Outside Georgia’s parliament building in Tbilisi a handful of protesters sit in small tents planning their next move. “We will not surrender,” reads a placard written in English nearby. Faced with what they perceive as aggression from Russia, the protesters in the Georgian capital were standing their ground […]
Lisbon was one of the wealthiest cities in the world in the early 16th century thanks to trade. But today the traces of the place known to contemporary explorers and merchants have all but vanished from the main streets of Portugal’s capital. The city was virtually wiped out […]
In the cramped courtyards and cobbled narrow streets winding down from Lisbon’s castle to the city’s cathedral, residents are gearing up for a month long party that is the Fiesta de Santo Antonio. Outdoor pop-up bars clad with lager taps are built, the colourful bunting is up and […]
Where patients would once have convalesced, diners today enjoy alfresco meals on the covered terrace overlooking Galle’s beautiful natural harbour. Just a few metres away from the waves crush on the rocks, the restaurants and bars that can be found in the old Dutch Hospital complex are perhaps […]
Five hours drive from the capital in Sri Lanka’s central highlands, it doesn’t take long to realise why Nuwara Eliya is known as Little England. Visitors today find colonial-era-bungalows and Tudor-style hotels set in front of sweeping lawns and pretty flower gardens. In Nuwara Eliya, there are plenty […]
When travellers arrived by ocean liner in Colombo they didn’t have very far to go to find a pleasant place to stay. Opposite the city’s main port, the Grand Oriental Hotel was advertised in the 19th century as “the best equipped hotel in the East” with the “best […]
Head to Boston’s Hanover Street at the weekend and you’ll encounter long queues outside many of the cafes, restaurants and bakeries. This the heart of the city’s Little Italy, a vibrant quarter – bigger than New York’s version – that is popular with Bostonians and visitors alike. But […]
Throw the tea into the sea! At Griffin’s Wharf in Boston Harbour emotions were running high as angry rebels marched on to the Beaver and launched tea crates into the water. With each valuable chest thrown over the side of the whaler there was a cheer from the […]
“His situation is very pleasant, being a Peninsula, hemmed in on the South-side with the Bay of Roxberry, on the north side with Charles-River, the Marshes on the back side being not a quarter of a mile over; so that a little fencing will secure their cattle from […]
“Who is this Donald Trump? I’ve not heard of him.” There can’t be many in the US today that haven’t heard of their President, but in Plymouth Colony the residents seem to be confused. Exploring this dusty Massachusetts village, with a row of single-room thatched family homes built […]
Past In The Present 