The Grand Daddy      “Up on the roof”   We just got back from Cape Town’s central business district (CBD) We stayed at The Grand Daddy Hotel. It’s been a pending staycation for many years. We were warmly welcomed at reception and ushered into the elevator, Cape Town’s… Read More »TRAVEL

    Travel bans     B.1.1.529 Omicron   We recently travelled back to the Mother City. Just over two weeks later, some of South Africa’s top scientists shared information about a Coronavirus variant, with the W.H.O. What did the world do? All the European nations, then U.S.A, imposed a… Read More »TRAVEL

  Roadrunner     “Travel isn’t always pretty, you go away, you learn, you get scarred, marked and changed in the process, it even breaks your heart.”   Why do I always end up watching films on aeroplanes that make me cry? We both watched Roadrunner, A film About Anthony… Read More »TRAVEL

    Freedom of movement     Freedom of movement is the very essence of our free society. Once the right to travel is curtailed, all other rights suffer – Author: William O. Douglas   For my birthday trip we travelled to Switzerland. We stayed with friends and met up with… Read More »TRAVEL

    For the love of coffee     I have measured out my life with coffee spoons. T. S. Eliot     International coffee day happens every October, on the first day of the month. The date was agreed on by the international coffee organisation and was launched in… Read More »TRAVEL

The journey    “Life is a journey, so enjoy the ride.” ― Debasish Mridha We just got back from Bologna. Part of our voyage involved a ride on a high speed train. In recent months we’ve taken two, completely contrasting train journeys in Italy. The first was in July, on Transiberiana… Read More »TRAVEL

    Duomo     “Even in the most beautiful music there are some silences, which are there so we can witness the importance of silence” – Andrea Bocelli   As our train approached Bergamo, the landscape suddenly became more urban. More factories. More apartment blocks. And I remembered. I… Read More »TRAVEL

      Venezia       Every trip is lived three times: when you dream of it, when you go, and when you remember it.   (Original, in Italian: Ogni viaggio lo vivi tre volte: quando lo sogni, quando lo vivi, e quando lo ricordi.)   “Queen of the… Read More »TRAVEL

    Ivory       ‘The elephant never gets tired of carrying its tusks’ – African proverb     It’s over six years since we left Kenya. While we were living there, we got the chance to visit the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi. It was a memorable day.… Read More »TRAVEL