A.J. Mackinnon > Quotes

“We both took some adjusting to Egyptian notions of friendliness. Stepping outside our Cairo hotel, we were greeted by a host of amiable young men saying, ‘Where you from, mis-tah? Australia? Ah, my brother, he is in Australia! From Sydney, yes? No? Ah, Adelaide! So too my brother! Adelaide is a very fine city, yes, very fine. And your name, mis-tah? Ah, San-dee! My brother, he too is called San-dee! He is an astrophysicist! Please, we are friends! Come to my shop and drink tea!’ Three out of five such invitations will surely lead straight to a carpet or perfume shop, where you will be badgered into buying wares at a very special low price, as is fitting between friends. But the other two are likely to lead to a long, gentle afternoon drinking mint tea in some tiny home, being shown the family albums, meeting the wife and five kids and, sure enough, being shown a photo of the improbable brother, San-dee, standing outside Adelaide University and waving a degree in astrophysics at the camera.”
― A.J. Mackinnon, The Well at the World's End: The Epic True Story of One Man's Search for the Secret to Eternal Youth

“The Worst Journey in the Midlands.”
― A.J. Mackinnon, The Unlikely Voyage of Jack De Crow: A Mirror Odyssey from North Wales to the Black Sea

“On a more homely level, it is at Day’s Lock that the annual Poohsticks Championships are held, the contestants standing on the white painted bridge and dropping their twigs or pine cones (‘in a twitchy sort of way, if you know what I mean, Pooh’) into the weir stream below.”
― A.J. Mackinnon, The Unlikely Voyage of Jack De Crow: A Mirror Odyssey from North Wales to the Black Sea