Category: Travel

A Mixed Bag

There are only two reasons for having full-time employment. One is to get a pay cheque and the other is to have a delivery address for online shopping.

Barons Court

It’s a bit of a mystery how Barons Court got its name. Here are the clues and you must play Poirot today. The area between the North End Road and Hammersmith was only built over in the last decades of the 19th century.

All Change

Something strange and unexpected has happened to me. It’s as unsettling as the moment in An American Werewolf in London when the main character transforms into a werewolf. It’s actually so awful that you may not want to read further.

Strolling About on the Roof of the World

Strolling About on the Roof of the World ( Strollers, to its friends) is the title of a book published in 2001 to mark the first hundred years of what is now The Royal Society For Asian Affairs. They have another centenary to mark this year.

Autumn in Umbria

It is distinctly autumnal in north Umbria. Mushrooms, truffles, gourds and pumpkins are on display in the shops; and chestnuts. The view across the valley from L’Ospidale to Monte Santa Maria Tiberina is beautiful. L’Ospidale was probably a hostel for pilgrims and was restored by its current owner about 25 years ago. Today we drove… Continue reading Autumn in Umbria

Toast

The announcements on trains in Italy are made first in Italian and then in English. The English version has been pre-recorded in the same way as the announcement of tube stops are on London Underground.

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First World Problems

A hotel bedroom is really just, as E M Forster might have written, A Room with a Loo but people can be picky and that includes me.

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Two Nights in Kunduz

This is what I wrote in 2008 about two nights I spent in Kunduz, now perhaps captured by the Taliban. What I didn’t write then, was that on the first evening, walking through the streets, I felt for the only time on that trip to Afghanistan very much in danger and that, returning to our… Continue reading Two Nights in Kunduz

“Swing, swing together” – Slovenian Boating Song

A few days ago I mused on the shape of Europe I’d like to see in the years ahead; smaller government, more flexible institutions, accountable local government, and I pointed to Singapore as a conspicuous success. I didn’t need to look so far; Slovenia has achieved a lot for a similarly small country half the… Continue reading “Swing, swing together” – Slovenian Boating Song