Eating
Cruising From Malta – Part Four
Day 12 – 2nd Monday – Corfu As we had sailed from Dubrovnik in Croatia to Corfu which is Greek we have had to put the clock forward an hour overnight to Greek time which [more…]
Italy
Arts
A Taster Lesson in Italian
I am trying to learn Italian. Mia Nonna was Italian from Florence and I am going to the Italian Riviera for my main holiday this June. I can make a reasonable fist of reading simple [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary – Week Two Hundred and Two
Monday Good morning everyone from an extremely quiet London on this bank holiday Monday. I can normally hear lots of traffic noise and this morning there is hardly any. There is only a skeleton staff [more…]
20th Century
The Violent End of Mussolini – Operation Oak, Part Two
The gliders wallowed behind their Heinkel 111 tug aircraft in the thin, turbulent air above the mountains. The lead aircraft sighted the long mountain ridge and the Gran Sasso Mountain behind it, gave the order [more…]
20th Century
The Fall of Mussolini – Operation Oak, Part One
In the summer of 1943, the terrible reality of total war was the closest wolf to the Italian population’s sledge. Mussolini’s grandiose plans for a new Roman Empire that would stretch across Southern Europe and [more…]
Arts
WG’s 21st Cruise, Part Four
Sunday June 18th – La Spezia – Italy I think dawn breaking must have woken me this morning. It was about 06:15 and we were entering La Spezia harbour. This is a first visit here [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – Some Impressions
Having spent a while researching the Desert War series, it is only fair to leave you my impressions based on the many thing that have passed before my eyes. It takes a while to weed [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – May 1943
With the Axis occupying a smaller and smaller piece of real estate in Tunisia this was the month they would have to surrender, 291,000 of them. There was no way to supply them and no [more…]
21st Century
Detour To The Eternal City
We interrupt my grandparents’ 1950s Continental road trip to bring Puffins a contemporary photo montage just arrived via that modern-day family photo album that is Instant Messenger. Inspired by childhood dinner table tall tales of [more…]