Travelling with a bunion is not as easy as one might think. Now I don’t want to whine, but bunions are deeply evil afflictions. For weeks, even months, one’s disfigured toe joint will cause merriment (in the right circles), but cause little or no irritation. Suddenly, however, the malevolent digit will spring into action and cause the sufferer intense anguish. Travelling with a bunion is not fun. I think that bunions have both personalities and foresight. They rarely hurt at bedtime, for example, but the day before one dons one’s boots and heads out for a 9,000 km journey to […]

Georgian Wines: Suitable for every occasion The Republic of Georgia is truly one of my favourite countries. It is quirky, not well-known, reasonably distant and interesting; it is a country of deep spiritual and cultural roots, and a country that offers visitors surprise, comfort and a truly warm welcome. I am heading to Tbilisi again on this next weekend, this for my fifth visit. I have arrived there in a few different manners. Once on a rather squalid overnight train from Yerevan in Armenia, being hounded by a pair of rather dubious pomegranate salesmen; once on a fascinating ship that […]

At first glance, there is little in common between these two wonderful, yet disparate places. Each location offers tourists and visitors a unique and memorable experience; each conjures up quizzical looks when announced as destinations, and each if often confused with a better known, but eponymous location. The Georgia to which I refer lies in the western end of the Caucuses; a spit of land separating Russia to the north from Turkey and Iran in the south; it is land that has seen its fair share and more of conquest, invasion and occupation, but now revels in its independence, and […]

Food and drink are important, and it is equally important to keep one’s mind open to new and exciting taste treats; the Guyanas are no stranger to eclectic meats, and there are several restaurants around happy to serve the unsuspecting Cochou-bwa, Pakira, Tatou and the suchlike. So clutching what was left of my taste buds, I ordered a combination dish and, it being in St. Laurent du Moroni, and thus France, could wash it all down with a most agreeable bottle of Bordeaux. Cochou-bwa seems to refer to a smallish wild boar; Pakira I was reliably informed was “Pakira” leaving […]

Fortunately, I get bored. Not the grinding boredom of a rainy Sunday afternoon of childhood, but the boredom of repetition. And so it was, in August last year, that I found myself daydreaming more frequently than ever about The Guyanas, and in particular, French Guyana. Ever since I was young, I have been fascinated by the book Papillon, the tale of the French penal colonies of Guyana written by Henri Charrière. It is a fine, rip-roaring book; tales of adventure, escape, cruelty, jungles, lust and eventual redemption. But how were these institutions? Did they still exist? So I bought a […]

Suffice it to say that the Faroe Islands, wonderful in the summer and fall, have a charm throughout the winter, even when the weather may be at its more dramatic, and the days draw short. By December, the sun will rise above the horizon at about nine o’clock, and dip back down before half past three; and this burst of sunshine visible only at sea level, as behind the mountains, the sun will penetrate only briefly as it reaches its peak. But despite this drawback, the islands are cosy, welcoming and endlessly fascinating. In the course of a couple of […]

I have to start by saying that I am not given to hyperbole. Understatement may not be my strongest suit, but I try to stay pretty close to the truth, and having said this, I need to explain a lifelong love of The Faroe Islands. In about 1968 or 1969 National Geographic magazine published an article about The Faroes; I was mesmerised. As a pre-pubescent boy, National Geographic, as it landed on the doorstep was a must, as from time to time, naked female breasts, still a mystery and wonder to me, were displayed. This month, however, it was about […]