identities, journeys, fictions away from the roots
After a trip to Riga last month, and a visit to the Occupation Museum, my motivation to study and write about my Latvian heritage has returned. After months of meaning to, I finally bought and started reading Linda Kinstler's fantastic book Come To This Court And Cry. Personal and fascinating, it's also unflinching in its... Continue Reading →
A travelling craftsman is staying in my house while they work at a fair nearby. We share stories in the evenings over food and wine, and discuss the state of the world over tea and chocolate. The traveller is from an Eastern European country which gets headlines in the west for its far-right, pro-Putin ideology,... Continue Reading →
I treated myself to the World of Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum for my birthday. I'd read a review that described it as 'emotional' and 'full of love' for the people whose story it tells. But I tried not to be too influenced by this when I went to see it. I made my... Continue Reading →
The swallows, the flowers, the morning light. Cigarette smoke, petrol fumes, coffee vapour and spray-on sun lotion. Dutch, Italian, French, Serbian, English, German, Swedish and of course Greek. Here as in every village, the widows still wear their habits of mourning, despite some of them not being much older than my suntan-wearing parents. Cat on... Continue Reading →
Last night I watched a BBC documentary about the Stonehenge, and a recent discovery that the bluestones that originated from southern Wales had originally stood in their own stone circle closer to the original quarry. The tv team followed the archaeologists for years, as they dug and tested the soil of several possible sites, until... Continue Reading →
17 February 2019. Been Cambridging today. It's sunny and warm and lovely and worrying for February. I began the day with coffee and a chocolate croissant from Aromi on Market Square. Then I went to Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology on Downing Street. I had some cider and chips at the Granta before going... Continue Reading →
The minutes are ticking closer to the vote in the House of Commons on the Withdrawal Agreement for the UK's terms on exiting the European Union, also known as the Brexit vote. The result is already predicted; it's the aftermath of that which will potentially enormous consequences for the people living in these isles, myself... Continue Reading →
18 November 2018. Independence Day The air in Riga is cold this time, I wear winter boots and my breath fogs. But the atmosphere is still warm and celebratory. Just like in July, when I was last here, the small city is busy with people who have come home, back or away to celebrate an... Continue Reading →
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