Category Archives: Uncategorized

https://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/swan-street-erupts-as-richmond-fans-revel-in-huge-grand-final-victory/news-story/18ce031e12e16691b7000fd7dcadd519 This shows how all class Richmond supporters are. The Western Bulldogs (aka Footscray) are also a club based on working class battlers, but we don’t behave like this when we have something to celebrate. Indeed, their behaviour Saturday night makes me grateful Collingwood didn’t make it through as well, and makes for a great …

Continue reading “Richmond supporters prove me right about not backing them…”

No one in Australia drinks Fosters Lager. That is mostly due to a marketing decision made about 30 years ago to gradually withdraw it from the Victorian market (back when we still had our beer allegiance on a state by state basis). So finding it overseas like this at Hamerica – a restaurant with an …

Continue reading “At last, I encounter Fosters Lager!”

I occasionally have what I call ‘wow’ moments – when I see something that causes my jaw to drop. My first trip to Italy was like that when I saw Venice as my plane prepared to land. I think I had a few moments like that in Bologna this afternoon, when I saw some of …

Continue reading “An afternoon stroll through Bologna”

https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/tayla-harris-pays-tribute-to-danny-frawley-after-blowing-afl-stars-out-of-the-water/news-story/ab8d4d0e46c84d2ac16c7e4bb654a824 I’m sitting in Bologna reading up on my AFL news, as you do. Reading that Tayla Harris came third in a contest on grand final morning sinking a torp is great, but also goes to illustrate that the torpedo punt, that most beautiful and spectacular, and riskiest, of kicks, is next to extinct, saved …

Continue reading “Whatever happened to the torpedo punt?”

I must say, Salerno is everything Naples is not. Clean, civic minded, friendly, and with a great sense of joy of life. Compare that to the squalor, passive aggressiveness, and general apathy on the slopes of Vesuvius. I walked down the Via Vittorio Emmanuele as it got progressively narrower and narrower til I found myself …

Continue reading “Salerno – everything Naples is not”

When I left my B&B in Salerno this morning to head to the station I happened to have a closer look at the hill overlooking the town and noticed a castle ruin on it. You don’t see that sort of thing in Australia, that’s for sure.

This is the view from my accommodation in Salerno. Obviously they feel great love for their neighbour Naples, although I hope it is more than just soccer rivalry.

Reggio is the province my mother migrated from, so I suppose it is one of my places of origin, but for me home is Australia. So imagine how pleased I was to see lots of Norfolk Island pines and Moreton bay figs lining the seaside esplanade in Reggio.

I must say, Reggio Di Calabria is much nicer than I expected it to be. I visited the Castle, which is believed to date to the 6th century and built on an earlier fortress site, and enjoyed the views of the city. Due to earthquakes, there is little else of this 3000 year old city …

Continue reading “The Aragonese Castle In Reggio”

A couple of photos of the cathedral in Reggio. Note the Greek inscription over the entry – it’s not too long since they used to speak Greek in this part of the world. Prior to emigrating in the late 50s, my mother still had an uncle from a Greek speaking village slightly inland from her …

Continue reading “Reggio Calabria – the cathedral”