Brendan Harding's Trivial World of Travel

Tax Free in Philly

2012-02-07T22:32:00.000Z

NEWS UPDATE TAXFREEPHILLY.IE - YOUR FRIENDLY SHOPPING GETAWAY COMPANION You’ve booked the shopping break getaway to Philadelphia. You’re ready to take advantage of some of the best tax free bargains on clothes and shoes on the east coast. Now to plan your trip - there’s nothing more annoying than wandering the streets aimlessly, enduring sore feet before realising the best buy was

Gujarat - For The Birds

2012-01-27T16:56:00.000Z

Recently as a guest of Gujarat's Tourism Department I was fortunate to visit Ahmedabad and this enticing part of India for the 2nd Annual Bird Watchers Conference. These are some of my thoughts on the visit. For many years I thought I knew a thing or two about birds and conservation. But I was mistaken, and badly. It took me twenty-eight hours, two international flights, one domestic flight and

Finding Newt

2011-11-10T11:51:00.005Z

I never met Newt, so I can't tell you what kind of dog he was. I'd like to think that Newt was the kind of dog who mostly stayed home in the shade, keeping clear of the hot Arizona sun, just about lifting his head every now and then when the humming birds stopped by to visit the garden greenery. The kind of dog who waited until he heard the familiar squeak of the front gate, or a car pull into

SARUNI SAMBURU - TRULY A WORLD AWAY

2011-07-13T12:17:00.011+01:00

On the remote plains of Kenya's Samburuland travel writer BRENDAN HARDING finds a true piece of magic in a place of exquisite beauty and serenity.Appeared first the final edition of the News of the World - Sunday July 10th 2011The jeep had been following the course of the Ewaso Ng'iro river for barely ten minutes, it's waters reduced to no more than a slow-moving slop of coffee-brown mud by a

Surf's Up Dude!

2011-03-15T11:02:00.004Z

Bringing his daughter to the pretty seaside town of Tramore, on Ireland's South East coast, travel writer BRENDAN HARDING learns that there really is still a lot to discover in Ireland. "Are there sharks in the sea?" my daughter asked. I couldn't lie; after all, she was the one wearing a wet-suit and walking towards the breaking waves, dragging a nine foot surf-board under her arm. "Only

A Slice of Madeira

2011-03-15T10:53:00.006Z

Spawned by volcanic activity in the remoteness of the Atlantic Ocean, the island of Madeira lies undiscovered by most. Recently, travel writer Brendan Harding decided to pay this autonomous Portuguese region a long overdue visit.On a clear Atlantic day, sometime during the early fourteen-hundreds – about tea-time I suspect – the Portuguese explorer João Gonçalves Zarco stood on the island of

Time and Space in Latvia

2011-01-14T13:31:00.003Z

During a one-month period as writer in residence in the Latvian town of Ventspils writer Brendan Harding used the ocean as his inspiration to write about a subject far removed from the Baltic Sea's turbulent waves. The most precious gift a writer can receive is the gift of time and space in which to write. It took the endless yellow emptiness of a Latvian beach, the sound of the breaking

Christiania - It Takes All Sorts

2011-01-14T13:07:00.004Z

In a small corner of the Danish capital there is place which truly emphasises the liberal attitude of the Danes. Travel writer BRENDAN HARDING spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon exploring the self-appointed 'Freetown' of Christiania, slap-bang in the heart of the Scandinavian city.At first I thought it was a large bar of milk-chocolate the man produced from his pocket and placed on the table. Just

2010-10-15T11:11:00.008+01:00

One man's torrent... On a dry river-bank in the Kenyan bush, travel writer Brendan Harding and his colleague find the power of the extraordinary in the ordinary. The riverbed had been dry as we had eased the jeep down the steep bank, its wheels spinning frantically for grip on the sandy floor. With a flick of the wrist my colleague engaged the four-wheel drive. Instantly, the spinning rubber

Copenhagen

2010-09-27T16:12:00.007+01:00

So much to do, so little time On a whirlwind visit to the Danish capital travel writer Brendan Harding races against the clock to explore this delightful city in the North Seventy-two hours may seem like a long time, but, as I've discovered, it's not half long enough if you plan to visit Denmark's delightful and thought-provoking capital Copenhagen. Even as the short SAS flight from Dublin (less

Mombassa to Nairobi

2010-09-27T16:06:00.006+01:00

One of the world's most evocative train journeys begins at Mombassa on the Indian Ocean. Travel writer Brendan Harding recounts his experiences onboard this enigmatic train. As I sat in the bar I couldn't help wondering if my aunt had sat in the very same place, many years previously, sipping a pre-departure gin and tonic. The picture behind the counter would have changed of course; instead of

Out of Africa and into my heart...

2010-09-27T15:58:00.007+01:00

From an African hillside to the shores of the Baltic Sea travel writer Brendan Harding follows his love for the author Karen Blixen. Karen Blixen and I met when I was still a young boy. I found her hidden among a tower of dusty and dog-eared books in the dark depths of our under-stairs' closet. Behind piles of musty winter coats and boxes of 'things' no longer needed. It was here in this

A Coming Of Age

2010-09-27T15:12:00.002+01:00