Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category
20,000 days of the Darlington diaries
October 5th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Like many men, I enjoy counting things. So I know that today is the 20,000th day of my diaries. And why have I kept a diary so long and so consistently? I’ve tried to explain here.
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Visit to Athens (5)
October 3rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Our last day in Athens was a shorter one than the others because we flew back that evening. We visited the Ancient Agora at the foot of the Acropolis which is known as the centre of Athenian democracy. The most complete and impressive structure is the doric Temple of Hephaistos which was constructed between 460-415 […]
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Visit to Athens (4)
October 1st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
On our third full day in Athens, my sister Silvia and I visited our third archaeological museum. This was the National Archaeological Museum where we spent a total of five hours. Our guide book calls the place “one of the world’s most important museums” and “Greece’s pre-eminent museum” and explains that it houses “the world’s […]
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Visit to Athens (3)
September 30th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
This morning, we visited Lykavittos Hill for the finest panoramic views of the city and an especially impressive view of the Acropolis through the urban haze created by the heat and the traffic. The name ‘lykavittos’ means ‘Hill of Wolves’ and in ancient times the location was covered in pines and inhabited by wolves. Silvia […]
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Visit to Athens (2)
September 29th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
It’s been 40 years since I visited Athens and much has stayed the same – after all, this is a city with 2,500 years of history. So it is still somewhat rough and raw with uneven pavements and crazy traffic – not a city that everyone would love. But a lot has changed: the city […]
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Visit to Athens (1)
September 28th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Since my mother died in 1999, my sister Silvia and I have created a tradition of going abroad for a short trip without our spouses. We’re just about to set off for our 10th such venture and this time our destination is Athens. Silvia has never been there and my only previous visit was 40 […]
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The hottest September day since 1949 (now since 1911)
September 13th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Here in London, the weather has been incredible today for mid September. The peak temperature – towards 2 pm – was an amazing 32C (of oldies, like me, that’s 90F). Fortunately I had no meetings today, so I did not need to endure the London underground to travel into the city centre. Instead I ate […]
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Another visit to the beautiful city of Prague
September 2nd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
i blog so regularly on NightHawk that, if I miss a couple of days, some of my faithful readers worry that I might have been kidnapped. So this is a short note to explain that I’m making a short visit to Prague and won’t be blogging much For a few days. Over the last three […]
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Do you know why my personal blog is called NightHawk?
August 25th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
It has nothing to do with my sleeping habits which fortunately are excellent. It is in fact a reference to a Second World War night intruder ace whom the media dubbed ‘the Czech Night Hawk’. He was Flight Lieutenant Karel Kuttelwascher who was my wife’s father and I wrote a biography of him which was […]
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I’m a granddad again and I couldn’t be prouder
August 23rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Regular visitors to NightHawk will be aware that I have a granddaughter called Catrin whom I used to see about once a week until a year ago when her parents relocated to Nairobi. She’s now five and a half. Well, at 9.30 pm local time last night, I became the proud grandfather of a second […]
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