Category Archives: Uncategorized

Saving a corner of wilderness.

Posted on 29/09/2020 by awtytravels

Regulars of this blog will know that I originally hail from NW Italy. I was born in Piedmont but spent a lot of time in neighbouring Val d’Aosta (also known as Almost Switzerland). A region of glaciers, woods, gurgling streams, … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Italy, Uncategorized, Val d'Aosta | Tagged Alps, Annamaria Gremmo, Aosta, Cime Bianche, Climate change, Conservation, Francesco Sisti, Italy, Last wild valley, Marco Soggetto, Mountains, Ski, Skiing, Val d'Aosta, Vallee d'Aoste, Vallone selvaggio, Wild, Wildlife | 22 Comments

Slow dawn

Posted on 01/10/2016 by awtytravels

I’m normally up at 5.30, 6.30 on weekends. Yes, that’s sad. A few months ago I could get up, dressed, fed and caffeinated in the dazzling light of the sun, already high over the city. Then July gave way to … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, UK, Uncategorized | Tagged Canary Wharf, Dawn, Europe, London, Morning, Parliament, Shard, Slow Dawn, UK | 14 Comments

“Arabian Sands”, by Wilfred Thesiger, Penguin Books.

Posted on 19/08/2016 by awtytravels

Italo Calvino once wrote that a ‘classic’ is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say. If this is the approved meter of judgement for the category, then I’ve no doubts that Arabian Sands belongs to … Continue reading →

Posted in Books review, Uncategorized | Tagged Africa, Arabia, Arabian Sands, Bedouin, Bedu, History, Middle East, Penguin books, Travel literature, Travelling, Travelogue, Wilfred Thesiger | 8 Comments

“Ninety Percent of Everything”, by Rose George, Picador

Posted on 19/04/2016 by awtytravels

I’m an intrinsically sceptical person, the sort of individual who’s the thorn in the side of marketers, focus group organisers or pollsters. Give an advert saying “The best book of the year” and I’ll immediately think ‘bullshit’. Make me read … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Books, Books review, Felixstowe, Maersk, Maersk Kendal, Merchant Navy, mission, Ninety percent of everything, Picador, Pirates, Rose George, Seafaring, Singapore, Slate, Somalia, Travel literature | 11 Comments

British Airways’ New Talent Awards

Posted on 24/12/2015 by awtytravels

A bit of a late notice, given the timelines, but here’s something interesting for my fellow travel writers: on yesterday’s flight, whilst browsing through the BA in-flight magazine, I noticed a call for young (up to 30 years old) writers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“The Lost Heart of Asia”, by Colin Thubron, Vintage

Posted on 02/04/2015 by awtytravels

Then I heard Pasha calling me to return. It was late and dark, he said, and this was not our country. It doesn’t happen often, for me, to arrive at the last word of a book and think Aw fuck, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Asia, Book, Books review, Central Asia, Colin Thubron, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Silk Road, Soviet Union, Tajikistan, The Lost Heart of Asia, Travel literature, Travelogue, Turkmenistan, USSR, Uzbekistan, Vintage books | Leave a comment

Food for the road: beer-marinated rabbit and Kuroda potatoes

Posted on 01/11/2014 by awtytravels

A few weeks ago I left the Alpine Lys Valley, where I visited my friend Federico’s new business Paysage à Manger, with some kilos’ worth of potatoes of four different types, species that have been unavailable from our tables for … Continue reading →

Posted in All things food, Food recipes, Italy, Uncategorized | Tagged Agriculture, Food for the road, Kuroda, Organic, Paysage a Manger, potatoes, Rabbit, Salmì, Valle d'Aosta, Vallee d'Aoste | Leave a comment

(Shameless advertisement) A new enhancement! A new page! Oooh!

Posted on 26/10/2014 by awtytravels

…yes, much like those airlines that put up such a circus for having change their logo in the most imperceptible way (yes Cathay Pacific, I’m talking about you) I’m devolving a whole post to a rather minor change on this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Public service announcement | 1 Comment

Occupy Central vs Beijing: it’s turning nasty.

Posted on 29/09/2014 by awtytravels

I don’t want to turn this into a politics blog but I cannot avoid writing about Occupy Central and their protests. Ever since I saw them picketing a skyscraper downtown, belonging to a wealthy billionaire with connections with Beijing’s elite, … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Hong Kong, Politics, Reflections, Uncategorized | Tagged China, Democracy, Dictatorship, Elections, Freedom, Hong Kong, Journalism, Occupy Hong Kong, PRC, Protests, Universal Suffrage, Xi Jinping | Leave a comment

Reducing one’s personal environmental footprint: my way of dealing with the problem.

Posted on 23/09/2014 by awtytravels

I’m a climate change sceptic. It’s not that I don’t believe it’s happening, but I seriously think that most of what’s happening in the world has very little to do with us and there’s plenty of evidence to support that. Look … Continue reading →