Driving back, I reflected on the all-pervading sense of community in rural Ireland, North and South. To me, nothing shows this better in an area than the support for their local football team. Continue reading Lovely Leitrim – a mecca for lake-lovers.
Yeats called Sligo “The Land of Heart’s Desire” and its wonders filled his early poetry. As I drove the winding road back to Ballinamore I vowed to return to Sligo, perhaps not for my heart’s desire but at least to relish its natural wonders and breathe deeply of its magical properties, as many have done before me. Continue reading Sligo – so much more than Yeats and the Wild Atlantic.
For the first time in my life, I had to listen to what my body was saying, concentrate on calming my mind and learn a whole raft of new skills to cope with a suddenly less able physique. Continue reading A Homeland Odyssey Beckons.
Landing in Oslo airport was a world apart from the Gatwick experience in more ways than one. Continue reading Carbon footprint guilt? Go to Oslo.
This arid landscape was littered with previously-drowned, stony villages, a legacy of the sixties’ Franco regime, skeletons of dry stone walls stretched across the dusty plain and a tiny stone shepherd’s shelter, long submerged, lay exposed in the lower levels. Continue reading Real Spain; Day two-the arid road to Salamanca
Last night, I was fortunate to catch a glimpse of the April full moon before it disappeared magically, up into a dim bank of dusky cloud and I sensed the turn of the earth and the changing seasons as so many will have done before me. Continue reading Can the Pink Moon change your life?
Nomads were once pastoral people, travelling slowly with families and herds of animals. Today’s Global Nomads are a very different tribe, usually opting to move singly or in pairs and preferring to be highly mobile Continue reading Nomads – Challenging the Norm
On the one hand, there is the beauty and magic of the country, the vibrancy of colours, the rich flavours of the food and the historic monuments proclaiming the wonder of the country’s historic past. In stark contrast, however, one cannot escape the wretched sight of the poor, particularly the women and their children, which pervades every journey. Continue reading Women of India
I’d like to propose that one day in seven is not enough, for any of us. Let’s look at how we can get that Friday Feeling any, or even every, day of the week. Continue reading That Friday Feeling – on a Monday?
Many people on the waters take their pets along with them, but these have generally been raised from young to respect the water and the captain’s rules. How would my tiny companions adapt, I wondered, and was it fair to expect them to? Continue reading Pets afloat
