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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]