Who said mountains were lonely?
Helvellyn Mountain, Cumbria, United Kingdom I am not used to swearing on mountains, unless it is me with cut finger, leg, perhaps ankle, or damage to something awkward. So, imagine my surprise on Striding Edge, that challenging approach to the Lake District’s Helvellyn, when from nowhere I heard words of vehemence, “Ouch! Double blast and damnation!” Okay, you guessed it, the words were way worse than that. It was a female voice, rising from behind one of the many volcanic sandstone rocks that makes up this knife edge scramble. Striding Edge is[...]
Keep the footwell empty
London, United Kingdom I am ashamed, although perhaps it is better to say horrified. There is a monster in the rear footwell of my car, a monster created by me. The space is crammed with wrappers, tumblers, cast-off chocolate bars, and empty cans of energy drink by the ton. There is even a half-eaten samosa with fungus along its edge. I did not know samosas could even grow fungi. The footwell tells a story. It is a tale of the half-dashed, crazy-timetable, eat-on-the-hoof life I clearly lead. This reality only hit me[...]
Waiting for that killer shot
Dubai, UAE When it comes to photography I am unqualified to write. Yet somehow, needs must at the moment. A few evenings ago, you would have found me in a hotel reception, somewhere in electricity-crunching Dubai, waiting for friends to join me for dinner on the town. They were late, I was bored, and then in strode the Koreans. Dubai is the fourth most visited tourist city in the world after London, Paris and Bangkok; more than 14 million foreigners go there every year. The bigwigs are praying that number will reach[...]
The logic has escaped me
Tripoli, Lebanon I always said I would not write about religion. These days you are seeking trouble if you do. Yet in an era when barbaric deeds are performed in the name of Faith, it seems odd to remain silent. Maybe it is because I spend swathes of my life as the only Christian in a Muslim world; lands where I tread a knife edge every hour of every day. These are places where reasoned argument does not exist. More likely it is a knock on the door, an impromptu roadblock and[...]
Much goes on in Syntagma
Athens, Greece I worry when things change, so perhaps I am a creature of habit. Yet to see Greece today, it is a land I do not recognise. Yes, I am surrounded by unrivalled antiquities and the weather is second to none. And yes, the people are welcoming as ever, keen that I have the best of times. But around me I see worry, once energetic colleagues dragging their feet, while many conversations start with the word “crisis”. Greece is a land in trouble, that is very clear. I know the land[...]
Keep looking upwards in Manchester
Manchester, United Kingdom “You have to look up in Manchester,” said my colleague, a look of acceptance on his face, “all the best bits are above ground. Way up, in fact.” I nodded, as I had just walked the two-mile route between Mancunian front door and office, a stroll that should have been good. The sky was blue, the air crisp, the traffic not too bad and I had started out after breakfast with a spring to my step. The only near miss had been an out-of-control cyclist, headphones in place, gum-chewing[...]
