The Marshes Of Southern Iraq.
In the delta between the two great rivers of Mesopotamia is the triangle of marshlands that lie between the towns of Nasiriyah, Basra and Amara. In the central marshes, the…
Marshes of Southern Iraq
The boatman led us to the façade of a completed mudif, where two large reed columns flanked the entrance, narrowing at the top to form a roof. Tower-like structures acted…
The Ziggurat of Ur
In 1988 along with some colleagues and an archaeologist friend I travelled to the south of Iraq to see the ancient site of Ur. Part of the Ziggurat that stills…
Ziggurat of Ur
As we walked around the deserted area surrounding the Ziggurat of Ur the keeper pointed out the rough pebble- strewn depressions left by Woolley's excavation team. It was incredible to…
Iraqi Hospitality/ Visit to Mosul
We arrived in Mosul at daybreak and walking out under the grand façade of the station emerged into the streets of the third largest city in Iraq. Kurdish women were…
Mosul, Iraq
Myriam insisted we come to see her parents house which was built on land to one side of her grandparents house. There we saw the cloches where her father grew…
To Kurdistan for a Box of Apples
Having secured her parents permission to come on the journey Myriam stayed overnight in her grandparent’s house and came to wake us at cockcrow, highly excited about the coming journey.…
The Assyrians Part 1
In the age-old practice of dictators Saddam Hussein fashioned himself as the descendant of the mighty rulers who left indelible traces on the history of the world. The area surrounding…
The Assyrians Part 2
In spite of having reached such heights of military and artistic ability, it was not until the reign of Tiglath-Pileser (744-727BC.) that military reform transformed the Assyrian State into the…
Assyrian Reliefs
I first learned of the existence of the Assyrian reliefs when I lived in Iraq in the late 1980's and had the privilege of visiting the site of Nimrud, named…
Desert Escapade.
Before I was due to leave Baghdad in the spring of 1988 to take up work in Boston I gave a party in the apartment that I shared with some…
Babylon part 2
Educated by the nuns, I had always resented the supposed superiority of men implicit in male monotheism, reinforced by their every gesture of deference to the male sex. Once old…
Seafaring in the Ancient World
Long before recorded history, humans discovered various means of staying afloat and some of these early methods remain in use to this day. The progression from reed floats to reed…
Moving to Chevanceaux
It is just over six weeks since I arrived in Chevanceaux a small town of about one thousand inhabitants in Charente-Maritime and situated inland between the ports of La Rochelle…
Vivre a Chevanceaux
Il y a presque huit mois que j’ai vécu à Chevanceaux et je suis très contente d’être ici. J’habite dans une maison près de la ville avec mes deux chiens.…
Exploring Chevanceaux
I have been safely ensconced in my new home in Chevanceaux for the past seven weeks. The house has three double bedrooms for which I pay €850 a month. This…
Chevanceaux in Springtime
Springtime has been spectacular in Chevanceaux. Following a cold, windy and very wet winter the past couple of months have seen the renaissance of plant life, which connects us to…
Living in Chevanceaux for a year and a half.
I have been living here in Chevanceaux with my two dogs Fay and Bran for the past year and a half and overall it has been marvellous. There is a…
The Cave Art of the Dordogne
I have long wanted to see the Palaeolithic cave art in the Dordogne so I took a train journey to Sarlat and booked myself on a guided tour to see…
Letter From France
The world is once again in a state of chassis and I am lucky to be under so called lockdown in the countryside in France, a countryside that I have…
Lettre de la France
Encore une fois, le monde est dans un état de chaos et j'ai de la chance d'être confinée dans la campagne française, un pays que j'apprécie beaucoup depuis deux ans.…
What I did during lockdown in France.
