Moroccan lanterns are known the world over. They exist in all imaginable shapes, colours and materials. Mostly, however, they are wrought from iron, nickel, brass or copper. Also in our climes they are to be found, in specialist shops and even in department stores. Even the smallest of lanterns, brought home from a trip to…
Jardin Majorelle
The well-known phrase ″must de Cartier″ refers to a highly desirable object from the House of Cartier, a ″must-have″. My ″must de Marrakech″ would be the Jardin Majorelle, which although not for sale, can still be visited. It is a must for every visitor to this fantastic city; a garden to be indulged in, so…
A Brush with the Animal Kingdom
Reynard the Fox: shrewd and devious, even perfidious and violent. At least, this is how he is portrayed in the well-known, Low German, medieval epic “Reynke de vos”. Both a human tragedy and an animal comedy, all of our vices and bad habits are exemplified here in anthropomorphic animals, with such familiar figures as Noble…
Of dragons, basilisks and other monsters.
The little king is his name, the basilisk, from the Greek word “basilikos”, Latin “regulus”. A mythical creature with the head of a cockerel and the body of a snake, he was chosen as king of the serpents. It is many years since I first discovered this fascinating creature on the last page of a…
The Seleger Moor – flowering Rhododendrons, ferns and other jewels.
The Seleger Moor, situated between Hausen am Albis and Rifferswil in the Säuliamt region of Kanton Zurich, is a unique park. Its protagonists, the flowering Rhododendrons and Azaleas, bathe the place in an intoxicating sea of colour between the beginning of April and the end of May, causing the visitor for a brief moment to…