Clik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Postcards from Iceland
I travelled to Iceland in March on a trip to research a couple of stories. While the stories tell of two different but (I think) fascinating sides of Icelandic life, these images perhaps give a better...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Strangers on a train: why it’s not always good to talk
With barely a soul in the first class carriage I figured the three hour journey would be a good chance to get some work done. I had just spent two days in the rural backwaters of eastern Poland to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Postcards from the Alentejo
For long unknown to all but an intrepid few travellers, the Alentejo region of Portugal is getting a lot of media attention in the last couple of years. So it might surprise you that you’re likely to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mezquita of Cordoba: a visitor’s guide
As grand buildings in Europe go, the Mezquita of Cordoba is right up there with the best of them. The site on which the building stands was originally home to a pagan temple, which then became a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Taken for a ride: the price of top tourist attractions
People travel thousands of miles to see the world’s top tourist attractions. When they arrive they are hardly likely to be deterred by an overpriced entrance ticket. With this in mind, is it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Topless in Montenegro: a convertible calamity
Driving a convertible had never appealed to me. I’m more inclined to cast disparaging glances at those who ‘go topless’ in their otherwise mundane family cars. I smile at the thought of how much extra...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Knocking on doors in search of a good story
I’m sure many writers will identify with this. Your story gets published and while you might be pleased with the finished article there’s something that the readers will never know: that what you’ve...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the trail of the Tatars in Poland
Drive through many of the villages in the north east of Poland and the eerie silence might lead you to believe there is no-one left to tend the miles of flat farmland, stretching beyond the horizon in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lübeck, York and the Baedeker Raids
What links the German city of Lübeck, a well-known guidebook and the several of England’s more attractive cities? Wandering around Lübeck recently I was struck by the way the city has been so...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Erm, erm, erm… Mr President
It’s not every day you address the person sitting across the table from you as Mr President. Neither is it every day that you interview a man for whose freedom you marched as a teenager. Whether or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An unremarkable bus journey through northern Kosovo
As border crossing go, it was one of the quickest I’ve ever encountered. A burly policeman boarded the bus, shook hands with the driver, exchanged a few jokes with the passengers at the front and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Skopje – dazzling capital or monumental folly?
Take a walk for the first time through central Skopje and you’re bound to scratch your head in bewilderment. Mammoth statues of warriors adorn the main public spaces, while neo-classical palaces...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lake Bled and a memory of never-ending rain
Lake Bled is a place where it never stops raining. At least that’s the way it will appear in my mind whenever I hear or read about it. It was pouring with rain when we boarded the bus in Ljubljana...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why the City of London is an open history book
I’ve mentioned this before on this site, but the history you can uncover with even a minimal effort on a walk through London never ceases to surprise me. Take last week for example… We popped into the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A sleepless night in the Polish Bieszczady Mountains
I can’t remember spending a more uncomfortable night. I fidgeted constantly in my rigid lower bunk bed, sleeping in short, unsatisfying 20-minute bursts and, worst of all, running at least once an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
2014 – A Year of Birds
Puffins, Farne Islands, Northumberland It wasn’t meant to be like this. Neither of us have ever been particularly excited by bird watching, apart from the thrill of a rare and fleeting blue flash of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Faroe Islands and the thorny issue of whaling
When I mentioned that I was going to the Faroe Islands last week, several people immediately asked me: “Isn’t that the place where they kill whales?”. Others directly asked whether I would be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What would Lenin say now?
Our journey from Tampere in Finland to Vilnius in Lithuania followed the journey of the Soviet Union, from the early plans for revolution to its grim consequences Lenin first met Stalin in 1905 in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Across the divide – a visit to the former inner German border
Follow the bend in the road, then walk for around 100 metres. If I hadn’t seen the satellite photo a few minutes earlier I’d have had no idea where to look. Beyond the roadside ditch wild flowers were...
View Article
