501 Places

“Do you really want to stay there? It’s horrible!” It was 9.30pm and I’d been in Bialystok for a little over half an hour. The bed I had arranged was not available and having been given a couple of phone numbers by the apologetic hostel receptionist I thought I’d got lucky. There was a bed, […]

Drive around northern Iceland in March and it’s easy to believe that you’re the only person left on the planet. An hour might go by without you seeing another car on the main road and even in the areas that are geared to accommodate summer tourists there is barely a soul in sight. We visited […]

Wander around any city for long enough and you’ll discover surprises in the most unexpected places. This is certainly true of Warsaw, where much of the city’s history, often tragic, often bloody but always fascinating, is hidden behind the brick and concrete of the main streets. While much of Warsaw was rebuilt after 1945 by […]

At some point in our lives we have all received an unwanted present. We usually hide it away and hope that no-one will notice. When Stalin decided in 1951 that he wanted to make a ‘gift’ to the people of Poland, he chose to erect a colossal tower in the heart of Warsaw that would […]

Our long term memory is a funny beast. I look on many of my childhood events and they appear to be not only distant but also dim; quite literally so. Our holidays seem to have took place if not in black and white then in a washed-out hue while memories of people and places are […]

Over the weekend we had the chance to explore two cities in the south east of England that have a fair amount in common. Both are a short train ride from London; both have enough olde worlde buildings to be regularly used as a filming location for period dramas; and of particular relevance to this […]

It’s not unusual in an English bed and breakfast to wake up to the smell of frying bacon. Whether you’re staying away from home on business or pleasure and whatever the day holds in store for you, there are few better ways to kick off proceedings than with a no-holds barred full English breakfast. Yet […]

As so often happens, the comments section of my recent post looking at what inspires us to choose our travel destinations has proved to be more interesting than my original entry. Both Maxine Sheppard and Pam Mandel highlighted the role that the history of a place can play in enticing us to visit; I was reminded […]

It is one of the most common traps for anyone writing a blog: I’ve been to a place so I must write about it. As if the act of merely being somewhere is a story worthy of telling to the world. Let’s face it; sometimes we visit a place and while it may be nice […]

Budapest has long been an important European capital, sitting as it does pretty much in the centre of the continent and straddling the mighty Danube. A succession of invaders have left their mark on the skyline of Budapest and evidence of 20th century European battles is easy to uncover. Budapest is home to dozens of […]