Last week, after tunneling under the squat heft of Monte Bianco, and with the cloud-tangled peaks of its French facade in our wake, I watched two alpine cows tumble together in a meadow by the side of the road. The white of their bellies blurred with the brown of their backs, and it seemed thatContinue reading “A world unfolding”
Category Archives: Travel
How to spend a snowy morning in Venice
I have found the best place to enjoy the snow in Venice, quite by accident. You must go to the Giardini at 10am. The path through the park will be fairly untroubled by footprints and the snowflakes falling from the trees will dance under the sun (or perhaps it will still be snowing – that’sContinue reading “How to spend a snowy morning in Venice”
Venice in the fog
I thought that Venice in winter would be foggier. Or rather, I’d hoped it would. When I visited the city a handful of winters ago, the fog that rose from the Lagoon in the mornings seemed as habitual as the late night high tide in Piazza San Marco. I remember watching Venetians move unflinchingly throughContinue reading “Venice in the fog”
Venice is a peach
In January, Venice is a peach. The velvet skin of her buildings – oversaturated in the glare of summer – blushes now in this hazy light. For the most part, she is the yellow kind, her plaster blooming with red, cream, ochre, that where chipped and peeled reveals the flesh of the fruit. There areContinue reading “Venice is a peach”
Hidden Venice with The Roman Guy
In Venice, it’s never too early for an aperitivo. Especially at the weekend, when spritz o’clock chimes at around 10am, and the campi fill with locals drinking and putting the world to rights. So it was without any qualms that Dom and I knocked back a prosecco at 11am last Saturday, in a cichetteria tuckedContinue reading “Hidden Venice with The Roman Guy”
Day Five: Crickets
It must be a funny thing, to live with the constant hum of crickets – like tinnitus, I suppose. A long time today I sat listening to those crickets, under the shade of the old olive trees in the garden. We’ve been slow and sluggish today – fragile from devilishly strong wine, bottled like vegetableContinue reading “Day Five: Crickets”
Day Four: Skala
Skala reminds me of holidays as a child, in Spain, where you pay €6 for a pair of sunbeds and stay there all day. We do just that. The sea is calm and flat, and the salt hums like crickets. Shoals of silver fish swim between my feet, so perfectly blended into the ripples of theContinue reading “Day Four: Skala”
Day Three: Fiscardo
We wind our way along Kefalonia’s western coast, toing and froing from the ocean to the rocky headland, and after two hours of hairpin bends, we arrive at Fiscardo – one of the few towns left unscathed by the 1953 earthquake. The houses, built during the 300-year Venetian rule, are all pink and pastel blue. IContinue reading “Day Three: Fiscardo”
Day Two: Sami and Melissani Cave
A morning swim in an empty cove, the fishes tickling our toes. We watch another snorkeler stride out of the water holding a spear and his catch – an octopus and six little fish, decanted from his Speedos into a carrier bag. I mean, how else are you going to carry half a dozen wriggling fish?Continue reading “Day Two: Sami and Melissani Cave”
Day One – Kefalonia
We go to sleep to the conspiring whispers of crickets and wake up to the rattling song of the Sardinian Warblers nested in the olive trees. Kefalonia. It’s greener than I imagined, and mottled with soft hills. We drive to the nearest cove and eat omelettes with a sea view. I try Greek coffee –Continue reading “Day One – Kefalonia”
To The Table 