Tag: AtoZchallenge
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G IS FOR GLASGOW, GREAT BRITAIN
A STORY OF THE GARDEN FESTIVAL IN GLASGOW, GREAT BRITAIN It had been a glorious summer. Glasgow didn’t get many of them. Perhaps it was fate that the year of the Garden Festival was the warmest and driest summer that anyone could remember. The festival was meant to regenerate the wastelands that had been left…
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F IS FOR FAMAGUSTA, CYPRUS
A STORY OF FOLLY IN FAMAGUSTA, CYPRUS ‘Not even Turkish Cypriots are allowed in,’ my guide Ferhat tells me as we peer through the barbed wire. Beyond lies a golden beach, straight out of a tourist board advert with the deep blue Mediterranean lapping gently on the shore. Look closer though and things don’t look…
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E IS FOR ECHTERNACH, LUXEMBOURG
A STORY OF ELATION IN ECHTERNACH, LUXEMBOURG The violinist onstage, the world renowned Daniel Hope, took the applause. As it gradually died away he raised the instrument to his chin and an expectant hush descended. The opening notes of Brahms’ Violin sonata No. 1 in G major, op. 78 quietly soared from the sliding bow.…
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D IS FOR DRESDEN, GERMANY
A STORY OF DÉTENTE IN DRESDEN, GERMANY Alan Smith stood among the locals of Dresden in the reconstructed Neumarkt, looking with the crowd towards the Frauenkirche with its wondrous dome topped by a golden cross gleaming in the dusk sky. The dignitaries were filing into the building, German mainly but also religious leaders from far…
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C IS FOR CORK, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
A STORY OF CONFLICT IN CORK, IRELAND ‘The bastards wouldn’t let us put out the fires. The city has burnt to the ground.’ ‘Sit down, Conor, please.’ Imogen pleaded with her husband. ‘You’ll wake the baby.’ ‘It won’t end now. The Republicans will want revenge. They’ll hit back harder. I saw Jimmy heading away with…
Iain Kelly 