Sometimes it feels too much to bear. Sometimes it feels like humankind is hell-bent on destroying itself. Some countries wage wars against their neighbours, or against their own population, not to mention tribal or sectarian conflicts in many places around the globe. The economic outlook isn’t good either, with inflation galloping at breakneck speed and little prospect of wages catching…
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Last weekend’s reports on massive queues and delays in the port of Dover, combined with the news on the security staff at Heathrow Airport and French airspace controllers, made me think that travel these days can be more challenging than usual. Then we remember trains going nowhere because of strikes, and the situation may soon be repeated. I don’t travel…
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After a 4-year long pause caused by the pandemic and other factors, last Monday I decided to go wild again. I mean hillwalking in the great Scottish wilderness. My hill of choice was located deep in rural Perthshire, an area I had never been to before. In such cases, I use the sat nav to get to my destination. I…
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A couple of weeks ago I read an excellent, light-hearted column in the newspaper. A couple of sentences, referring to the author’s recent visit to a church, made me smirk: ““Please ask if you require a gluten-free host” deadpanned my order of service. Presumably Catholics don’t have this problem, the bread becoming miraculously gluten-free during transubstantiation.” Clearly, the columnist misunderstood…
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Hampden Park went ecstatic last Tuesday night when Scotland beat the mighty Spain 2:0. After the earlier win against Cyprus, the Men’s Scottish National Football team sits at the top of the table in their group. Those who follow them know that such a statement is a rarity. So, Scottish football fans at Hampden Park and across the country have…