One of the first conditions of happiness is the link between Man and Blog shall not be broken                                            - Leo Tolstoy –Another misquote methinks (Ed)Despite being told that the weather will improve today, it looks like it is going to be another trip inside a deep freeze! Domestic freezers should not exceed a certain temperature or else the food can possibly re...

One can know a man from his blog, and if you like a man's blog before you know anything of him, you may confidently say he is a good man. - Fyodor Dostoevsky –This may be a misquote (Ed.)Now I know why it doesn't get dark until after 6pm despite being in the middle of winter. At 9 o’clock in the morning the sun was only starting to peep over the horizon.We had booked a walking tour this morning. These are normally good value for money&...

Own only what you can carry with you; know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag   - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – I always seem to have a torrid night when I am away from home and know I have to get up at the crack of dawn for onward travel. I find I am constantly checking my alarm clock. Last night was no exception. It feels like I have been awake half the night. I'm sure I managed to doze off at some stage bu...

It all started quite innocently one Saturday evening 5 months ago. We had made ourselves comfortable on the sofa in front of the TV. The DVD was titled 'Gulag'; a 1985 cold war thriller about a sportsman turned journalist who was sent to cover the athletics at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. He is framed and forced to admit spying for the US. Half way through the movie, Roisin turned to me and said, "I wouldn’t mind going there."“Where?” I ...