For a French president likened by critics to a power-crazed elected monarch with a love of "bling-bling", it was perhaps an act of defiance for Nicolas Sarkozy to spend his wedding night in the grounds of the opulent Palace of Versailles. But wearing his trademark aviator shades, Sarkozy showed off his new première dame yesterday […]
Part 7: El Camino de Santiago
Parades and the chicken church JAMES Camino – Day 8 Buenos Dias Los Amigos, Well, as you can probably imagine, when the first rays of light found the dormitory at Najera they did not find a religiously inspired, fat disciple waiting with eagerness for the walk to begin. I realised from the moment I opened my […]
Gaza’s Falling Wall Changes Middle East Map for Ever
They came and went in lorries and gas tankers, in flatbed trucks loaded with cattle and sheep, in coaches and mini-buses, loaded by the dozen in the backs of trucks, all shuttling across Gaza’s southern border. Four days ago they went on foot like refugees, but yesterday for the first time the trucks drove through […]
Taj Mahal in India: One of the 7 ‘New’ Wonders of the World
Thousands of Indians handed out sweets and set off fireworks on July 7, 2007 to celebrate the inclusion of Taj Mahal in the list of the 7 ‘new’ world wonders, as recently reported by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) from Lisbon, Portugal. The AFP-Lisbon report says that "Hundreds (of Indians) thronged the 17th-century monument built by […]
Harry Potter’s sexiest apartment
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has dipped into his deep pockets to buy one of the “sexiest” apartments in the Big Apple for a cool 4 million dollars. And, he’s already showing how savvy he can be in real estate by putting the place up for rent for a price of 20,000 dollars a […]
(Cold) War on Tourism
London, December 7, 2007. Osama Bin Laden has won. He has succeeded in turning the governments of the world against tourism and re-ignited the Cold War. This is a tragedy, because tourism is sacred. It is the modern equivalent of the pilgrimage. It is the moment when we “suspend the pursuit of profit” to take pleasure in nature, […]