In Carinthia

 Activities, History, Personal blog, Photography  No Responses »
May 152013
 
In Carinthia

The words that make up this post were initially written in more or less one go, but ended up far longer than anyone would to spend staring at a computer screen. So I’ve taken the material that initially went into the post and broken it into several pieces. Each one deals with some different bits of what I’ve learned about Slovenia and Austria on my trip. Later posts will get onto Geoff’s (my grandpa’s) story, but first I’m going to try and set the scene for what was happening in the area where he was held. History and the past are not the same thing. Doing history is not about Read full post >>

Wobbles

 Activities, Personal blog  No Responses »
Mar 162011
 
Wobbles

I’m not sure why I’ve been away for so long.  I’d say I haven’t had time, but you can always make time for things when you’re motivated, so let’s just say I haven’t had the motivation to blog for a while.  Things have certainly been busy, especially at the weekends; since the start of February every weekend has been taken up: I’ve had the family visiting and went to an excellent gig with my sister, two weekend conferences in the UK, and friends visiting Brussels for the last two weekends.  Things have felt as if they are starting to settle in with work, as well; the report I’ve been writing Read full post >>

Spurostar

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Dec 062010
 
Spurostar

It’s probably only fair to turn a little bit of wrath towards Eurostar.  Now I’m not the sort to get frustrated by the snow.  We can’t do anything about it, after all, and let’s face it, we don’t get or need that much practice at it.  So I don’t mind if transport grinds to a halt, and I quite appreciate a bit of snow and ice, as long as I don’t fall over too often.  No, last Friday was occasioned by the snow, but let’s not let that be an excuse for a simple case of fuckwitted management.  Eurostar phone man told me it was first come, first served for Read full post >>

Richard Francis Burton

 History, Personal blog  No Responses »
Aug 282010
 
Richard Francis Burton

One thing I forgot to mention before was something I have been reading: “First Footsteps in East Africa” by the Victorian explorer, Richard Francis Burton, whose exploits in making the hajj to Mecca and exploring Muslim East Africa in disguise both fascinated and scandalised Victorian England.  The book is an account of his overland voyage to Harar in 1854-55, and makes fascinating reading.  Burton was famous for his knowledge of many languages and his deep knowledge of Muslim and Hindu culture, and he took great personal risks to make his voyages.  He is a fantastic travel writer, observant and descriptive, and on some level seems to have been quite sympathetic Read full post >>

Leaving Ethiopia

 Activities, Personal blog, Quakerism  No Responses »
Aug 242010
 
Leaving Ethiopia

So, it’s nearly time for me to go home.  I’m on the midnight plane from Bole airport tonight, and arriving back in London in time for breakfast tomorrow.  It hardly seems like a month since I got here. I spent a good two days after my last post from Harar.  On Saturday I mostly slept, to recover from my chat-induced insomnia, and then on waking, walked around the market with a couple of French giants (I exaggerate not – 2m5cm and 2m10cm, or 6’8″ and 6’10″), who met each other in Lalibela and have been travelling around Ethiopia together, scaring the living crap out of small children.  On the minibus from Harar on Read full post >>

Harar: city of nutters

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Aug 212010
 
Harar: city of nutters

Harar is very different to the other parts of Ethiopia that I have visited. It is very much a Muslim city, and governed itself under its own Emir until Menelik II defeated the last Emir, Abdullahi, in the 1880s, as part of his campaign to expand and consolidate the Ethiopian empire. Menelik installed Ras Mekonnen, his close friend, to govern the city, and his son, Tefari Mekonnen, was born here and later inherited his Ras (prince) title and became Ethiopia’s last Emperor, Haile Selassie I. The guidebook describes it as Islam’s fourth-holiest city, after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, and if this is widely accepted then it is yet another thing Read full post >>

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