I HAVE VISITED many SeaWorlds and similar places before. But none compares to Oceanogràfic in Valencia. It was informative and educational, as well as amazing. It was another warm day in Spain’s third largest city, so the feeling of being at or around the sea gave me a sensory cooling effect in this ginormous place, housing tonnes of marine life from all over the globe. 🌍🌎🌏
HOWEVER, WITHOUT QUESTION, the dolphins’ show was a standout for me. 🐬🐬🐬 Intelligent, entertaining and, like all inhabitants, I was assured, they were well looked after. There was a very clear bond between the dolphins and their caregivers. To me, the last showed.
OVERALL, it was a good mix of fun and learning about the ocean’s wonders. If ever you visit Valencia, Oceanogràfic is a must!
32 YEARS AGO, I decided to change my career from being a quantity surveyor to being a barrister. After reading law for 2 years, followed by 1 year at Bar School in London, I was Called to the Bar on the anniversary of today, 29 years ago.
ON THE WHOLE, it has been an enjoyable journey, which I would encourage any budding barrister to embark on. It is tough with extremely long hours and tonnes of reading, but rewarding, especially when one has made a significant difference to someone’s life. A lot has happened since that memorable day at Middle Temple Hall on 10 October 1996. The two people who accompanied me that day – my mother and Sue – are no longer present on this Earth 🌍 physically but are with me, as always, in spirit.
AFTER MANY cases, published articles, books, media appearances, interviews and videos, I enter my 30th year in this profession with, hopefully, all being well, more of the same. Until then…
I DON’T HAVE fond memories of markets and marketplaces because I had to pull the shopping trolley on a Saturday morning along North End Road, Fulham, London.
MY LATE MOTHER would insist I transported our food in the checkered brown cloth trolley with which I dreaded being seen with by any of my friends. It was uncool. But, I would gladly relive those moments again without complaint if it meant accompanying my mother again! Luther Vandross’ Dance With My Father springs to mind
ANYWAY, Central Market in Valencia is enormous! I watched a couple of videos before I went out, and it was suggested that tourists not only film but show some appreciation by purchasing something. I have no idea why this suggestion was felt necessary because I had no hesitation in shopping there.
I BOUGHT a thermometer 🌡️, cashew nuts, honey nuts, five drinks; one of which is a local sweet drink called Horchata or Orxata in which I soaked my Fartons, which look and taste like a lighter version of Yums Yums. And, yes, they are yummy 😋 I also bought this outside of the market place a few times!
THERE ARE MANY STALLS outside of Mercado Central (or Mercat Central), one of which sold leather goods, belts in particular. Two were purchased. Belts would be cut to size and reassembled in a flash. The belt maker consented to my filming him working at his craft.
“Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant…'” Matthew 26:27-28
MANY MANY YEARS AGO, I was in Rome over the Easter period. We arrived on Good Friday. Our hotel was about 20 minutes walk from the Colosseum – I shall add pictures in an updated version of this blog because I am referring to a pre-digital era, which means I shall have to scan them in! 📸 On the evening of our arrival, we saw a vast crowd had gathered near the ancient amphitheatre. Upon close inspection and making our way through the crowds the best we could, we were able to see the subject of the crowd’s attention. It was none other than His Holiness, Pope John Paul II.
DESPITE the many subjects I write about, I leave it to those more learned than I to write about politics and religion. Hence, this blog gives no opinion on the subject matter, other than to say, similar to how a younger I had felt seeing such a world famous figure whom, until then, I had only ever seen on my television many times and whose image decorated the windows of almost every shop I had seen in Rome, it was a moving experience sitting in Valencia Cathedral on 4 October 2025, quietly sharing a space with a chalice that is claimed to be the true Holy Grail, although its historical authenticity remains debated by scholars.
IT’S OFFICIAL! Coexistence of the old and the new can and does work. I already knew that, of course, but needed a title for the short series of blogs.
I HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE of visiting Rome many years ago but, unlike good friends, A. and S., not Athens where they visited just last month. That’s a must for me.
I RETURNED from Valencia, Spain 🇪🇸, late last night (Tuesday, 7 October). I have nothing but praise for this beautiful city about which I shall be writing ✍🏾 over the next few blogs – not quite as I did about Kos.
I LANDED 🛬 in Valencia early Saturday morning in around 26 degrees. After having a Sangria 🍷at the hotel bar at 12:15, I headed for the beach 🏖️ by which time the temperature had risen significantly. It was perfect 👌🏾
VALENCIA is the birthplace of Paella, pronounced, ‘pah-AY-ya,’ and not how I used to pronounce it, ‘py-EL-a.’ 🤔
AS A FORMER SURVEYOR, I appreciate old and new architecture probably more than I might otherwise have done had I not had those professional roots. The coexistence of the old and new buildings and architecture in Valencia is in abundance, and it just works! They complement each other seamlessly and magnificently! Oh, what a joy to see! Without any hesitation, I compliment the complements. 🤗🤗🤗
TOMORROW, I shall write about a very special chalice that has its home in Valencia and which I had the pleasure of being within metres of and witness. See you then! 👋🏾
NOT EVERYONE buys into diversity and inclusion, and not everyone is sold on it either. There is much discussion about its or their benefits in the current political climate; I shall rest that there. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea 🫖 but some may ask, is it time to wake up 😴 and smell the coffee??? 🤔☕️
THERE ARE TWO WAYS to approach this question. One is there has never been music, so it never existed, in which case you don’t know what you don’t know, so you can’t miss it or conceive what it would be like without something you can’t conceive in the first place. It is like folks of the 18th century being asked what life would be like without the World Wide Web? 🤔 You would have drawn a blank! 😳 Regarding music, I can’t even say whether or not there would have been dancing because you don’t necessarily need music to dance – and, respectfully, I have witnessed some dancing (used loosely) and some are dancing to the same tune as others, but that’s another story and another point! 💃🏾🕺🏻
NOW, two, the question is approached from the angle of having listened to music and now not, then that IS a different story. I can only speak for myself. I have had the pleasure of seeing many many bands, groups and artists live; from The Jacksons (all the brothers excluding Jermaine) to Michael Jackson (solo tours) to Chic to Sister Sledge to George Michael (guest appearance by Elton John) to Whitney Houston to Earth, Wind & Fire to Garth Brooks (Vegas) to Donny Osmond (Vegas) to U2 to Shalamar (twice) (supported by Jermaine Stewart) to Kool and the Gang to Gladys Knight and the Pips to Randy Crawford to the Crusaders to Level 42 to the Brothers Johnson to Toni Braxton and many more that I can’t even remember, and some that many may or may not have even heard of such as Central Line, Imagination, Linx (supported by Junior Giscombe) and Loose Ends etc.
