Speaking this month we have:
1. Two mini talks of 20 minutes.
– Simon Finnimore – Random ramblings from round the world’ – Chiang Mai Thailand and Plovdiv Bulgaria two very pleasant surprises.
Simon spent 10 years based in the UK but working & travelling around the Middle East and parts of Africa triggering a passion for independent travel.
– Mary Fogarty – Pining for Pamuk, Plagued by a Princess
I went to Istanbul to follow in the footsteps of my beloved Orhan Pamuk (Turkish Nobel Prize winner for literature), seeking him out in all his favourite haunts around Galata, Karakoy and Galatasaray. But I also had to contend with the ambitions of my young companion, a princess from Morocco, who had very different ideas …
Mary Fogarty has been a member of Globetrotters for several years and seen a lot of the world. She grew up in Kenya, and has since lived in Mexico, Italy, Australia and Spain (boyfriends have had a lot to do with it). She now divides her time between London and Marrakech: she works as an editor/book reviewer in London, and as a translator and travel companion in Marrakech.
2. John Pilkington – To Eritrea and Ethiopia: Retracing a Victorian Expedition
In 1868 Queen Victoria’s government mounted an extraordinary bid to rescue a small clutch of European hostages in the Abyssinian highlands.
They built a Red Sea port, then a railway across the coastal plain, and
finally brought in 44 Indian elephants and took on 26,000 local people
to serve the soldiers and carry their heavy guns into the heart of Africa.
A hundred and fifty years later, our president followed their route,
partly on foot with a donkey, and compared Eritrea and Ethiopia then and now. He found today’s people spirited and energetic, living in dramatic and extremely challenging lands.
It was history and adventure combined!
Find out more at http://www.pilk.net
3. By tradition we follow this meeting with a New Year Party post-meeting – everyone is invited to bring food and wine or soft drinks (we are not allowed beer or spirits) and participate!
Admission costs, we charge a small cash fee of £3 for Globetrotters members and £6 for non-members on the door to cover our expenses, tea/coffee and biscuits are included free in the interval between the talks.
You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.
London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.
There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here