I had just returned to France from Ireland in March 2020 having had a cataract removed when Covid 19 regulations kicked in and we were under lockdown. As I live…
St. Emilion
A trip to St. Emilion through vineyards that appear to go on into infinity is a very pleasant way of traveling and I would advise anyone journeying by car to…
Haute-Saintonge
Chevanceaux lies in the southern part of Haute-Saintonge one of the nine areas that make up the department of Charente-Maritime, the others being La Rochelle, Rochefort, Re, Marennes-Olerons, Royan, Aunis,…
A Taste of French Wine.
As I watched the vines grow in the nearby fields and observed the bunches of grapes begin to soak up the summer sun I returned to a nice little publication…
Damascus part 2
A little north of the Umayyad Mosque lies the Sayyida Ruqayya Mosque dedicated to the daughter of the martyred Hussein. Renovated in 1985 in the modern Persian style it is…
Imperial Palmyra
Prior to becoming a Roman Province in 64 BCE Palmyra is thought to have been organised in the Greek style with a Senate and an Assembly, her architecture reflected Greco-Parthian…
Tombs of Palmyra
I enjoyed a quick visit to the small museum where the young attendant attempted to give me an unwelcomed guided tour in rapid unintelligible English. Although he was smiling and…
Hama and a Crusader Castle
A local bus took me from Palmyra to Homs in transit to Hama from where I would visit Krac des Chevaliers, the most famous of Crusader castles. As I waited…
Around Aleppo
I wandered around the Aleppo souk looking for the Bimaristan Argan, a former asylum mentioned in my guide book. I found it hidden away in a corner and entered through…
Byblos and the Cave of Adonis and Astarte
On the bus to Byblos I struck up a conversation with a young woman who was travelling with her eleven year old brother. She was a student of Public Health…
A walk before breakfast in Byblos
Jbail, which means mountain, was named Pulpos by the Greeks who found Egyptian papyrus in this area. It eventually became Byblos from which we get the words book and Bible.…
Girls on Tour in Morocco
The Djema el Fna, the Arabic name of the large meeting place well known to anyone who has ever visited Marrakesh, is said to translate as "assembly of the dead".…
Gueliz and the Majorelle Gardens.
Following the Treaty of Fez in 1912 Morocco became a French Protectorate under its first Resident General Hubert Lyautey. Marrakesh had a population of 75,000, mostly living in the Medina,…
Ben Youssef Medressa & Menebhi Palace.
After lunch we walked through the maze-like lane ways of the souk where even the most jaded of senses are restored to life by a myriad of colors, sounds and…
Eating out in Marrakesh
Having done enough sight- seeing for one day we returned to our hotel for a swim in the garden pool and a rest before ordering a minivan to take all…
Telouet Kasbah
The three possible passes over the high atlas were guarded by the three most important warrior tribes of the High Atlas. The M'tougga commanded the south east pass of Tiz-n-Test,…
Ouarzazate
We took off once again and wound our way over the mountains passing by the salt mines that had enriched the Galaoui and Abdulkadher told me about his two sons…
Ouarzazate Film Studios
Next morning we went to visit the Ouarzazate Film Studios situated outside the town in a flat hot desert area and we were surrounded by groups of visitors interested in…
Journey to Tinghir.
Following a short rest some of us drifted back down to sunbathe and swim before a planned visit to explore the local town later than afternoon. A middle aged woman…
Tinghir and the Auberge Taborhite
Our next stop would be the beautiful oasis at Tinghir which I had visited on two previous occasions. The first time was on my first visit to Morocco with Judith…
Tea in a Berber camp.
I recently had a conversation with a young Irish woman who was denigrating the Islamic religion and expressing her belief that abortion was murder and people who were pro -choice…
Cascades d'Ouzoud
The following day we had a long journey through the Atlas Mountains to our next halting site which was within walking distance of the Cascades d’Ouzoud. We stayed at the…
Return to Marrakesh
Next morning feeling a little better for the long rest I decided to take a stroll alone through the souk to look for the Musee Douiria Mouassine, a 15th century…