Stories from Around the World:
These are a mix of features I've written over the years:
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16. Discovering Luxembourg
17. Greek Island Life, Greece 18. Bologna, Italy 19. Salamanca, Spain 20. Seville, Spain 21. Dubrovnik - jewel on the Adriatic, Croatia 22. Koya-san, Japan 23. Hong Kong 24. South Korea 25. The USS Alabama - a voyage into the past, USA (website) 26. Land of ice and Fire, Iceland 27. Malta 28. Broken Hill, Australia |
Angkor Wat
Around 800 AD King Jayarvarman II began carving the first Khmer city from the jungle of central Cambodia and within a couple centuries it had been replaced by the third and grandest city - Angkor Thom (‘Great City’). The city complex was on an epic scale that dwarfed London – it housed a million people compared to London’s modest 30,000. It was a major trading and religious centre; architecturally and artistically it was more sophisticated than most of Europe. The powerful Khmer Empire ruled over most of modern-day Indochina but by the fifteenth century it was deserted and the jungle gradually reclaimed it.
The French were the nineteenth century colonial power in Indochina; they rediscovered the Angkor site and began the first conservation efforts that are now overseen by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site....
.....Siem Reap is a fascinating provincial town having grown from a few riverside villages into a thriving town with stylish French colonial architecture. Today its economy is reliant on visitors to Angkor and it caters for everyone from luxury travellers to backpackers..... The temple is approached through a four faced tower gateway with a crumbling pathway leading to an open doorway into a dark corridor. As we trip and wend our way through the uneven corridor it opens out to an inner courtyard that is breathtakingly atmospheric, just as it may have looked to early explorers....
....Shrouded in dense jungle the Ta Prohm temple is ethereal, conjuring up the romance of a lost city. Gigantic roots of strangler fig, banyan and kapok trees crawl like snakes over stones, walls and terraces; ripping them apart and becoming part of the buildings fabric. Branches and leaves intertwine overhead where parrots squawk, birds sing, baboons screech, and everywhere butterflies and dragonflies fill the air.
The Church Times, Feburary 2012
The French were the nineteenth century colonial power in Indochina; they rediscovered the Angkor site and began the first conservation efforts that are now overseen by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site....
.....Siem Reap is a fascinating provincial town having grown from a few riverside villages into a thriving town with stylish French colonial architecture. Today its economy is reliant on visitors to Angkor and it caters for everyone from luxury travellers to backpackers..... The temple is approached through a four faced tower gateway with a crumbling pathway leading to an open doorway into a dark corridor. As we trip and wend our way through the uneven corridor it opens out to an inner courtyard that is breathtakingly atmospheric, just as it may have looked to early explorers....
....Shrouded in dense jungle the Ta Prohm temple is ethereal, conjuring up the romance of a lost city. Gigantic roots of strangler fig, banyan and kapok trees crawl like snakes over stones, walls and terraces; ripping them apart and becoming part of the buildings fabric. Branches and leaves intertwine overhead where parrots squawk, birds sing, baboons screech, and everywhere butterflies and dragonflies fill the air.
The Church Times, Feburary 2012
The Ancient Stone City of Great Zimbabwe
As the gentle slope gradually gets steeper, the heat of the early morning sun beats hotter and the egg shaped granite boulders loom larger. The pathway twists and turns upward, curling behind the giant great boulders, through tiny passageways; some so narrow you have to squeeze sideways to pass through. Ragged grass sprouts through the rarely trodden dry stone steps, acacia trees grow from crevices and Aloe hangs precariously from rocks.
Eventually the tortuous route opens onto a wide slope where startled baboons screech as we appear and then mooch away, as if annoyed, constantly glancing back at the intruders. Basking lizards scurry under rocks and there stands the centre of sub-Saharan Africa’s first great city – the Hill Complex of Great Zimbabwe (Shona for House of Stone).
This huge stone city in central southern Africa remained unknown to Europeans for centuries although whispers of this unique Kingdom filtered around the world. Even today, I suspect, its still an unknown marvel to the majority of Europeans, yet centuries ago it traded far and wide from Persia to China.
The city of Great Zimbabwe was the centre of a complex society that worshipped one god, Mwari, farmed, bred cattle, made pottery, spun and wove cloth, mined for gold, and traded ivory and rhino horn with seafaring Arabs on Africa’s east coast.
The inhabitants of Great Zimbabwe left no written record of their life and times but stories, traditions and archaeology give us a good insight. They smelted lead, copper and produced 25 tons of gold per year and there’s no evidence that these skills came from overseas. Gold jewellery, ceremonial bronze spears and soapstone carvings of Zimbabwe’ national emblem, the Bateleur eagle, have all been found at the site.
The thirteenth to fifteenth centuries were a southern African Renaissance that coincidentally flourished during the time of the European Renaissance. This is a real puzzle – the huge stone building programme, the development of technological skills and beautiful artistic creations – analogous to activities in Europe, but culturally totally distinct..........................
The West Australian, April 2010
Eventually the tortuous route opens onto a wide slope where startled baboons screech as we appear and then mooch away, as if annoyed, constantly glancing back at the intruders. Basking lizards scurry under rocks and there stands the centre of sub-Saharan Africa’s first great city – the Hill Complex of Great Zimbabwe (Shona for House of Stone).
This huge stone city in central southern Africa remained unknown to Europeans for centuries although whispers of this unique Kingdom filtered around the world. Even today, I suspect, its still an unknown marvel to the majority of Europeans, yet centuries ago it traded far and wide from Persia to China.
The city of Great Zimbabwe was the centre of a complex society that worshipped one god, Mwari, farmed, bred cattle, made pottery, spun and wove cloth, mined for gold, and traded ivory and rhino horn with seafaring Arabs on Africa’s east coast.
The inhabitants of Great Zimbabwe left no written record of their life and times but stories, traditions and archaeology give us a good insight. They smelted lead, copper and produced 25 tons of gold per year and there’s no evidence that these skills came from overseas. Gold jewellery, ceremonial bronze spears and soapstone carvings of Zimbabwe’ national emblem, the Bateleur eagle, have all been found at the site.
The thirteenth to fifteenth centuries were a southern African Renaissance that coincidentally flourished during the time of the European Renaissance. This is a real puzzle – the huge stone building programme, the development of technological skills and beautiful artistic creations – analogous to activities in Europe, but culturally totally distinct..........................
The West Australian, April 2010
Switzerland
I’ve wanted to go to Switzerland for years. Even though it’s only a tiny country squashed and pushed up thousands of feet above sea level between France, Germany and Italy it has absorbed culture from all three of its neighbours as well as developing a uniqueness all of its own.
Switzerland is not all bankers, fondue and après-ski – it’s a country that the rich and famous still flock to and it has the most gloriously accessible mountain-scape in the world.
Realising that I needed to up my style level for chic Switzerland I began my journey at the Renaissance hotel, which used to be the main entrance to London’s fantastical Victorian gothic St Pancras station. I ate dinner in the cavernous ‘booking office’ and my bedroom overlooked Eurostar trains quietly waiting for early morning departures.
After a leisurely breakfast I stepped out of the hotel directly into the station and began my trip at Europe’s longest champagne bar – right next to the trains.
