The east coast of Spain, from Barcelona on down, is a built-up, condo-filled, real-estate obsessed, English/German/Dutch-speaking line-up of beach resorts. It started in the mid-‘Sixties already, when northern Europeans began to move here to avoid their chilly winters and take advantage of the much cheaper cost of living in Spain, dictator Franco or not. More … Continue reading Living in the mountains of southern Andalusia
It’s the first of November, the time has come to say my sad goodbyes to the Languedoc, and into Spain I go. I decide to cross the Pyrennées via Andorra because I’m curious to see that historical oddity, that tiny independent country wedged between France and Spain. It’s a Principality, but there’s no royalty: it’s … Continue reading Living in the wild Sierras of Valencia Province
The wine, the Wine!I did some hands-on wine research while I was living in the Languedoc of course, how could you not when you’re surrounded by vineyards that are such an essential part of the landscape and the culture? It’s the third week in September in the Corbières area north of the Pyrenées, and the … Continue reading The Wine of Languedoc
The Languedoc of France: a glorious area with a complicated, layered history of populations and politics: Romans, Visigoths, Occitanians and Catalans, Cathars, local Lords, Bishops of Rome and Kings of France. It’s situated to the west of the better-known Provence: less populated, less chi-chi, now almost completely wine-oriented with its many ‘working villages’ nestled amongst … Continue reading Living in the Languedoc
So here I am, in southern France, at the end of August in my little rented house in Taurize, in the Corbières region of the Languedoc. Let me look at the map and trace the many kilometres I’ve driven since I started the journey on July 13th in Amsterdam.Here I go south, via the Delta … Continue reading In France, with Wings and Wheels
Here’s a row of young men of proud, slender stature and dark, refined features, their faces tattooed and painted, surrounded by elaborately braided hairdos. They wear variously blue-checkered long tunics, their pant legs edged with embroidered graphics. They carry a long shephard’s stick over one shoulder, display layers of beaded necklaces and other multi-coloured decorations … Continue reading With the Wodaabe nomads in southern Chad
Some people emphatically state ‘I can’t draw’ and that’s mainly because, they say, they ‘couldn’t draw a straight line.’ But that’s good, I respond, straight lines are for architects! For quick sketching, they’re unnecessary and possibly boring, too; my sketched buildings would never pass the engineering test. They tend to look either rickety or keeled … Continue reading Teachers & Influencers in Drawing #4: Paul Hogarth
Nobody wears a Covid mask in the Netherlands. Here we go again, with that famous adage of the Dutch: Rules are there only to be broken. Except on public transit, where they can’t get away with it. Masks are obligatory but even here they’re not always worn ‘correctly.’ They’re diligent about checking your vaccination credentials … Continue reading Visiting The Netherlands, autumn 2021: #2
I had forgotten how wet it is in the Netherlands. After a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19, I finally visited ‘my old sod’ again this fall. On a bike trip through the polders south of Amsterdam, I passed by the Vinkeveen lakes and was amazed to see the water come within inches of mowing level, … Continue reading Visiting The Netherlands, autumn 2021: #1
(This story was published in the Ormsby Review earlier this year, but by posting it again on this blog it means to celebrate the current Vancouver Jazz Festival which, due to the ongoing crowd restrictions and border closures, will still largely be streamed online, spotlighting our best local musicians instead of international stars. The story … Continue reading Readers of History, and all that Jazz
