The Rio+20 conference (Conference on Sustainable Development, 20 – 22 June) will have stiff competition on the news agenda this summer, but we must still pay it close attention, even if the Prime Minister of the U.K.’s “greenest government ever” isn’t attending. I was at a debate about where we are, 20 years on from… Continue reading
Sobers at Swansea: how I saw the six sixes over
While I can’t remember in detail any of the individual strokes, and you can see it all on YouTube anyway, I do recall the sense of incredulity when we realised we had just seen a piece of cricketing perfection, a feat never accomplished before in the entire history of the game. The reaction was strangely… Continue reading →
Peddling the good news from Ghent
Let’s celebrate the Belgian city of Ghent “transformed from a city with high levels of traffic congestion to a clean, tranquil and safe cycling city, where two wheels take priority over four” according to the judges in the inaugural Eurostar Ashden Award for Sustainable Travel, which announced its winners this week (May 31, 2012). “One… Continue reading →
Lazy days on Izmir’s broad boulevards
On a wide bay under a circuit of high hills half way down Turkey’s west coast is a big city with a long history. Today Izmir is one of the fastest growing cruise ship ports of call on the Aegean, and an excellent base for excursions to nearby Ephesus and Pergamon. I spent some lazy… Continue reading →
Travel site promises “transparent” online holiday research
One angry lady put me off using the traditional travel review sites. She emailed some family members of mine to take issue with the price of an all-inclusive package they were proposing in a holday business they run. It was too expensive, said Ms Furious, and she would be posting her annoyance on the site. She… Continue reading →
The princes’ falcon, hunting free above an English town
There is a deadly hunter roaming free in a normally peaceful market town in southern England. It’s as if a tiger had taken up residence in an Indian town, albeit one that didn’t threaten people. I heard it recently, giving a harsh, high, demonic call, then saw it above my head, on a busy Saturday… Continue reading →