Tag Archives: arts and crafts Olympic fever has gripped the television-watching-world. As I write this, the games are well into their second week and the people of the United Kingdom seem to have thrown themselves behind their Olympic athletes. Two weeks before the games started, however, the people I talked to in London were grumbling about the inconveniences the games were causing […]  Sukhothai, the UNESCO listed collection of Thai ruins that was, in the 13th and 14th centuries, the capital of the Sukhothai kingdom, is a remarkable place. Inside the ancient walls are the remains of the old royal palace and twenty-six temples. What is even more remarkable, however, is the beauty to be found outside the walls. Beyond the northern walls […]  Masks and marionettes… In the street stalls and in the shops: elaborately sequinned and feathered masks of all sizes and shapes, and Pinocchio marionettes, pencils, pictures and paraphernalia. Apparently, Florence was the birth- and resting-place of Carlo Lorenzini (1826 – 1890), who (as Carlo Collodi) wrote the original stories of the woodcarver Geppetto and the marionette he crafted and […]  Our travels can be a little haphazard sometimes. We had work and family business in England, so we decided to go walking in the south-west of Ireland. (More about that soon.) Once I had booked our walking trip, I contacted an old friend and colleague from Thailand who had moved back to Ireland some years […]  “Eating, sleeping and shopping.” If you ask a Thai to name the country’s three favourite pastimes, this is what they will tell you. “Chatting” (คุยกันเล่น) comes a close fourth. As a general rule, Thai people value relaxing and having a good time. I was reminded of this on our recent visit to Koh Samui. When […] |
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