Fay Young

Category: Global Gossip

  • Island dreams and reality

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    On summer holidays we dreamed of living on the island.  We picked drift wood on the beach to fire the old Rayburn for the evening meal.  When wind battered the cottage at night we poured whisky and listened to the radio crackling news from the mainland. It was all part of the dream (not the…

  • Welcome to Britain?

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    An environmental message in the Eurostar waiting room at Brussels We’re waiting for the eco-friendly Eurostar to take us home and I am looking forward to the ride.  It’s a nice cheery scene. The multicultural mix of folk ready to board the train has managed to get past the daft, defensive  UK Border.  Unfortunately the…

  • A poem for President Castro

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    A tourist view of Havana from the roof of the Saratoga hotel Nice coincidence. I am posting my letter to Raul Castro the day the Royal Ballet begins dancing in Havana.   UK media applauds  ‘a new cultural exchange’ with Cuba while I finally get round to supporting the PEN campaign for a different  cultural…

  • The real mojito

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    Last night we finished our bottle of Havana Club with two lingering cocktails. It seemed only sensible to do it while I still remember how to make them they way they did in Cuba. Pay no attention to the recipe quoted in the Guardian last week. Here is how you make a real mojito.

  • On the road to Havana

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    As directed by the woman at the garage, we turn left just past the picture of Che and head for Cienfuegos, pausing only to pick up two hikers on the road from Trinidad.  They can’t speak English and our Spanish is pathetic so we settle into comfortable silence as bruising miles bump by, happy in…

  • Hola Cuba

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    It was such a grey, misty morning I slept in (at 9 am it was no lighter than it was at 6 am) and now I am way behind all the things I must do before I start packing.  After years of talking about it we are finally going to Cuba where I don’t think…

  • Window shopping in Amsterdam

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    Dressed for Christmas: not all goods are as well wrapped as the amaryllis. There’s a lot of life on show in Amsterdam shop windows. Claire summed it up with a phrase I wish I had thought of. On her first night she went for a stroll and returned wide eyed at goods on offer in…

  • Treading softly from Scotland to France

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    Sun in the south of France: getting here was almost as much fun. It was raining when we reached Paris but I didn’t mind. After Scotland’s cold apology for summer it was warm, welcoming rain and within minutes of getting off our Eurostar we were clinking glasses of wine in Terminus Nord. If we had…

  • Our man in Brussels braves riots and water canon

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    There’s irony for you. A text from Ray this morning, he’s due to chair a seminar in Brussels on sustainable industry but the whole area is sealed by riot police with water canon against French, Italian and Spanish fishermen demanding cheap fuel. “Our audience may not get through the barriers.” While Ray retreats to the…

  • Indonesia: waiting for tourists to come

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    Welcome to the first Global Gossip of 2008. I’ve been pestering Dougal for this for ages but he had work to do in Brazil. And Glasgow. As if that was any excuse. Anyway well worth the wait to see why Dougal Perman thinks we should choose Indonesia for a holiday (and remember, for some it’s…

  • Writing on the wall

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    Before 2008 arrives I want to post this picture of Berlin because it shows one of the best moments of 2007 for me: saving the planet on a family weekend to celebrate my birthday with the boys in the most exciting city I have been to, what on earth could be better.

  • Shopping in Sao Paolo with Gilles Peterson

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    “It’s just a really special experience…I would say to any musician of any rank, to apply for it because it really teaches you a lot about other people and their cultures and music.” Ben Westbeech (definitely not Westwood!) on Trocabrahma Podcast Episode 2. This is interesting stuff, so far the Trocabrahma series is the only…