There is something about being amongst trees that speaks to all of us. Our deep-rooted (pun intended) appreciation of them spans cultures, geographies, and histories. Forests appear in the stories and myths of so many cultures, as mysterious places where both danger and magic can be found.
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Malta’s capital is small but beautiful! Its historic heart sits on a peninsula between two harbours and is protected by a series of fortifications. Inside, the grandeur of many of its buildings reflects the wealth of the Order of Saint John whose Grand Master, Jean de Valette, founded the city to strengthen the Order's position in Malta and bind the Knights to the island.
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A few months ago I published a post featuring serene moments around the world. My focus then was on the places where I have enjoyed some serenity while travelling, slowing the pace to enjoy the peace and quiet of different environments. For this post I have chosen images of other people enjoying some downtime.
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I have many special memories of Japan. The scent of incense rising before a shrine. The serenity of a temple garden. The care taken to ensure that everything, from a gift box to a manhole cover, is as beautiful as it can possibly be. But one colour dominates all of these memories: red.
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According to Cicero, the greatest of Greek cities wasn’t in Greece itself but in Sicily. He described Ortigia, the original heart of modern-day Syracuse, as ‘the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of all’. Situated on a small island, the city was founded by the Greek settlers from Corinth in 743 B.C.
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A childhood favourite is the alphabet book. For the English speakers amongst us, the last few letters of the alphabet always presented the biggest challenges for those creating these books. X was always ‘for Xylophone’, Y ‘for Yacht’ or occasionally ‘for Yak’, and Z usually ‘for Zebra’. But most letters offer a wide range of options, among them H.
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Red is a primary colour and a rather schizophrenic one. It represents passion, warmth, and sexuality, but it also stands for danger, violence, and aggression. Red can’t be ignored, it demands to be noticed. From red hair to the red carpet this is a colour sure to turn heads.
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While I try to avoid too many picture postcard souvenir shots when I travel, it’s inevitable that I will take some. I feel the need to record what I see initially, before diving deeper into the sights, looking for details or angles that are less obvious.
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London has enjoyed one of the sunniest and hottest Junes I can remember. Although ‘enjoyed’ is stretching a point for anyone travelling on the Tube in thirty degree temperatures, as most of the lines aren’t (yet) air conditioned.
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The Romans built the city of Netum on the slopes of Mount Alveria in south-east Sicily. Legend tells that Daedalus stayed in this city after his flight over the Ionian Sea, as did Hercules after his seventh task. Over the following centuries it flourished, until in 1693 disaster struck, in the form of an earthquake. Most of the buildings were razed to the ground and over half the population perished.
