History
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Rose Hall: Great House Of Horrors
As we turn off the main A1 and climb the driveway towards the grand house, we only have a small inkling of the lessons in history we are about to receive. But before we start on the startling and dramatic story of Rose Hall, a brief partial history of Jamaica is necessary. The earliest known inhabitants of this island were the Taino from South America who arrived on these shores in the 8th century. By the time Columbus arrived, first in 1494 and more significantly in 1502, it is estimated that the Taino population had reached around 100,000. It was the Spanish who first started importing African slaves, yet they…
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The Good, The Bad And The Silly: Adventures Around Falmouth
Is it just me or are wind chimes slightly sinister? Does the sound make you picture a deranged axeman who grins inanely to the tinkling sound as he brutally removes the head and limbs of a victim? No? Must be just me then… The sea breeze here in Falmouth is enough to keep the airbnb chimes doing what they do but not enough to deter the unseen, biting insects from doing what they do too. If Michaela isn’t dabbing cream or gel on herself then she’s scratching around the little red mounds which are appearing everywhere; these little perishers have even put a few marks on my flesh, an area…
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To The North Coast: Lime Tree To Port Antonio
Driving Jamaica is very heavy on concentration levels, mainly because the roads are in such appalling condition. Giant potholes, boulders in the road, piles of builders’ rubble, sudden narrowing of road to single line traffic…main roads which suddenly hit an unmade stretch without warning. It’s all here. You have to keep your eyes on the road surface as well as the other vehicles for every inch of every journey. Consequently it’s a long slow drive from Mavis Bank to our next destination at Port Antonio on the north coast, a drive which involves climbing right over the top of the mountain range before descending through sumptuous green valleys alongside the…
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Kingston: Heroes And Thankfully No Villains
Our walk out from the comfortable surroundings of the Liguanea Club each morning takes us across Emancipation Park with its manicured gardens and one-way jogging circuit where copper coloured doves peck among the benches and resting gentlemen call out a greeting, or a welcome to Jamaica, as we walk by. This park is part of the land which was gifted to the Government by the original and exclusive Liguanea Club as the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew burgeoned in size when merchants and workers alike sought better working and living conditions. Much of the area of what is now known as New Kingston sits on the Liguanea Plain which…
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Kingston & Bob Marley: The Jamaica Tour Begins
Times were when the Liguanea Club was a preserve of the privileged and the wealthy, stretching across 35 acres of prime Kingston territory and providing a sporting facility second to none in Jamaica, financially out of bounds to the vast majority of the population. Now, reduced in size but still with an impressive array of facilities for tennis, squash and swimming, it’s a relaxing yet relatively inexpensive place to stay with its wood panelled corridors echoing to the sound of visitors’ footsteps. It’s kind of a sports club with bedrooms. There is an undeniable feel of bygone colonial splendour when taking Jamaican breakfast on the terrace at Liguanea as the…
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Mystique & Magic In Avalon
The alarm clock is sounding, dragging me out of the vivid dreams which have no doubt been triggered by the need to rise early. Funny, for most of my working life a 5:10 alarm after about five hours’ sleep was the norm for 25 years or more – now, after three years of retirement, 6:30 feels like early morning and there is a glue holding my eyelids in place. Cold water on the face, caffeine in the gut, and we’re off. We’re up and about for a reason, not only are we travelling down to our beloved Cornwall for a week, but we’re detouring en route to Glastonbury, just over…
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Concluding Rome & Heading Home
The sun continues to shine from cloudless skies – as we enter the second half of October and near the end of this short Italian sojourn, temperatures of up to 29 degrees surprise and delight us. We had hoped for sunshine but this warmth has been a big bonus, so perfect for exploring the two wonderful cities of Bologna and Rome. Tucked into the tight streets between the Trevi fountain and Piazza Navona, The Pantheon is a remarkable and beautiful building, boasting the widest masonry dome in Europe which in turn houses the oculus through which sunlight cascades in spectacular shafts. The whole place is fabulous. The walls are adorned…
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Stories And Histories: More Days In Rome
On our previous travels we have visited the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz in Krakow and walked through the chilling and horrific histories at Auschwitz and Birkenau, wandered through the former ghettoes of Venice, Thessaloniki and others, visited Jewish museums in several cities as well as Ann Frank’s House in Amsterdam, learning again and again of the bigoted persecution of people of that faith. Even so, there is a different element to Rome’s equivalent, the former ghetto now known as Communita Ebraico, knowing that creation of this particular ghetto took place under the watchful eye and direct personal instruction of the Pope, who ensured that, as with all other ghettoes, the…
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Piazzas, Porticos & Pasta: Notes From Bologna
Bologna’s famous porticos are immediately evident even as we make our way from the railway station to our apartment close to the heart of the city – not surprising given just how far they extend through the city streets. Originally constructed from wood to provide additional display areas for shopkeepers, these attractive extensions now take on a variety of forms: sweeping brickwork arches, concrete and steel squares, segmented tunnels. Handily providing protection from both the summer sun and the winter rain, these porticos stretch improbably for nearly 25 miles around Bologna’s streets, giving it something of a unique look. Well certainly unusual even if not unique. Bologna enjoys a reputation…
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Tales From American Bars: Barstow CA
We could have guessed that Barstow was going to be an experience. Just approaching the town down the wide, sloping highway gives a sense of being somewhere different, as the sun baked town creeps outwards to fill the shallow basin in the otherwise barren desert. From Barstow it’s many miles to anywhere, its nearest neighbours being a long drive away across the unforgiving desert which stretches to the horizon in every direction. Heat hazes shimmer above the asphalt and the early evening sun, still blistering and intense, creates dazzling reflections in windows and windshields. The broad main highway sprouts giant signs – McDonalds, Starbucks, Home Depot, Chevrolet and no win…
