High life
Gstaad The Speccie arrived just in time for me to read about the rudeness of one Lyndon Johnson, then vice-president,…
New York has cancelled Mozart
Gstaad This is the best news since the Bush-Blair duo saved us from the nuclear holocaust Saddam was about to…
The glory of Paris has long past
Gstaad A reader’s inquiry as to why I think Paris belongs to yesterday (12 August) has me remembering times past.…
The day I have dreaded has finally arrived: my birthday
Coronis Trafficking in enchantment, I sailed west to Coronis, the most perfect private isle on this planet. At times I…
The FBI has a problem with Catholics
On board Aello She was built in 1921, a beautiful wooden ketch that is as graceful to look at…
In praise of minding your own business
Athens With energy bordering on the demonic, I strut around an ancient stadium trying to make up for…
Greece’s age-old obsession with fire
Patmos While green Rhodes and greener Corfu burn away, arid Patmos remains fireproof because rock and soil do not a…
High life
Now that Wimbledon is over, a few thoughts about youthful brains showing traces of horse tranquillisers, angel dust and cannabis,…
I know how Jonny Bairstow feels
A poor little Greek boy writing about cricket etiquette is like Harry Sussex lecturing on discretion, but never mind. As…
The pleasure and pain of reading
Gstaad There are lurid rumours circulating around this Alpine village that an international literature symposium has taken place, with some…
The changing face of the Eternal City
Rome To the Eternal City for the saddest of occasions, the funeral of the mother of Taki, 17, and Maria,…
My night with Rod Liddle
‘I was 12 when I first got laid.’ ‘Where was that?’ ‘In Middlesbrough.’ ‘How the hell did you get lucky…
In praise of Londoners
Southampton, Long Island ‘Why, oh why, do the wrong people travel?’ sang Noël Coward back in the early 1960s. Lucky…
Goodbye, my dear Low Life colleague
He bore his death sentence more gracefully than most heroes I’ve read about. As the end approached, his columns showed…
New York’s killer cyclists
New York The most likely place to be injured, or even killed, in the Bagel is the sidewalk, any sidewalk,…
