Author Archives: sheg4184

Bella Sardegna

My head for history always gets vertigo when going back in time more than three or four hundred years. So, imagine how dizzy I am feeling today, standing before the ruins of a Nuragic village in the middle of Sardinia, … Continue reading

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Cooking in Morocco

Have you ever tried cooking Moroccan food? Perhaps you have that beautiful cookbook by Claudia Roden, Arabesque: Sumptuous Food from Morocco that I am just about to add to my cookbook collection? In the meantime, I do have an interesting … Continue reading

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Watch Out for Donkeys!

Fez. A scrabble score of forty five on a triple word score. A city in Morocco. Or a red cap with a black tassel worn in Turkey, named for the crimson dye that is made in the city of Fez. … Continue reading

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Marrakech Madness

We arrived in Morocco almost a week ago. Imagining a place of exotic difference, we have found, in fact, many similarities to other places we have lived or visited. Of course the culture of coloured tiles and arched windows has … Continue reading

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Of Tarts & Tiles, Tuk-Tuks & Trams

Three wonderful weeks in Portugal, and a common theme or two has begun to emerge. We have spent our time very merrily in Porto and Lisbon. Both towns are densely populated with people and churches, and incredibly steep. There are … Continue reading

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Tasting Port in Porto

On the banks of the Douro River, a stone’s throw from the sea, snuggles a city of terracotta roof tiles atop narrow houses, their facades decorated in coloured tiles. Clustered tightly together, they stagger unsteadily up winding cobbled lanes that … Continue reading

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Designer Dining

On the flight to London, I watched a movie starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, and Ralph Fiennes reprising his role as Voldemort but in chef’s attire. Touted as a sinister dark comedy, The Menu explores the philosophies of top-tier chefs … Continue reading

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A Final Glimpse of Tasmania, Past, Present and Bucolic

‘Scrimshaw.’ My favourite new word for the week. What is scrimshaw? A character from Harry Potter perhaps? No, not quite. That was Rufus Scrimgeour, I believe. Scrimshaw is, in fact, the art of engraving images on objects made from whale … Continue reading

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The Joy of Cheese

“Dessert without cheese is like a beauty with only one eye” ~ Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin When we first visited Tasmania, back in the late eighties, it was known as a destination for serious hikers, those keen to explore the wilderness … Continue reading

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‘A Pack of Thieves’

Port Arthur. Today, it is an hour and a half’s drive from the pretty, waterside city of Hobart. Two hundred years ago, it was a day’s sailing from the decidedly seedy and often violent waterfront of Hobart Town, which had … Continue reading

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