Africa, my tough love

    Welcome to Africa. I felt exhilarated but displaced. For the first time in many years of travelling, I felt like I didn’t plan it right, like I landed in the wrong destination with a suitcase meant for another trip. I didn’t expect such an unpredictable place. I missed the safety of knowing what…

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Escape the bollito in the room of surprises

I am saving them jealously. Old copies of the National Geographic magazine from 1899 and 1900, found when I was around 12 years old while rummaging in what used to be my favourite room in our big family country home. A dusty windowless store room, with old wooden cabinets packed full of books, letters and…

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A trip to the last rays of summer

  I just returned from a week in the South of France and Piedmont to see my family. It’s been a great occasion to catch up with loved ones and soak in the last heat of summer, and a fortunate choice for a Bank holiday which would have been quite wet if spent in London.      …

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