by Merryn Allingham | Apr 17, 2021 | Uncategorized
Today, Rio de Janeiro attracts mixed opinions—poverty, crime, gangs etc. come to mind in any conversation. But there was a time in the mid-twentieth century, when the city’s reputation was a glorious one. Its natural beauty is, and always has been, staggering —the...
by Merryn Allingham | Apr 17, 2021 | Uncategorized
Immigration has shaped modern Brazil. From 1870 to 1930, between two and three million immigrants arrived in the country, most coming from Europe, but a significant number from the Middle East and Asia. The various ethnic groups—White, Black, European, Indian, and...
by Merryn Allingham | Oct 1, 2020 | Uncategorized
In the eighteenth century, sugar was the most important commodity in the world, in much the same way as oil in the twentieth century. And just as the Middle East grew rich on oil, small tropical islands in the Caribbean became a magnet for those seeking money and...
by Merryn Allingham | Oct 1, 2020 | Uncategorized
Winter in Venice can be harsh. There are days of cold, sunny brilliance but there can also be monotonous grey days of rain, fierce enough to stir the mud in the bottom of the canals. Sometimes the fringe of a bora—a north-eastern wind off the Adriatic sea—sweeps the...
by Merryn Allingham | Oct 1, 2020 | Uncategorized
As everyone knows, Venice is a city built on water and within its city limits there is every kind of boat for every kind of purpose. The sàndolo is a smaller boat than the gondola with one oarsman facing forwards. It is one of the most common boats in the lagoon—its...
