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Ann Shaw
I am an artist/writer. In 1997 I gave up journalism to Glasgow School of Art as a mature student.Titchtwitter
Travel Blog Posts
October 25th 2012
Armed with our Rough Guide to Sicily we make our way to Cataniain the south. Our hearts may be young but we belong to the Grey Pound brigade enjoying a late SKI holiday (spending our kids inheritance), and we have no intention of roughing it, and we are booked into the city’s only four-star hotel. We are alarmed though at the number of abandoned buildings we pass en route. Our guidebook describes Catania as lively and vibrant. That's code, as far as we are concerned, for danger: you do not walk the streets at night. The Excelsior hotel does not disappoint. It’s modern, and well appointed. Most of the guests are Japanese businessmen and we appear to be the only British people there. Our bedroom looks towards Mount Etna, now bathed in early evening light. The ... read more
August 15th 2011
Tallinn - City of Surprises I try to pay the trolley driver for my ticket and he brushes me aside. Later I learn that over as certain age travel free on public transport in Tallinn irrespective of where they come from. This is just one of many surprises about this best kept medieval city on the Baltic coast . In 1997 The Old Town became a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. The taxis are another. Although there is an airport bus we opt for a taxi, not wanting to repeat our experience in Naples when we found ourselves deposited late at night in the city centre laden with luggage, not speaking the language and surrounded by some very shifty characters and mountains of rubbish. We were lucky not to be robbed (that came later in ... read more
February 5th 2011
On the night flight home we ask ourselves the question again: are we cruise material? We loved the Caribbean and a cruise is a fast way of getting to see a lot of places in a short time. But it would have been good to have had a more cultural ambience on the ship, even some basic lectures on the history of each island before we visited them. But clearly Thomson Holidays know their market. This is a middle price range cruise and most folk just want food, shopping and a bit of sunshine. And that is the Thomson Dream. Nothing wrong with that. ... read more
February 4th 2011
Bridgetown, Barbados Our last day and we decide on one final coach trip. Well, it's better than sitting around on the ship in our trravelling clothes for a couple of hours. Or so we thought. We do the obligatory tour of the island, which doesn’t take up much time since it is only 21 miles by 14 miles. The highlight is a few hours spent at Sunbury House, the former palatial home of a sugar plantation owner and now a museum. Here for the first time we get to see the murky history behind these islands, the slave trade on which the wealth of so many countries, including our own, participated. It all makes very uncomfortable reading. How white men treated their slaves worse than their animals, as mere cogs in their money - spinning machines. ... read more
February 3rd 2011
St Lucia This is one island where we regret not having a longer stay for it is rightly labelled one of the prettiest in the Caribbean. We do not have the time to try out the treetop canopy adventure where you swing through the rainforest on zip lines including for those of a less adventurous disposition in a gondola. Instead we head for the beach taking a taxi from the port to Rodney beach. After all how can we have spend two weeks in the Caribbean without at least spending a few hours lying on a beach? Of course within an hour we are bored. The sea looks tempting and we are puzzled by the lack of people in it. That’s when we make the discovery of a two-foot shelf, result of hurricane damage, which ... read more
Antigua- swimming with stingrays
Published: April 4th 2011Central America Caribbean » Antigua & Barbuda » Antigua » St John's
February 2nd 2011
Antigua - St.John's - Slipping on my life jacket I feel like an old hand at swimming with stingrays. Gone are the fears of the first time. I descend the narrow metal ladder into the warm waters of the Caribbean and swim away out to the sandbank where the stingrays are gathered. We get to touch and play with them and of course the inevitable photograph and video too. So confident am I that I take to feeding them with prawns from the bucket held aloft by one young Caribbean. I hear him say something about keeping the prawn vertical but do not hear the second part:" keep your thumb hidden". A stingray grabs my thumb with its mini saw-like teeth. I squeal. And pull. My thumb is released instantly. On return to the shore we ... read more
British Virgin Islands
Published: April 4th 2011Central America Caribbean » British Virgin Islands » Tortola
February 1st 2011
British Virgin Island Richard Branson owns an island here. We see it in the distance. I had been warned that after a few days cruising one island would begin to look like another. So far this has not been true. Each one had their own individual characteristics. Perhaps by the time we arrive at Tortola coupled with the speed at which we move from island to island and limited amount of time on each it is inevitable that one begins to blend into another. This is a shame because they all have their own attractions and individuality depending on who colonized them. We decide to do our own thing and set off to explore Tortola on foot. For the first time we begin to feel like travellers instead of tourists and it is a welcome relief. ... read more
January 31st 2011
We are about to step into one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean, if not the world, and we are advised not to eat or drink anything ashore. The brochure says:" If its untouched Caribbean you're after, look no further." Yes it is extremely beautiful and the people very friendly but one can't help feeling uncomfortable confronted by such poverty having just left our luxury cruise liner. We swim in the El Limon waterfall. To get to it we have to navigate a tricky path followed by some giant stepping-stones. One over-endowed woman cant make the jump across and sits down on a stone thus blocking the way for the rest of us. We have to navigate around her. No matter we all make it in the end and the water is refreshing after the ... read more
January 30th 2011
Day at sea. I have a choice of bingo, attending a lecture on shopping or another on folding napkins. Decide to give them all a skip. Retreat to a windy open deck with my ipad and read Stephen Fry's new e-book. There's another Captain's dinner. This time we know to skip the cocktail party (dead boring) and go in late for the meal. We still have to shake hands with the Captain. We offer him our commiserations. He shrugs, smiles and says it is all part of the job. This must be how the Queen must feel. Discover an unexpected problem faced by our cabin staff. They have difficulty getting into some rooms to clean them, those occupied by the physically challenged because they spend most of their time in bed , only getting up to ... read more
January 29th 2011
This is a look inside Ernest Hemingway's Observatory/writing tower. Its full of books, paintings, giant telescope and a big counch. All that's missing are the cigars and alcohol.... read more
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