Back to Croatia this Saturday, having skipped it on Wednesday to record the books I have published in the first 1000 days of coronavirus, which changed the world so substantially. This post is about a lazy afternoon in Dubrovnik, and then a lazy afternoon in Mostar, necessitated by pouring rain. The first three pictures are of afternoon and evening on ...
In the time since coronavirus restrictions were imposed, I have written a great deal. Thirteen books have been sent to press, and thirteen have been published, though the first of the latter had gone to press before the time of coronavirus and the last of the former is still with the printer. With my predilection for statistics, I am happy ...
It was still early in the morning when I got to Split, but there was a bus leaving soon, so I grabbed a pastry which was full of meat and deliciously filling. That meant I kept nodding off, but was up enough to enjoy the view, for the ride to Dubrovnik was a joy, much of it on a highway ...
The train ride to Ancona was fun because at last, though I had been on the east coast of Italy since Sunday morning, it was only now that I saw the sea. And then from Ancona station I rushed to the port, for if I missed the ferry that evening, Tuesday November 1st, I had to wait till the Friday ...
I had breakfast as soon as it was ready in my San Marino hotel so I could get an early bus to Rimini. My friend John Harrison, who taught Art History, and with whom I had planned originally to go to Ravenna – before tickets in September proved so expensive that I opted out though he then went by himself ...
Three of the pictures I mentioned in my description of the day in San Marino did not upload, so here they are, the tower and two items in the state museum. Then I add the entrance tower from outside and the stairs of the Public Palace, the place of the Crossbowmen, an old quarry where public performances are now held, ...
I was up early on the 31st of October, for I was not sure how complicated the journey would be to get to San Marino. My main reason for going there was that it was yet another country, and the only small one in Europe which I had not as yet visited. It is the fifth smallest country in the ...
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 ...