After a quick dart under the channel to Paris, a smart TGV to Basel and a Swiss train south, where snow and mountains increased with every mile, we arrived at Interlaken. Our evening meal was at the authentic Swiss ‘Laterne restaurant’ where I discovered why my fondue always flops. It needs to be made with Emmental and Gruyere cheese, a good splash of white wine and a shot of kirsch – fabulous.
Interlaken is an access point for the ‘Top of Europe’ – the highest rail station in Europe. The Jungfraujoch is on the saddle between the famous Eiger and the Jungfrau mountains at a mind-boggling 11,333 feet.
Loaded with skiers, snow boarders and children with sledges the cog-operated train weaved up the mountainside, stopping every now and again to disgorge excited groups at downhill routes like Wengen where the skiing World Cup was held in January. Passengers more interested in spectacle rather than an adrenalin rush continued upwards through a tunnel bored through the Eiger before emerging onto dazzling ice fields, seemingly on top of the world.
Snow-clad mountains surrounded us, glaciers stood at the head of valleys, birds circled below and on the valley floor tiny houses were clustered around glitteringly frozen lakes.
The West Australian, April 2012
Switzerland is not all bankers, fondue and après-ski – it’s a country that the rich and famous still flock to and it has the most gloriously accessible mountain-scape in the world.
Realising that I needed to up my style level for chic Switzerland I began my journey at the Renaissance hotel, which used to be the main entrance to London’s fantastical Victorian gothic St Pancras station. I ate dinner in the cavernous ‘booking office’ and my bedroom overlooked Eurostar trains quietly waiting for early morning departures.
After a leisurely breakfast I stepped out of the hotel directly into the station and began my trip at Europe’s longest champagne bar – right next to the trains.
After a quick dart under the channel to Paris, a smart TGV to Basel and a Swiss train south, where snow and mountains increased with every mile, we arrived at Interlaken. Our evening meal was at the authentic Swiss ‘Laterne restaurant’ where I discovered why my fondue always flops. It needs to be made with Emmental and Gruyere cheese, a good splash of white wine and a shot of kirsch – fabulous.
Interlaken is an access point for the ‘Top of Europe’ – the highest rail station in Europe. The Jungfraujoch is on the saddle between the famous Eiger and the Jungfrau mountains at a mind-boggling 11,333 feet.
Loaded with skiers, snow boarders and children with sledges the cog-operated train weaved up the mountainside, stopping every now and again to disgorge excited groups at downhill routes like Wengen where the skiing World Cup was held in January. Passengers more interested in spectacle rather than an adrenalin rush continued upwards through a tunnel bored through the Eiger before emerging onto dazzling ice fields, seemingly on top of the world.
Snow-clad mountains surrounded us, glaciers stood at the head of valleys, birds circled below and on the valley floor tiny houses were clustered around glitteringly frozen lakes.
The West Australian, April 2012
Cruising the Canals of Burgundy
Burgundy is in the heart of France and to my mind is the heart of France. Its not such a popular destination for overseas visitors and it’s far too provincial for most Parisian’s but that’s it beauty – its rural France and that means its very traditional.
France is criss-crossed with excellent autoroute and rail networks that whisk visitors between city centres and on to holiday destinations. Less well known and far older is the canal network connecting key rivers into an ingenious transport system that links the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea.
The Burgundy canal was conceived in the pre-industrial era of 1603 although construction didn’t start until 1765. In 1808 horses began towing great barges the length and breadth of France distributing goods and fuelling the economy. Horse drawn barges were soon replaced by steam power but the growing enthusiasm for railways put an end canal expansion.
I’ve fancied a river barge trip for years; unfortunately my wife was always adamant that British narrow boats, although very pretty, amount to little more than camping on water. The French, however, have made canal barge cruising into an art form – barges are twice as wide, twice as long and a key crewmember is a top French chef.
I took the car ferry across the English Channel, or la Manche if you’re French, because it was half the price of the channel tunnel but I’d forgotten how comfortable and relaxing it can be - on a calm day. The P&O Club Lounge option is a bargain as it comes with complimentary champagne, beverages and newspapers and as I bought from the duty free store (not available on the tunnel route) the crossing cost next to nothing.
Our barge captain for the week was James Bairstow who collected us from Dijon and drove us to our barge in the village of Escommes – the highest part of the canal and just south of the 3.3km Pouilly tunnel. The barge was named L’Impressionniste and unsurprisingly all six smart en-suite cabins were named after French impressionist painters. It’s described as a luxury hotel barge and in terms of food and service it tops many of the five star hotels I’ve stayed in.
France is criss-crossed with excellent autoroute and rail networks that whisk visitors between city centres and on to holiday destinations. Less well known and far older is the canal network connecting key rivers into an ingenious transport system that links the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea.
The Burgundy canal was conceived in the pre-industrial era of 1603 although construction didn’t start until 1765. In 1808 horses began towing great barges the length and breadth of France distributing goods and fuelling the economy. Horse drawn barges were soon replaced by steam power but the growing enthusiasm for railways put an end canal expansion.
I’ve fancied a river barge trip for years; unfortunately my wife was always adamant that British narrow boats, although very pretty, amount to little more than camping on water. The French, however, have made canal barge cruising into an art form – barges are twice as wide, twice as long and a key crewmember is a top French chef.
I took the car ferry across the English Channel, or la Manche if you’re French, because it was half the price of the channel tunnel but I’d forgotten how comfortable and relaxing it can be - on a calm day. The P&O Club Lounge option is a bargain as it comes with complimentary champagne, beverages and newspapers and as I bought from the duty free store (not available on the tunnel route) the crossing cost next to nothing.
Our barge captain for the week was James Bairstow who collected us from Dijon and drove us to our barge in the village of Escommes – the highest part of the canal and just south of the 3.3km Pouilly tunnel. The barge was named L’Impressionniste and unsurprisingly all six smart en-suite cabins were named after French impressionist painters. It’s described as a luxury hotel barge and in terms of food and service it tops many of the five star hotels I’ve stayed in.
Day Trips to France
Nearly 250 years ago Dr Johnson said, ‘when a man is tired of London he is tired of life’. Whether this is true or not, it’s certainly true that there are endless things to do in London – there’s always another spectacular sight to see, you can buy absolutely anything, eat food from anywhere on the planet and fill your day with activities from dawn to dusk and back to dawn again.
But London is also on the edge of continental Europe, it’s a mere 20 miles from the English coast and just over an hour by train from London; it’s even quicker to get from London to France than from London to Birmingham.
So even if you only have a couple of weeks it would be a tourist crime not to pop over or under the channel to France – a day trip is quite practical but a couple of days is even better.
In a weekend break I took in the French coastal towns of Calais, Boulogne and Le Touquet, all very different yet with an early start you could leave London and eat breakfast in any of them.
The West Australian, April 2012
But London is also on the edge of continental Europe, it’s a mere 20 miles from the English coast and just over an hour by train from London; it’s even quicker to get from London to France than from London to Birmingham.
So even if you only have a couple of weeks it would be a tourist crime not to pop over or under the channel to France – a day trip is quite practical but a couple of days is even better.
