If a woman claims to be your long lost sister don’t push her away since she might be a rich Bollywood star who can give you money so you can stop working as a research scientist and marry the cute video store assistant boyfriend who can’t afford a flat in the heart of Barcelona. (From…
Read More22
Dec
El Calafate (kah-lah-fah-tay) is a town in southern Patagonia, Argentina. By plane, it’s three hours south of Buenos Aires – or in my case, a four hour delay at the Jorge Newbery Airport, followed by a three hour flight. But delays have their advantages. I was travelling by myself. I’d been in a dorm of…
Read More20
Dec
At Cairns Airport, you can taste something peppermint flavoured from the chocolate shop, while lying outside on the grassed waiting area, absorbing the last remnants of tropical heat. Or you can follow the helpful instructions on the inside door of the mens’ toilet cubicle.
Read More17
Dec
Be nice to older women on long haul buses, because you’ll always have a place to stay when you’re mistaken for a Basque terrorist. (From the Spanish movie Spanish Affair)
Read More15
Dec
George W Bush was probably not the most popular person in South America in November 2005. The President’s visit to Argentina for the 4th Summit of the Americas did not meet with universal local approval. On the first day of the summit, a homeless guy helped saved me from a line of men, with bandages over their faces and big…
Read More13
Dec
After her death in April 2013, I never thought I’d get to meet Margaret Thatcher. But she made a surprise comeback the following year at the Edinburgh Fringe. A man with a blouse, skirt and handbag – though maybe not a wig, as I think the hair was real – was Margaret Thatcher: Queen of Soho. A hundred-odd metres…
Read More22
Nov
I was recently in New York City, eating shrimp and sweet corn next to the Hudson River, about to make the short walk to the Lincoln Center Theater to see The King and I. ‘You wouldn’t think they’d name a theatre after Abraham Lincoln,’ I said to my Cousin Jo and friend JJ. ‘He didn’t…
Read More22
Nov
“During the many years of incarceration on Robben Island, we often looked across Table Bay at the magnificent silhouette of Table Mountain. To us on Robben Island, Table Mountain was a beacon of hope. It represented the mainland to which we knew we would one day return.” – Nelson Mandela 1998 There’s a reason President…
Read More18
Nov
