Malta Diary The Royal Naval Bighi Hospital – one of the best in Europe during its era Now an interactive Esplora science and technology museum and a major attraction
ALBERT FENECH e/mail: salina46af@gmail,com Facebook: Villa Bighi is one of the most iconic buildings on the inner rim of the majestic Valletta Grand Harbour. The central original villa...
Karl’s Chronicles. Cairo Curiosities – Ten To Explore
Touchdown in Cairo and the immediate effect can be overwhelming at best. The city never seems to end, an ancient forest of concrete apartment blocks whose heat-weary occupants, watch...
2021: A year to rediscover Napoleon – Meanderings through France n° 220
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny Whether we like him or not Napoleon surely leaves no-one indifferent. 2021 is the year of the 200th anniversary of his...
Karl’s Chronicles. The Fight & The Dance
The two threads of the Nile may have come together, intricately bound like maritime rope, twisting far across the sand-blown hell of the Sahara. Until with predatory grace, it...
Biking from lighthouse to lighthouse on the French Northwest Coast – Meanderings through France n° 218
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny The “Vélo Maritime” is a biking itinerary that will take you from Roscoff in Brittany to Dunkirk in Northern France....
Malta Diary Notorious characters – fascinating stories – some little-known aspects of shady Maltese characters
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: Every country has its share of notorious characters, Malta no less. I will relate the stories of some of...
MALTA DIARY: TripAdvisor awards high certificate to four Malta military sites – added to a number of previous recognition awards
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: Last year a number of major sites in Malta and Gozo all received a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor...
Eastbourne- the most bombed town on the South coast!
Eastbourne is mid-way between Brighton and Hastings, and during WW2 was initially of great strategic importance to the German high command. Sunday July 7th 1940 was the date of...
Back to Mystra, the ghost city of the Byzantine Empire – World Meanderings (n°98)
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny If we all know Constantinople as the first largest city of the Byzantine Empire, few of us know about the...
MALTA DIARY: Magnificent building, magnificent views of the Grand Harbour – and now with an added attraction
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: Malta’s picturesque Grand Harbour in the capital city Valletta is a magnificent natural port. It is rated to be...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 45 Titian: Love, Desire, Death.
Centring around Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid, Titian, under commission from Prince Philip of Spain, created a set of paintings based on classical myths, developed between 1551...
Pilsen, the city where beer flows like water – World Meanderings (n°97)
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny Beer has been brewed in Pilsen ever since the town was founded in 1295. It also is the city where the...
MALTA DIARY: You can take the Maltese out of fireworks – but you can’t take fireworks out of the Maltese!
Gloom and low morale offset by colour and spectacle ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: August was planned as a bonanza month when in...
Karl’s Chronicles; Ethiopia – 10 Defining Experiences
All manner of changes came into effect at the border. Not just a change in bureaucratic procedures or a shift from Arabic to Amharic, or even the usual follies...
Mumbai Memoir -133- Glitter in the midst of Mumbai’s ‘darkness’!
This year’s 15th August marked the 74th Independence Day of India. Due to the COVID-19 ambiance most of Mumbaikar’s are experiencing a surreal gloom about the festivals that are...
Athens looks towards modern art – World Meanderings (n°96
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny Athens is not all about Antiquity. The proof is in the recent opening of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation,...
Barcelona: a city of sun, sea and style
Barcelona, in eastern Spain is the capital of Catalonia and is a modern, vibrant and sophisticated city surrounded by sloping hills and a Mediterranean coastline. Catalan pride and...
Malta Diary. Evidence of Phoenician animal sacrifices found at Tas-Silġ They date back to 1,500 BC
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: As happens time and time again, excavation works on a site had to be stopped after the discovery of...
COVENTRY’S HIDDEN RIVER
New life is to be breathed into Coventry’s hidden River Sherbourne, Ann Evans looks to its past, its present and its future. Even if you were born...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 42 (12/08/2020) The Pyramids of Meroë
The heat felt as oppressive as the barren landscape beyond -dense, dry, and infuriating. Conspiring as nature, to concoct a union made for suffering. A reverse state of play...