In a weekend break I took in the French coastal towns of Calais, Boulogne and Le Touquet, all very different yet with an early start you could leave London and eat breakfast in any of them.
The West Australian, April 2012
A Walk in the Cevennes
When Robert Louis Stevenson’s mistress Fanny Osbourne returned to the USA in 1878 he was heartbroken. His affair with a married woman had estranged him from his family and Victorian London expected such impropriety to be kept well under wraps.
So, feeling low, he decided to travel to the remote and mysterious Cevennes of southern France. Ostensibly he was travelling to see the land of the Camisards – a bloody feud in the1700’s between Catholics and Protestants, but in reality he was lovelorn.
He kept a diary of his 220km trek through the sparsely populated mountainous Cevennes, an adventure that was to change his life. ‘Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes’ was published the following year and became his first best seller and a precursor to the thousands of copycat travel books that line our shelves today.
I was amazed to discover a Robert Louis Stephenson festival in the Cevennes; it’s strange but true - the French celebrating a Brit, more specifically a Scot, in France!
The West Australian, October 2006
So, feeling low, he decided to travel to the remote and mysterious Cevennes of southern France. Ostensibly he was travelling to see the land of the Camisards – a bloody feud in the1700’s between Catholics and Protestants, but in reality he was lovelorn.
He kept a diary of his 220km trek through the sparsely populated mountainous Cevennes, an adventure that was to change his life. ‘Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes’ was published the following year and became his first best seller and a precursor to the thousands of copycat travel books that line our shelves today.
I was amazed to discover a Robert Louis Stephenson festival in the Cevennes; it’s strange but true - the French celebrating a Brit, more specifically a Scot, in France!
The West Australian, October 2006
The Champagne Trail
Have you ever wondered if French Champagne is just an over-hyped sparkling wine and whether it really justifies the price? I bet like me you can only name half a dozen well marketed brands of French Champagne but unbelievably there are thousands of different brands throughout the region. Some are large corporations that buy up grapes from other growers and market aggressively around the world. Others are small family vineyards that have grown and produced Champagne for generations and sell most of their production in France and to vineyard visitors.
The big Champagne Houses such as Moet & Chandon and Lanson are in north Champagne around Reim and Eperney. But it is in south Champagne, an area called the Aube, where you find the small traditional family run Champagne Houses. They are run by families who have grown their own grapes and made a limited volume of their own Champagne for generations.
The Aube is a beautiful rural area often overlooked by visitors to France and forms the southern border of Champagne with Burgundy. Troyes is the principal town of the Aube and used to be the ancient capital of Champagne.
Troyes itself is a beautiful medieval town full of half-timbered houses, alleyways, cobbled streets, a superb Gothic cathedral and of course cafes and restaurants galore.
The West Australian, April 2007
The big Champagne Houses such as Moet & Chandon and Lanson are in north Champagne around Reim and Eperney. But it is in south Champagne, an area called the Aube, where you find the small traditional family run Champagne Houses. They are run by families who have grown their own grapes and made a limited volume of their own Champagne for generations.
The Aube is a beautiful rural area often overlooked by visitors to France and forms the southern border of Champagne with Burgundy. Troyes is the principal town of the Aube and used to be the ancient capital of Champagne.
Troyes itself is a beautiful medieval town full of half-timbered houses, alleyways, cobbled streets, a superb Gothic cathedral and of course cafes and restaurants galore.
The West Australian, April 2007
Songlines
The West Australian, March 2006
Kakadu National Park
Australia is full of international icons Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, Kangaroos and Koalas, Ayres Rock and the Barrier Reef. But to most Australians the true essence of Australia is the wild and potentially dangerous Outback.
Contrary to popular mythology Australia is not all desert and spiders but has a surprisingly diverse landscape and an incredibly unique flora and fauna. There’s mountain skiing, luscious vineyards, unbelievably vast (multi-million acre) cattle stations, tropical rainforests, wetlands the size of small countries and probably the biggest and best beaches in the world.
The outback or bush is not a specific environment but a generic term for wild and untamed country. If you don’t have an outback adventure you haven’t experienced Australia.
One of the classic outback trips is to Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. It is one of Australia’s ‘must visit’ places, so big that two Yellowstone National Parks could fit inside and still rattle around. The size of Ireland it is World Heritage listed for wildlife, wild country and an aboriginal heritage dating back into pre-history, yet its surprisingly accessible.
The jumping off point for Kakadu is Darwin the capital of the Northern Territory. NT is big and empty stretching from the Timor Sea on the tropical northern coast to Uluru (Ayres Rock) in the dry red centre of Australia.
The Lady, July 2007
Contrary to popular mythology Australia is not all desert and spiders but has a surprisingly diverse landscape and an incredibly unique flora and fauna. There’s mountain skiing, luscious vineyards, unbelievably vast (multi-million acre) cattle stations, tropical rainforests, wetlands the size of small countries and probably the biggest and best beaches in the world.
The outback or bush is not a specific environment but a generic term for wild and untamed country. If you don’t have an outback adventure you haven’t experienced Australia.
One of the classic outback trips is to Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. It is one of Australia’s ‘must visit’ places, so big that two Yellowstone National Parks could fit inside and still rattle around. The size of Ireland it is World Heritage listed for wildlife, wild country and an aboriginal heritage dating back into pre-history, yet its surprisingly accessible.
The jumping off point for Kakadu is Darwin the capital of the Northern Territory. NT is big and empty stretching from the Timor Sea on the tropical northern coast to Uluru (Ayres Rock) in the dry red centre of Australia.
The Lady, July 2007
Australian Aboriginal Art
The Lady, September 2006
The Kimberleys
After resting up at El Questro I met up with some Australian colleagues in Kununurra to find out how Aboriginal communities are developing and running a range of traditional and cultural tourist projects.
Unfortunately, most tourists to Australia only tend to see the urban dispossessed Aboriginals who are often the worse for drink. But this is a travesty of this ancient culture in the same way that criminal crack heads are of USA or UK culture.
In the twenty-first century it is unrealistic for Australia’s first people to live their traditional semi-nomadic, hunter gather lifestyle; yet they find it hard (and undesirable) to join ‘the whitefella’s’ modern urban culture.
Ironically the British and Australian governments have spent the past 200 years trying to cajole and force Aboriginal people to adopt a modern style of living. But today there is increasing interest in traditional Aboriginal culture both in Australia and Europe. Like the American Indians they are very spiritual people, eco-friendly, in touch with the land and those communities that maintain traditional values are greatly admired.....
The Reading Eagle, May 2006
Unfortunately, most tourists to Australia only tend to see the urban dispossessed Aboriginals who are often the worse for drink. But this is a travesty of this ancient culture in the same way that criminal crack heads are of USA or UK culture.
In the twenty-first century it is unrealistic for Australia’s first people to live their traditional semi-nomadic, hunter gather lifestyle; yet they find it hard (and undesirable) to join ‘the whitefella’s’ modern urban culture.
Ironically the British and Australian governments have spent the past 200 years trying to cajole and force Aboriginal people to adopt a modern style of living. But today there is increasing interest in traditional Aboriginal culture both in Australia and Europe. Like the American Indians they are very spiritual people, eco-friendly, in touch with the land and those communities that maintain traditional values are greatly admired.....
