Peripateticus

"...and he lived in a life wild as that of the Arabian Nights, but missionaries and secretaries of charitable societies could not see the beauty of it."

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Salento and summer. #italy #salento #puglia #lecce #gallipoli #beach #spiaggia #calamari for days https://www.instagram.com/p/CfR3CooLs4k/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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There are very few cities I return to on holiday, but reporting by @clavanga last spring/summer finally propelled me back to Florence. Decades ago, I went as a backpacking student on summer break. I am now mistaken for a potentially high-spending Chinese tourist instead of a potentially high-spending Japanese tourist. But the city’s historic centre remains eternally beautiful. #firenze #uffizi #palazzopitti #boboli #arno #florence #tuscany #italy https://www.instagram.com/p/CWTEwWPtjnQ/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Ciao Roma. More cliches. #roma #rome #vatican #vaticancity #italy #stpetersbasilica #stpeterssquare #cavalieri #forum #viadeiforiimperiali #piazzavenezia https://www.instagram.com/p/CVyBMF3LqE6/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Cliches #paris #eiffeltower #latoureiffel #placedelaconcorde #fontainedemers #tuileries #tourist #france https://www.instagram.com/p/CVZwnb7K3Q1/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Short trip this time #doha #qatar #thepearlqatar #arabgulf https://www.instagram.com/p/CVPYzQXqSWS/?utm_medium=tumblr

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A rare occasion to be a tourist in my hometown… Half a day’s hot summer sunshine netted us a power walk along the West Side Highway, book-ended by constructs designed by @officialheatherwickstudio Growing up here decades ago, I knew this whole area as a cruddy drive-by wasteland en route to the Village. Lovely to see the area become a best version of itself even with the controversial @thevesselnyc . Praise be billionaires who use their own funds to build public parks. Oh and completely unrelated, colleagues working in 30 Rock this month will get to enjoy the pop-up Atogirl - as in @atomixnyc @atoboynyc May the snacks be as otherworldly as the octopus at @atoboynyc . @hudsonyards @littleislandnyc @highlinenyc #nyc #manhattan #highline #parks #thevessel #thomasheatherwick #architecture #landscape #landscapedesign #newyork https://www.instagram.com/p/CRCiD78LbNQ/?utm_medium=tumblr

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The rain has followed me the nearly two weeks I’ve had back home (first visit in approx 18 months to see family). The one day of absolutely no rain was blazes hot - also the same day we took in the breathtaking work of @yayoikusama_ at the @nybg This is a must-see. #yayoikusama #nybg #botanicalgarden #contemporaryart #bronx #nyc #climatechange #environment #nature #botany #plants https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ3r_J0rI2w/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Producing a high-level interview during a pandemic is one way to oil logistics skills that have gone rusty in lockdown. @keirsimmons @bort_11 @gordienkoalexeimos @msimontv quarantined for 12 days before they were allowed in the same room as President Putin. Using FaceTime and more than a few phone calls, @aaron.sasson and our chief international engineer Chris McCarthy, engineer Sam Sambataro, and audio tech Bobby Lapp set up six cameras inside the Ceremonial Office in the Oval Hall at the Kremlin (where the Russian President typically hosts his meetings with foreign dignitaries). Even though we were supposed to have two full days to set it all up, the Kremlin changed timings, shortening it to one day. It was the first time any of our crews had ever set up a big remote - literally remotely. On the day of the interview, the “clean” team was released from quarantine straight into the Kremlin for final tweaks. The rest of us “dirty” folks worked from a press centre + MCR below the Oval Hall. (2) To much consternation of Kremlin security and press handlers, we brought 60-odd cases onto the premises #worthit (3) The obligatory selfie even if you’re not in the room (4) Meta moment for @keirsimmons (5) Our stunning live shot backdrop (6) Inside the live shot room on roll-out day (7) Obligatory St Basil’s Cathedral shot https://www.instagram.com/p/CQMh-v_rYK5/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Do not be fooled. It is not spring. Have been wearing damn fleece/puffy jacket for seven goddamn months. Enough of this cold weather, London. #notspring #whereisthesun #whereissummer #hampstead #camden #london #longwalks #covid_19 https://www.instagram.com/p/CPCBROcLiQi/?utm_medium=tumblr

