After a glimpse of Ravenna on Wednesday, I move now to the rest of the city. I seemed to walk incessantly that day, which made me feel exhausted at times, but I soldiered on, as I used to do when first seeing the wonders of Greece and Italy, determined not to miss anything. A long day in Ravenna From the ...

Today I write about a new city, where I recaptured the enthusiasm of my youthful journeys, and spent most of the day on my feet. The first picture is of the wonderful decorations in the tomb of Gallia Placida, and then there is the exterior of the Cathedral. But then for the record I have myself trying to sleep in ...

Having posted on Wednesday about the high point of my last trip abroad, four days of relaxation with the Ridicki family in Croatia, I move back now to the beginning of that trip. Rome after six years Though the main purpose of this last trip was to see Daniel and his family in Croatia, I fear I am obsessional about ...

My last post here before I went abroad at the end of October was the last post about the backwaters of Kerala. So a couple of weeks and more later I move to another journey, one in which I was able, as I do increasingly now, to reflect on past journeys too. An idyll in Croatia At the end of ...

I am posting a bit early today, for soon I have to leave for the airport, and I may not be able to post tomorrow. I thought it best however to conclude my account of Kerala, since this is the last post and there was no point in keeping the series hanging. The 26th of September was my last day ...

Once again I was up before dawn, that morning at Waves and Wind, and went up as the proprietor had advised to the bridge above the hotel to look at the sunrise. But that was not as good a view as the sunset had been from the hotel garden, so after it became light I read in my room and ...

I had wondered during that day what to do on the next. Though Ashtamudi Villas was delightful, I thought I should try something different, so in the afternoon I booked into Waves and Wind, which I had been thinking of the previous day, believing that it was on the seashore. But that evening I was disabused of this notion by ...

I failed to post in this series last Saturday, for wife was not working that morning. It was restored later in the day, but I seem to have forgotten the blog. That may be why the numbers accessing it declined sharply last week, after not Wednesday, but Thursday, which may have been the result of the lovely pictures from the ...

Slowly, slowly we moved through that mellow afternoon, the light dancing on the waters of the lake. We passed few boats, for most houseboat trips were for a day, and that was now over for the most part on the lake, as the boats returned to their homes. Soon, while it was still bright, we turned into a branch of ...

The Finishing Point at Alleppey was full of houseboats, easily a hundred stretching up and down the bank of the river from the pathway towards it. I only had the name of the chap who had reserved a place for me, but that was well known, and also the nake of his boat, so I was directed down the river, ...

I had asked in the morning for two more bottles of beer, so that the boat would not have to go up and down unnecessarily. Following on the morning’s beer, this seemed excessive, but after my coffee, during which I moved also to the back, to see the ducks floating past on the lake, and then a shower, I felt ...

Having read again that story of Robbe-Grillet that had remained so vivid in my mind for half a century, and then embarked on an exploration of the backwaters of Kerala, I thought I would try over the few days I am in India to try to produce a tone poem about my stay in this wonderful setting. I was in ...

I return after three days to my stay amidst the backwaters of Kerala, beginning though with the comment made by an European with a sensitivity to language, which added to my faith in the rhythms of my writing. But after a picture of him, since I showed Alain Robbe-Grillet earlier, I show yet another picture of those lovely days by ...

A self-indulgent rationale I found when I was continuing with the series on ‘Travels with Kithsiri’ that the material I had with me on this new computer ran out suddenly, and I will only be able to resume the series when I am back in Colombo, perhaps only when my old computer is restored to me. I wondered then as ...

This post continues with the saga of Ranil’s 2001 government, when I heard from his by then great admirer Ilika Karunaratne as to why he had sidelined the senior members of his party. But then I have to stop because the rest of my account of what happened, over 2002, is locked up in the computer now given for repair. ...

This post gives the reason for Lalith resigning, but also explores more about how Ranil functioned. His capacity for revenge was unlimited, and his Minister of Education also suffered as did Lalith. And so did other senior members of the party, as I found out on New Year’s Eve, though details of that must wait. The seeds of failure Lalith’s ...

This continues with the sad saga of what happened at the Ministry, though I note too much other work, for the university and the Council for Liberal democracy, and for myself. And I still have fond memories of the teacher I met at a little school in Kalutara who was so very keen about English medium. The picture is of ...

After ten posts about university work earlier in the mid-nineties, I return to my later work with Kithsiri, going into the aftermath of the General Election of 2001. I deal here with the problems that beset both the Ministry of Education and the English medium programme when Ranil Wickremesinghe became Prime Minister. Though his Education Minister Karunasena Kodituwakku was supportive, ...

Another death in this post, and then politics when the President and the Prime Minister stymied the effort of the UNP Secretary to stand by the commitment President Premadasa had entered into with him. In retrospect it was ironic that Ranil should thus have stymied Premadasa’s legacy, whereas his family had been complaining that this was precisely what Wijetunge had ...

This post ends with the death and the funeral of my grandmother. She had been ailing so it was not a shock, but it was difficult to register that the powerful personality was no more. And I describe too another death, of someone I hardly knew, but which was unexpected and tragic. The picture is of my grandmother and my ...