Monthly Archives: January 2020 “Funiculì, Funiculà!” I find it impossible not to sing the popular Neapolitan tune – at least in my head – whenever I ride a funicular railway. The song was composed in 1880 to commemorate the then-new funicular track up Mount Vesuvius. Cable railway systems, designed for steep slopes, have been in use since the 1820s […]  Time lost all meaning for me in Egypt. The 63 tombs in the Valley of the Kings might indeed be over a thousand years younger than the magnificent Pyramids of the Old Kingdoms at Giza (see: Stories in Ancient Stone), but even the graffiti defacing them is older than the buildings I grew up around! […]  Once upon a time, our waters were sapphire blue, emerald green, and foaming diamond white. Once upon a time, our sands were pristine shades of white and yellow. Once upon a time, we could walk among the she-oaks, the wattle, the Banksia, and the eucalypts. Once upon a time … before our spectacular conflagrations razed communities, […]  Swayambhunath, also known as the Monkey Temple, is one of the most sacred religious sites in Kathmandu and is one of the seven monuments that contribute cultural heritage to the UNESCO-listed Kathmandu Valley. This stupa is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal, dating back to about the beginning of the 5th century CE. For Buddhist Newars, it is the most […]  Another year has rolled around… I normally head for the fresh air of the Alpine slopes this time of year, but we spent this New Year’s Eve at home blanketed in smoke, with out-of-control fires raging on three sides. The roads to the mountains were unsafe, and there is no fresh air to be had […] |
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