The Reading Eagle, May 2006
An All American Road Trip
As an ex-colonial settlement from several European countries topped up with immigrants from just about everywhere else in the world the USA is as varied as its people.
Travelling around the USA, especially outside the big cities, you soon discover a totally different America from the grim political satire often depicted on our TV screens. Yes, the east coast is a bit uptight and the west coast is a bit crazy and the southern states have plenty of rednecks, but they’re still fascinating for all that.
An American road trip is a common fantasy and mine developed after I read On the Road by Jack Kerouac as a teenager; “…. the only thing to do is go ….” Multilane highways have superseded route 66 which no longer exists except as disconnected stretches of disappointing tourist memorabilia. But that doesn’t really matter because the quintessential American Road Trip is not a route - it’s an experience....
Travelling around the USA, especially outside the big cities, you soon discover a totally different America from the grim political satire often depicted on our TV screens. Yes, the east coast is a bit uptight and the west coast is a bit crazy and the southern states have plenty of rednecks, but they’re still fascinating for all that.
An American road trip is a common fantasy and mine developed after I read On the Road by Jack Kerouac as a teenager; “…. the only thing to do is go ….” Multilane highways have superseded route 66 which no longer exists except as disconnected stretches of disappointing tourist memorabilia. But that doesn’t really matter because the quintessential American Road Trip is not a route - it’s an experience....
.... Just passed Sioux Falls in South Dakota I decided to detour to the little town of DeSmet because this is where 'The Little House on the Prairie' is located. I read all the Laura Ingalls books to my kids 25 years ago and got quite hooked on them myself. They are some of the greatest books for conveying a genuine feeling and understanding of early pioneer life. Unlike so many cowboy stories they were not written by some city slicker in New York, but by a young girl who lived the life.
Charles Ingalls (Pa) took up Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 Homestead offer of 'free land' for settlers who stayed and farmed it for 5 years or more. I’m not sure how it was decided it was 'free land' as another Nation of people already lived there, but that’s another complicated story. Anyway, in 1887 Charles Ingalls sold up and moved into town and the old homestead was bought and sold many times....
.... In Sisseton I met a man called ‘Paints Himself Yellow’ (English name Denis Gill) who showed me that Sioux spiritual beliefs remain in tact. I spent a couple of days with him and saw how he is working to reinvigorate Sioux Indian culture. His extended family regularly meets at their traditional campground of Enemy Swim Lake. We erected a traditional Indian tee pee, family members gathered to dance and sing, he told ancestral stories and we roamed the prairie gathering vegetables and herbs for supper....
The West Australian, Feburary 2007
Charles Ingalls (Pa) took up Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 Homestead offer of 'free land' for settlers who stayed and farmed it for 5 years or more. I’m not sure how it was decided it was 'free land' as another Nation of people already lived there, but that’s another complicated story. Anyway, in 1887 Charles Ingalls sold up and moved into town and the old homestead was bought and sold many times....
.... In Sisseton I met a man called ‘Paints Himself Yellow’ (English name Denis Gill) who showed me that Sioux spiritual beliefs remain in tact. I spent a couple of days with him and saw how he is working to reinvigorate Sioux Indian culture. His extended family regularly meets at their traditional campground of Enemy Swim Lake. We erected a traditional Indian tee pee, family members gathered to dance and sing, he told ancestral stories and we roamed the prairie gathering vegetables and herbs for supper....
The West Australian, Feburary 2007
Down on the Reservation
The Lady, March 2006
The Okefenokee
Fargo in South Georgia is a small backwater town of a few hundred people perched on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. It has a garage/shop, a six-room motel (The Gator Motel), a couple of cafes, a school and a railway track but no station.
Arriving in Fargo during early evening, having followed the Suwannee River up to its source, the only discernible lights were the Suwannee River café and the garage. The motel opposite was in darkness and was rapidly fading into the surrounding forest. The garage was a haven of light attracting people like moths to a lamp.
The lady at the garage checkout assumed that I was either simple or foreign (which I am) and spoke veeery slooowly. When she realized we are looking for somewhere to stay, with classic country folk hospitality, she rang Kevin, the owner of the Gator motel, and he arrived in his pickup a few minutes later. Check-in was rural simplicity itself, “Which room do you want? Just leave 25 bucks on the table when you leave” and he’s gone.
Over at the Suwannee River café deer heads jostle for wall space with pictures of Jesus, religious sentiments and signs saying – ‘we shot salesmen’ and ‘no spiting, no gouging an no kilin’. The food counter menu is blank but a sign announces ‘we do food 2 ways – take it or leave it.’ As the only café open in town, which will close in 10 minutes, we happily ‘take it’ with no questions asked.
Georgia magazine, April 2007
Arriving in Fargo during early evening, having followed the Suwannee River up to its source, the only discernible lights were the Suwannee River café and the garage. The motel opposite was in darkness and was rapidly fading into the surrounding forest. The garage was a haven of light attracting people like moths to a lamp.
The lady at the garage checkout assumed that I was either simple or foreign (which I am) and spoke veeery slooowly. When she realized we are looking for somewhere to stay, with classic country folk hospitality, she rang Kevin, the owner of the Gator motel, and he arrived in his pickup a few minutes later. Check-in was rural simplicity itself, “Which room do you want? Just leave 25 bucks on the table when you leave” and he’s gone.
Over at the Suwannee River café deer heads jostle for wall space with pictures of Jesus, religious sentiments and signs saying – ‘we shot salesmen’ and ‘no spiting, no gouging an no kilin’. The food counter menu is blank but a sign announces ‘we do food 2 ways – take it or leave it.’ As the only café open in town, which will close in 10 minutes, we happily ‘take it’ with no questions asked.
Georgia magazine, April 2007
Discovering Luxembourg
The Lady, September 2005
Greek Island Life
Get Lost magazine, issue 18, 2008
Bologna
Italy is a stunning and romantic country that really lives up to its hype. But there is tourist Italy and the Italian’s Italy. The majority of visitors follow the well-worn route between the wonderful cities of Venice, Florence and Rome and bypass tourist free places like Bologna. But in the peak tourist season a relatively tourist free city is a treasure in itself.
Bologna is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region and a major transport hub for rail travel throughout the country. It is one of the most underrated cities in Italy – from a foreign tourist perspective. It’s twinned with Portland, Oregon and St. Louis, Missouri.
People have lived in and around Bologna since pre-history and it has played an important role in Italy’s complex and torturous history. The beautifully preserved medieval city center has all the trappings of a modern University City but thoughtfully integrated into its historic fabric instead of being ugly add-ons as we tend to have in the UK.
If asked to name the oldest and most venerable University in Europe most people would probably suggest Oxford, Cambridge or the Sorbonne but in fact it’s Bologna. Established in 1088 past alumni have included classical scholars such as Dante and Boccacio as well as modern novelist Umberto Eco.
Its 100,000 students give the city a real buzz and the University quarter is like a city within a city. But Bologna is not rooted in the past it is also home to Italy’s high tech engineering icons - Maserati, Lamborghini and Ducati, although you’re more likely to see Fiat’s and scooters on the streets.
