Krakow is synonymous with the Second World War. It’s the city of Oskar Schindler, of the horrors of the ghetto and the death camps. Some miles out of town lies that most infamous of concentration camps, Auschwitz, where up to one-sixth of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust were killed. It’s a museum now and…
Author: Stephen
Exploring Krakow, night and day
You’ve got to love a city when two can eat a hearty meal in a city centre restaurant, consume two beers each and be charged a total of less than £30 for the pleasure. Welcome to Krakow… OK, our choice of eatery wasn’t exactly Michelin-starred but, while Restauracja Polska must have had a particularly unimaginative…
Art and history in Nantes
Tomatoes of all shapes and sizes bulging and bursting with flavour, heads of broccoli larger than any I’ve seen and oysters from all points along the French coast. This can’t be a British supermarket… In fact it’s the Marche de Talensac, one of Nantes’ oldest and biggest markets on a typical Saturday morning. Browsing the…
Greece: A week on the coast at Parga
Greece may be a part of Europe but there are times when it feels like a world apart. Epirus, the region in the country’s north-west, is wild and rugged, remote and peppered with ruins. It’s a land of mountains and broad valleys, lakes, striking bays and cliffs that plunge to the sea. Driving through, it…
An Easter weekend in Palma, Mallorca’s capital
In London the sun was shining, temperatures were hitting new records for an Easter weekend and the newspapers were crowing about it. In Palma, it was cool, drab, drizzly and windy. This was not how it was supposed to be, and my mood was just as gloomy. Perhaps that’s why it took me several days…
Mallorca: Palma’s foodie scene
Mallorca’s capital Palma has a well-deserved reputation when it comes to food and the star of the show is the San Juan Gastronomic Market in the north of the city. Once a slaughterhouse, it opened in 2015 and houses up to 20 stalls that offer local treats and international dishes, small plates and full-on meals….
Mallorca: A walk from Sóller to the coast
It was mum who recommended taking the narrow gauge railway up to the prosperous country town of Sóller while we were staying in Mallorca. The journey itself promised to be as memorable as the destination… But as was the way with our Easter weekend in the Balearic island’s capital Palma, we were to be disappointed…
Spring skiing high up in Montgenèvre
Booking a skiing holiday for April involves taking a gamble. You can arrive to sunshine and late-season snow or barren slopes and green fields. My brother Andrew chose well, however, and the slopes of Montgenèvre in France delivered epic pistes amid glorious surroundings. This was the second time that I’d joined my family and friends…
A weekend in The Hague
Amsterdam has become all that’s wrong with tourism. It overflows with people, marauding stag and hen parties, drunks, druggies and sex tourists. The seat of government in The Netherlands, The Hague, couldn’t be more different. It’s nowhere near as busy, is elegant and cultured and an absolute pleasure to explore. We were there for little…
Impressions of India
India is not an easy country to visit. It’s a land with some of the most beautiful buildings in the world, yet its towns and cities can be eyesores. It’s rich in magical experiences but awash with the most terrible poverty. It fascinates and appals at the same time. No wonder I approached our two…
Udaipur, lakes and lavish palaces
The lakeside city of Udaipur has one of the most beautiful settings in all of India, nestled among the hills and waterways of the Aravalli Range. With its glorious, dream-like palaces and magical sunsets, it was perhaps inevitable that it would one day be featured in a James Bond film. And sure enough, back in…
Ranakpur and an Indian road trip
It goes without saying that India is vast. Travelling from one city to another involves hours and hours of travel, with lots of hassle thrown in. By the time we’d settled into our second week we’d travelled by plane and train, so it was time for the automobile to take a bow. Hiring a driver…
Exploring Jodhpur’s mighty Mehrangarh Fort
Set on a massive volcanic outcrop 400ft above the city of Jodhpur, Mehrangarh Fort is unmissable. It’s one of India’s greatest monuments, an imposing complex of palaces and fortifications that would’ve impressed and intimidated the friends and enemies of the ruling family. It was built in the 15th century by Rao Jodha, the then ruler…
Jodhpur – Rajasthan’s jewel of a city
Jodhpur is the fabled blue city of Rajasthan, its skyline dominated by the mighty fortress of Mehrangarh. After the chaos of Delhi and Agra, it offered a slower pace of life, warmer climes, fascinating history and a friendly vibe. Of all the cities we visited, Jodhpur was my favourite. We flew down from the capital…
A trip to Agra and the Taj Mahal
Agra is dirty, full of litter and shambolic, yet it’s home to the world’s most beautiful building – the Taj Mahal – and a spectacular Mughal-era fort. We couldn’t go all the way to India and not visit Shah Jahan’s monument to love but we almost didn’t make it because our Graham woke on the…