Mark King and Louis Johnson
I was in a band in my late teens and early 20s, and used to play my favourite instrument, the bass guitar – I owned a Fender Jazz. But after seeing Louis from the Brothers Johnson and Mark from Level 42 play live, I knew my talent at playing my bass was as bad as I thought 😩 and made the easy decision to stop offending listeners’ ears before my playing (also used loosely) become a criminal offence, which would have prevented me from becoming a barrister!!! 👨🏾⚖️
PUT SIMPLY, having bitten the apple 🍎 of music, I would have struggled to have to live without it!
ON 15 SEPTEMBER 2025, the UK Government announced:
“Hillsborough Law to ensure truth never concealed by state again.”
Landmark legislation a legacy for the 97 lost at Hillsborough and a tribute to the families that have fought for change.
On 15 APRIL 2023 I wrote a blog about the Hillsborough Disaster. It was painful, reliving that day to put into print. I made a video, which was even harder as I relived footage of what had occurred. I am a Liverpool fan. I go to Anfield to watch my team. It’s sport. It’s entertainment. It ought to be no more than just those. On 15 April 1989, it was! 😢
The youngest victim of the Hillsborough Disaster was aged just 10, which would have been around the same age that I was visiting these grounds. My mother put her trust in my best friend’s dad to keep me safe and he in turn, I guess, put his trust in the appropriate authorities to keep us all safe. Thirdly, I am a Liverpool fan and have been since the age of first visiting these grounds. Lastly, as my best friend once did with his son, I now take my son to Anfield to watch the home team whom he also supports.
Favorite types of foods are those that are spicy and or well-seasoned. Coming from a Caribbean home, my food was always seasoned with various spices. This was the norm. Also, I love food from the Indian subcontinent, and frequent restaurants for the same. Lastly, over the past year or so, I have discovered Greek food, which is not a spice-based food as those from the above but equally delicious 😋 Oh, just remembered, I love Mexican food, too, which is also spicy 🌶️
IN ‘A writer’s diary for this summer,’ I wrote, “THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT that when the book is published, I would associate it with these Diary blogs and Kos even though 95% of it was written outside the Greek island’s jurisdiction…I HAVE THE SAME FEELING whenever I think of Like Father. It was a sunny but crisp Sunday morning, and the idea came to me. I had a beginning and an ending (the middle took care of itself as I trusted the protagonists, Rupert, Patricia, Dexter, Donna and Josephine, to deliver, which they did emphatically!). So I called my soulmate at the time, Sue, who, sadly, has since said goodbye to this world 🌎 (Gone Too Soon! 😔), a victim of C! I TOLD HER THE PLOT as I had it in my head that morning whilst we sat in an ice cream 🍨 parlour on Chiswick High Street in West London. She liked it and therefore I wrote it. She was my first critic. Years later the publisher went bust, so I decided to publish it myself.”
ON DAY FIVE of a writer’s diary I wrote, referring to Like Father, Like Son, “THEREFORE, for me, editing projects that I wrote of length can be somewhat boring (Like Father, Like Son is over 100,000 words, which I read over and over and over again during the editing process. By the end I had pulled all my hair out, which has since refused to regrow in fear of being wrenched out again during editing future projects!). But I accept that it is a major and significant part of the writing process. It enables me to capture quickly what’s on my mind before I polish the manuscript but try to keep it as true to my original thoughts as possible (usually the original thoughts are the best because they seek to ‘keep it real!‘) unless there are good causes for doing otherwise.” I recall precisely where I was in Kos when I wrote that extract, which now seems a long long time ago.
WELL, this is a recording of the opening, which starts with a reflection of what had taken place in the book itself. It involves Rupert and Dexter. As mentioned above, in ‘A writer’s diary for this summer,’ I wrote how the book was born. Although the characters in the book are purely fictional, I wanted a ‘son‘ and a ‘father‘ to speak on the recording to reflect the, “Like Father, Like Son” elements of the book’s title. So, I managed to get my son to stop playing his PS5 for a nanosecond to record the opening, “Like Father, Like Son;” Caz sent me her recording of, “by Ryan Clement;” my editor, Andey, narrates the ending of the book, which was recorded for a promo over 4 years ago; and I end the piece by saying “Like Father, Like Son,” to conclude; both my son and I begin and end with, “Like Father, Like Son;” albeit the son speaks before the father, of course, but let’s not be too pedantic and we shall overlook that order 😳 and applaud creativity 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 There was a method in my thinking, a theory behind my thoughts! 🤔 Enjoy!
He’s right. It was us, not them. We did it. We are solely to blame. We had it too good for too long, so we meddled with our Everyday and Unremarkable in exchange for the Different that Disharmony and Irregular bring. “Never truer words spoken,” I reply. “Never truer words!”RUPERT
Ryan Clement 