Notes on…
The London Library
Some rogue has been writing in my bedside book. A fastidious hand has crossed out misspelled words and written neat…
The London Library
Some rogue has been writing in my bedside book. A fastidious hand has crossed out misspelled words and written neat…
New Zealand
On my first night in Christchurch, I woke at 3.32 a.m. to what felt like an explosion. My bed was…
New Zealand
On my first night in Christchurch, I woke at 3.32 a.m. to what felt like an explosion. My bed was…
Courchevel
The last time I stayed in Courchevel it was in a tatty roadside chalet a long way down the mountain.…
Courchevel
The last time I stayed in Courchevel it was in a tatty roadside chalet a long way down the mountain.…
Bangkok
Last time I went to Thailand, there’d been something of a misunderstanding about accommodation, and my friend and I ended…
Bangkok
Last time I went to Thailand, there’d been something of a misunderstanding about accommodation, and my friend and I ended…
British Columbia
When people hear I’m from rural British Columbia, I know what their reaction will be: rhapsodic. ‘BC’ is their favourite…
British Columbia
When people hear I’m from rural British Columbia, I know what their reaction will be: rhapsodic. ‘BC’ is their favourite…
Six Nations rugby
Back in 1882, exactly 100 years before I was born, the Four Nations rugby competition was formed. It was originally…
Six Nations rugby
Back in 1882, exactly 100 years before I was born, the Four Nations rugby competition was formed. It was originally…
South Africa
There are plenty of places to fly to for winter sun, but only one place that offers five-star hotels for…
South Africa
There are plenty of places to fly to for winter sun, but only one place that offers five-star hotels for…
The Venice Accademia
The Accademia is one of the smallest of the world’s great art galleries, and picture for picture perhaps the most…
The Venice Accademia
The Accademia is one of the smallest of the world’s great art galleries, and picture for picture perhaps the most…
The Clare Valley
It is a century and a half since The Spectator noted the exceptional qualities of South Australia, a colony of…
The Clare Valley
It is a century and a half since The Spectator noted the exceptional qualities of South Australia, a colony of…
Lake Iseo
If you’ve never heard of Lake Iseo, you’re not alone. Nestling shyly between chocolate-box Como and glamorous Garda, the smallest…
Lake Iseo
If you’ve never heard of Lake Iseo, you’re not alone. Nestling shyly between chocolate-box Como and glamorous Garda, the smallest…
Cirencester
Everywhere you look in Cirencester there’s another animal: a cockerel, a hare, a sheep or a skulking lioness. I rather…
Cirencester
Everywhere you look in Cirencester there’s another animal: a cockerel, a hare, a sheep or a skulking lioness. I rather…
Albania
Seferis’s line about his native Greece, ‘Our country is a closed in place, all mountains’, haunted my mind as I…
Albania
Seferis’s line about his native Greece, ‘Our country is a closed in place, all mountains’, haunted my mind as I…
The Grand Tour
The Grand Tour usually culminated with Naples, ragamuffin capital of the Italian south, where Vesuvius offered a visual education in…
