A grey Monday in Lewes, UK.
It’s a grey day today here in my home town of Lewes, UK. It might not have the radiant colours of the Mediterranean but I rather like all those muted tones. If you have to have a Northern…
Category Travel
Me in China: Kungfu, Fouchou and my Bonsai tree.
I have always liked the idea of growing Bonsai and, for my birthday last week, I was set up for the challenge and given this beautiful little tree called Syzygium buxifolium or Chinese myrtle. As today is China’s national…
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…