Hunters will tell you that a moose is a wily and ferocious forest creature. Nonsense. A moose is a cow drawn by a three-year-old.

Taxonomy is described sometimes as a science and sometimes as an art, but really it’s a battleground.

Romans park their cars the way I would park if I had just spilled a beaker of hydrochloric acid on my lap.

The best that can be said for Norwegian television is that it gives you the sensation of a coma without the worry and inconvenience.

A sign in the yard of a church next door said CHRIST IS THE ANSWER. (The question, of course, is: What do you say when you strike your thumb with a hammer?)

It is always quietly thrilling to find yourself looking at a world you know well but have never seen from such an angle before.

Perhaps it's my natural pessimism, but it seems that an awfully large part of travel these days is to see things while you still can.