Berlin
Mitte Bitte, Berlin
The river dissects Mitte’s Jekyll and Hyde character. To the south lies the grand, ostentatious face of the district, while north of the Spree the scene is more grungy, raw, and arty. […]
Town & City Strolls
Crete
Six of the Best of Chania
Somewhere between the White Mountains and the blue of the Cretan Sea resides an enchantress, so claims the official tourism website in rather evocative fashion. We wouldn’t disagree, which is why we’re sharing our pick of six of the best of Chania. […]
Barcelona
Avoiding crowds in cities suffering from overtourism
Overtourism isn’t new, it’s just taken some destinations time to stop seeing the dollar/euro signs ringing up on tills and start seeing the negative effects of what has often been partly their own doing. […]
Europe
What’s so good about Ljubljana
Sitting in a riverside bar in Ljubljana and the movie Logan’s Run pops into my head; I instinctively close my fist around what would be a black-for-an-aeon palm flower embedded into my palm. Ljubljana is a young city, possibly the youngest-feeling city we’ve visited. Young and vibrant. […]
Alentejo
Rock and Soul in Beja
I didn’t expect this. Covering almost all of the gable end of a house is a huge blue and red rooster made from discarded pieces of metal. Portugal seems to have a thing at the moment for oversized ‘rubbish’ animals. The rooster’s tail feathers block part of a window whilst a stray metal breast feather juts out over a door […]
Italy
Oltrarno, the other side of the river in Florence
Within about thirty minutes I declare I don’t like Florence; too many tour groups clogging the streets, and the restaurants seem grabby; mediocre-looking places charging way too much for uninspiring food. […]
Europe
No magic required, how to make cities smaller
Meeting up with a friend from Manchester for an afternoon and evening in Lisbon recently, the realisation dawned that in the last two years Lisbon had also shrivelled in size. […]
Europe
Fried flowers and Juliet’s breasts, three days in Verona
We didn’t spend three days in Verona because it was a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose exquisitely preserved architecture reflected key periods of European history. We visited because Will Shakespeare once wrote “In fair Verona, […]
Checking In
Staying in different Lisbon districts part 1, Bairro Alto and Chiado
This is our totally biased take on the Lisbon districts where we’ve temporarily laid our hats, starting with the nightlife centre of the city. […]
Alentejo
Land of discoveries, Evora in Portugal
I’m currently engrossed in ‘Conquerors – How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire’. It is an enthralling account of Portugal’s thirst for discovery, and riches. As the pages turn I jump between open-mouthed admiration of […]
Europe
Scenes of a stroll around 5 districts of Venice
Venice is one of those destinations which sat loftily on a grand cerebral column. But reports of it being an overcrowded tourist destination (regularly lumped in with Barcelona and Dubrovnik) had made us wary that it might be just another dreamy bubble waiting to be burst. […]
Europe
A pictorial pub crawl of Madrid
As I sipped a decent Greek red, Madrid popped into my head; specifically the tapas bars lining streets around the Plaza de Santa Ana area. If Santa Ana was the big top, the bars lining the spokes leading from the plaza were the sideshows […]
Europe
The changing route to the river in Porto
The route from uptown Porto via Rua das Flores is a prime example. Last time we were in Porto we felt as though we’d strayed from the path when we stood on its quiet cobbles… […]
Calvi
March or die to the Citadel in Calvi on Corsica
Calvi, tucked neatly into a crescent-shaped bay on Corsica’s north west coast, seems an appropriate base for the French Foreign Legion. […]
Crete
Exploring Chania on Crete in three acts
First sight of the harbour and many memories of good times beside picture postcard Greek harbours are unlocked. Chania’s is particularly spellbinding thanks to the Venetians who built it in the 14th century […]