Eskişehir, Türkiye Saturday 10 August 2024 “No young person under 40 is ever to be allowed to travel abroad under any circumstances. Nor is anyone to be allowed to go for private reasons, but only on some public business, as a herald or ambassador or as an observer of one sort or another.“ Plato, The… Continue reading Antequera: In transit
Tag: tourism
Canada Slim and the Evil Road
9 September 2017, Landschlacht, Switzerland I am determined to not write myself into too predictable a rut. There have been a number of themes running through the posts of this blog since I started it back on 18 May 2015. I have written of many things: my travels in Switzerland and abroad, topics currently relevant at the time… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Evil Road
Canada Slim behind bars 2: Punishment preserved
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 2 July 2016 Brexit and the European Championship seem all anyone can talk about these days, whether in the classes where I teach or at the Starbucks stores where I work as a barista. As I don´t have a stake in either event, my thoughts are more preoccupied with my duties at hand, plans… Continue reading Canada Slim behind bars 2: Punishment preserved
Biel-Bienne the undecided
There are places in the world and especially in Switzerland that are amazingly easy to fall in love with. Biel-Bienne is not one of them. It is a place that even its residents seem undecided about loving or hating. Biel is the German name for this city of 52,350, located exactly midpoint between Geneva and… Continue reading Biel-Bienne the undecided
Under the skin
Oh, narrow, dark and humid streets rising like crevices to an unforgiving sky. I long for a Cathedral, a fine old pagan stone fortress, just for its refreshing cold atmosphere. I would even settle for a baroque, homely, altar in a corner hole in the wall, just to squat in the corner and enjoy the… Continue reading Under the skin
The Devil’s Saddle and the Alligator
Often when one considers Sardinia one thinks of it as a playboy’s playground. Former PM Silvio Berlusconi is famous for the lavish entertainments (notorious “bunga bunga” parties) he hosted (guests included Tony and Cherie Blair) in his sumptuous Villa Certosa on the Costa Smerlada far north of the island near Arzachena. This coast’s cachet among… Continue reading The Devil’s Saddle and the Alligator
The timelessness of Su Casteddu
Ah, Cagliari! (In Sardinian dialect, Su Casteddu) A city ascending in a choas of golden-hued mansions, domes and facades up to a rocky citadel. Vespas buzz down tree-fringed boulevards and locals exchange gossip and discuss politics and sports at cafes under graceful arcades. Sunset is the best time when soft evening light reveals pastel facades… Continue reading The timelessness of Su Casteddu
The Grand Guestbook
They say we are judged by the company we keep. Let’s look at some of the people who have kept company with the Rhine Falls: It never ceases to amaze me how often in history great changes begin with only one individual. Before 1548, the Rhine Falls were relatively unknown. There was (and still is)… Continue reading The Grand Guestbook