The stonework throughout the city isn’t the ostentacious marble seen elsewhere its mainly a glorous down to earth palette of reds, oranges, and yellows. But the most incredible archtectual feature is its 40 kms of arched porticos sheltering almost every street throughout the city. They provide pedestrians with uniquely elegant and very welcome shelter from summer sun and winter rain.
Even more amazing is the four km San Luca portico which climbs from the edge of the city to the hilltop Sanctury of San Luca - the longest portico in the world with 666 arches and countless steps.
Reading Eagle, September 2006
Bologna is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region and a major transport hub for rail travel throughout the country. It is one of the most underrated cities in Italy – from a foreign tourist perspective. It’s twinned with Portland, Oregon and St. Louis, Missouri.
People have lived in and around Bologna since pre-history and it has played an important role in Italy’s complex and torturous history. The beautifully preserved medieval city center has all the trappings of a modern University City but thoughtfully integrated into its historic fabric instead of being ugly add-ons as we tend to have in the UK.
If asked to name the oldest and most venerable University in Europe most people would probably suggest Oxford, Cambridge or the Sorbonne but in fact it’s Bologna. Established in 1088 past alumni have included classical scholars such as Dante and Boccacio as well as modern novelist Umberto Eco.
Its 100,000 students give the city a real buzz and the University quarter is like a city within a city. But Bologna is not rooted in the past it is also home to Italy’s high tech engineering icons - Maserati, Lamborghini and Ducati, although you’re more likely to see Fiat’s and scooters on the streets.
The stonework throughout the city isn’t the ostentacious marble seen elsewhere its mainly a glorous down to earth palette of reds, oranges, and yellows. But the most incredible archtectual feature is its 40 kms of arched porticos sheltering almost every street throughout the city. They provide pedestrians with uniquely elegant and very welcome shelter from summer sun and winter rain.
Even more amazing is the four km San Luca portico which climbs from the edge of the city to the hilltop Sanctury of San Luca - the longest portico in the world with 666 arches and countless steps.
Reading Eagle, September 2006
Salamanca
Mediterranean countries are a compulsive draw for me. I’ve just returned from Salamanca in the Castille y Leon region of Spain near the Portuguese border. Spanish lifestyle is so completely different from the rest of Europe and the people enjoy a far better quality of life.
It’s actually hard to buy trashy processed food. High quality fresh produce is the norm and markets stalls look more like works of art than places to shop. Admittedly this includes little stripey garden snails, pig lips and octopus, but there’s much else besides.
I really love tapas bars, it’s such a great way to try a wide variety of local dishes, they are either free or 0.50 euro each, so it’s no big deal if you don’t like your choice. They are so much more laid back than restaurants, yet much classier than fast food outlets. You can stand or sit at the bar, or take a table and have coffee, wine or beer. Most locals stop off at a tapas bar on the way home from work, where they usually stand at the bar, have a quick drink, a chat and a few nibbles — and then they’re off….
The heart of the city is Plaza Mayor, said to be the biggest and the best colonnaded plaza in Spain. All major streets lead into the plaza so it’s always full of people on route or just enjoying the sun. A window seat in an upstairs tapas bar, from which to watch the vignettes of life in the plaza, beats any trip to the cinema….
Reading Eagle,
It’s actually hard to buy trashy processed food. High quality fresh produce is the norm and markets stalls look more like works of art than places to shop. Admittedly this includes little stripey garden snails, pig lips and octopus, but there’s much else besides.
I really love tapas bars, it’s such a great way to try a wide variety of local dishes, they are either free or 0.50 euro each, so it’s no big deal if you don’t like your choice. They are so much more laid back than restaurants, yet much classier than fast food outlets. You can stand or sit at the bar, or take a table and have coffee, wine or beer. Most locals stop off at a tapas bar on the way home from work, where they usually stand at the bar, have a quick drink, a chat and a few nibbles — and then they’re off….
The heart of the city is Plaza Mayor, said to be the biggest and the best colonnaded plaza in Spain. All major streets lead into the plaza so it’s always full of people on route or just enjoying the sun. A window seat in an upstairs tapas bar, from which to watch the vignettes of life in the plaza, beats any trip to the cinema….
Reading Eagle,
Seville
What is it that I love about Spain? Why is it at the top of my list for short city breaks?
I arrived on a lovely sunny December day when the orange tree lined streets were still heavy and pungent with fruit.
Seville’s great attractions include the unbelievably vast Gothic cathedral housing the tomb of Christopher Columbus and a bell tower whose 25 bells deafen the neighbourhood in a surprisingly unmelodic fashion. The cathedral like many buildings in Andalusia is a fascinating record of the revolving dominance of Muslim and Christian Spain.
Then there’s the Alcazar, a grand royal palace and gardens, the Golden Tower, where looted gold from South America was stored and of course the royal bullring – the oldest and most celebrated in Spain. December is not the season for bullfighting but the local TV provides daily re-runs of the summer’s gory spectacle.
But its not these headline attractions that bring me back to Seville, it’s the Spanish people and their lifestyle. My favourite area is the Barrio Santa Cruz, the cobbled alleyways of the old Jewish quarter. It overflows with little restaurants and tapas bars some nestled in orange fragrant plazas and others spilling into impossibly crowded alleyways.
It was public holiday time - Constitution Day (6th Dec) and the Immaculate Conception (8th Dec). Hundreds of locals were dressed up in a variety of medieval costumes and would regularly burst into impromptu song; street musicians were on every corner and the air was sweet with the aroma of roast chestnuts and incense. Candle lit processions meandered through the streets carrying a life size Madonna and a huge wooden cross to the Cathedral.
Reading Eagle, January 2008
I arrived on a lovely sunny December day when the orange tree lined streets were still heavy and pungent with fruit.
Seville’s great attractions include the unbelievably vast Gothic cathedral housing the tomb of Christopher Columbus and a bell tower whose 25 bells deafen the neighbourhood in a surprisingly unmelodic fashion. The cathedral like many buildings in Andalusia is a fascinating record of the revolving dominance of Muslim and Christian Spain.
Then there’s the Alcazar, a grand royal palace and gardens, the Golden Tower, where looted gold from South America was stored and of course the royal bullring – the oldest and most celebrated in Spain. December is not the season for bullfighting but the local TV provides daily re-runs of the summer’s gory spectacle.
But its not these headline attractions that bring me back to Seville, it’s the Spanish people and their lifestyle. My favourite area is the Barrio Santa Cruz, the cobbled alleyways of the old Jewish quarter. It overflows with little restaurants and tapas bars some nestled in orange fragrant plazas and others spilling into impossibly crowded alleyways.
It was public holiday time - Constitution Day (6th Dec) and the Immaculate Conception (8th Dec). Hundreds of locals were dressed up in a variety of medieval costumes and would regularly burst into impromptu song; street musicians were on every corner and the air was sweet with the aroma of roast chestnuts and incense. Candle lit processions meandered through the streets carrying a life size Madonna and a huge wooden cross to the Cathedral.
