Have you ever noticed the different ways in which visitors to a museum or gallery take in the objects they are looking at? Have you seen how some people stand there, as if in a trance, transported into whatever place or time period they’re observing, while others read a sign, take a photo and move [...]
In the grand scale of things this is a pretty trivial matter, but it’s one that still causes a headache for many travellers at the end of a trip. You’re about to leave a country and your stash of local currency has dwindled down to a few grubby notes and a pocketful of heavy but [...]
Taking an underground tour is hardly an unusual experience these days. There are tours of sewers, bomb shelters, abandoned train lines and natural caves in almost every major city. So what makes the 23 kilometres of tunnels known as the Casemates of Luxembourg different and worthy of special attention? For a start there’s the age [...]
Ask people where they want to go on their European holidays and if they’re not heading to the beaches of the Mediterranean they’ll most likely tell you about Paris, London, Barcelona or Venice. Some may head east to Prague, Krakow or Budapest. Yet despite being the most populous European country (excluding Russia) Germany hardly ever [...]
Many blog entries, particularly photo posts, are designed to inspire others to visit a particular place. This one is a definite exception. No tourist is likely to being visiting Aleppo anytime soon. As I heard the depressing news from Syria I looked back at my photos of our trip there in 2009. Our happy memories [...]
Even before the first medal has been contested in the London Olympics it appears that Great Britain has already been crowned champions in one activity. According to a NY Times article we are a nation that enjoys ‘low-grade grousing’ at the best of times and has taken this skill to a new level as a consequence of [...]
It is often said that the best way to get to know a country is through its cuisine. With this in mind I was determined to sample at least one cake in every country through which we passed in our recent rail journey. Even when we only used a country as a transit stop (as [...]
If you’re planning a rail trip in Europe you’ll probably need to decide whether it’s worth buying a rail pass or getting individual tickets as you go. Choosing the wrong option can leave you heavily out of pocket. While arranging a recent trip from Rimini in Italy back to London it soon became clear that [...]
I’ve just returned from a couple of weeks travelling by train from Italy to the UK and in the next few weeks will share some of my experiences on here. For now, I present 10 photos that surprised me or made me smile during our travel through Europe:
What follows is one of those periodic navel-gazing exercises. If you have no interest in the rather strange world of travel blogging, stop reading now and find something more interesting instead (may I humbly offer you this post). Reading from the many round-ups of the recent travel blogging conferences the route to getting a return on [...]
