The accolades have been pouring in like cosmic matter streaming into a black hole, but why would someone like me possibly think they can relate to Stephen Hawking? Here’s my brief tribute to one of the most inspirational people of our time…
‘If you’re short on time, you’ve got to visit Lilla Torg first’, my fellow hotel guest advised, without hesitation, ‘it’s a beautiful little medieval square less than 15 minutes from here’. And I was indeed short on time. I had just a few hours – a tiny window during a hectic weekend celebrating my best friend’s son’s wedding, where I could explore Malmö, Sweden’s gateway city from across the Øresund Bridge, which connects the country...
Love is in the air… Well… for some, perhaps – certainly there’s some love from the retail sector, as cash registers go ker-ching across the western world. This is because we’re all rushing out to buy the perfect (i.e. not too gushing/rude/cutesy) Valentine card, frantically trying to book a half-decent restaurant (because, quite frankly, you’ve left it too late), or choosing the least-cheap-looking bunch of flowers we can afford (seriously, how much can a dozen...
I’ve never won anything in my life. Unless you count the work Christmas raffle, where everybody gets something, but that ‘something’ is usually the last of those awful soap samples gifted by a client 7 months previously. So, when a friend tagged me on a Facebook wine-tasting course competition, I nonchalantly followed the liking/sharing instructions and entered my name. Obviously, I won – otherwise this wouldn’t be much of a post. Not only was I...
Along the river Stour estuary in Dorset, it’s not unusual to see a flurry of activity at any given time. It could be a synchronicity of oars from Christchurch Rowing Club on a Saturday morning, or a chorus of quacks and cackles from a medley of local wildfowl at Stanpit Marsh at sundown. Or perhaps ramblers taking in the views from the Stour Valley Way, the long-distance footpath that runs along almost all the river’s...
Before the Incas, the Moon-worshipping Chimú people ruled the coastal deserts of northern Peru, Read on to learn more about their culture, as we explore the ruins of their spectacular capital city of Chan Chan.
As is customary for most people at this time of year, including travel writers, thoughts turn to the year to come and travel wish lists are drawn up. 12 months ago saw me being oh-so-ambitious about my travel plans, only to have most of them scuppered for one reason or another. This got me thinking about travel wishes in a different light. Rather than always hankering after new destinations for the coming year, my thoughts...
Since ancient times, humankind has observed seasonal changes in the sky and paid homage, if not in the grandiose form of an actual temple or other solid structure, then in the form of a celebration of some kind. The December solstice, often misleadingly called just the ‘winter’ solstice, is a phenomenon which marks the point of midwinter in the northern hemisphere (and conversely, midsummer in the southern hemisphere). It occurs around the 21st December (it...
The one time I attempted a round-the-world trip, a few years back, I spectacularly failed to complete it. When I say ‘spectacularly failed’, I mean circumstances outside my control forced me to reluctantly head home after just 4 months. And yet, almost every time I talk about that particular trip, I seem to skim past the months of adventure leading up to the moment when it all went wrong, focussing instead on the tale of...
The festive season is upon us, and the Christmas decorations of London dazzle the streets as they do each year…..so if you’re venturing to the city centre for a spot of luxury shopping, don’t forget to look up!
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