I’d read many reports about how Liverpool has undergone major regeneration over the last few years, stimulated in part by it being the European City of Culture in 2008. I decided it was about time to check the changes for myself, having previously visited during the bleak days of the 1990s when industrial disputes and social decay […]
New Zealand South Island looks very small on a map alongside Australia. Maybe that is why I only allowed eight days for touring the island. A big mistake; I could have done with at least twice as long. In fact the South Island is almost exactly the same size as England and Wales together, and I’ve often […]
I’d visited almost all the capitals of Europe, but for some reason had never made it to Madrid, the capital of Spain. I knew something of the city’s fascinating history. I also knew that it is the highest capital in Europe and that it is situated at almost the exact centre of Spain. Maybe I had been put off visiting […]
The weather during my exploration of New South Wales had been, to say the least, rather inclement. So I was very much hoping that the Queensland stage of my Round the World Trip would live up to its billing as the ‘Sunshine State’. I must admit I knew very little about Queensland or its capital, Brisbane. But in three days travelling around the […]
Think of Munich and October and you’ll probably get an image of thousands of people sitting at benches swilling down large quantities of beer, interspersed with roast pork, ham hock and pretzels. And that was the case a week or so before we arrived, as Munich celebrated the Oktoberfest along with millions of visitors. Fortunately, by the […]
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West Africa: Voodoo, Slaves and White Man’s Graves – Book Review
I know West Africa well… or maybe it is more true to say that, I knew it well. I spent seven years as a university lecturer in Sierra Leone in the 1970s, and during that time visited most of the countries in the region. I have not returned to West Africa, other than a very brief […]