10 Days in Myanmar | Travel Diary
Update: At present, FCDO advises against all travel to parts of Myanmar (Burma). I left Hong Kong early in the morning, catching the A11 to the airport and waving goodbye to Rob out of the window. I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach again, like this trip was both a brilliant and terrible idea. […]
Here I Am Without a Cello
This summer I worked with an eighteen-year-old Etonian. He spoke of ‘bumping into’ David Cameron at chapel, meeting Elton John, as well as hobnobbing with Damian Lewis and Tom Hiddleston at alumna events. He wore the uniform of penguin tailcoats to school every day. Dubbed as one of the best young musicians in the country, […]
10 words that sound better in Italian
Remember when I said I was going to spend the summer improving my Italian so that I’d leave bella Italia near-fluent by September? Yeah, that didn’t happen. But I have been working on it, completing my daily tasks on Duolingo, eavesdropping on my students when they think I don’t understand what they’re saying, observing conversations […]
How to Gelato | An Italian Gelato Guide
I set myself three challenges this summer in Italy: to improve my Italian (errr… I’ll myself a generous 5/10 for that one), to see Florence (tick!) and to discover the Holy Grail of Italian cuisine – the ultimate gelato.
Europe should be a dream | Brexit abroad
‘Europe should be a dream.’ He was a professor at the University of Padua. He had lived all over the world. He brewed his own prosecco, and it tasted delicious. He was Italian. He had the words ‘Will you marry me?’ tattooed onto his chest. That was how he proposed to his now-fiancé.
Sometimes to go forward you have to go back | Italy 2016
What am I doing? It was a question that had fluttered into my mind on the bus on the way to the airport, then on the plane to Doha, then on the second plane to Milan, upon landing at 6AM Italian time, and finally when I was ripped off at a currency conversion bureau at […]
My Ultimate Travel Playlist [Video]
There are some songs that just hit you in the right spot at the right time. Whether I’m taking road trip, packing a suitcase, stuck on a long train journey or just waiting in the departure lounge for a flight, this is the playlist that I always turn to.
Happy Paddlers : Dragon Boat Races 2016
There is nothing like a dragon boat race. The roar of the paddlers calling time, the drummer, the pounding of paddles pulling through the water, an undulating dragon skimming across the top of the ocean…
What’s the Beef with Kobe? 8 Things to See & Do
Is there anything to see and do in Kobe that doesn’t involve its famous, delicious beef? Essentially, where’s the beef in Kobe? Well, it turns out that beef isn’t Kobe’s only cash cow. There’s a lot more to see in Kobe to beef up your trip and give you enough to do until the cows come home…
An Osaka day, told through the medium of, Japanese haiku
What better way to start a Japan trip than with an Osaka day, as told through the medium of, Japanese haiku? (Yes, those commas are intentional – it’s a haiku.) Here is a list of things to do in Osaka, squeezed into Japan’s famous three-line poetry.