Diana Lawrenson Pages to Places Blog
A SAINT, A SON AND SWEETS
The fair has been held annually for some 700 years and by chance we
arrived in Salzburg when celebrations for St Rupert’s Day were in full swing. Read More »
CODE BREAKERS
Britain was aflutter with flags celebrating the Queen’s 90th birthday, but at Bletchley Park a few miles north of London, only a single one flew high on a pole.
DEATH IN THE ALPS
South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
Since his accidental discovery in 1991, newspapers and journals have carried reports about him, the Italian-Austrian border has been re-surveyed to determine his ownership, scientists continue to investigate him, and a Museum of Archaeology has been established to house him. Read More »
SINGER OF NOTE
There’s always been an air of mystery about it. The landmark people whiz past on their way to visit Healesville Sanctuary or the Yarra Valley vineyards in Victoria.
THE HOSPITAL IN THE ROCK
The bus departed from the Pest side of the Danube, crossed the Chain Bridge and zig-zagged up Castle Hill on the Buda side. Since I spoke no Hungarian to ask directions, I hoped I’d recognise the stop for Read More »
THROUGH MAGDA SZABO’S DOOR: Pest
A visit to Budapest this year provided a small glimpse of the horrifying and repressive times Magda Szabo, the much-lauded Hungarian novelist, lived through. Read More »
ASHES TO BEAUTY: LARGEST LIBRARY IN THE WORLD
It might be a cathedral of marble pillars and vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows and glinting gold. Or perhaps an art gallery adorned with murals and mosaics, statues and busts. But no. This is Read More »
THE MESMERISING FALLS: NIAGARA
From a distance it looked like a plume of thick smoke. Perhaps it was a fire – after all, it was the middle of summer. But no, it was Read More »
JANE AUSTEN: COMPLIMENT AND CONTROVERSY
Two hundred years ago, on July 18th, 1817, Jane Austen died. Only four people attended her funeral Read More »
KIRSTENBOSCH GARDENS
My strelitzias have begun to bloom, a sign 
Read More »