I am not a naturally sporty, outdoorsy person, and now I know why – it’s because I’m not someone who looks good in action photos. This was brought home to me quite brutally when I went swimming with sea turtles in Hawaii. There was a professional photographer on the trip, and every single photo makes… Continue reading Swimming with sea turtles
Hawaii: Hollywod’s exotic location of choice
Lush is the only word to describe Hawaii – it’s so lush that even the mountains are green … a first for me. And everywhere you look there are flowers – hibiscus, bird of paradise, false bird of paradise (I had to look that one up), red ginger, shell ginger, lilies. frangipani – it’s a… Continue reading Hawaii: Hollywod’s exotic location of choice
The Polynesian Cultural Centre, Oahu
The Polynesian Cultural Centre on Oahu is Hawaii’s biggest living museum and it reminded me of the Small World ride at Disney or Miniland at Legoland. It’s essentially a hop and a skip through the culture of all the different Polynesian island groups – Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Aotearoa and Hawaii – focusing on the… Continue reading The Polynesian Cultural Centre, Oahu
The Beach Boys of Waikiki
Beach Boy is an actual job … who knew? I have to admit that I have become slightly obsessed with beach boys on my trip to Hawaii. If you’d asked before this week what a beach boy was, I’d have said that it was a young man in Southern California who spent his free time… Continue reading The Beach Boys of Waikiki
Valparaiso … Jewel of the Pacific
I really wanted to visit Valparaiso while I was in Chile because my great-grandfather, a Scottish sea captain, was here in 1892 and 1893. It’s not surprising that he was here because it used to be the main port of Chile in those days, and a major stopping-off point for ships travelling between the Atlantic… Continue reading Valparaiso … Jewel of the Pacific
A visit to the End of the World …
The name Chile means ‘the end of the world’ in the local Mapuche language. The Mapuche come from southern-central Chile and Patagonia, and when you get down to Patagonia you understand their thinking. It’s remote, with spectacular volcanoes, sinister low-hanging cloud and strange creatures not seen elsewhere in South America, like the pudu, a tiny… Continue reading A visit to the End of the World …
Tango, Teatro and Eva Peron
We all know that tango is synonymous with Argentina, but what I didn’t know is just how ubiquitous it is. I saw tango dancers in the street, touting for trade outside tango bars, and I was offered the chance to try out a few moves with a dancer while I stood waiting for a guided… Continue reading Tango, Teatro and Eva Peron
The Three Widows of Buenos Aires aka Best Revenge Story Ever …
Argentina is a land of passion and drama – as I discovered when I tried out a few dance moves with a smouldering Argentinian dance partner. All the songs are about suffering and misery and the dance moves emphasize the melancholy of the music. And it’s not just the music here that evokes passion and… Continue reading The Three Widows of Buenos Aires aka Best Revenge Story Ever …
It’s hard to be trashy in New England …
New England is such a tasteful, refined place that it’s very difficult to be trashy there – but somehow I managed it. New England is full of picturesque clapboard houses with white picket fences and immaculate front gardens. There’s a real respect for history, and there are all sorts of beautiful old hotels called things… Continue reading It’s hard to be trashy in New England …
At Stephen King’s house, it’s always Halloween
This was my first American Halloween, and while I knew that trick or treating was a big thing for kids, I was surprised by the enthusiasm everyone shows for dressing up and decorating everything in sight with ghosts and pumpkins. Before the big day everyone goes to one of the pumpkins patches that spring up… Continue reading At Stephen King’s house, it’s always Halloween
Cape Cod etiquette
Cape Cod etiquette requires you to be formally introduced to your dinner while it’s still alive, and I’m not sure exactly how I feel about this. It certainly didn’t make me think, ‘Oh no, I can’t possibly eat Larry the Lobster now that we know each other socially!’ Which was just as well, because Larry… Continue reading Cape Cod etiquette
Quebec: battles, bad art and unanswered questions
If there’s one thing you don’t want to be in Quebec City, it’s British. We’re not very popular over there and haven’t been since 1759 when we fought the French on the Plains of Abraham and won control of New France, opening up the St Lawrence river and giving British ships access all the way… Continue reading Quebec: battles, bad art and unanswered questions
Montreal Botanic Gardens
I must admit that I expected Montreal to feel a lot more French than it actually did. It seems to me that apart from the language, it is a totally North American city. The culture, the way of life and the food are all very unFrench; having dinner at 6 pm, eating chips with gravy… Continue reading Montreal Botanic Gardens
Druids and extraterrestrials in the Kent countryside
It’s not every day that you get to meet a Druid, but an ancient forest in Kent is probably one of the likeliest places to come across one. Having read many Asterix books, I was expecting the Druid to be dressed in robes, with a long beard and a pointy hat, and I was rather… Continue reading Druids and extraterrestrials in the Kent countryside
The herb trolley is on its way, Madame
You know that you’re in good hands in a restaurant when the head waiter tells you that the staff had a meeting before you arrived to discuss whether they thought your table would be large enough or not. We were a party of nine, celebrating a birthday in the Michelin-starred Le Chantecler in Nice, and… Continue reading The herb trolley is on its way, Madame
Maliciously damaging six turnips …
Beaumaris on Anglesey is a history lover’s dream. Beaumaris Castle was ambitiously designed to be concentric: a large castle containing several identically shaped smaller castles – just like Russian dolls or a set of Tupperware boxes. It was intended to be the pinnacle of Edward I’s castle building spree in Wales and he demanded that… Continue reading Maliciously damaging six turnips …
Put another octopus on the washing line!
Lesbos was the home of Sappho, considered to be one of the greatest lyric poets of Ancient Greece – so what more suitable place to head to for a writers’ retreat? That was our thinking anyway, as we boarded a plane and jetted off for a week of creativity with beautiful sea views. This was… Continue reading Put another octopus on the washing line!
Coming face to face with the Pope Spanker
I do love eccentric women. There’s something about the way they just do their own thing and don’t give a toss what anyone thinks of them, that I find hugely admirable. And Isabella Stewart Gardner of Boston definitely fits into that category. Isabella was a wealthy patron of the arts, having inherited nearly two million… Continue reading Coming face to face with the Pope Spanker
Blowing my own trumpet at Harvard
When I got an email telling me I’d won a prize in an international short story competition, the message went on to say that my story would be read out at the annual Barbara Pym Conference at Harvard and I could either attend and read it in person, or a member of the judging panel… Continue reading Blowing my own trumpet at Harvard
Meeting My Hero
I bought a second-hand copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking when I was in my early twenties, and one hot summer Sunday I sweated and stressed as I created a tarte aux fraises using sweet shortcrust pastry, patisserie cream and the ‘handsome strawberries’ the recipe insisted on. It was tricky but… Continue reading Meeting My Hero