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And so it has come to this at last… The end of my days as the Happy Wanderer, travelling the world, seeing its sights, visiting old friends, racking up miles, and just generally doing whatever it is I want in … Continue reading
This gallery contains 10 photos.
The Church of San Agustin (St Augustine), located within Intramuros, is the oldest standing church in the Philippines. Erected in 1607, it managed to survive eight major earthquakes in Manila over the course of three centuries, and was the only … Continue reading
This gallery contains 27 photos.
Intramuros… The name itself conjures up these visions of sequestered splendour; of Spanish doñas in their black silk shawls slipping into their spectacular horse-driven calesas; of the plaintive strains of a distant guitar as a caballero picks out an old … Continue reading
This gallery contains 12 photos.
A Grand American Hotel Manila features on my Grand Tour because of the Manila Hotel, which, in its heyday in the early 19th century, was considered one of the three best hotels in the East, together with the Raffles in … Continue reading
This gallery contains 8 photos.
“It is a useless life that is not consecrated to a great ideal. It is like a stone wasted on the field without becoming a part of any edifice.” Jose Rizal, Noli Me Tangere Of Martyrdom and Making-Do It was … Continue reading
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Crossing the street at 2nd Avenue from the verdant oasis of Rose Hill into the stark modernism of Kips Bay is rather daunting. This vast area on the eastern waterfront of Manhattan is the culmination and highlight of the 30th … Continue reading
This gallery contains 13 photos.
Between Madison and 2nd Avenue sits a slice of colonial Boston, like you’ve never seen before, cobbled together with a diversity of architectural styles from the old world: English, Dutch, Italianate, French. Here are some of the most beautiful and … Continue reading
This gallery contains 13 photos.
In the Book of Genesis, Babel plays host to the infamous tower that was built by the city’s inhabitants to challenge the might of Jehovah. For their presumption, the deity confounded the language of all peoples on earth. Here in … Continue reading
This gallery contains 11 photos.
Between 8th and 6th Avenues, one steps into a landscape straight out of mediaeval Alexandria, a wealthy and powerful Greco-Byzantine city on the Mediterranean. Here on these two blocks is concentrated some of the most exquisite art deco buildings on … Continue reading
This gallery contains 11 photos.
At the far western end of 30th Street sprawls a landscape of grand industrial desolation, presenting the sort of post-apocalyptic landscape that abounds in graphic novels of the superhero variety, and which the post-9/11 City Authorities constantly fear will come … Continue reading
Dream Of A City 