Has David Cameron got a plan for Europe?
It just shows I daren’t turn my back for a minute. I take a couple of weeks off for a holiday, now look what’s been happening. Poor old Dave – the Prime Minister of my country – you remember, Britain,…
Get real Vladimir Putin.
Dear President Putin, You know as well as everyone else knows. The unspeakable barbarity of that missile attack on a civilian plane, Malaysian Flight MH17 was committed by terrorists (known, for some reason, as separatists) with your armament support. Neither…
My Panama hat in Venice
At the end of these two weeks of blogs about Venice, it is time to add that it wasn’t just me who had a great time – my trusty Panama hat enjoyed itself too. …
Venice and Venetian art: not just over the top.
I can’t tell you about the wonders of Venice, especially as they struck me on my recent two week holiday there, without showing you some of the art. There wasn’t enough time to see everything let alone digest…
Venice: city of music
During my holiday in Venice, I had hoped to go to the opera. I’d followed the fortunes of the La Fenice opera house since my teenage days when Italian opera was one of my ruling passions. Sadly, as usual,…
Venice’s Giudecca island: exotic fabrics and great food.
The last island I visited during my recent holiday in Venice, was Giudecca, on the other side of the enormous Giudecca Canal from the main city of Venice. On the day, in June, when I was there, it…
Burano: Venice’s island of many colours and Baldassare Galuppi its colourful composer son.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when the boat approached the little Venetian island of Burano during my recent two week break in Venice. When we got close, I was amazed by the psychedelic colours mixed together in the…
Visiting some of Venice’s other islands, where Murano makes glass and Torcello got Ernest Hemingway to take off his shirt.
When I told people that I was going to spend two weeks in Venice, one of the things they usually mentioned was Murano and they meant Murano glass. I wasn’t that excited by the talk of going to see the…
Eating Out – literally – in Venice: so many pleasures joined together.
I’ve been on a two week holiday in Venice and, I don’t want to make you jealous, but I had a wonderful time. Eating and drinking al fresco was one of the greatest pleasures of spending a decent amount…
They’re dead romantic: Venice’s Gondolas press all the right buttons.
Venice and gondolas are inseparable – they are the horse and the carriage, the peach and the cream, the fish and the chips – well, you get my drift. They were once the main form of transport on the…