18th August 2015
Four years after arriving here, I leave Stockholm at the end of this week for a new posting at the UK delegation to NATO in Brussels. I’m looking forward to the new job and new city. But it will be hard to leave Stockholm, and I will carry with me many memories of this wonderful […]
30th July 2013 Washington DC, USA
Nostalgia is defined as “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period of place with happy personal associations.” With this weekend marking one year on, was I feeling nostalgic about the London 2012 games, which I experienced from more than 3,000 miles away? I most definitely was. While I couldn’t […]
26th July 2013 New York, USA
Exactly a year ago tomorrow, I sat down with my twelve-year-old son in the Olympic Stadium to watch the Opening Ceremony. Extra tickets had become available about a month or so beforehand – they weren’t cheap, but as a Londoner the chance to be there was too good to miss. We’d got there early, long […]
25th February 2013
Two vast bridges spans a picturesque strait. Nearby, engineers are completing a rail tunnel which, like the bridges, will link Europe and Asia. A third bridge is under construction. A road tunnel is planned, together with a brand-new airport which, with a capacity of 150 million passengers, will be the world’s largest. Welcome to Istanbul. […]
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21st December 2012 Ottawa, Canada
We’re into that final pre-Xmas flurry of activity, and I’m sure you’re all frantically getting ready for the holiday season. I know I am, and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve bought most of my Christmas presents online this year, which removes some of the romance of shopping, but makes life a lot easier! But […]
12th December 2012 Washington DC, USA
As the American daughter of a Northern Irishwoman working at the British Embassy, I didn’t find it easy to decide whom to cheer for during the London Olympics and Paralympics. But I had no difficulty in cheering on the Games themselves. I started working at the Embassy in July, weeks before the exciting London 2012 […]
27th November 2012
James Bond is an iconic British global brand. So we have been keen to associate ourselves with it as part of our Public Diplomacy activities. Over the last week, we have hosted very successful Skyfall screenings and networking events in five Australian cities (Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth), together with commercial partners including Virgin, […]
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9th October 2012 London, UK
In her guest blog, Brunei’s first female Olympian, Maziah Mahusin (who is also the Sultanate’s 400m record holder, since the Games), describes what it felt like to carry the nation’s flag into the Stadium; to run for her country (despite a virus), and to meet Usain Bolt and Her Majesty The Queen. Back in Brunei […]
2nd October 2012
In Australia, sport doesn’t get any bigger than the AFL (Aussie rules) Grand Final. In British terms it’s like the Premiership and FA Cup rolled into one. 99,683 of us were gathered in the cauldron of the Melbourne Cricket Ground -“the G” – last Saturday. I had been invited by my friend Paul Sheahan, former […]
11th September 2012 Washington DC, USA
What a privilege to be at the Arthur Ashe stadium last night, for the final, so long-awaited triumph of a summer of extraordinary sporting success for our country! A roller-coaster of emotions ranging from joyous admiration to head-holding agony when it looked as though the prize might once again be slipping from Andy Murray’s grasp. […]