Sheer, luxurious, family-holiday-heaven in a beautiful spot in Pembrokeshire. That’s how I would describe Clydey Cottages. The phrase ‘rural idyll’ was invented for it. We spent a wonderful week there with our two young sons in August 2013 and wished we’d spent two. They really have thought of everything – dreamy, chocolate-box cottages with every…
“Gibraltarians have come into their own” – my article in the New Statesman.
My favourite meal as a child growing up in Gibraltar was “tortilla de patatas” (Spanish, potato omelette) with a dollop of tomato ketchup and baked beans. As an adult I’m still partial to this curious, Anglo-Spanish, culinary combination, which perfectly encapsulates the hybrid nature of the Gibraltarians. Fiercely British with a strong, Mediterranean influence, all…
Musical legacy
It’s amazing how a piece of music can move you to tears, give you goose-bumps. I came across this clip of the stunningly beautiful “Ave Maria” written by the late, Gibraltarian guitarist and composer, William Gomez, conducted by another supremely talented Gibraltarian, conductor Karel Chichon. This was performed by the Latvian soprano, Elina Garanca at…
Keep the beat, improve your language skills
Here’s an interesting article I’m reproducing here, courtesy of the BBC. Moving in time to a steady beat is closely linked to better language skills, a study suggests. People who performed better on rhythmic tests also showed enhanced neural responses to speech sounds. The researchers suggest that practising music could improve other skills, particularly speech….
In my dreams
I wish the British Prime Minister, David Cameron took the same stance with the Spanish Prime Minister over Gibraltar! http://youtu.be/D6ouyeycWk8
Everyone lost and saved
The four words said it all. They were on a card stuck to the back of the runner in front of me. “I am running the Race for Life for…everyone lost and saved.” There were many similar messages on the backs of the thousands who gathered at Epsom Downs on this gloriously sunny and warm, Sunday…
Model train rides
There’s a quiet corner of the Surrey countryside that is forever England. You wouldn’t believe it but through an unprepossessing railway arch in Leatherhead, lies the world of the model steam railway. On 12 days a year this 9-acre site is open to the public for train rides run by the Surrey Society of Model Engineers (SSME.) …
The Iron Lady
So much has been written about her – during her life and since her death. Baroness Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher, Maggie Thatcher, the Iron Lady, whatever your preferred moniker, the mere mention of her name invariably got a reaction. I deliberately chose not to write about her during the immediate aftermath of her passing, for fear the…
Beauty and the beholder
One of the Mums at my son’s school was a model. Everything she wears on the school run, no matter how ordinary, looks fantastic on her. Always. Don’t even think of competing in the “school run catwalk” I tell myself, she will always be, quite literally, head and shoulders above the rest. I then play…
Here to serve
I was so taken aback by his words they made me stop suddenly. “We’re here to serve” said the head of my son’s kindergarten, after I’d asked to change one of his weekly sessions from Thursdays to Wednesdays. It was a simple request, admittedly, but I felt some trepidation at the time of asking. Why?…