(Reading tip: if you’ve seen Fox’s 24, it might help to imagine that counting-down sound). T Minus 05:35:00 I’m in a Starbucks in Düsseldorf, and my wallet is gone – and with it, my credit cards, my plane tickets and my passport. There’s a simple explanation to all of this, and I make sure I don’t think about it while … Read More
The Language Of Olive Oil: A Personal History
Ready? Bite. Your first few seconds inside a dolmadaki are all-important: it’s the home of that first intense pop of freshness, a blast of rice, mint, lemon juice, pine nut and whatever else has been added to the mix. It’s probably best to ram the whole oily parcel in your mouth before you bite down, unless you’re tackling the larger variety, … Read More
Gaping Gill: Don’t Be Stupid
Hey, come have a look at this.
How To Fight Crime With Crap
My rucksack top is open. I didn’t leave it that way, so…someone else has. They’ve pulled my bag under the chair I’ve been sitting on, and they’ve opened it. Mere curiosity? Alas – my travel wallet is gone, along with my passport, EastJet boarding pass and credit cards. I slump against a wall. I have 5 hours before my plane leaves. Ah, travel.
Introducing Hadrian’s Wall: Where Rome Meets Westeros
Watched or read George RR Martin’s Game Of Thrones? Been captivated by that colossal wrought-ice defensive battlement known as The Wall? Here’s some news that may interest you. It exists in our world too.
Hadrian’s Wall: A Birthday Adventure / Cry For Help
Every year I set myself a birthday challenge – something that looks feasible from a distance but turns into a living hell close-up. Last year, I wandered across the North York Moors in an 8-hour October rainstorm (and ended up writing it up for the San Francisco Chronicle). On my birthday this year…well, I was busy. Too much writing, too much … Read More
Nobody Expects The Orkney Haar
Surely my eyes have blown a fuse. The world is blank – not a hole (because holes are *in* something) but a total absence, a blackness filled with light. Vertigo sweeps over me. And…that strange muddled sense of depth, like when you’re drifting off to sleep in a darkened room and suddenly you can’t tell if the ceiling is a million … Read More
Mongol Rally 2011: A Few Myths Busted
Let’s say you bumped into me in the street a month ago, and asked me about the Mongol Rally. I’m ashamed to say I’d have sounded like a misinformed idiot. A Few Idiotic Myths About The Mongol Rally 1. It’s some kind of race, right? (To Mongolia? Duh). 2. It’s some kind of holiday. (Probably involving lots of good food … Read More