Reading Eagle, January 2008
Dubrovnik - jewel of the Adriatic
Dubrovnik is at the southern tip of Croatia across the Adriatic from Italy. It is Lord Byron’s “Pearl of the Adriatic” and George Bernard Shaw’s “… paradise on earth”. There are direct flights from London (2¾ hours) and other European capitals or an 8-hour overnight ferry crossing from Bari in Italy.
I was blown away by Dubrovnik’s beauty and charm. No traffic is allowed inside the city walls so it is a joy to explore and a pedestrians dream. It must be one of the world’s greatest living and breathing walled cities. In mid December the weather was mild and the city was full of local life with hardly a tourist to be seen.
In the 12th century the Republic of Dubrovnik was a major maritime trading power and a major rival to Venice. No doubt this led to the Venetian invasion in the 13th century and 150 years of Italian rule.
Dubrovnik lost 12 ships when it joined Spain’s ill-fated ‘Invincible Armada’, destroyed by Francis Drake and storms off the British coast in 1588. Sailors from Dubrovnik also accompanied Columbus on his journeys west to American.
Reading Eagle, January 2006
I was blown away by Dubrovnik’s beauty and charm. No traffic is allowed inside the city walls so it is a joy to explore and a pedestrians dream. It must be one of the world’s greatest living and breathing walled cities. In mid December the weather was mild and the city was full of local life with hardly a tourist to be seen.
In the 12th century the Republic of Dubrovnik was a major maritime trading power and a major rival to Venice. No doubt this led to the Venetian invasion in the 13th century and 150 years of Italian rule.
Dubrovnik lost 12 ships when it joined Spain’s ill-fated ‘Invincible Armada’, destroyed by Francis Drake and storms off the British coast in 1588. Sailors from Dubrovnik also accompanied Columbus on his journeys west to American.
Reading Eagle, January 2006
Koya-san, Japan
Spending time in Japan is a bit like going on holiday with a manic-depressive; you have no idea what tomorrow will bring - except that it is likely to be extreme. Tokyo is achingly noisy and even at night the glare can make you reach for your sunglasses. The spending frenzy of the all-day rush hour crowds in Shibuya jars with the homeless in neatly lined cardboard boxes in parks and on the banks of the Sumida-gawa River.
Then there is Koya-san, a national flip from bedlam to utter peace and tranquillity, as extreme as Tokyo’s noise, bustle and glare. Unlike most Japanese city temples the tranquillity of Koya-san is not limited to the temple precincts but pervades the entire mountaintop religious community. A monk might race passed on a motorbike but this is not traffic just an anachronistic ripple in the pervading calm.
Koya-san is a peaceful mountaintop community but it’s important religious status has brought a small train track to the bottom of the mountain. A day trip from Kyoto is very practical but it would be a mistake. The whole point of visiting this unique centre of Japanese spirituality is to experience the very real sense of peace that pervades this mountaintop.
The train from Osaka takes less than two hours to Gokurakubashi station where a cable car hauls visitors up the final stretch of Mount Koya-san’s sheer rock face to the 2,500-foot mountain top monastery complex and small village of Koya-san.
The West Australian, May 2007
Then there is Koya-san, a national flip from bedlam to utter peace and tranquillity, as extreme as Tokyo’s noise, bustle and glare. Unlike most Japanese city temples the tranquillity of Koya-san is not limited to the temple precincts but pervades the entire mountaintop religious community. A monk might race passed on a motorbike but this is not traffic just an anachronistic ripple in the pervading calm.
Koya-san is a peaceful mountaintop community but it’s important religious status has brought a small train track to the bottom of the mountain. A day trip from Kyoto is very practical but it would be a mistake. The whole point of visiting this unique centre of Japanese spirituality is to experience the very real sense of peace that pervades this mountaintop.
The train from Osaka takes less than two hours to Gokurakubashi station where a cable car hauls visitors up the final stretch of Mount Koya-san’s sheer rock face to the 2,500-foot mountain top monastery complex and small village of Koya-san.
The West Australian, May 2007
Hong Kong
Hong Kong hasn’t changed that much since the British returned sovereignty to the Chinese in 1997. There are more Mainland Chinese visitors and no British officials but the city is just the same vibrant and manic place it ever was.
As a major stopover destination for European long haul flights to the Far East and Australia it’s far more interesting than Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Although 95% of the population speak Cantonese the 156 years of British rule has left an indelible legacy of dual English use.
The Chinese government describes Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) made up of four areas – Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon peninsula, the New Territories and Outlaying islands.
Although best known as a major financial center in the Far East, to the occasional visitor Hong Kong is a city for tax-free designer shopping and haggling for street market bargains in between gourmet eating and drinking.
Hong Kong Island has a green mountainous center (The Peak) surrounded by skyscrapers beneath which traditional Chinese markets still thrive. It’s more up-market than Kowloon and crammed with top hotels, designer stores, shopping malls, bars, clubs and blissfully free of touts.
Kowloon is five minutes across Victoria harbor aboard the famous Star ferry, it also has shopping malls but it’s mainly crammed with small traditional shops. You can’t walk more than a few feet without being accosted by an Indian tout offering - ‘Lovely suit Sir?’ ‘Just see my shop - please?’ ‘Genuine fake Rolex?’
Reading Eagle, November 2006
As a major stopover destination for European long haul flights to the Far East and Australia it’s far more interesting than Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Although 95% of the population speak Cantonese the 156 years of British rule has left an indelible legacy of dual English use.
The Chinese government describes Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) made up of four areas – Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon peninsula, the New Territories and Outlaying islands.
Although best known as a major financial center in the Far East, to the occasional visitor Hong Kong is a city for tax-free designer shopping and haggling for street market bargains in between gourmet eating and drinking.
Hong Kong Island has a green mountainous center (The Peak) surrounded by skyscrapers beneath which traditional Chinese markets still thrive. It’s more up-market than Kowloon and crammed with top hotels, designer stores, shopping malls, bars, clubs and blissfully free of touts.
Kowloon is five minutes across Victoria harbor aboard the famous Star ferry, it also has shopping malls but it’s mainly crammed with small traditional shops. You can’t walk more than a few feet without being accosted by an Indian tout offering - ‘Lovely suit Sir?’ ‘Just see my shop - please?’ ‘Genuine fake Rolex?’
Reading Eagle, November 2006
South Korea
What a novel experience to be in a country where you can leave your camera on a wall in a busy city center and no one grabs it or accidentally leave your laptop overnight in a bar and its still there next day. Or safely wander around unknown bars at 2.30am, without the wit to learn the local language but local people feel bad if they don’t understand you!
Is this Shangri-La? Or the good old days granddad used to talk about? Nope, it’s South Korea last week. Oh, I forgot about the lady parking attendants who bow and assist you with your parking needs - instead of giving you a ticket.
Awkwardly placed between its domineering Chinese and Japanese neighbors South Korea continues to punch well above its weight in world affairs. Ban Ki-Moon replaces Kofi Annan at the United Nations; a Korean film festival is currently making a splash in London and electronic products fill our stores. Perhaps more importantly the goal scoring of Reading FC’s new South Korean player is keeping us in the top half of the Premiership.
