Tag Archives: blogsherpa

Postcards from San Marino

It is the world’s oldest republic and arguably has the continent’s worst national football team. San Marino is well worth a visit if you are making a visit to Italy’s Adriatic coast. My article about San Marino on the BBC Travel site was published in August (here for UK folks), but I thought I’d share […]

3 Comments Continue Reading →

The Casemates of Luxembourg: an underground tour with a difference

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 […]

Comments Off Continue Reading →

Germany: the best of Europe without the crowds

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 […]

13 Comments Continue Reading →

Postcards from Aleppo in happier times

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 […]

3 Comments Continue Reading →

Sound advice on local hotels – from the girl in McDonalds

“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, […]

11 Comments Continue Reading →

The joys of off-season travel

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 […]

6 Comments Continue Reading →

Hidden Warsaw: stories behind the courtyard shrines

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 […]

1 Comment Continue Reading →

Warsaw Palace of Culture: Stalin’s unwanted gift to Poland

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 […]

5 Comments Continue Reading →

Poles apart: growing up with Warsaw

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 […]

7 Comments Continue Reading →

Bratislava: very nice but nothing to write home about

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 […]

15 Comments Continue Reading →