Tag: Art

Cultural Vandalism – The destruction of priceless monuments by ISIS / ISIL

One of my most popular blog posts that I have ever written was on the ongoing  destruction of historic Mecca by Saudi Arabia and whilst one day soon I hope to write more on the topic, I thought for now it was important to write about some of the destruction of priceless artifacts that is… Continue reading Cultural Vandalism – The destruction of priceless monuments by ISIS / ISIL

A Guided Tour Inside The Houses Of Parliament

The last year or so I have probably visited Parliament a dozen times but always from the outside.  I’ve been in before when I was about 10 years and remember bits and pieces of the interior and especially inside the famous clock tower of Big Ben and the unusual scenario of being deafened by the… Continue reading A Guided Tour Inside The Houses Of Parliament

The Death of the music scene in London

I’ve written before on the various building and engineering projects that are transforming many cities in Britain and London in particularly.  In the grand scheme of things, many of these obviously offer huge improvements bringing 20th and often 19th century infrastructure into the new millennia.  However increasingly it is becoming obvious that all is not… Continue reading The Death of the music scene in London

Mr Turner, the movie and the man.

I’m always a big fan of the longer movie.  I enjoy getting into a story I can get my teeth into and that doesn’t necessarily revolve around car chases and fast cutting shooting and fighting.  A small part of me also thinks that with the high prices at the cinema, that longer films give me… Continue reading Mr Turner, the movie and the man.

A spring time walk through The Shire

With it being a long bank holiday weekend in the U.K. and horror of horrors, warm sunny weather, I have been out and about. Sitting in the sun, walking down quiet lanes, smelling flowers, watching nature and visiting the odd country pub. We’ve seen horses, foxes, turkeys, chickens, rabbits, deer and about 20 species of… Continue reading A spring time walk through The Shire

The tragic genius of Vincent van Gogh

One of the things I was looking forward to when visiting Paris though was not the over-hyped Mona Lisa but the works of Vincent van Gogh in the Musee D’Orsay in Paris, one of the largest museums of modern art in the world. Van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter.  His work is nearly always… Continue reading The tragic genius of Vincent van Gogh

Visiting Montmatre, home of artists and Sacre Couer

So, we have just about reached the end of our short break in Paris.   To be honest I could stay here a lot longer.  There may be a few strange things about the place but overall I love it.  It’s relative compactness and spacious feeling pavements and public transport are a delight and its overwhelmingly… Continue reading Visiting Montmatre, home of artists and Sacre Couer

Another long days walk around beautiful Paris

We have been walking around 10 miles each day around Paris and on Friday we were blessed by sunny weather. It was by no means warm but if you could find somewhere out of the wind, it felt nice or at least it did under several layers. We haven’t yet got lost instead have been… Continue reading Another long days walk around beautiful Paris

The beautiful, magical Silver Swan Automaton at The Bowes Museum

Every now and then when you go travelling, you come across something out of the ordinary.  If you are very lucky, you might see something unique and quite amazing, the Silver Swan is such a sight. The Silver Swan Automaton is housed in the Bowes Museum, just outside the small but pretty market-town of Barnards… Continue reading The beautiful, magical Silver Swan Automaton at The Bowes Museum