There was no mistaking that we were staying slap bang in the middle of Toronto’s Entertainment district. Throughout our first night we were woken by police sirens and Friday night drunks shouting their way home from the bars and clubs. I somehow managed to get some sleep despite the racket but a disturbed night and…
Category: City breaks
The memorials of Berlin
From the top of the Panoramapunkt viewing platform at Potsdamer Platz, it’s easy to see the grey slabs of Berlin’s Holocaust memorial on Ebertstrasse far below. The memorial was something I’d put on my ‘to see’ list because it was still being built when we were last in the city back in January 2004. This was…
Berlin: Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain
In the district of Prenzlauer Berg, in what was once Communist East Berlin, is the undistinguished open space of Mauerpark. But it comes into its own on a Sunday when it hosts a famous flea market. It gave us the chance to explore a Berlin beyond the historic centre and the popular tourist attractions we’d…
Berlin: Palaces and Pride
In 2004 we went on our first holiday together, to Berlin. It was January, blisteringly cold and snow fell periodically on the grey city. But I fell in love with it. We always said we’d return to see the German capital in summer and we finally got round to it in July 2016, when we found a…
The extravagant baroque of Lecce, Puglia
Puglia is poor. Driving from north to south, we witnessed grim estates on the outskirts of Brindisi, derelict buildings by the score and lots of litter. But the sun was shining and bushes bursting with colourful flowers lined the pot-holed motorway. The city of Lecce’s suburbs were as ropey as Brindisi’s but it was the…
Life among the trulli of Alberobello, Puglia
Puglia is famous for its strange, conical-roofed trulli. They pepper the landscape, peek out from olive groves and stand lonely in the fields. But Alberobello is the place to see them in all their glory. In the heart of the town, nestled on both sides of a shallow valley, they pack the streets and alleys….
The magic of Matera
For an ancient Italian town perched on the edge of the Murgia National Park, Matera didn’t look promising when we drove into its unremarkable suburbs. But then came the historic centre and one of the most remarkable places I’ve been to anywhere in Europe… We’d driven up from the modest airport on the industrial edge…
Stratford-upon-Avon – home of Shakespeare
Call me uncultured but I’ve never been into William Shakespeare. I was made to read As You Like It at school but that’s about it. However, the man’s life and the mysteries that surround it are intriguing. So off we trotted to Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire for a family event, staying at the Q hotel, with…
Zurich: Churches and gardens
It was our final day in Zurich and raining again. But we filled it by exploring chilly churches and tropical palm houses. I slept late so we dispensed with breakfast and got ready to check out of the Hotel Europe – a lovely place with charming hosts but somewhat lacking in very necessary double glazing. A…
Zurich: Exploring Uetliberg
Sunday dawned bright and sunny in Zurich, a perfect day for visiting the city’s mountain. I’d slept poorly thanks to the people upstairs crashing around at 4.30am, the wailing of police sirens at some point in the night and the crunching of a dustcart at dawn. So I didn’t have the energy to climb up Uetliberg,…
Zurich: Visiting museums in the rain
We’d hoped to see Zurich draped in snow, looking romantic and seasonal, during a January city break but a warm winter at home and abroad meant we were destined to be disappointed. When we arrived on the first day of the new year, it was dark, damp and mild, with not a flake of snow…
Seville: From the cathedral to the river
As a young and angelic choirboy in the early 1970s I sang every week to the glory of God at St John’s Church in Caterham. But the experience never left me with a lasting faith. Listening to Canon Vile droning on from the pulpit, the endless hours of practice and the weekly Sunday school visits resulted in a…
Seville: Noble homes and spectacular plazas
Picking a good hotel is all about research and we’re in the habit of choosing some great ones. The Palacio de Villapanes ranks among them. Once the home of a noble Seville family, it boasts luxury bedding, great service and fancy design. A giant coat of arms on the grand marble staircase is one of the…
Seville: The Alcazar and the Metropol Parasol
On days when the news is dominated by atrocities and stories of hate, I find it good for the soul to go to somewhere like the Alcazar in Seville. It is a place of beauty, the work of generations of craftsmen and visionaries from many races and religions. It was our first full day in Andalusia,…
Croatia: Joining the crowds in the city of Dubrovnik
The admirers of cliche tell us that travel broadens the mind. But it’s also a curse. There are times when we, as tourists, threaten to overwhelm and destroy the very destinations we’ve travelled so far to see. Dubrovnik’s old town is but one example. Croatia’s most popular destination, it’s a city under seige from swarms…