Travel & destinations
This section is home to musings, thoughts and ideas that have come to me through experiencing people and places around the world
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Friday prayer in Kuwait
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However scary the media tries to make the Middle East look; the Gulf states look very much like Main Street USA. Nowhere in the world, New York included, is the density of American brands higher than in Kuwait City. Between Applebees, Chilis, Fridays Starbucks, Gloria Jean’s Coffee and KFC there is little to remind you…
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Scent of a (burning) woman
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The Shiva temple of Pashupatinath in Kathmandu is popular with tourists as well as devoted Hindus – and – with mourners who come there to cremate their family members. This combination sets the scene for a bizarre experience on the banks of the Bagmati River. Just as we arrived, a self proclaimed guide reared his…
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Umbria and Marche (Italy) March 2009
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Who: Myself, EuropeanaLocal colleagues What: Sightseeing in Umbria and Marche, meeting in Ancona Where: Gubbio and Spoleto (Umbria), Bolognola, Monte Sibillini, Macerata, Numana, Monte Conero, Ancona (Marche) When: March 2009 Farmlands in the countryside in the western part of Marche
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Afterthought
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Not even as a failure had my misadventure been complete. My walk had yielded several photos of the mountain I had wanted to climb with which I was pleased. And, the sunset had been—as is the custom of sunsets—faultless. But… to every silver lining, there is a cloud, and that cloud was now on my…
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The economic life of a Land Cruiser in Wadi Rum
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— ‘You like my car, sir?’, asked Abdullah, visibly proud of his ageing Land Cruiser. Abdullah was my driver and guide for my day’s outing in Wadi Rum. — ‘It is an, an…, ah yes, an INTERESTING vehicle’, I replied; using the word ‘interesting’ as one does when at a loss for a something to…
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A bridge too far
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I was standing on the rock formation known as the ‘Little Bridge’ in Wadi Rum, posed for a classic tourist photo. I am not in the habit of appearing in my photographs. However, on this occasion, I needed some scale to convey the dimension of the scene. Now, I am no conventional ‘matchbox’ and the…
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Tsippouro in Veria (Greece) September/October 2008
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Who: Evaluation Working Group, EuropeanaLocal What: Project meeting with a hint of sightseeing Where: Veria, Greece When: September/October 2008 These gentlemen may look innocent enough but combined with sufficient amounts of Tsippouro they proved to be quite sufficient to kick-start our evening out.
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Going to Yemen
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💔🇾🇪 Today a war-torn country on the brink of collapse, Yemen was once marked on the maps as Arabia Felix; happy, fertile Arabia. I had never been to Yemen, but I had taken a liking to the country from watching Yemen TV on Thursday nights in Abu Dhabi. On that weeknight, then-president Ali Abdullah Saleh…
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London in June
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A brief visist to London in the end of June to attend the kick-off meeting of the EuropeanaLocal project at Regents College. On the negative side: Etihad was considerably less nice on this leg than I’ve become accustomed to from my previous flights with them travelling from Brussels to Abu Dhabi. Any basket is likely…
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Why I think you should fly Etihad
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I have never cared much for flying for a number of reasons, all of which I’ve dealt with in previous articles. However, my dislike for flying doesn’t take away the necessity of it. Today therefore, I find myself at Brussels Airport for the sixth time this year, waiting for my flight to depart destined for…