9th May 2012
Washington DC, USA
What is the first thing you think of when you think “United Kingdom?” Maybe it’s Buckingham Palace and the generations of kings and queens who have ruled the British Isles since Roman times. Maybe it’s the plays and poems of William Shakespeare, or the fortunes of your favourite Premier League side. Maybe it’s the complex, […]
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3rd May 2012
Washington DC, USA
This week marks two auspicious events. One year ago yesterday, I started work at the Embassy in Washington. Even aside from the mad dash to the airport in Moscow, the missed flights and unplanned but very pleasant stopover in Copenhagen, it was quite the day to remember. It’s also World Press Freedom Day, the day […]
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23rd April 2012
Washington DC, USA
I’m just three weeks into the Corporate Services role here and spent last week flying solo after a great handover from my predecessor, Alison, who is now destined for Uganda in the summer. It’s a busy agenda as expected, but made easier by a remarkable and supportive team from the very top downwards. But my […]
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6th April 2012
Washington DC, USA
On our very first visit to DC, a chilly weekend last October, to scope out the city as our imminent home, we crawled jetlagged onto the metro at an unpleasant hour of the morning. It might have made sense to start house hunting, or to embark on some general meandering to get a sense of […]
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3rd April 2012
Washington DC, USA
When I saw my diary for last Wednesday, I realised that a snapshot of my activities that day would be the perfect way to answer that ubiquitous question posed by friends, family, old colleagues, and assorted others: “what do you actually do?” Business Minister Mark Prisk was visiting Washington and our plans for his visit […]
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26th March 2012
Washington DC, USA
While most of America may have spent last week focussed on brackets and upsets, we had our own bit of March Madness here in DC: an official visit from Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, as well as the Chancellor and Foreign Secretary. And what a visit it was. I was on the […]
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19th March 2012
Washington DC, USA
It was pretty much impossible to look at a newspaper, news programme, tweet or blog last week without being met by numerous photographs of David Cameron and Barack Obama sharing a joke, or their quotes about the essential relationship shared by the US and UK. They even wrote a piece together for the Washington Post. […]
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8th March 2012
USA
I had the pleasure of visiting Nicaragua for a short holiday recently. I loved the scenery, friendly people and, unexpectedly, learning about Nicaragua’s role in the California gold rush. Back in the 1850s Nicaragua was a key route for those dashing to the west coast as it was quicker and cheaper to sail from New […]
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1st March 2012
Washington DC, USA
Last week I took a very belated Christmas holiday to Puerto Rico. It was very lovely…even if it has meant that one particular friend and colleague has sung West Side Story’s “America” (which compares the perceived pros and cons of living in NYC to San Juan) every time we’ve bumped into each other since my return. But […]
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17th February 2012
Washington DC, USA
I have become very fond of the US, despite having been here less than 3 months. But I have to acknowledge that life keeps foiling my penchant for romantic gestures. It’s not that, I should hasten to say, that the US itself lacks romance. I found the soaring skyline and raised L trains in Chicago […]
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