Poltergeist..

As we drove through the imposing gates into the expansive estate, passing a glassy lake, I could not help thinking that it was a perfect setting for staging murder mysteries or exploring the paranormal. In the hands of the Leslie family (who can trace their lineage to Attila the Hun) since the 1600s, Castle Leslie in Glaslough village, in Northern Ireland, sprawls over a thousand acres. When we entered the castle we were handed an...

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ASTERIX LAND

A Roman city in the Middle East? Really, visit Jerash in Jordan and you may think you are in the Roman Forum... Jerash is an hour’s drive from the capital city, Amman. It used to be called Gerasa, two thousand years ago and was part of a confederation of ten cities of the Roman Empire called the Decapolis. Jerash was buried under the sand and rubble for centuries after some devastating earthquakes (till it was discovered by a German traveler...

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INSIDE THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

 One of my most adventurous trips to date was to Finnish Lapland. Lapland is a vast region spanning northern parts of Finland, Russia, Sweden and Norway inside the Arctic Circle. The landscape here is too flat to be dramatic but it’s a beauteous barren, monochrome tundra expanse. There are more reindeer than people in Lapland!  We arrived in Rovaniemi, the unofficial capital of Finnish Lapland, 800 km from Helsinki....

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THE ARTIST

It was a wintery evening in Krakow, the medieval Polish city. Strains of ethereal music wafted in the air ..the moonlight sonata? I was bewitched. Street musicians are an integral part of the European experience. I have seen many talented, few less-than talented musicians play a variety of instruments and enchant the audience, over the years. Most are self taught, I presume. These simple musical moments and free concerts linger...

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