I have been silent recently, in part trying to get some work done, and in part mystified about the daily goings-on in the travel business. It seems to have become an industry of crises; earthquakes, currency movements, massive economic disruptions and now ash. The Icelandic volcano that erupted last week, and as I type lies […]
Well, it is pretty well impossible to describe the local wine festival, but I shall give it a try. Firstly, some history. The Sieur d’Arques winery in Limoux has been making a lot of wine for a very, very long time; sparkling wine has been around the region since 1531. Much of it wonderful, some […]
For reasons that I am still unable to quite explain, I bought an old butcher’s shop in Esperaza, a small market-town in the upper Aude Valley a couple of years ago, and try to get back here as often as possible; it is not exactly simple, living as I do in Winnipeg, but I do […]
I remember CHARGEX; introduced in the late1970s it revolutionised spending by masses of ordinary people. Sure, credit had existed for years, and there were cards like Diners Club that offered a very special clientele the opportunity to “charge” their dinners, but there was nothing like CHARGEX. Oddly, given today’s proliferation of personal credit, it had […]
It is nigh on impossible to have a boring time in St. John’s. There is every type of entertainment that one could envision or need, and plenty of folks to meet. Except on the night that Canada won gold. The streets of the city were bare; pubs populated only by diehards; restaurants lay without custom. […]
This really is a brilliant place. A rock, stuck out in the inclement North Atlantic is hardly a perfect canvas upon which to create a society, but in the traditions of the region, Canada’s most easterly province is a winner. The North Atlantic is home to Celts and Vikings, lost fisherfolk and shipwrecked flotsam from […]
You probably wouldn’t know it, but Iceland has had the most clement winter for years. While Europe has been overwhelmed by snow, rain and generally heavy winter weather, and North America confounded by massive snowfalls and cold, mid-continent temperatures, Iceland has been basking under a warm and comforting winter. A lost tribe of Global Warmers […]
It is really odd to have spent a week utilising London’s transport system, tube bus and even the odd taxi, and to see it graded Europe’s fourth worst system! I really like it. Admittedly I grew up with it, and have been riding around from an early age, family legend has it that aged four, […]
I have been wondering for a while how to approach this subject. I like to write, as you probably realise, as I am on the road; I like to observe, and I enjoy the freedom that” the road” offers; I like to watch people, to engage strangers and to watch the world unfold. I find […]