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Oct 4

22 Comments

Speyer: a Sunday stroll

Speyer in autumn

Beside the pink sandstone walls of Speyer Cathedral, we came across a musician in the shade of a plane tree, performing a personal rendition of Bach. From his glockenspiel the familiar notes of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring rang through the crisp November air, and I breathed in its magic as we admired the changing leaves of autumn. My sister and I had opted to spend a slow Sunday afternoon in one of Germany’s oldest cities, with more than 2000 years of recorded history. Read more

Sep 24

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Burgos and the tale of El Cid

Burgos Cathedral, a World Heritage Site

Perhaps no other legendary figure rouses the Spanish consciousness quite like the man known as El Cid. Widely considered a national hero, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar was born in 1043 as a member of the minor nobility, in a small town six miles north of Burgos. Raised and educated in the court of Ferdinand I, “Emperor of all Spain”, he rose to prominence as commander and royal standard-bearer for the king’s oldest son and heir, Sancho II. Read more

Sep 21

15 Comments

Streets of Pamplona

Inside Pamplona's old town

“Then we crossed a wide plain, and there was a big river off on the right shining in the sun from between the line of trees, and away off you could see the plateau of Pamplona rising out of the plain, and the walls of the city, and the great brown cathedral, and the broken skyline of the other churches. In the back of the plateau were the mountains, and every way you looked there were other mountains, and ahead the road stretched out white across the plain going toward Pamplona.”

– The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway Read more

Sep 15

19 Comments

Postcards from León

Afternoon shadows in the Plaza Mayor

 “Adiós! Adiós!”  The little boy’s mother waved and laughed as he remained powerless, legs dangling, in the arms of a waiter. Just moments before, the bearded giant had swiftly picked him up, starting down the slope with a mischievous grin. “I’ll take him away!” he chuckled, “I’ll take him away!” Read more

Sep 3

25 Comments

León Cathedral: the house of light

West front, Cathedral of León

From the plaza it appeared like a fortress, towering high above our heads in solid stone, an imposing presence bristling with spires and sturdy buttresses. The late afternoon sun illuminated the church’s west front as I pushed open the heavy wooden door to a cool, refreshing silence – a far cry from the sounds of the Spanish summer. Read more

Aug 27

20 Comments

Silk, spice and pirates

Hong Kong in the mid-19th century

Written with a quill, the florid cursive inscribed on the pages of a ship’s logbook was still legible: “Tuesday March 1st – 1796. Light winds…, weather fair and pleasant, a smooth sea.” These were the words of Captain Charles Christie on the East Indiaman Belvedere, then engaged in the lucrative China trade. Read more

Aug 21

31 Comments

Saved from the wrecking ball

King Yin Lei, restored to its former glory

Perched on a prime location by Stubbs Road, high above the racecourse at Happy Valley, the bricks of King Yin Lei are a silent witness to the explosive growth of Hong Kong. Built in 1937, the mansion is a dream in ‘Chinese Renaissance’, an East-West blend that was popular before the Second World War. Few historic structures of any significant age remain in this city, which has gained a reputation for tearing down almost anything in the name of profit. Read more

Aug 17

63 Comments

A love letter to Indonesia

Payon_1

For if every true love affair can feel like a journey to a foreign country, where you can’t quite speak the language, and you don’t know where you’re going, and you’re pulled ever deeper into the inviting darkness, every trip to a foreign country can be a love affair, where you’re left puzzling over who you are and whom you’ve fallen in love with.

– Pico Iyer, ‘Why We Travel’

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Aug 12

43 Comments

Looking for paradise, Southern Lombok

Late morning at Selong Belanak

Sipping at a young coconut in the shade of a pohon waru, a gnarled tree with spade-shaped leaves, I squeezed the cool white sand between my toes. The smell of grilled fish, freshly caught from the sea, wafted over from the beachside warung – a small trio of shacks in bamboo and alang-alang – while a row of brightly painted outrigger canoes lay lined up on the shore.

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Aug 6

40 Comments

A sampler of Sasak cuisine

Third Moon Café, Kuta Lombok

From the comfort of my seat I watched as our waitress carried a clear plastic bag of chillies into the kitchen, presumably to be chopped up and used in the sauce for our homemade ayam taliwang. As we came down from our three-day trek on Mount Rinjani, during which we were fed vast quantities of banana pancakes, spaghetti, and even a burger with fries, Bama was excited about the prospect of returning to the rich flavours of Indonesian fare. “I’ve been craving something spicy!”

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