Most international flights arrive in Seoul and I took the French designed ‘bullet train’ to Daegu in the southeast. Flashing past rice fields, forests and mountains at 187mph it was surprising to find this small country, with a global industrial economy, is still mostly mountains and forests.
Reading Eagle, November 2006
Is this Shangri-La? Or the good old days granddad used to talk about? Nope, it’s South Korea last week. Oh, I forgot about the lady parking attendants who bow and assist you with your parking needs - instead of giving you a ticket.
Awkwardly placed between its domineering Chinese and Japanese neighbors South Korea continues to punch well above its weight in world affairs. Ban Ki-Moon replaces Kofi Annan at the United Nations; a Korean film festival is currently making a splash in London and electronic products fill our stores. Perhaps more importantly the goal scoring of Reading FC’s new South Korean player is keeping us in the top half of the Premiership.
Most international flights arrive in Seoul and I took the French designed ‘bullet train’ to Daegu in the southeast. Flashing past rice fields, forests and mountains at 187mph it was surprising to find this small country, with a global industrial economy, is still mostly mountains and forests.
Reading Eagle, November 2006
The USS Alabama: A Voyage into the Past
Many historic tourist attractions are re-creations of lost events from the past, and are, at best, someone’s idea of how things used to be and, at worst, a caricature of how someone would like it to have been. The USS Battleship Alabama, at Mobile, is neither. It is a real and tangible link with the past. Virtually unchanged since 1945, you can almost hear the echoes of past inhabitants and sense the life that coursed through the ship.....
Go World Travel, 2008 (website)
Many historic tourist attractions are re-creations of lost events from the past, and are, at best, someone’s idea of how things used to be and, at worst, a caricature of how someone would like it to have been. The USS Battleship Alabama, at Mobile, is neither. It is a real and tangible link with the past. Virtually unchanged since 1945, you can almost hear the echoes of past inhabitants and sense the life that coursed through the ship.....
Go World Travel, 2008 (website)
Land of Ice and Fire (and rocket ship churches?)
Have you ever wondered how come Greenland isn’t green and Iceland isn’t covered with ice? Maybe not, but there’s more to these misnamed countries up by the Arctic Circle than you might imagine.
I think Greenland invented the concept of misleading tourist information. Around 982 Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland to Greenland for murder and it’s said he called it Greenland in an attempt to dupe other settlers to follow him there. Its not recorded if anyone asked for their money back.
Iceland Air (www.icelandair.com) fly to Iceland from the UK and many other European destinations on-route to east coast USA. If you’re travelling between America and Europe you can take a free stopover in Iceland, which is a great freebee. Its a chance to break the trans-Atlantic journey, an opportunity to see a unique part of planet earth and when I flew it also happened to be the cheapest fare from London to Washington.
Iceland lives up to its dramatic moniker of being the land of ice and fire. The rugged landscape has mountains, volcanoes, glaciers, boiling geysers but is dotted with green valleys, rivers and waterfalls. It’s one of the most volcanically active countries on the planet because it straddles the mid-Atlantic ridge, which is pushing Europe and America apart a few centimeters every year. I’ll leave you to make your own political jokes up about that.
Iceland has a pristine atmosphere where everything looks sharper and closer than usual. This is due to the abundance of hydroelectric power from glaciers and rivers and an unlimited supply of geothermal heating which make it one of the least polluted countries on the planet.
The colorful landscape has rust-red craters, dazzling white glaciers, cobalt blue lakes and luminous green vegetation punctuated with black volcanic lava flows.
The West Australian, November 2008
I think Greenland invented the concept of misleading tourist information. Around 982 Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland to Greenland for murder and it’s said he called it Greenland in an attempt to dupe other settlers to follow him there. Its not recorded if anyone asked for their money back.
Iceland Air (www.icelandair.com) fly to Iceland from the UK and many other European destinations on-route to east coast USA. If you’re travelling between America and Europe you can take a free stopover in Iceland, which is a great freebee. Its a chance to break the trans-Atlantic journey, an opportunity to see a unique part of planet earth and when I flew it also happened to be the cheapest fare from London to Washington.
Iceland lives up to its dramatic moniker of being the land of ice and fire. The rugged landscape has mountains, volcanoes, glaciers, boiling geysers but is dotted with green valleys, rivers and waterfalls. It’s one of the most volcanically active countries on the planet because it straddles the mid-Atlantic ridge, which is pushing Europe and America apart a few centimeters every year. I’ll leave you to make your own political jokes up about that.
Iceland has a pristine atmosphere where everything looks sharper and closer than usual. This is due to the abundance of hydroelectric power from glaciers and rivers and an unlimited supply of geothermal heating which make it one of the least polluted countries on the planet.
The colorful landscape has rust-red craters, dazzling white glaciers, cobalt blue lakes and luminous green vegetation punctuated with black volcanic lava flows.
The West Australian, November 2008
Malta - a touch of England in the Med
…. Malta’s a tiny place, significantly smaller than the Isle of Wight, with a familiar yet foreign ambience. They have the highest density of catholic priests outside Vatican City, produce and explode more fireworks per head than anywhere else on earth and eat an unbelievable number of rabbits.
Of course, they drive on left, but one thing I love about Malta is how its kept some of the classic images from my childhood – old red telephone boxes, red post boxes and blue lights outside police stations. The streets are full of vintage 1950s and 60’s Leyland and Bedford buses, traditionally red or green in Britain but in Malta they’re bright orange.
The World Heritage listed capital of Valletta is Europe’s first planned city, laid out in a grid system of streets and alleyways. The Knights of St John built it on a peninsula as a defence against the Turks during the sixteenth century…..
Valletta’s real charm is its ambience, so it’s important to sit in an outdoor cafe and soak up the palpable sense of history rather than just rushing around the sites –the perfect excuse for loafing.
But all this is just recent history; Malta’s prehistoric megalithic temples are older than Stonehenge or the Pyramids. It’s a dream destination for historians and reads like a textbook of western civilisation, probably with more human history packed into its122 sq miles than anywhere else on earth.
There are 23 prehistoric sites dating back 6,000 years including the impressive megalithic temples of Taraxien and Hagar Qim but the subterranean hypogeum of Hal Saflieni is perhaps the most breathtaking. It is the only known underground pre-historic temple and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Not much is known about these ancient temple builders or their mysterious parallel ‘cart tracts’ gouged into the limestone. They’ve been likened to a complex railway junction (Clapham Junction) because they criss-cross the landscape and some even disappear off the edge of the cliff - creating an endless source of myths and legends.
Homer’s Odyssey tells of Ulysses being shipwrecked on the nearby island of Gozo where Calypso captivated him on his journey back from Troy to Ithaca in Greece.
Then there are the Phoenicians from the Biblical cities of Tyre and Sidon who traded and settled Malta until ousted by the Roman’s. St Paul was also shipwrecked on Malta en-route to Rome and his indelible legacy of Christianity is still evident in the islands 360 churches…..
The marks of Norman and Arab conflicts are everywhere on the island culminating with the spectacular city of Valletta built by the Knights of St John in 1566. Malta’s history rolls on involving the Spanish Empire; Napoleon predictably turned up and of course the British.
But its not history that makes Malta one of the UK’s favourite vacation destinations - it’s the glorious weather, the friendly people, the Mediterranean lifestyle and the convenience of English speakers.
