Falstaff 1, Little Nell 0
I think that Dickens’s childhood stint in the soul-destroying blacking factory was the driving force behind his manic energy, restless creativity and ultimately his early death. If he hadn’t been […]
Monthly Archives: January 2013
Standing up for Shakespeare
I don’t know how they arrange things these days but when I was in secondary school Shakespeare was de rigueur. Looking back, it must have been a nightmare for our […]
A stroll around an ancient Biblical city in Turkey
The ancient city of Seleucia Pieria, 16 miles to the southwest of Antioch, was the first new city built by Seleucis I Nicator in 300BC. He made it his capital […]
Great Limbs Gone to Chaos
The massive barbican broods like the wreck of a mythic hero, brought to his knees by time but still a commanding presence, keeping a watchful eye on the village that […]
La Diablesse and other sweet Grenadian dreams
Not everyone is addicted to modern art, and it is admittedly an acquired taste when you think of the likes of unmade beds and piles of bricks that are meant […]
The most delicious church in the world
The former Greek Orthodox church of St Saviour in Chora, now the Kariye Museum, in Istanbul, always makes me think of a chocolate gateau for some reason. Every time I […]
Lost Palace of the Byzantine Emperors
Seraglio Point in Istanbul is dominated by the magnificent, sprawling structures of two of the world’s architectural masterpieces. These are Haghia Sophia, the Byzantine Church of the Holy Wisdom, and […]
Where there’s a Will
The Golden Bee is the archetypal Tudor-style Olde England tavern in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s stomping ground. Next door is the living history museum, The Falstaff Experience. Like all English school kids […]
Geordie Frankenstein, or Wor Victor
Cragside has long been my favourite English house. It’s the sort of place Baron Frankenstein would have lived in if he’d had the great good fortune to win, as Cecil […]
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