I stood staring at the ticket machine in Berlin’s S-Bahn train station, and the words ‘Refugees Welcome’ blinked back at me. Ahh so it’s true. If the old battered ticket machine has been configured to welcome the victims of war, then the media have got one thing right – Germany is the promised land.
Wall upon wall of blank faces are staring at me, staring past me and staring through me. Some of the paintings are so life-like that if I wasn’t surrounded by people also admiring the many artists’ portraits I’d probably be a bit twitchy. A room full of faces, staring at a room full of …
Standing by an ATM, I realised that the man stood behind me casually has a big chunky metal gun shoved down the front of his jeans. This was my first taste of Guatemala. His yellow-shirted fat belly nearly concealed it but he almost definitely wasn’t trying to hide this weapon. I hit cancel as …
Continue reading “Guatemala: Chicken Buses, Headstands & the Moon”
If Thailand’s the ‘land of smiles’ then Indonesia’s the place of face-splitting grins. I almost skipped ‘Jogja’, as it’s affectionately known and went straight to Bali, thank God I didn’t. I was drawn to Yogyakarta, a city in central Java, Indonesia, because of its reputation for being a cultural hub of art and music and …
So what to do in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). I spent 7 days here and tried to cover off most of the main things to do. As you head down any street in HCMC you’ll hear the chants of ‘Cyclo, Cyclo’ and in my case ‘Madam Cyclo, Madam Cyclo, where are you …
Continue reading “Ho Chi Minh City – Art, Cu Chi Tunnels & Mekong Delta.”
I’ve landed, phase 1 complete. I successfully left Heathrow, had a quick stopover in Dubai and made my way to the Bangkok Centre Hotel (yes I cheated – I got a taxi). If you plan to stay here don’t be lame like me, jump on the train, the hotel’s right next to the MRT …
On Saturday 16th March I was lucky enough to see one of my heroes collection of paintings. Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) had 12 rooms (yes 12 rooms!) worth of work displayed in the Tate Modern. All his most famous pieces of work are on display until April, and some lesser know pieces of work too.