Category: Travel

Canada Slim and Last Year´s Man

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 19 December 2016 Now, Belgians love a good celebration, but a big night in the Belgian boozers often leads to mornings of regret and grim reflection. Being the chaste daughter of an English curate, nights in a bar were probably not part of Charlotte Bronte´s story, but her unrequited love for a married… Continue reading Canada Slim and Last Year´s Man

Canada Slim and the Days Confused

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 19 December 2016 Time changes a place. A place changes a person. I think back to the little town of Lachute, Quebec, Canada, where I went to high school. Many of the people I remember and much of what I knew is gone. “Progress” has arrived in the form of shopping malls and… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Days Confused

Canada Slim and the Teacher’s Travels

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 14 December 2016 They are beloved by everyone from misunderstood teens and fools for love to the serious-minded middle-aged and those of a critical bent. Now the Bronte sisters are taking centre stage again as the bicentary of Charlotte´s birth (born 21 April 1814) brings a host of events at their Yorkshire home… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Teacher’s Travels

Route 66 revisited

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 20 September 2016 Fifty years. Half a century has gone by since the Sixties, the decade of my birth, a truly Dickensian “best of times”/”worst of times” decade. What had been sowed, both good and evil, from the previous decade bore bittersweet harvest: apartheid produces the Sharpeville Massacre, Castro´s revolution leads to the Bay… Continue reading Route 66 revisited

Adam in the Abbey 3: The greater fool

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 17 – 20 September 2016 I have, up till recently, been an avid comic book reader and collector. And, sorry, DC comics, generally I have made mine Marvel. For it has been Marvel that struck upon the notion of making their heroes with feet of clay, rather than just Super aliens or vengeful billionaire Batman… Continue reading Adam in the Abbey 3: The greater fool

Moving heaven and earth 2: The weekend that wasn´t

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 27 August 2016 This was the town of Amatrice before 03:36:32, 24 August 2016. The town had few claims to fame before Wednesday morning: The museum of Nicola Filoteslo, Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor known for his work on frescoes and facades Above: Dormitio Virginis, Capitolini Museum, Roma Elio Augusto Di Carlo (1918 – 1998),… Continue reading Moving heaven and earth 2: The weekend that wasn´t

How to build a railroad

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 22 August 2016 As the few but faithful regular readers of this blog may recall, I am in a marriage wherein my wife is away four days out of seven working in Zürich bringing sick children there the love and professionalism by which she is already known in her particular circles. So, while… Continue reading How to build a railroad

The last ride of Vittorio Scarmaglia

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 20 August 2016 As I sit at my desk, up and about far too early on a Saturday morning, I am trying to recapture the enthusiasm and energy by which I am known both as an ESL teacher and a part-time Starbucks barrista for working later today. I will never claim to be… Continue reading The last ride of Vittorio Scarmaglia

Canada Slim and the Genius of Glarus

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 12 August 2016 In my last blog post, Yesterday’s Children, I wrote of boarding a train to parts unknown in an attempt to restore my composure after attending a memorial service in Benken, Canton St. Gallen. The day then was much like today’s weather: chilly, dark, unpleasant… Glarus, Canton Glarus, 21 March 2016 Glarus, the… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Genius of Glarus