I wasn’t expecting the duck pond. During the nerve-wracking drive across the Kyzyl Kum desert from Khiva in a car with the petrol gauge stuck on empty, Otabek had told me about the disastrous Soviet attempts to improve irrigation. The … Continue reading Heart of the City
“Chinese food in China is completely different from Chinese food at home.” As a first-time traveller to China I had heard this message so often. I knew to expect the unexpected. But was it actually true? Up to a point. … Continue reading Chinese Take-Away?
Originally posted on Slow Travel: The Chilterns and Thames Valley:
A little piece of history has returned to the hamlet of Ford in the Vale of Aylesbury. Just before Christmas, the Dinton Hermit – a historic coaching inn and pub… Continue reading The Hermit is back
I had never been to the Lake District, so when my husband was spending a few days there for work, I took the opportunity to join him at the weekend. My work schedule meant that I reached Penrith late on … Continue reading A Day in the Lakes
“Someone gave us a snake last week, but a cayman ate it,” Felix shrugged. He did not seem unduly concerned about the fate of the unfortunate reptile. His interest was in conserving flora, not fauna. The lake in the centre … Continue reading In Search of a Garden
“Look how lifelike he is – you can even bend the ears.” The curator’s pride in the expensive new silicon figure was evident. It was our last morning in Warsaw, and we were spending it in Lazienki Park – once … Continue reading Making the Most of Warsaw
The Wood and Walters fan in me could not resist. “Two soups, please.” The waiter looked doubtful. “It’s big, maybe one between you with two spoons?” I gave him a look. He relented and brought us two bowls of the … Continue reading Interlude in Vilnius
The Christmas trees were a bit of a surprise. I have been on anti-Christmas trips before, only to find that seasonal kitsch is harder to escape that you might imagine. In Marrakech we found inflatable Santas in the souk and … Continue reading Christmas in Ashgabat
Fish, Ale, Old Town and Poetry: Finding the connection between these subjects seems like it might be a round on the BBC quiz programme Only Connect. In fact they are all the subjects of ‘trails’ which can be followed round … Continue reading Trailing Around Hull
The sundial is massive. A granite obelisk 13m high and weighing 36 tons, surrounded by granite slabs is not the sort of thing you would expect to find on the top of a giant sand dune, but Nida is full … Continue reading To the Lighthouse
Travels with me aren't 