The first time I remember I was told the story of Haggis, I was around 20. I was told that there was this hairy human like creature covered in fur like a yeti that lived in the mountains in Scotland. I was told that it had one leg shorter that the other and that it would limp around the mountain … Read More
Kissing the Blarney Stone
Well, I have never really kissed the Blarney Stone, because you have to go to Ireland to do that but I am sure people who believe it can help you become more eloquent or, in other words, have the gift of the gab, can benefit from a trip to Ireland. All you need to do is go to Ireland to … Read More
Windsor Castle
Recently, I took my student from Russia to Windsor. Unfortunately, his majesty didn’t get up on time so we got to the closing gates. Even though he hadn’t known anything about Windsor castle and who lived there, he still dared to say it’s been his dream to go there much to my annoyance. It was me who wanted to usher … Read More
Greenwich today
I was thinking to myself what to do with myself on a Sunday but the other day a friend of mine said that his brother had asked him whether he’d ever been to Greenwich. He said he hadn’t and his brother was amazed at how it can be: you live in England but you’d never been there. So, I thought … Read More
Photos from Genoa
My favourite restaurant in Genoa. Still going strong despite the demise of Vittorio himself and still serving a mean lobster linguine. Lobster linguine. A speciality at Da Vittorio’s. Arcadia. Via XX Settembre is lined with these magnificent arcades. It’s a joy to walk up them. Looking for lice and checking for BO. A bad hair and armpit day on mount … Read More
Tighten your belt
Today’s Phrase If you tighten your belt you try to spend less money because you haven’t got as much to spend as you did before. Examples: Since I started working part-time I’ve had to tighten my belt. Celebrating Christmas is going to cost us a lot of money so we’re all going to have to tighten our belts. Take note Being … Read More
My stay in Genoa
Enjoying Genoa, though working hard. It is a mellow city, at ease with itself. Fraying round the edges a bit, but for all that still elegant. I especially like the solid arcades which recall a different century.
Turning to jelly
Today you can learn a new phrase: ‘turn to jelly’. If you turn to jelly, it really means you suddenly feel very weak because you are nervous or frightened. Sometimes you can say your legs or another part of your body turns to jelly and this means the same thing. Examples: When I saw how high up we were, I … Read More
David King doing exams for Trinity in Italy
Sticky Moments on Tour: I ended the day at the Jesuit school on Corso Siracusa by examining some external candidates. They were poor and some failed. The drill in these situations is to hand over the results in a sealed envelope and leg it before things turn ugly. This I duly did, and moved along sharpish to the bus stop … Read More