Tag Archives: holidays

Beneath the walls of Novgorod

A quick tour to Russia’s oldest city revealed more than grand architecture and a good opportunity for a few photographs – it revealed some of the depth and horror buried in Russia’s past. Each year on February 23, Russia celebrates the Defender of the Fatherland Day. This February events in Ukraine were far from my mind – my thoughts were…

A great New Zealand road trip

If ever you are at a loss as to how to spend a few days in New Zealand, a road trip is a great way to enjoy the outdoors and see some of New Zealand’s spectacular scenery, as Peter Campbell reports. Located on the edge of two continental plates, New Zealand has a dynamic geological history – clearly demonstrated by…

Cruising the Volga

The glazed surface of water reaches into the distance. A faint haze obscures the horizon and the sky melds with the water. It gives a strange sensation, as if you are encapsulated and isolated in a world of stillness. The water is calm and the sun burns overhead. I could be in the doldrums in the middle of the Pacific…

Christmas without carols

It is December, people talk excitedly about the upcoming holidays – what they want to do, where they want to go. Travel agents advertise frenetically, trying to out do the cut throat competition for trips to exotic and warm destinations: Egypt, India, Thailand, and for the first time this year I even have heard advertisements for Indonesia.  Times change rapidly…