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
There are no wombats on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Or dingoes either, for that matter. What they do have, aside from the eponymous marsupials, are pure-bred Ligurian bees, as we discovered when our island tour took us to Clifford’s Honey … Continue reading The Bees of Kangaroo Island
When I suddenly received an e-mail out of the blue from my old school friend Z, I was surprised to learn that she was getting married. I had always admired the way Z had studied for a PhD and become … Continue reading The Teapot is in Bahrain!
‘Lane 1 Closed for Pruning’ said the road sign on the way into the city from Changi Airport. You don’t see that on the M4. Despite the horticultural hazards, we arrived safely at our hotel to the unexpected but welcome … Continue reading Green Singapore
If you stay in one place long enough, the world will pass by. What better place to sit, on a baking hot July afternoon in Taormina than a shady bench in the Public Garden, with a view of the bay … Continue reading Sicilian Interlude
The pigeons lined up at the edge of the pool, as if daring each other to be the first to take the plunge. Their cooing was the only sound to be heard in the Patio del Yesu. At ten-thirty in … Continue reading A Tale of Three Courtyards
“I would have got away with it if it hadn’t been for those pesky time-travelling racoons!” Not a sentence one uses every day, but in this case it fitted the situation perfectly. I was exploring Kitakyushu, on Japan’s southernmost island, … Continue reading In Search of Bungo
The local newspaper gives a count of the number of days the ‘siege’ has lasted, but in truth Doha does not feel like a city under siege. It is far more of a city under construction. Everywhere are building sites, … Continue reading City Under Siege?
In the final episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9, the Chief O’Brien is returning to Earth and considering where to live. Worf, his Klingon colleague, has just one word to say on the subject: “Minsk.” That is one of … Continue reading Recommended by Klingons
Travels with me aren't 