Tag: Travel writing

  • 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…

  • Carbonia – Iglesias Part 3

    Marco, from the local tourism office, picked me up for the half-day car tour and heading southwest out of Iglesias, we drove towards Carbonia. As the beautiful and evocative landscape passed by my window, I listened to and imbibed his immense knowledge of the area. The Province of Carbonia-Iglesias in Southern Sardinia has a long…

  • Three Wise Men – Iglesias Part 2

    My morning started at the excellent Modigliani Art Caffè on Piazza Municipio. Breakfast was provided here every day I was staying at the accommodation and consisted of a black coffee (or whatever form your preferred shot of caffeine takes), accompanied by a delicious, sweet pastry. The cafe looks across the square to the Cattedrale di…

  • 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…

  • İstanbul.

    Baking in the heat and humidity of the late summer sun in coastal İstanbul, I began to explore, observe, listen and understand this new environment, discovering again that cities are wonderful places to people watch. There is a burgeoning population here of almost 18 million locals, jostling alongside waves of fascinated tourists from around the…

  • Kenya, East Africa 2022

    I have wanted to come to Africa for many years, but my travels have taken me frequently to South Asia. So, when I had clear opportunity to visit Kenya in East Africa, proverbial wild horses could not have stopped me. Having been a frequent visitor to the Indian subcontinent, there was something familiar with the…

  • Kenya: Kendu Bay & Homa Bay

    So our host decided to drive us around Homa Bay County and show us his home turf. We went straight to Kendu Bay where the bright sunlight was reminiscent of a previous holiday in the Bahamas. Simply outstanding. Fresh fish, diverse birdlife and a gorgeous Kenyan blue sky, which was guaranteed to sweep away the…

  • 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…