On the first day of our most recent visit to Paris we got wet – very wet! But we had a lot of fun too and found some places to explore out of the rain that made the day memorable. After all, what is a bit of water if you’re in your favourite city?
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I have long maintained that one of the things that travel teaches us is that people the world over have more in common than you might expect if you only read about other countries or watch TV news and documentaries. Everyone wants to feel safe, to be in good health, to have the basic necessities of life. North Koreans too are not so very different from us in those respects.
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Even when the sun was absent during our recent visit to Broadstairs, we found enough colour around the town to brighten even the dullest day. The traditional seaside beach huts are the source of much of this colour.
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There is something rather haunting about standing on a spot occupied by people millennia ago. Stone circles such as that of Stonehenge, the Treasury and other tombs of Petra, the pyramids and temples of Egypt …. Sardinia too offers just such an experience, or rather, 7,000 of them!
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Sometimes on a trip it’s important to take the pace down a notch. In the end it doesn’t matter if you squeeze in every sight or miss a few. By rushing around you can fail to really appreciate where you are and to notice the smaller details that distinguish one place from the next.
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Wherever you go in Mexico you will see skulls. Why? Because the skull in Mexican culture represents death and rebirth, the cycle of life. People here believe that the afterlife is as important if not more important than your life on earth. The skull symbolises both sides, life and the afterlife.
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When I told people we were going to Mexico, a frequent piece of advice was, make sure you visit Oaxaca. It’s beautiful, they said, and the food is amazing! The advice however was unnecessary, as the city was already on my must-see list. And Oaxaca de Juárez, to give it its full name, definitely lived up to my expectations.
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Of course Madagascar is a wonderful place in which to see unique animal species, iconic baobabs and beautiful landscapes. But it’s also home to diverse communities of people. It would be a shame to come here and not see something of their lives too, as well as those of the wildlife.
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Three enormous fists reach skywards, dominating the cityscape at the end of a long grassy avenue. Linked by a massive concrete belt they loom over visitors and passers-by. However this monument makes a statement not just through its grand scale but also the details of its design. This is a story told in numbers and in symbols.
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Yes, London can be different things to different people, and different parts of London can be different to each other. Contrast Mayfair with Camden Market, or Soho with the South Bank. As a Londoner I have lots of favourite areas of course, and love to visit all of them. But I always enjoy a walk in London’s Spitalfields and Brick Lane areas, and even better when I can introduce a friend to this lively area.