It’s finally springtime in London. Joggers and dog walkers are multiplying; people walk down the pavement with sunglasses and smiling faces. This morning I am sitting at a desk in the new…
Browsing Category
Europe
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“The coffee is different in Campania…” Marianna winces slightly as she sips her espresso. I’m sitting around a cluster of narrow wooden tables with a group of Italians, all who hail…
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“Ooh, look! A partridge!” “… A pheasant, you mean?” Gill looked at me quizzically from the driver’s seat. On the grassy kerb beside my window, the long-tail-feathered bird twitched his bright…
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Arriving in Santiago de Compostela didn’t feel the way I expected. The Spaniards I had been walking with for the last seven days had tears in their eyes as we walked through…
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Croatia France Middle East Personal Syria VolunteeringFrom Syria to Calais: Nine Years of Changing Perspectives
In the summer of 2007 I travelled to Syria. Our group were on a trip around the Middle East when we crossed over the Jordanian border to arrive in the ancient walled city of…
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“Are there any good pubs on Whitstable beach?” The train conductor mutters something indecipherable as he hands a ticket back to the man asking questions. I’ve spent the last half hour…
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I was nervous. Standing awkwardly on a patch of sloping mud below a grassy sand dune, I stared down at my hefty walking boots half covered by waterproof trousers. Opposite me…
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There is French dirt from the Calais camps coating my clothes. Dust from the warehouse blurring the lenses of my glasses. The cracks in my hands are sore and dried out, and…
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They say the Camino brings out the best in people. I didn’t believe them at first, but it’s true. Becoming a pilgrim means talking to, befriending and helping out others just for…
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Imagine a city covered in snow. It sits on ladders and lamp posts, railings and rooftops, car windscreens and tree branches: inches thick, untouched and pure white. The snow quietens the streets. Vehicles…