Author Archives: Ursula Masks and marionettes… In the street stalls and in the shops: elaborately sequinned and feathered masks of all sizes and shapes, and Pinocchio marionettes, pencils, pictures and paraphernalia. Apparently, Florence was the birth- and resting-place of Carlo Lorenzini (1826 – 1890), who (as Carlo Collodi) wrote the original stories of the woodcarver Geppetto and the marionette he crafted and […]  Late into our last visit to Thailand, I made another trip “up-country” to visit schools deep in the hills of Mae Hong Son. I’ve talked about previous trips (Budding Potentials, Building Better Futures, Schools at the end of the Road, and True Colours) in several previous posts, but I never tire of accompanying the indomitable Susan […]  “Did you kiss the stone?” my daughter asked me by phone from London. “No, but I kissed someone who did,” I replied, laughing. “They say that that is the next best thing.” Now, I could tell you that I didn’t kiss the Blarney Stone because, as I end my second year of Weekly Wanders, I […]  Thailand is rich with the textures of life and history. I’ve talked before about our recent visit to Sukhothai, or more properly, the UNESCO-listed “Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns”. One of those “associated towns” is Si Satchanalai (or Sri Satchanalai, depending on whose transliteration you follow). Fifty-five kilometres north of Sukhothai along country roads […]  Our travels can be a little haphazard sometimes. We had work and family business in England, so we decided to go walking in the south-west of Ireland. (More about that soon.) Once I had booked our walking trip, I contacted an old friend and colleague from Thailand who had moved back to Ireland some years […] |
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