconic whirlwind one, but I only ever saw those after the event. They were extremely rare back then. This one I saw live, and Robertson made it look easy. He was in a deep hole half an hour ago, but from 10-7 down and looking decidedly scratchy, he’s now level at 10-10 in a race to 13.
Update 2: Lisowski has won in a nervy deciding frame, after Robertson had almost won in the frame before. What drama.
