Dear Friends, As we made our way along the Turquoise Coast, enjoying the coves and harbours and hikes up into the mountains, it was fascinating and most enjoyable to visit more historic sites, and learn of each place's unique history through the ruins. First up in this story is Phaselis. Early morning, anchored in [...]
Dear friends, For the first of several Joanna's Journal stories about my recent travel to Türkiye, I would like to give a short introduction to the parts of this fascinating country my trip took me and a brief note on the remarkable history and geography about which I am now determined to learn and [...]
Dear friends, After our transverse of the Lemaire Channel and our zodiac zipping through the Iceberg Garden, we traveled further south overnight and all through the following morning. We passed more and more huge icebergs and even witnessed a few calving. A chunk of this iceberg cracking of the left end, and creating a dramatic [...]
Dear Friends, In January, together with my cousin Sarah, I embarked on an exciting adventure, travelling from Auckland, NZ to Buenos Aires then south to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina before embarking on the 'Ocean Endeavour' for an expedition to the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. A journey of a lifetime, and [...]
Dear friends, I have long wanted to see the fall colours in Vermont and it turns out that I was there at the optimum time to glory in those remarkable colours and bright landscapes. How great to have my friend Lois who lives near Duxbury, between Montpelier and Burlington, to take me through some stunning [...]
Dear friends, It's amazing what you can fit into a week if you are with energetic and generous friends. Rada and Steve have a beautiful house right on the shore of Lake Champlain in Upper New York State, and although I am not generally an early riser, getting up before six am to view the [...]
Dear friends, Such a lovely week in around Washington DC, staying with my friend Betsy, a colleague from my Geneva days, and meeting up with others from my past, the Ethiopian artist Wasihun (see my most recent journal entry), with Carroll who was UNICEF rep in Myanmar when I worked there for the International Red [...]
Dear Friends, Sometimes it seems as though there is some kind of magic in the air, and Tuesday was one such day for me and for Wasihun Asnake Mengsta. We met first in Geneva in 1991, and now 28 years later we meet again in Washington DC. With Wasihun in his apartment with one of [...]
Dear friends, There is no doubt that the Thai kitchen is one of the world's most recognized and appreciated cuisines. Over the years living here in Chiang May, I have sent many visitors to cooking classes although have neglected to do one myself. However, this has been rectified as last weekend I had the opportunity [...]
Dear friends, After a couple of days exploring Stonetown, we drove up the island towards the northernmost tip to spend two more days enjoying the beach and fresh sea breezes. On the way, we stopped at a Spice Farm run as a local cooperative and were given a wonderful tour through the trees and shrubs [...]