Year: 2019

Women often find themselves in supporting roles, mothers supporting their kids, wives their husbands, the examples are everywhere around us. Yet that has never stopped them, diminished their energy, commitment and fervour or their empathy. It is just that we don’t hear so much about them. They are often in the shadows or not courting…

How to get people out on the streets when the nights are drawing in? Create a winter event call it VIVID and you have the winning formula. We were among hundreds of others wandering the streets of central Sydney and Circular Quay to gape, gasp, laugh and love what the city has put on show…

This is the final posting from our recent holiday – a short one with some magical photos to remind us to keep coming back, to lessen the trauma of the island’s history and its recent record of inaction. To cry for the baby seal who bore the name of the goddess of love, Aphrodite,  that…

For this range we have no borders to cross, no passports to present, just mountains to climb and waterfalls to dip toes into.  One road leads to the top – Troodos nearly 2000 metres high. On a good year it will be covered in snow and offer Cypriots a couple of ski runs. What is…

Headed out for day with my sister’s https://www.historiccyprus.com/en/about-us today and our destination was in the Kyrenia mountains for a hike near the iconic Pendadaktylos. The weather was warm with a light breeze, a welcome change from the wet weather Cyprus experienced this winter.  The rain has brought a profusion of wild flowers and growth. The forests smelt…

I lived in Switzerland for eight years, yet as the train gently swooshed through the Italian and then the Swiss Alps it was as if I was seeing these areas for the first time, a star struck tourist, a camera happy camper but perhaps you will excuse my enthousiasm when you see these majestic mountains.…

Perugia the capital of Umbria has all the picturesque scenes anyone can hope for. If you are staying in a hotel from the 1200s which has been restored to some of its former glory you have a heightened sense of what is on offer. The Fortuna Hotel is found behind a veritable wall of ivy…

A quick snatch of sunshine saw us scampering up the hillside at the back of the villa for a walk amongst the vineyards and orchards. The wildflowers were there in abundance and the fruit trees were just budding the young fruit. Surprising in its fecundity, so early in the season, was a fig tree  laden…

The valleys are luscious and showing signs of ripening, the hills an intense green with great conifers, pines, cedars, plane trees and lime trees. Best of all the roadsides are bursting with poppies and daisies and many orchids. The vines are neat, and clash brightly with the forest backdrop. Having arrived in Perugia we made…

After a hearty Breakfast Cockie and Partner, feeling replete and well, were clearly getting a little bored. So they decided to spend the day on our deck and many a happy hour pushing the clips of the tablecloth off the table. As if that wasn’t enough one of them then walked on the table and…