Archive for May 2020

In February, which seems three decades ago not three months, I was in Lisbon. The Portuguese capital, famous for salted cod and custard tarts, is also known for its hills. The steepest and tallest of these sit facing each other, the flat plain of the commercial district in the middle. The Barrio Alto, the wealthy…

I was a teenager in the 1980s. The era of big hair. I was no exception. I let my locks storm upwards and outwards, a hormone-powered thicket of bouncy wire. At the age of 17, I wrote an article for a computer magazine called 8000 Plus. They published my picture next to it. I was…

The night train from Madrid to Murcia had the type of carriages where passengers sit in compartments: a row of 3 facing a row of 3, for eight upright hours through darkness. At the age of 20, I decided to study for a year in Spain. I didn’t speak Spanish. I’d never travelled abroad alone.…

The autumn term (as they called the first semester of the school year back in England) started bronzed and enthusiastic in September, and ended tinseled and over-excited at Christmas, passing through conkers (put them in vinegar and they get hard), bonfire night (sparklers and disappointing back garden displays), before sliding into evenings that closed in…