The Great Palace of Constantinople
I’m standing between two prize fighters in the middle of Istanbul. They’re staring each other down like Sumo wrestlers preparing to clash in an earth-shattering explosion of salt and dust. […]
Swooning and screaming
This tremendously evocative ruin reminds me of The Mysteries of Udolpho, which I read in my impressionable teens, when I was also swooning over Shelley and Chatterton. The experience of […]
Thomas Bewick – Wood Engraver Par Excellence
I recently had a break in Northumberland and dropped in to see a few favourite haunts as well as some new ones that have been opened since I unaccountably left […]
The Posh Washingtons of Olde England
This is Washington Old Hall in the North East of England, where I myself was born and bred. We have the originals of Washington, Boston, Concord and numerous other locations […]
At home with Sir Walter Scott
For anyone who loves Sir Walter Scott, Abbotsford is a place of pilgrimage. I arrived there on a drizzly afternoon in early September, crushing sodden leaves underfoot and tightening my […]
The 16th century internet
In the sixteenth century, modern science was struggling to free itself from medieval mysticism. Alchemy, astrology and magic were rife, although they were officially condemned by the religious authorities. All […]
Tokat headscarves
There’s a lot of fuss about headscarves at the moment, in Germany as well as in Turkey and elsewhere, but they’re hardly a particularly Islamic issue. I remember in the […]
Socks with a hidden message
For me, one of the most fascinating of Turkey’s many traditional folk arts are the knitted woollen socks that you find everywhere, and whose vibrant and beautiful colours and often […]
Ingratitude in Judaea
One of the more spectacular views in the Eastern Mediterranean, in a region hardly short on them, is the drive through the Judean Hills down the gently sloping foothills to […]
Heat and dust in Alex
To be perfectly honest I was somewhat less than impressed with Alexandria when I stopped off there during a trip around the Eastern Mediterranean last year. After being bounced between […]
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