Tag: Culture

  • Enoteca Ciccimonelli (the Ciccimonelli Wine Cellar) Iglesias, Sardinia

    I had indicated to my amiable host, Luciano, of Bed and Breakfast del Corso, that I was interested in wine tasting. And when I say that, I don’t just mean quaffing lots of wine but rather taking a more intellectual approach to this lovely activity. He directed me to Enoteca Ciccimonelli which is not just…

  • Iglesias, Sardinia – Part 1

    In the southwestern corner of the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, lies the town of Iglesias. The Island I am referring to is of course, Sardinia, directly south of Corsica and a few clicks northwest of Sicily. I’m betting you’ve never heard of Iglesias, and to be completely frank, neither had I until last summer.…

  • Galata.

    Having now been to İstanbul and returned home, every time I see the city on the TV, there is one landmark that I am always on the lookout for: The Galata Tower. If nothing else, it is a perfect way of referencing İstanbul, and you can quickly and easily work out whereabouts in the city…

  • İstanbul, Eminönü, Haliç and a trip up the Bosphorus.

    Is it Europe or is it Asia? Geographically both, but İstanbul feels like Asia with some European influence and is a flavoursome melting pot of each continent. Admittedly, I did spend most of my time on the European side, but yet there is still a heavy Asian influence, with a proliferation of mosques and Islamic…

  • Miss Mykonos, Aristotle, Athens, and two taxi drivers (an exploration of Greece).

    “You have to decide the kind of life that you want to live, or the person that you want to be.” Those were the words, or something similar to them that my taxi driver said to me, as I sat in the back, en route to Athens International Airport. The story he told me during…

  • New Delhi, New India

    I have been travelling to India for almost 25 years now, and it is fair to say that I have seen a few changes over the years. I have seen this country dynamically shift in some ways, and in other ways not. I mean India still has masses of terribly poor people eking out a…

  • Rain, rain, rain.

    Rain, lots and lots of it. In fact, it was endless, and Sigra Road outside our hotel was rapidly becoming a river. It was September, and we were in Varanasi, North India, in the back end of the monsoon season. Clearly, all the locals were not bothered by it as everybody just carried on, even…

  • Switzerland: Geneva, Lausanne and the Bernese Oberland

    Geneva, in Switzerland,  is a short flight from Heathrow, and consequently, is easily accessible from the United Kingdom or anywhere in Europe. It was my first time exploring this beautiful country, and I was not disappointed at all. Geneva itself, hugging the shores of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), is a fairly cosmopolitan place by all…

  • Delhi, with a population of more than of 25 million, is one of the mega cities of South Asia. And if you haven’t been yet, then you really should go. I’ve flown into the nation’s capital more times than I can remember, and yet it still retains a certain magnetism for me. Delhi is an…

  • Now we all like a bit of Shakespeare, don’t we? Well, what about some Shakespeare outside then? That is exactly what you’ll get if you turn up at Shakespeare’s birthplace in super Stratford-upon-Avon, and wander through to the enclosed garden and courtyard at the rear of the property. Just call out your favourite play by…