Category Archives: Travel
Brugge (Part 2) – Summer 2022
By the time H. and I managed to tear ourselves away from work long enough to organise a much-needed holiday, all the hotels were booked up or too expensive. The fares had also gone up. So our plans to go … Continue reading
Brugge (Part 1) – 2009
I felt at home there even as I wheeled my suitcase from the train station. The mid-August sun was setting behind the rooftops on Züdzandstraat, the crow-stepped gables that looked like stairways to the sky. “I think there’s an error … Continue reading
“Jerusalema” on the Parvis
A wedding party is spilling out of the sternly robust 19th-century church that stands on the edge of the Parvis. The eye is immediately drawn to the splendid bride, skin like molten chocolate against the white lace dazzling in the … Continue reading
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Tagged brussels, Jerusalema, katherine gregor, saint-gilles, scribe doll
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From a Word that Means “Bridge”
Brugge. That’s what I want to call it from now on. It’s in Flanders, not Wallonia. How typical of the Anglophones – the British in particular – to use its French name by default. We haven’t grown out … Continue reading
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Tagged bruges, brugge, creative writing, katherinegregor, language, scribe doll, scribedoll, travel
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The Lady of Paris
When I first saw her, a few weeks ago, while crossing the Pont Saint-Michel, she looked like the ghost of a bygone age, her earthly life a memory, her soul gone from the stone. Grey against the bleak, overcast night … Continue reading
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Tagged katherine gregor, Notre-Dame, Paris, polyphony, scribe doll, writing
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Queuing Outside la Comédie Française
Night is slowly permeating the evening sky in Place André Malraux. The rain has eased into a steady drizzle and the yellow street lamps have come on. The air is imbued with car exhaust fumes and roast chestnuts. A smell … Continue reading
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Tagged Comédie Française, katherine gregor, Molière, Paris, scribe doll, theatre
10 Comments
Milan: Behind the Façade
I guess it was appropriate that my first conversation in Milan should have been about fashion. H. and I just had lunch at Stazione Centrale and were leaving the restaurant, trolley suitcases in tow, when I noticed a young woman … Continue reading
Paris to Rome by Train
“Why can’t we take the train?” “What – all the way?” H. gives me his your-quirkiness-is-turning-into-madness look. “It’s – it’s –” “The longest leg would be just twelve hours,” I filled in, smiling sweetly. “If you went to Australia, you’d have to … Continue reading
Posted in Travel
Tagged Alps, France, Italy, katherine gregor, scribe doll, Train Journey, travel
20 Comments
Summer Night in Trastevere
Streets bustling with tourists who walk slowly, looking up, right and left, mouths half open, stopping abruptly to take a photo, holding up the locals, those whose footsteps have a specific destination, who no longer look at the sights because … Continue reading
Santa Sabina
When we were in Rome, a couple of weeks ago, I insisted we go and see “my favourite church in Rome”. The first church I ever liked, to which I owe my introduction to, and love for, early sacred music. … Continue reading
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Tagged Gregorian Chant, katherine gregor, music, rome, Santa Sabina, scribe doll, writing
19 Comments
Scribe Doll 