A couple of months ago I had the unexpected opportunity to visit Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, for a couple of days. It wasn’t a city I’d ever thought of writing about before but was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Read about it in the Sunday Telegraph, and it you’re interested in going yourself, here are my recommendations for hotels, restaurants etc.
The recent unrest in the Middle East/North Africa has prompted many of the travel supplements to question whether or not it’s advisable to travel to the region. On Saturday 5th March the Guardian ran a round-up on Middle Eastern destinations, asking just that. I was asked to comment on Libya, where I’d recently travelled (a week before the uprisings there).
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I must have written more on Aleppo than any other city. Here’s my latest, a short piece in the Sunday Telegraph (6 Feb 2011).
“On every visit, like the archaeologists before me, I discover another layer in Aleppo’s rich seam of history. This time I learn the legend of Abraham, who stopped to milk his cattle here, distributing the milk (halib) to Aleppo’s citizens, so giving the city its Arabic name: Haleb.”
All material is copyright © Gail Simmons. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, by any means, is forbidden without the written consent of the copyright holder.
My latest piece on the Silk Road in Syria has appeared in the Jan/Feb 2011 edition of CNN Traveller. Here’s the e-magazine (it’s on page 60).
“A deep silence settles over the city, broken only by the barking of wild dogs and the call to prayer from the minarets of Tadmor, the modern village that grew up after the Bedouin were turfed out of the ruins when the archaeologists moved in.
Like that other great desert city, Petra, Palmyra made her fortune by charging levies on the goods that passed through her gates. But the Silk Road was much more than a trade route where money changed hands. It was a meeting place where ideas were exchanged, cultures mixed and artistic influences spread.”
All material is copyright © Gail Simmons. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, by any means, is forbidden without the written consent of the copyright holder.
My latest story, in the Jan/Feb edition of Saudi Aramco World, on the Arab influence on Sicilian food. Photographed by Tor Eigeland.
“The word couscous derives from the Maghrebi Arabic kuskusu, and the Sicilian cuscus has long existed in both folk memory and the kitchens of Sicily’s western Arab heartland. It is via the Maghreb, however, that couscous is flourishing again in Sicily, reintroduced by migrants from North and West Africa who have settled on the island during the last few decades. Sicilians have enthusiastically revived the dish, cooking it more often with fish than with meat (usually mutton), which would be more usual in the Maghreb.”
All material is copyright © Gail Simmons. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, by any means, is forbidden without the written consent of the copyright holder.
Here’s my latest on ‘Five Reasons to Visit Aleppo’ in TIME magazine, published 13 December 2010.
“Aleppo’s dervishes belong to the mystical Sufi sect of Islam, which originated in Turkey. Dressed in long, flowing skirts and conical hats, and accompanied by chanting and the strains of an oud, or Arabic lute, dervishes use a characteristic whirling dance to enter an altered state and so, they hope, a closer communion with the divine.”
All material is copyright © Gail Simmons. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, by any means, is forbidden without the written consent of the copyright holder.
Categories
Arab Sicily (UAE National)
My latest feature, on Arab Sicily, in the UAE National (and here’s the 2nd page). For around 200 years, from the mid 9th to the mid 11th centuries, Sicily was an Islamic state and an emirate. Its legacy still survives in the language, culture and food of this Mediterranean island.
My latest feature, on a desert trek & tribal gathering in Sinai, is now out in the August/September edition of Wanderlust magazine.
“The scene was one that has been played out in the deserts of Arabia for centuries. A group of Bedouin sheikhs gathered round a campfire, sipping glasses of tea poured from bubbling, smoke-blackened kettles, the flickering flames casting a deep glow on sculpted, Biblical faces. And sitting among this distinguished group of tribal elders was me: one of a handful of Westerners sharing the first assembly of the seven tribes of South Sinai for over 20 years.”
And here are the fantastic pictures from the piece by photographer, Gary Latham.
All material is copyright © Gail Simmons. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, by any means, is forbidden without the written consent of the copyright holder.
My latest feature, in the UAE National. My most recent articles appear on this page. Other published articles since 2003 can be found under ‘Archive’.
“Kharaneh rises sheer out of the steppe, stark against a cloudless sky, with rounded towers at each corner and walls punctuated by arrow-slits. Seen from afar, it’s most people’s idea of a fantasy fortress…”
All material is copyright © Gail Simmons. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, by any means, is forbidden without the written consent of the copyright holder.
My latest feature, published in the Sunday Telegraph, about walking in Syria.
“Clinging to the mountainside high above the desert, and seemingly part of the rock, Deir Mar Musa is only visible when you stumble upon it. We ducked through the tiny entrance and found ourselves in a building created by a sixth-century Abyssinian hermit. The current monastic church dates mostly from the 11th and 12th centuries, and is embellished with the most glorious frescoes. Walking inside, my eyes adjusting to the gloom, was like entering an Italian church except for the Syriac inscriptions and plush Oriental carpets and cushions around the painted Apostles.”
All material is copyright © Gail Simmons. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, by any means, is forbidden without the written consent of the copyright holder.