Travelling Round Tenerife; The Truth, Warts & All! Part 4.
We left our hotel at 9am. It wasn’t too hot yet. Earlier, we had breakfast. There are no condiments on the tables any more. I asked for salt &...
Harry’s Ramblings What Are You Going To Dig Up Today
by Harry Pope For years people have been unearthing strange items in their back gardens. Just recently a man in West Yorkshire was digging in his back garden. The...
Focus On Meditation
Breathe in calmness and stillness, breathe out negativity and darkness. Meditation is an ancient practice, taking a variety of forms and available to us all. It has moved on...
Back to Greece: unjustly unknown Ancient Messini – World Meanderings (n°95)
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny After visiting Ancient Messini we still wonder why this major Greek site is not as famous as Delphi, Olympia or...
Harry’s Ramblings. Back Gardens
by Harry Pope When I was ten my back garden had a WW2 air raid shelter. We lived in a place called Ewell, in Surrey, not far from Epsom...
Malta Diary 22 THE LAMPUKI SEASON LOOMS – not a quality fish but ever popular and easy to cook
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: When the month of August looms, this is a signal for Malta and Gozo’s fishing community to gear up for...
Back to Greece: the Mani Peninsula, to the end of the world – World Meanderings (n°94)
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny The Mani Peninsula once was a hotspot of piracy, a harsh and unforgiving land giving birth to indomitable warriors and...
Malta Diary; Speak, see and hear no evil – but how superstitious are we really – is it inculcated in the Mediterranean character?ta Diary;
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: My younger brother Edward was aged about four at the time. Unlike me, with my dark hair and...
Harry’s Ramblings The Mystery of Flight.
Now that there are fewer planes in the sky, it has made me ask the question, how do planes stay up there in that great expanse of sky. Yes,...
It’s amazing what you can Discover on your Doorstep!
Neighbour Helen suggested that we go for an afternoon walk, and it sounded like a good idea as it was a nice day. The sun was shining and there...
Back to Greece: Zakynthos Island could boast being Greece paradise island
Back to Greece. Zakynthos Island could boast being Greece paradise island By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny Even if you won’t find any ancient Greek monument on...
Malta Diary: What links “Calypso” to Jacques Cousteau … to Malta and Gozo?
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: As a young boy many were the days I spent in front of our television, huddled in an armchair, enveloped...
Welsh Witterings. Eat up your Greens you’re in Wales – Exploring South Pembrokeshire and the Welsh Tradition of Seaweed
Wales is fast becoming a favourite destination for foodies in the British Isles and quite frankly this is not a surprise. Wales after all, is home to some of...
HeyHeyUp! Bilko’s Back – Bigger and Better!
Photos courtesy of Rob Tysall and Steve Everett. Ann Evans reports that Coventry’s Sgt. Bilko Vintage Emporium and Phil Silvers Archival Museum are back in business. Like...
Travelling Round Tenerife. The Truth, Warts & all! Part 2. Wednesday.
Extra note, added this morning. I’ve just heard on the news that quarantine is being enforced again on anyone returning to the UK from Spain, including the Canary Islands....
Mumbai Memoir 131- Throwback moments
In school days, my most preferred work desk was always near a window. The trees and urban hustle bustle of the town outside, was sheer infotainment. Even while travelling...
Back to Greece: Spetses, a one of a kind gem-island – World Meanderings (n°92)
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny Since the early years of the twentieth century the tiny and secret island of Spetses has been a trendy destination...
Malta Diary A pictorial panorama of the Maltese Islands over the last 200 years
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: My four grandparents died 50, 40 and 30 years ago. I often muse that if they were resurrected today and...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 39 Cut to Service
“Very well-hewn churches excavated from the rock, the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world… I weary of writing more about these buildings because it...
Harry’s Ramblings Don’t buy that Limousine
by Harry Pope When I entered the funeral profession in 1977, the first vehicle I was allocated was a 1966 Austin Princess limousine. I hated that car, it was...