Images of Bologna, Parma and Modena. April 2014. “Bologna is the largest city (and the capital) of Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy, located in the heart of a metropolitan area of about one million. The first settlements date back to at least 1000 BC. The city has […]
Images of Venice. April 2014. “Venice is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the […]
Images of Rovereto and Trento. April 2014. “Rovereto is a city and commune in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. It was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier between the bishopric of Trento – an independent state until 1797 – and the republic of Venice, and […]
On this day, 26 March 1959, American crime novelist Raymond Chandler died. Here’s a look at his life and work. (This article was originally published in 2005 and appeared in the British magazine ‘Chapter and Verse’.) The Late Show You can picture the scene, a world-weary private detective, gun in hand, walks warily down a […]
Images of Vaduz. January 2014. “Vaduz is the capital of the principality of Liechtenstein and the seat of the national parliament. The town, located along the Rhine, has about 5,300 inhabitants most of whom are Roman Catholic. Its cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vaduz. It has a lively tourist industry, […]
Images of Zürich. January 2014. “Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland. The municipality has approximately 400,000 inhabitants, and the metropolitan area 1.83 million. “Permanently settled for around 2000 years, the history of Zürich goes back to its founding by the […]
Images of Fridingen, Beuron, Sigmaringen and Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg. January 2014. “Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany and is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest of Germany’s states in terms of both area and population, with an area of […]
The recent tensions between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands (or Diaoyu Islands) show that both countries are still unable to overcome past hostilities or suspicions. Nine years ago I wrote this piece for an American publication, as at that time I was living in China (2003-2006) and was able to offer a perspective […]
Images of the Royal Observatory, National Maritime Museum and the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London. November 2013. “The Royal Observatory Greenwich is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian of the World. It is also home to London’s only planetarium, the Harrison timekeepers and the UK’s largest refracting telescope. The observatory was […]
Due to cuts there will be no Part 4. Destroy the Free This article was originally only going to be two parts, but the ideas started flying like fists at a drunken wedding party – so here are some more solutions to the right old mess we find ourselves in. It’s clear from Part 1 and Part 2 that […]