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Continue reading →: Alsace Wine CountryI stayed around Lugano for a couple of days more than I had originally planned, influenced by the fine weather, and knowing that on the other side of the Gotthard Tunnel was in most and cloud, and below zero. As if to emphasise the fact, it was a clear morning,…
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Continue reading →: Profundo Rosso (Deep Red)
Italy 1975 This is perhaps the most famous of cult Director, Dario Argento’s Giallo films. Giallo means yellow and derives from pulp Italian fiction of the 1920s of which the covers were regularly on yellow backgrounds. The Giallo films had their heyday in the 1970s and were crime themed, with…
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Continue reading →: Above LuganoMinus 9 overnight, but the van is so easy to heat. Remote control on the heater means that ten minutes before surfacing a quick depression of the button and the edge is taken off getting out of bed. The weather’s set fair here, with the middle of the day getting…
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Continue reading →: The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild by Mathias Énard
translated from the French by Frank Wynne David Mazon is in his mid-30s when he decides his very ordinary life needs a shake-up. He motivates himself to finish his doctorate in anthropology, a field project that takes him from Paris to a rural French village on the Atlantic coast, near…
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Continue reading →: Mount San GiorgioMinus 7 under the clear overnight skies was the precursor to perfect January day. One of the few people I saw, I exchanged a greeting with, and she made the point that it was the best weather of the year. I have to agree. Our mission was to summit Mount…
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Continue reading →: Un Amor by Sara Mesa
translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore I’ve enjoyed one from Mesa before, Four by Four, and read another, Among the Hedges, which I didn’t get on with so well. In this, she is again in her best form. Its a character driven book rather than plot driven. Seeking a…
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Continue reading →: Into Switzerland
At the moment the weather plays a more significant role in daily life than it does at other times of year. It’s dark just after 5 pm, and if there isn’t much sun in the day, the temperature will remain around zero. I had two days of sun in southern…
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Continue reading →: Into Siberia: George Kennan’s Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia by Gregory J. Wallance
This story, of an American explorer in nineteenth century Siberia, ranks among the great adventure stories, and from Wallace’s pen it is a thrilling tale of a harrowing journey, bringing to the world’s attention some of the most despicable human rights abuses. So fascinated he was by travel and wild…
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Continue reading →: Another section of the Via di FrancescaOn a fine cold day here in southern Tuscany Roja and I took on another section of the Via di Francesca (St Francis’ Way) this morning. It’s similar weather across mainland Europe at the moment, high pressure in, and an easterly air flow. It got up to about 15C under…
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Continue reading →: Into TuscanyThe lake at Piediluco is home to Italy’s National Rowing Federation, and this morning the Paralympic team was training, along with their Romanian counterparts. It was a fine cold morning, just above zero when Roja and I took our morning walk along the Via di Francesca, which at this point…
To live more widely
supera superiora sequi
SafeReturnDoubtful is my alias.
Where is Andy?
I was so much older then…
Quote of the Week
Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, ‘What road do I take?’ The cat asked, ‘Where do you want to go?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it really doesn’t matter, does it?’
Lewis Carroll
Safe Return Doubtful 