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In the past month or so I have ended up walking around, through, and criss-crossing Regents Park more often than any other park since the beginning of the pandemic. Maybe because it’s spring, and for 395 acres this park in the middle of central London has beautiful flowerbeds, a very cool boating lake, and some wonderful nooks and crannies like the Japanese Garden Island or the St John’s Lodge Garden, which mercifully stays open to the discerning public even if the fabulous Grade II heritage-listed garden villa — one of four surviving villas in John Nash’s Regent’s Park layout in 1911 — is not. (The current owner is a member of the Sultan of Brunei’s family.) This splendid garden was designed as “a series of compartments ornamented with sculpture and stonework...a garden fit for meditation.” Especially lovely are the espaliered lime trees that surround a giant stone urn. There’s even a plinth dedicated to an investigative female journalist. #london #regentspark #stjohnslodgegardens #parks #royalparks #limetrees #spring #tulips https://www.instagram.com/p/COGHdWPLeGF/?igshid=ttwvv6amxlsw

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Another epic walk and another first time visit. Beautiful vistas of Home Park’s Long Water and double rows lime trees. The Privy Garden. A handful of the one million plus #daffodils in The Wilderness. And a back shot of #hamptoncourtpalace #homepark #kingston #hamptoncourt #henryviii #charlesii #tudor #england #thames https://www.instagram.com/p/CMIP_57nhXs/?igshid=1kb9oizt1ya65

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A delightful new find in NW London. You could argue the Hill Garden and Pergola were the idle folly of soap magnate Lord Leverhulme, a British industrialist born in 1851. But what a folly. Apparently he decided on a whim that his mansion needed a proper outdoor space to host garden parties (remember those). So landscape artist Thomas Mawson was commissioned to design both as part of a three stage garden design process. (Fun fact: Mawson even used all the soil excavated nearby during the extension of the Northern Line, creating Hampstead station.) After Leverhulme’s death, the property languished, especially after WW2, until 1995–when the Pergola was restored. There are some beautiful views throughout of Hampstead Heath woodland and the West Heath. (Second fun fact: Lord Leverhulme’s company, the Lever Brothers, merged with Margarine Unie in 1930 to become Unilever.) #hampsteadheath #london #nw3 #pergola #thepergola #hillgardenandpergola #unilever #leverhulme #thomasmawson https://www.instagram.com/p/CLSMwkfnM-x/?igshid=dr8w1a6hp458

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Not bad for winter #mushrooms #whitebeechmushrooms #shimeji #foraging https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9N5mqLaWx/?igshid=ga6nd263mcuj

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Another epic walk, partly along the Thames, through all the SW’s and surprisingly picturesque Pimlico, to Chiswick. The great find of the week is the neo-Palladian Chiswick House and it’s revolutionary garden, which started the English Landscape Movement. #london #thames #thamesriver #pimlico #westminster #chiswick #chiswickhouse #englishgarden #englishlandscape #williamkent #lordburlington #neopalladian https://www.instagram.com/p/CKZc0ouHCiK/?igshid=mkgqrchlglcu

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Three days into 2021, which I predict has a lot more of Greater London walks in store for me. Had a good one this weekend originating from near the Thames Barrier - London’s main defense against flooding which is made up of 520 metres (1,700 feet) of 10 steel gates across the breadth of the #ThamesRiver that, when shut, prevent water flowing upstream towards the city centre. It was built in 1982 to protect central London from flooding caused by tidal surges; it’s been shut 193 times since then. It takes 75-90 minutes to close the gates. Originally the barrier was designed to last up until 2030, but local authorities now say technical upgrades have made it good until 2060-70. #thamesbarrier #riverthames #floods #london #england #woolwich #southeastlondon #charlton #docklands #thamesestuary https://www.instagram.com/p/CJl32aaLedh/?igshid=7snz3f5qitzh

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Three days into 2021, which I predict has a lot more of Greater London walks in store for me. Had a good one this weekend originating from near the Thames Barrier - London’s main defense against flooding which is made up of 520 metres (1,700 feet) of 10 steel gates across the breadth of the #ThamesRiver that, when shut, prevent water flowing upstream towards the city centre. It was built in 1982 to protect central London from flooding caused by tidal surges; it’s been shut 193 times since then. It takes 75-90 minutes to close the gates. Originally the barrier was designed to last up until 2030, but local authorities now say technical upgrades have made it good until 2060-70. #thamesbarrier #riverthames #floods #london #england #woolwich #southeastlondon #charlton #docklands #thamesestuary https://www.instagram.com/p/CJl32aaLedh/?igshid=7snz3f5qitzh

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Central #london during the #inbetweendays and #tier4 #pandemic #covid_19 #coronavirus #oxfordcircus #oxfordstreet #goodgestreet #britishmuseum https://www.instagram.com/p/CJbOzA8HZjz/?igshid=klzissltow9x