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Author Archives: awtytravels
Postcards from the city at the edge of the island.
This place is ancient. Countless generations lived here; even more passed through. Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans. Then Vandals, Goths, the Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards. Germans and the Allied forces. All left a piece, a memento of their passage. This is … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Italy, Sicilia
Tagged Arabs, Buildings, Carthaginians, Cathedral, Europa, Europe, Goths, Greeks, hoenicians, Indulgence, Normans, Palermo, Post office, Postcards, Poste, Romans, Sicilia, Sicily, Spaniards, the Byzantines
7 Comments
The ultimate StairMaster.
From the comfortable flatness of London, Alpine trekking evokes images of paths meandering towards isolated peaks and a soft mattress of pine needles covering a path running through the woods. Not in the mountains surrounding my hometown, though. Boulders make … Continue reading
Posted in Italy, Piemonte
Tagged Alps, Animals, Bee, Black, Bovine, Buddhism, Cable car, Clouds, Cow, Dublin, Dubliners, Flat, Flower, Hiking, Insect, Italy, Madonna, Mary, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Oropa, Paddy, Piedmont, Piemonte, Prealpi, Rice, Rock, Rocky road, Ropeway, Sanctuary, Shepherd, Summer, Trekking, Yellow
26 Comments
Turn Left at Lenin’s Statue: Travels in Central Asia.
It’s taken three years, five revisions and a list of rejections as long as Donald Trump’s comb over, but at long last Turn Left at Lenin’s Statue is here – or, rather, on Amazon. Here’s a little bit of a … Continue reading
Posted in The Book
Tagged Amazon, Amazon self publish, Asia, Book, Central Asia, China, Ebook, Kazakhstan, Kindle, Kyrgyzstan, Lenin's statue, Literature, Pamir, PRC, Russia, Self Publish, Tajikistan, Travel, Travel writing, Turn Left, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang
42 Comments
It’s (almost) Alive!
…well, almost. As soon as Jeff’s industrious elves (or, rather, a server in some Amazon Web Services data centre in suburban Leighton Buzzard) check that neither the Kindle nor the paperback are hiding contents unworthy of featuring on Jeff’s Big … Continue reading
Posted in Odd ones out
Tagged Amazon, Amazon Kindle, At Lenin's statue, Book, Publishing, Travel Book, Travel writing, Turn Left, Writer
20 Comments
They can speak.
Animals can speak. And thanks to a nifty little app I downloaded, I now speak animal! “Say what?” says the hind. – “Hey, mister Heron…” “What’s the matter, darling?” “Have you seen those two bipeds? The one with the camera … Continue reading
Posted in London, UK
Tagged Aikido, Animal speak, Animal watching, Animals, Bambi, Binoculars, Bird, Bird watchers, Buck, Bushy, Bushy Park, Deer, Documentary, Heron, Hind, Mammals, Oak, Park, Photographer, Photography, Royal Park, Tree, Trees, Twickenham, Twickers
16 Comments
Bushy Park.
South-west of Richmond, sandwiched between that florid neighbourhood, the equally affluent borough of Twickenham (Twickers for those in the know), and the considerably grittier Kingston is Bushy Park. I’ve lived in London for almost a decade, I’ve flown above it … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, UK
Tagged Airplanes, Animals, Antlers, Birds, Buck, Bushy Park, Coot, Crow, Deer, Duckling, Ducks, England, English countryside, Fern, Grass, Hawk, Kew, London, Oak, Parakeet, Parkland, Pond, Richmond, River, Royal Parks, Singapore Airlines, Starling, Swan, Thames, Trees, Twickenham, Twickers, Walk, West London
15 Comments
Farewell, Maestro.
It’s not the purpose of this blog to start featuring obituaries but, today, I’m making an exception. I’ve just read that Ennio Morricone has left us aged 91 (still too soon if you ask me). People with far greater eloquence … Continue reading
About home.
Slowly, with a lot of very British dithering and even-more-British bursts of anti-social behaviour, our society is opening up. A few days ago, I went on the Tube: my first public transport ride since mid-March. Pubs are rumoured to be … Continue reading
Posted in Italy, Piemonte
Tagged Alpi, cafetiere, Carabinieri, Cat, Coronavirus, Covid, Italia, Italy, Local news, Lockdown, Mountains, Piedmont, Piemont, Piemonte, Rutger Hauer, Snow, Tractor, Trivero, Valle Cervo
22 Comments
Tackling the long form.
I once had a colleague who, in retrospective, I wish I’d known better. He left the company before I could, proof once again that the only outcome of too many postponements is missing out on things. But I digress; I … Continue reading
For once, a good news story.
All things considered, the neighbourhood has adapted pretty well to this lockdown malarkey. Each day follows the previous one in a well-rehearsed pattern: mornings bring the pastoral visit of buzzing bumblebees and the high-speed patrol of our resident parakeets. Afternoons, … Continue reading
