Category: Travel Article
-
India, Part 1: Coromandel Coast, Tamil Nadu
India had not been on my radar particularly. But once rooted in my head, nothing could stop me from planning a trip there. You know how it is sometimes when the name of a country keeps popping up: a friend mentions she had a cracking time there, a documentary about said country appears on the…
-
Iceland: The Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon
Iceland is extraordinary. It is volcanic. Landscapes are weird and wonderful, the birds are plentiful, seals and whales frolic round the shores and the rivers are full of fish. The majority of the population of 400,000 or so is descended from Viking or Celt and the Icelandic language is much the same as it was…
-
Spain, Part 1: Destination Seville
Enthusiastic as I am about travelling, I do wonder sometimes whether the whole process of trying to leave England’s green and pleasant shores for something greener on the other side, as it were, is worth the trouble. I practically abandoned all hope early on in the process of trying to get to Spain. Having booked…
-
USA, Part 2: New York City
I am on a trip to two of the USA’s most interesting cities. Having spent a short time visiting old Boston, I board the train to New York. It is rather lovely travelling south. I had been advised earlier to “make sure to sit on the left of your coach” so as to see the…
-
Malta
I revisited Malta with a friend. Just for a week. A trip down memory lane for both of us. Revisiting a place where you had exciting experiences in the past is not something I would normally recommend. ‘Never go back’ is a phrase I have often heard because such experiences can seldom be repeated. However,…
-
USA, Part 1: Boston
An unlikely choice for someone who generally prefers off the beaten track, but this was an opportunity to meet old friends in new places. One of the advantages with having lived and worked abroad is that you accumulate acquaintances from different parts of the world, who invite you to visit them, or, being of a…
-
Baltic states, Part 3: Estonia
I am on a tour of the three Baltic States. Having visited Lithuania and Latvia, we are now driving up the coastal highway north of Jūrmala in Latvia towards Estonia. Estonia is the smallest of the Baltic countries with a population of a mere 1.3 million. The language moreover, is Finno-Ugric, sharing a common root…
-
Iceland: A nostalgic walk around Reykjavík
I am on my annual pilgrimage to Reykjavík. A city in which I have lived and loved. A musical place, an arty place, endowed also with an ancient literature, the Icelandic sagas, for example. Warm hearted people too. The weather can be kind here in summer but in winter it is a different matter. Located…
-
Baltic states, Part 2: Latvia
It is only about 45 kilometres from the Hill of Crosses in north Lithuania to the border with Latvia. Sandwiched between the other two Baltic states, much of Latvia is covered with forests, about a third of its territory in fact. Brown bears and wild boar patrol these forests. Many rivers too. The driver slows…