Cabbages and Kings
Well emperors in Croatia’s case. Diocletian, who finally decided that enough was enough and that the Roman Empire was simply too big for one man to manage, decided to split […]
Tortured in Toledo
The main Bisagra gate into Toledo always reminds me of the Hammer horror films I was addicted to as a teenager. The huge round towers and massive gateway surmounted by […]
Termessos – a mountain idyll
Termessos is about the most spectacular ancient city in Turkey that I’ve been to. Not only does it have a remote and romantic mountain setting with some of the finest […]
A Peasant at the Heart of Power
After living in London since 1983 I finally paid a visit to the Guildhall this week. The main hall was being laid out for a banquet for some City toffs, […]
Jubilee Hell
On the day of the Jubilee River Pageant the other week I found myself herded along with other cattle to a bridge I couldn’t even identify because of the crowds. […]
Cosmopolitan Antioch
This is a view from my hotel window in Antakya, ancient Antioch of SS Paul and Peter fame. The word ‘Christian’ was first used here apparently and St Peter’s Grotto […]
Antalya Archaeological Museum
This museum used to be a bit of a dump, one of those monolithic Turkish state-controlled institutions where none of the exhibit labels were written in English, in fact many […]
Mezquita of Cordoba
Cordoba’s great mosque, the Mezquita, was built in 786 and personifies the power of Islam on the peninsula at that time. Many different architectural forms were embodied in the mosque […]
A romantic Turkish castle
Alara Castle is just a few miles along the coast road from Alanya on the Pamphylian coast of Mediterranean Turkey, then inland a bit. The roads become dirst tracks pretty […]
Most relaxed shark
Occasionally you hear something on the radio during the interminable school run that really lifts your spirits. Oblomov, the famous 19th century Russian novel by Goncharov, has as its hero […]
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