So don’t bother with a history book in Malta, just stroll around and let it all seep in and between momentous historical events you’ll be able to find a perfect pasta and a decent pint of beer.
50+ magazine, August 2012
Of course, they drive on left, but one thing I love about Malta is how its kept some of the classic images from my childhood – old red telephone boxes, red post boxes and blue lights outside police stations. The streets are full of vintage 1950s and 60’s Leyland and Bedford buses, traditionally red or green in Britain but in Malta they’re bright orange.
The World Heritage listed capital of Valletta is Europe’s first planned city, laid out in a grid system of streets and alleyways. The Knights of St John built it on a peninsula as a defence against the Turks during the sixteenth century…..
Valletta’s real charm is its ambience, so it’s important to sit in an outdoor cafe and soak up the palpable sense of history rather than just rushing around the sites –the perfect excuse for loafing.
But all this is just recent history; Malta’s prehistoric megalithic temples are older than Stonehenge or the Pyramids. It’s a dream destination for historians and reads like a textbook of western civilisation, probably with more human history packed into its122 sq miles than anywhere else on earth.
There are 23 prehistoric sites dating back 6,000 years including the impressive megalithic temples of Taraxien and Hagar Qim but the subterranean hypogeum of Hal Saflieni is perhaps the most breathtaking. It is the only known underground pre-historic temple and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Not much is known about these ancient temple builders or their mysterious parallel ‘cart tracts’ gouged into the limestone. They’ve been likened to a complex railway junction (Clapham Junction) because they criss-cross the landscape and some even disappear off the edge of the cliff - creating an endless source of myths and legends.
Homer’s Odyssey tells of Ulysses being shipwrecked on the nearby island of Gozo where Calypso captivated him on his journey back from Troy to Ithaca in Greece.
Then there are the Phoenicians from the Biblical cities of Tyre and Sidon who traded and settled Malta until ousted by the Roman’s. St Paul was also shipwrecked on Malta en-route to Rome and his indelible legacy of Christianity is still evident in the islands 360 churches…..
The marks of Norman and Arab conflicts are everywhere on the island culminating with the spectacular city of Valletta built by the Knights of St John in 1566. Malta’s history rolls on involving the Spanish Empire; Napoleon predictably turned up and of course the British.
But its not history that makes Malta one of the UK’s favourite vacation destinations - it’s the glorious weather, the friendly people, the Mediterranean lifestyle and the convenience of English speakers.
So don’t bother with a history book in Malta, just stroll around and let it all seep in and between momentous historical events you’ll be able to find a perfect pasta and a decent pint of beer.
50+ magazine, August 2012
Broken Hill - characters of the outback
Broken Hill is a quintessential outback town in the far west of NSW, near the South Australia border. It’s a major stop on the Indian-Pacific rail route between Perth and Sydney; I paid a brief visit ten years ago and liked the place so much I was determined to return - and here I am.
The next passenger train doesn’t come through for another three days so I booked into the Palace Hotel, one of Broken Hill’s many grand Victorian buildings.
Broken Hill became a boomtown after station-hand Charles Rasp stumbled across a massive silver, lead and zinc deposit in 1883 and by 1907 it had become the second largest town in NSW.
But its not just any old mining town, Broken Hill is an icon in Australia’s mining history. It’s Australia’s longest-lived mining town with the world’s largest deposit of silver, lead and zinc - worth in excess of $100 billion dollars.
In 1907 a young jackaroo called Philip Charley became so rich he imported Australia’s first Rolls Royce. Broken Hill miners pioneered unionisation and led the way for modern industrial relations and it may also have seen the first terrorist attack on Australian soil.
Mining is still a big part of Broken Hill life although you wouldn’t think so, because there are more trucks and traffic lights beneath the town than on the surface. It is still a thriving place; Argent Street is the town’s elegant main street and shows off how rich the town has been since Victorian times. The street is wide enough to turn a team of horses, its broad covered pavements shade residents from the baking sun and its grand buildings are festooned with wrap around cast iron balconies.
The Palace hotel was built in 1889 and is famous as a film location for Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994) but locally its best known for its excellent food and evenings are routinely booked out. Its elaborate 20-foot deep balcony wraps around the hotel and all first floor rooms open on to it - perfect for watching the world go by as the sun goes down.
The interior is unbelievably kitsch, thanks to Mario Celotto who owned the Palace from 1974 and obviously loved 50’s and 60’s furniture and decor.....
...On a bus tour to the almost deserted mining town of Silverton our driver/guide Jonny Ferndaux stopped at a memorial and told us the strange story of what may have been the first Australian casualties of the Gallipoli campaign. On the first January 1915 two former camel-drivers of Pakistani origin ambushed a group holidaymakers on their way to the annual miners picnic.
Several people were killed and letters found on the gunmen stated they did it for their faith and in obedience to the order of the Turkish Sultan, because of hostilities between the Ottoman and British Empire. Officers eventually shot them dead but a few months later the even more tragic Gallipoli campaign began.
The West Australian, August 2013
The next passenger train doesn’t come through for another three days so I booked into the Palace Hotel, one of Broken Hill’s many grand Victorian buildings.
Broken Hill became a boomtown after station-hand Charles Rasp stumbled across a massive silver, lead and zinc deposit in 1883 and by 1907 it had become the second largest town in NSW.
But its not just any old mining town, Broken Hill is an icon in Australia’s mining history. It’s Australia’s longest-lived mining town with the world’s largest deposit of silver, lead and zinc - worth in excess of $100 billion dollars.
In 1907 a young jackaroo called Philip Charley became so rich he imported Australia’s first Rolls Royce. Broken Hill miners pioneered unionisation and led the way for modern industrial relations and it may also have seen the first terrorist attack on Australian soil.
Mining is still a big part of Broken Hill life although you wouldn’t think so, because there are more trucks and traffic lights beneath the town than on the surface. It is still a thriving place; Argent Street is the town’s elegant main street and shows off how rich the town has been since Victorian times. The street is wide enough to turn a team of horses, its broad covered pavements shade residents from the baking sun and its grand buildings are festooned with wrap around cast iron balconies.
The Palace hotel was built in 1889 and is famous as a film location for Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994) but locally its best known for its excellent food and evenings are routinely booked out. Its elaborate 20-foot deep balcony wraps around the hotel and all first floor rooms open on to it - perfect for watching the world go by as the sun goes down.
The interior is unbelievably kitsch, thanks to Mario Celotto who owned the Palace from 1974 and obviously loved 50’s and 60’s furniture and decor.....
...On a bus tour to the almost deserted mining town of Silverton our driver/guide Jonny Ferndaux stopped at a memorial and told us the strange story of what may have been the first Australian casualties of the Gallipoli campaign. On the first January 1915 two former camel-drivers of Pakistani origin ambushed a group holidaymakers on their way to the annual miners picnic.
Several people were killed and letters found on the gunmen stated they did it for their faith and in obedience to the order of the Turkish Sultan, because of hostilities between the Ottoman and British Empire. Officers eventually shot them dead but a few months later the even more tragic Gallipoli campaign began.
The West Australian, August 2013